MWC 2009: Preview
The Mobile World Congress opens on Monday. One week about mobile phones and other telecom news. We will of course bring you the latest news, but what can we expect? Lets give you a preview.
The last couple of weeks were full of rumours about the largest telecom congress of the year. It is about time we point out the main issues to expect. We will give you news of each brand, starting with Samsung.
Samsung
Samsung is a brand that is pretty good at leaking information about not yet officially made devices, but also the amount of new devices is a feature of the South Koreans. The brand is, as always, fighting against its competitors and therefore it is no surprise that we already know a lot about the new Samsung devices for 2009. Some of the devices had so much information leaked out in the press that Samsung has already made them official, like the touchscreen slider; the S8300 UltraTouch.
Samsung i8910 Acme
The device that is aiming at the most media attention is the Samsung i8910 Acme. The name is quite remarkable, the looks are impressive. The slim touchscreen device has a 8 megapixel camera with everything you wish for. The display is an AMOLED and also the i7110 has this type of display.
We are very curious to see the device in real life and wonder how the device is working with the new Symbian S60 5th Edition. This is the first time an operating system is being used on a device different than a Nokia. Our expectations are high!
Samsung M7600
The musical Samsung GT-M7600 is probably going to surprise us in a positive way, because the device has the Bang&Olufsen technique to get an even better sound coming out of the speakers.
The device has some similarties with the PSP and the iPhone. The large display controls the entire device, like the LifeVibes MixDJ software which enables you to act like a real DJ.
Samsung "Marcel" en S7350
This device has not yet been discussed on our website. We only know this device as "Marcel" and this slider device is going to be the first device in the UltraTouch serie. The S7300 UltraTOUCH is also part of this serie. But it has less interesting specs, like for instance a 2 magapixel camera.
We have heard that we can also expect a more mid-range device; the S7350. This device supposedly already has 3G internet, a 5 megapixel camera and MicroSDHC memory card slot. Images are still missing, but we have heard that they wouldn't differ that much from the "Marcel". It is pretty reasonable to think that these devices are the same, but we'll give you more information about this later on.
Samsung S7220 "Eltz"
We can also expect that the new Samsung S7220 Eltz is going to use the new AMOLED technique. Another spec of this device is A-GPS.
12 megapixel and 3x optical zoom?
Another persisting rumour is about a Samsung device with a 12 megapixel camera. We haven't found any images of this device yet, which is quite remarkable. They are apparently able to keep a device secret when they really want to. Or is this perhaps not true? And than the final rumour; there will be no 12 megapixel phone.
The upgrade from 8 to 12 megapixel goes hand in hand with the upgrade of the current 8 megapixel models with the option of 3x optical zoom. Optical zoom is still staying ahead with the development of cameras on phones. The only device with optical zoom is the Samsung G800. But the image quality is extremely poor.
Android phone?
Another rumour is that Samsung was going to present a smartphone with Android. According to other rumours this is not going to happen. They are indeed developing the device, but they can not show it to us yet.
Sony Ericsson
We haven't heard much news from Sony Ericsson. Normally one or more devices leak out, but this year we haven't heard anything. And thanks to the preview of the C903 and the W395 we expect some exciting news this week. Sunday NewMobile.com will be present at the press conference and we hope to finally see all the devices we are waiting for all this time.
Sony Ericsson "Hikaru"
One of the devices we can expect this sunday is the "Hikaru" Walkman phone. It probably will get a different product name, but for now we will call it the "Hikaru".
Expect a slider phone with 8 GB of internal memory for all your music. And 8 is the lucky number for Hikaru, because that is also the amount of megapixel the camera is getting. Another spec that is striking about this new device is the 3.5mm audio jack for your own headset.
Nokia
There isn't a lot of news from Nokia, expect the business Nokia E75. The device has a side-slide QWERTY keyboard and has probably also A-GPS, WiFi, FM Radio. Other remarkable thing about the device is its large battery; 1500 mAh. This is pretty big for Symbian and it is the same amount as the battery of the E71.
But besides the E75 no other devices of Nokia? This seems quite unlikely. Nokia is really good in keeping their new prototypes indoors. We would be disappointed if the brand isn't able to show us anything new. There is a rumour that we can expect a 8 megapixel Nserie soon. We can't wait!
Own App Store
A rumour that has turned into reality is that Nokia is introducing its own App Store; an online store that sells applications. For Symbian S60 devices this is already existing, for S40 not yet. The succes of the App Store of Apple has shown producers how they need to do it. Besides Apple, Samsung and Vodafone we expect the officlal opening of the App Store of Nokia.
Microsoft
No, we do not expect a Zune phone. We do expect the announcement of Windoes Mobile 6.5. This new version can be seen as a gateway towards Windows 7. There are quite some rumours about the names. That for instance Windows Mobile is for sure going to be Windows Phone.
Don't wait for Windows Mobile 6.5 devices, because you probably have to wait a while. But that is, like a lot on this page, also a rumour.
App Store
But an own App Store can nowadays not be missing. This time you can only buy Windows Mobile applications. The Store can be compared with, what a surprise, the iPhone App Store from Apple.
My Phone online service
Microsoft will also offer its 'cloud' service during the MWC; my Phone. This is actually the reaction to Apples MobileMe. It enables users to back-up information online. That is handy when you for instance loose your phone. Just sync and you have regained all your contact information, agenda items etc. But of course there has to be, just like with Apple, a website that enables you to see the information.
We have indicated the similarities with MobileMe of Apple, but the service also has some similarities with how Andorid is dealing with your Google Account information. The difference with My Phone of Microsoft is the fact that information is only synchronized once a day. In the beginning the service can be used at no additional costs. Whether the service will stay for free is not yet known.
