Finnish startup Jolla is open for business. That’s the message CEO Marc Dillon was putting out, loud and clear, during two on stage appearances at the Mobile World Congress tradeshow in Barcelona last week. Not a bad amount of stage time for a first time MWC attendee and a mobile upstart that hasn’t sold a single handset yet because it’s still busy making its first phone. → Read More
Fujitsu has taken its time launching smartphones outside its home market. It’s best known for slick, slender high end smartphones in Japan but has eschewed the crowded top tier of Europe’s smartphone market in favour of targeting a niche for seniors — creating a custom skinned Android-based smartphone designed to be easier for older people to use. We went hands on at Mobile World Congress. → Read More
Yuilop, a European free messaging startup which launched back in 2011 and has amassed “millions” of users of its apps, will be launching in the U.S. in the next couple of weeks. Although the startup has some users in the U.S. already, who have managed to acquire its app on the sly, it will be officially opening up to the U.S. in “one to two weeks”, says co-founder and CEO Jochen Doppelhammer. → Read More
It takes a lot to stand out at a trade show the size of Mobile World Congress. But here’s one device that caught my eye today: an e-ink smartphone. Unlike Yota Phone, the Russian startup that’s using e-ink as a second screen to augment the back of a powerful high end smartphone in a bid to stand out in the uber crowded Android space, this prototype device has just the one screen. A… → Read More
Mobile chipmaker Qualcomm has a track record of pushing new capabilities into its chips faster than its competitors in a bid to carve out a bigger chunk of the market — and one of its latest acquisitions is in the field of digital ultrasound. So what capabilities could this technology bring to phones and tablets? → Read More
All the mobile OS underdogs are coming out to play at this year’s Mobile World Congress, rushing in to fill the void left by Google’s lack of any Android marketing mania. Now it’s Tizen’s turn. At an event in Barcelona this evening Samsung-backed Tizen has officially launched Tizen 2.0, according to Engadget, showing off a developer handset running version 2.0 of the platform. → Read More
Switftkey — the intuitive typing interface for smartphones which has made its way into some Android phones and is reputedly behind the new BlackBerry touchscreen keyboard (though the company declines to comment or confirm) — is edging closer to the iOS platform. Today it announced exclusively with TechCrunch at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, that it is launching an iPad typing app aimed… → Read More
Messaging startup Viber, which lets users of most smartphone platforms send free texts, calls and messages via its app, is continuing to ramp up its user-base. Speaking at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona today, CEO Talmon Marco announced the startup now has 175 million users. Viber has been around since early 2011, but growing rapidly in the past 12 months. In December it… → Read More
Smartphones have been getting more affordable but to connect the “next billions” of users they need to get more affordable still. Speaking at Mobile World Congress today Manoj Kohli, CEO of carrier Bharti Airtel – which operates in India and Africa — said the price of smartphones needs to come down to $30, and mobile data dongles to $10, to break down the affordability barrier. → Read More
We need to face facts: WebOS is dead. Barring the unwavering support of the enthusiast community, the former mobile OS will never become a commercial product and, LG investment or no, the possibility of WebOS surviving a sale is nil. → Read More
Troubled operating system webOS isn’t defunct yet. According to CNET, LG just acquired software, licenses and the team working on webOS from HP. LG plans to implement it in its smart TVs — not in its phones. In yet another surprising event, Palm’s OS will experience a third (or fourth) life. → Read More
Remember “mobile TV”, whatever that was? No we don’t either, but that’s not about to deter new startup Vinson which is launching their their new mobile OTT (Over The Top) TV app on iOS for broadcasters, content aggregators and content distributors at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Essentially this is watching live TV on a tablet, with the full TV guide, plus PVR/time-shifting, plus “social”… → Read More
Nokia has announced two new Lumia smartphones at its Mobile World Congress press conference – broadening its Windows Phone 8 portfolio to five devices and filling in some of the pricing gaps in the mid and lower end of the range. The two 3G newcomers to the Lumia line are the mid-range Lumia 720 and the new entry level 520, which will cost $180 before taxes. → Read More
Chinese mobile maker Huawei has confirmed a new addition to its Android family: the Ascend P2. The P2 is the sequel to last year’s relatively mid-range P1 but puts more power under the hood — with a quad-core 1.5GHz chip — and pairs that power with a more modestly sized screen (4.7 inches) than the pair of phablets Huawei unboxed at CES. → Read More
After unboxing a pair of phablets at CES, Chinese mobile maker Huawei looks to be lining up a new flagship smartphone in its Android-based Ascend P line, ahead of the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona. Its MWC booth has a sign for an as yet unreleased Ascend P2 handset. → Read More
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