Next week will see all eyes in the tech world focus on Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress that will come to the Catalan city from February 24-27, 2014. As per usual, CEOs and wunderkinds alike will be in attendance along with a bevy of journalists that make the congress the success it has come to be over the decade. While there will be no shortage of exhibitors and speakers, let’s take a second to look at the most anticipated items the congress is expected to offer attendees and readers alike.
The Samsung Galaxy S5
Unlike a number of exhibitors who crave the anticipation of the event, Samsung has always craved the spotlight when Barcelona rolls around and this year will see the first day playing host to the launch of its Galaxy S5. The phone is expected to come in near “phablet” in size with a screen size of 2560 X 1440 and additional sensitivity to the touch. Rumors suggest that it may also have a fingerprint scanner built into the home button rather than the screen. Additionally, the phone should feature a 16 MP Camera and a much changed user interface.
Samsung is also expected to unveil its Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch.
The Nokia X
Nokia’s first foray into Android will be sure to raise eyebrows as well at the MWC. Some question remains whether this collaboration with Google’s operating system will have Nokia using its own app store or whether it will use Google’s, never mind mapping and email.
The phone will also be unveiled on the first day of the congress. From photos making their way around the Internet expect dual-SIM support, 4″ WVGA screen. The phone is not meant to have a hi-res camera with 3MP being predicted so it may come in on the cheap end of the pricing spectrum.
HTC Smartwatch(s)
Adding to the buzz of this year’s congress is the belief that HTC has two prototype watches that it wishes to show the world next week. It’s believed that they will be made available by Christmas and feature both Bluetooth connectivity and Qualcomm’s Mirasol display. It’s also believed that HTC has a music-playing wristband it wishes to launch.
Sony Smartphone and Tablet
Sony will look to make up for its meager launches at CES by showing the world the Xperia Z2 “Sirius”.
It’s rumored to have a 5.2″ screen and run Android 4.4 KitKat on an updated version of Sony’s software. The tablet is expected to be a mere 6.4 mm thick, with a 2.3 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor and 16GB of internal storage, but again…this is rumor season.
Mozilla OS Firefox/ Firefox Android
Firefox OS which runs HTML5 across multiple smartphones turns one year old this year and Mozilla will use that occasion to demo the newest versions of Firefox Marketplace and Firefox for Android, a customizable solution for integration.
