Smartphone, technology aficionados as well as regular readers of the site know that the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) is just around the corner. From the 2nd March to 5th March with pre-events scheduled for the 1st as well, the upcoming week is going to be a cornucopia of smartphone goodness and we’re on ground already to bring you the latest on the latest! With the tone set, we thought it right to bring you a quick rundown of the latest buzz from Barcelona about what to expect. So without further ado, here’s the top five announcements we expect from MWC 2015.
1. Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge
Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few weeks, you’ll know that the Samsung Galaxy S6 is on it’s way. With declining sales in the high-end segment and stiff competition lined up, Samsung has it’s work cut out for it. The Galaxy S6 is expected to boast cutting edge Exynos silicon, industry leading camera specifications as well as a refined build. Will we see a brand new design? That remains to be seen but sources indicate that there will be metal. While the Galaxy S6 should be a good phone in its own right, the Galaxy S6 appears to be the more appealing device. Eschewing the somewhat useful display from the Note Edge, the Galaxy S6 Edge will instead opt for a curved display on both edges. These however will not stretch over as much as on the Note Edge. An interesting feat of engineering but will it serve any purpose? That’s something Samsung will have to convince us of.
2. HTC One M9
HTC promises an evolution with its next generation hardware and if it plays its cards right, we see nothing wrong with that. Refining the shortcomings of the HTC One M8 would be a very good start towards gaining back marketshare. The HTC One M9 is believed to sport a design that is nigh identical to the device it replaces, the display will also be same 1080p panel. What’ll change however is the rear facing UltraPixel camera with a 20MP sensor taking it’s place. The 4MP UltraPixel camera is believed to have been moved to the front of the phone. Internally, the phone will be powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 810 chipset clocked at 2.5Ghz with a healthy amount of RAM onboard. HTC’s BoomSound speakers will also gain Dolby Surround Sound capabilities which should be quite interesting. We’ll be live from the HTC event this Sunday with the low down on the One M9.
3. Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet
While Sony is believed to have pushed back the launch of the Xperia Z4 smartphone, the tablet is definitely on target for a MWC launch. Not much is known about this device but we can make an educated guess as to its specifications. Expect a 2K display alongside fast Snapdragon 810 silicon sandwiched into an incredibly slim profile. Of course, the Xperia Z4 tablet should also be water resistant like it’s predecessor. In addition to the Z4 tablet, we expect to see a couple of mid range and low end phones at the show.
4. Microsoft: Windows 10, Lumia 640, 1330 and more?
Microsoft has a major showing lined up for Mobile World Congress but our sources indicate that the focus will mostly be centered on mass market handsets. Don’t hold your breath for a successor to the Lumia 930 or the niche but much loved Lumia 1020 just yet. Upgraded handsets in the form of the Lumia 640 and Lumia 1330 are what we expect to see with larger displays, faster processors under the hood. It’s not hard to believe that Microsoft will also reveal a few more details about Windows 10 for phones. Will it reveal the roll out date? Your guess is as good as ours.
5. LG Urbane LTE Smartwatch
LG’s upcoming smartwatch doesn’t use Android Wear. While for most users that would be enough to write it off, we’ll like to give it the benefit of doubt and give it a fair chance. The smartwatch looks very appealing on paper and packs one of the largest batteries (700mAh) amongst wearables. The smartwatch will have LTE built in and will allow you to make calls over VoLTE. There’s a huge range of sensors built in including a gyroscope, compass, accelerometer, heart rate monitor, GPS, atmospheric pressure sensor as well as NFC. It is interesting to see LG develop a proprietary smartwatch operating system while also selling the LG Urbane Smartwatch powered by Android Wear but lacking LTE support. This is one device that’ll we’ll definitely be seeking out on the showfloor.
After a long time, Mobile World Congress is shaping up to be the device centric event it has always been as opposed to a business networking opportunity and we couldn’t be more excited about this. There’ll be more announcements of course, so keep hitting the refresh button for the latest and greatest from the FoneArena team at Mobile World Congress 2015!