The best of Mobile World Congress 2013 – The Verge

Nokia’s Windows Phone range is complete, now it’s up to Microsoft

2013-02-28T13:40:05-05:00

Nokia MWC

Nokia launched its latest Lumia devices at Mobile World Congress this week. While many were hoping the company would unveil a 41-megapixel PureView device, or a Windows tablet, Nokia opted to flesh out its range of Lumias and give us an early look at where it's heading for 2013. With 12 Lumia products launched, excluding variants, Nokia's strategy is clear: offer colorful Lumia devices at various price points by pushing high-end features down the range. Nokia's Lumia series is broad and complete (for now), but Microsoft has to help Espoo catch the competition.

Nokia's high-end flagship is the Lumia 920. Launched in early November, the 920 h …

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With Firefox OS, Mozilla gets a little dirty to clean the mobile web

2013-02-27T13:40:04-05:00

firefox logo stock

At MWC this week, showgoers are finally getting a look at the first Firefox OS devices that will come to market in the next few months.

To be blunt, they're not very good: the ZTE Open and Alcatel One Touch Fire look and feel like low-end handsets from two or three years ago. The operating system - which is "made of the web," as Mozilla proudly proclaims - seems to struggle at times to overcome the cheap silicon it's been saddled with.

But "good" is a relative term. Firefox OS could actually be wildly successful, no matter how underwhelming the actual phones may be. And that's because - at least for now - you're not the customer; your carr …

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MWC 2013: as the show grows larger, the news gets smaller

2013-02-26T10:00:09-05:00

mwc 2013

The 2013 edition of Mobile World Congress will be remembered for two rather antithetical things: the enormous new venue of Fira Gran Via, and the distinct lack of headline-grabbing devices. In years past, attendees in Barcelona would be treated to grandiose and glitzy battles for attention between powerhouse manufacturers like HTC, Nokia, and even Microsoft. Just last year the show played host to the launch of HTC's One series, the Nokia 808 PureView, two new Sony Xperia phones, and the full Consumer Preview of Windows 8. Now contrast that to today: Nokia, Samsung, and LG all fleshed out the flabby middle of their device portfolios, Sony had …

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Stephen Elop interview: Nokia can compete with Surface

2013-02-25T09:16:40-05:00

Stephen Elop interview_stock

For all the speculation surrounding Nokia's MWC plans, the eventual launches from the Finnish company this morning proved somewhat underwhelming. High-end features like wireless charging and a super-sensitive touchscreen were trickled down into lower price ranges with the Lumia 520 and 720, but there was no new hero device, no translation of the 808 PureView's 41-megapixel camera into the Windows Phone realm, and no tablet.

We've been eagerly awaiting Nokia's entry into the highly competitive tablet space since way back in 2011 - when Stephen Elop confessed it has great potential and is of great interest to Nokia - but today the company's C …

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Asus’s Padfone Infinity is a big phone, and an even bigger tablet (hands-on)

2013-02-25T08:49:38-05:00

Asus Padfone Infinity

What do you get when you mix a phablet and a tablet? You get the Asus Padfone Infinity, which the company just announced at MWC. The docking device remains first and foremost a phone, just a big one now - a 5-inch, 1080p phone that feels surprisingly comfortable to hold despite its size. We've spent a few minutes with the Infinity, and while the device's gimmicky purpose clearly hasn't changed, the handset itself has definitely improved. It's better-made and the screen is absolutely gorgeous - docking a 1080p screen inside a 1080p screen almost seems silly.

The transition between phone and tablet mode used to be a little awkward and slow fo …

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Asus Fonepad hands-on: definitely a tablet, just one that makes phone calls

2013-02-25T08:38:43-05:00

Asus Fonepad

Before Asus announced the Fonepad at MWC in Barcelona today, we knew the device's name and little else. Now we know what Asus gets when it inverts the Padfone, in name anyway - the Fonepad is a 7-inch tablet that's a dead ringer for the Nexus 7, and splits the difference between the 5- and 10-inch screens that make up the Padfone.

We've had a few minutes to spend with the device, and though we're not sure it's worth a $50 premium over the Nexus 7, the $249 Android device is light and easy to use, and comfortable if a little cheap. The Intel-powered tablet feels as fast as an Android tablet should, and since it's a low-powered Atom chip Asus …

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Asus unveils 7-inch Fonepad with voice call support, starting from $249 in March

2013-02-25T08:19:52-05:00

fonepad

Asus is launching a 7-inch Fonepad today at Mobile World Congress. Running Android 4.1, the 7-inch Fonepad uses Intel's Atom Z2420 processor with 3G voice and mobile data support. Asus has equipped its Fonepad with a 1.2-megapixel front facing camera and a 3-megapixel on the rear. The display runs at 1280 x 800, and Asus has 1GB of RAM in its latest tablet.

Battery life is estimated at around 9 hours, and Asus will release 8GB and 16GB versions in titanium gray or champagne gold colors with a microSD slot to extend the storage. Asus says the Fonepad will be made available In March starting at just $249.

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Asus announces 5-inch 1080p PadFone Infinity

2013-02-25T07:58:51-05:00

padfone infinity

Asus has just announced its latest PadFone, the PadFone Infinity, confirming an image that leaked earlier today. Like previous models, the PadFone is an Android smartphone that docks into a large display to become a tablet. The Infinity has a 5-inch 1080p display, LTE connectivity, 64GB of storage, and a 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor. Those specs put Asus' new phone on par with the best around; the "Pad" side of the product, which Asus calls the "Infinity Station," features a 10.1-inch 1080p display as well as another battery.

Have you ever wanted to "capture up to 100 sequential images at 8 frames-per-second while …

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Lumia 520: hands-on with Nokia’s latest budget Windows Phone

2013-02-25T03:54:13-05:00

via cdn1.sbnation.com

Nokia's just unveiled its latest low-end Windows Phone 8 device, and I've spent some time with the budget handset ahead of its release by the end of March. The Lumia 520 borrows the same design language from its high-end siblings, but you're not going to get similar specifications. This is very much a low-end device, with a 4-inch WVGA display, 8GB of storage, and a 5-megapixel rear camera. Nokia has nixed NFC support, and there's no front facing camera for Skype and other video calling apps.

The device feels slightly chubby at 9.9mm thick, but at just 124g its weight is evenly distributed across the unit. Underneath the removable rear cov …

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Lumia 720 hands-on: the best Lumia body yet, but the specs let it down

2013-02-25T03:47:48-05:00

Gallery Photo: Nokia Lumia 720 hands-on photos

Nokia just announced its latest mid-range Lumia 720 at Mobile World Congress today, and I've had a chance to take a look at it ahead of its release later this quarter. At first glance this particular Lumia embodies the same design as the latest colorful Lumia range that Nokia kicked off with the release of Windows Phone 8. There's one big difference here, though: Nokia's Lumia 720 has a thin and light body that puts it on par with HTC's 8X. This body is everything the Lumia 920 should have been, but the 720's specifications let it down somewhat.

The 4.3-inch WVGA display is disappointing after you've become accustomed to large screen 720p …

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