Mobile World Congress

Barcelona has big mobile dreams

With a lovely Mediterranean location, an Olympic history, and a wealth of Modernisme architecture, Barcelona, Spain, is one of the planet's top tourist destinations. And if city officials have their way, the Catalan capital will be known as the "Mobile World Capital," as well.

Since the annual Mobile World Congress trade show moved to Barcelona from Cannes, France, in 2006, the city has invested heavily to keep the event, which attracted an estimated 67,000 attendees (and their expense accounts) over the course of the 2012 show last week. And last July, Barcelona got its wish when it beat out more

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Mobile World Congress awes and entertains

CES may dominate the technology calendar in the United States, but for wireless at least, Mobile World Congress is the trade show that matters. No event is more important, and as the calendar turns to February, you can bet that the entire industry will flock to Barcelona, Spain, to outflank and outshine the competition.

Of course, no gadget show would be complete without a gaggle of tech journalists scurrying to cover the news and the flood of product announcements. And as we've done over the past few years, CNET was on the ground in Barcelona to bring you the more

NFC: More than just mobile payments

Mobile World Congress isn't just about introducing new cell phones. No, the world's largest wireless show in Barcelona, Spain, also is about showing off the latest mobile technologies that may or may not change your life.

Take, for example, NFC or near field communications. Not only did many of the new devices unveiled at the show come NFC-capable, but also the NFC Cafe displayed a gallery of solutions for mobile payments technology.

Making a purchase is a prime example, of course, but NFC also can be used to secure your motorcycle, navigate your way through an unfamiliar subway more

LG's WCD-800 goes wireless to power your phone

File this under the unique but perhaps not entirely necessary, mobile accessories drawer.

In addition to the shiny new smartphones that it introduced last week at Mobile World Congress, LG also showed off a wireless charger that encourages you to use your device while it's receiving juice.

The WCD-800 is shaped like a cradle and can accommodate your phone in either a portrait or landscape position. So while you make calls, send texts, and watch a video, the charger uses electric coils located inside to power your device via magnetic fields.

It's an interesting idea, no doubt, though more

A breathalyzer in your smartphone case

BARCELONA, Spain--We're always intrigued by NTT Docomo's booth at trade shows, and this year's MWC is no different.

The company demonstrated a smartphone case with an embedded sensor for hygiene purposes. Similar to the ultra high-speed charging jacket, the device snaps onto the smartphone's chassis, much like a backup battery. However, there's a sensor, microchip, and NFC module embedded in this "jacket."

The most interesting capability of this sensor jacket has to be ranking your alcohol inebriation on a scale of one to five, one being the lowest. more

Fujitsu flaunts quad-core ICS, bucketload of dunkable phones

Like cosplay and Hello Kitty, Fujitsu phones are big in Japan. If you're wondering why you've never seen one of Fujitsu's phones, that's because they aren't currently on sale in the U.K.

All that is set to change though, as the Japanese giant is planning to shake a tail feather and export its smartphone smarts to Europe--imminently, if an FT report is on the money.

So what can you expect from Fujitsu's phones when they land on our shores?

Read more of "Fujitsu flaunts quad-core ICS, bucketload of dunkable phones" at CNET UK.

LG's Optimus L5 is a confused smartphone

BARCELONA, Spain--Sadly, the LG Optimus L5, a midrange Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) smartphone from the Korean chaebol, is one you should likely avoid.

While it's great to know affordable ICS devices will be made available, the Optimus L5 doesn't seem to have what it takes to wow even the budget consumer.

If you thought buying the handset would give you access to Google's latest mobile OS cheaply, you would be partially right. Sadly, the Optimus L5 comes with a custom UI layer that makes the experience more like Gingerbread than ICS.

Windows 8 could leapfrog Android to be the true iPad competitor

Samsung executive Hankii Yoon said at Mobile World Congress, "The best thing to survive in the market is to kill your products."

He was referring to new Samsung Android tablets cannibalizing older ones, but let's take that comment even further. The first tablet demonstrating Windows 8 at Mobile World Congress was a Samsung one. Sure, Samsung is playing the field, and it's made Windows tablets before. However, it only goes to show that if you're not the one vertically integrating software and hardware, it's a free-for-all as far as where tablet hardware might evolve next.

Panasonic Lumix Phone shows potential in hands-on pics

BARCELONA, Spain--I'm here in Barcelona, going phone crazy at Mobile World Congress. Tucked in among the huge, monster-powered smartphones is a new blower from Panasonic that's bearing the Lumix branding proudly worn by its superb line of cameras.

Panasonic hasn't had much to show off in the mobile line in a long time, but has unveiled the new Eluga and Eluga Power smartphones to us hungry tech journalists. The Lumix range of phones, however, dispense with the slim and sleek designs but pack lenses and sensors you'd normally expect to find on some of its dedicated compact snappers.

The Lumix Phone 101P that I had a hands-on with packs a 13.2-megapixel sensor--bigger than the sensors you'd normally get in phones, which should hopefully result in more detailed images. At just under 10mm (less than half an inch) thick, it's a tad bigger than many new phones we've seen this year, but it is waterproof, so taking some snaps in the rain shouldn't be a problem.

Read more of "Panasonic Lumix Phone shows potential in hands-on pics" at CNET UK.