Omio News Blog

Top 4 Handsets from Mobile World Congress 2010

HTC Desire – ‘In Your Face, Google!’

Google must be livid- barely had the white-hot buzz on their HTC-manufactured Nexus One started to cool, when leaks came through of the HTC Bravo, which looked undeniably similar.

Officially announced at MWC as the HTC Desire, the handset is essentially a Nexus One, but better. Underneath the stunningly vivid AMOLED screen, there’s a superfast Snapdragon processor, the latest version of Android OS, enhanced 3G capabilities and WiFi and a sharp 5MP camera.

The main improvement however, is the sleek optical track pad which, combined with HTC’s super-easy to use Sense UI, makes for one of the most delightful navigations since Blackberry replaced their trackballs.

With the Nexus One only available to order over the internet, the HTC Desire is poised to clean up this year.

Available on preorder from a variety of retailers now, expect to see the HTC Desire arrive in April.

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Form Factor Acrobatics from Motorola’s Backflip

Sporting a unique design, with a track pad nestled on the reverse of the QWERTY keypad, the Motorola Backflip has certainly drawn a lot of curiosity, but going into MWC, we still wondered if it would be any good.

After a hands-on in Barcelona last week we reckon the Backflip is a winner!

First of all, the Backflip’s form is as comfortable as it is quirky. Meanwhile, the QWERTY is of the best we’ve used – with large spaced out keys, perfect for fat fingers like ours.

Sure, it might not tote the latest version of Android (it runs v.1.5) but as Motorola’s third Google-based phone, this is Motorola’s chance to get the formula right.

Gone are the lag-inducing visual fireworks as experience on the Milestone and as a result it feels similar to the original DEXT – with simple widgets sitting atop an uncluttered UI.

The overall result is that Motorola have produced a refreshing handset in an increasingly clone-like market.

Could the Backflip be the phone to bring Motorola back from the brink? Quite possibly.

Available on these shores from April.

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X10 Mini Pro –World’s Smallest Android Makes Us Drool

After hearing bits and bobs about the X10, the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini came as a bit of a surprise to us.

Not only does it hold the prize for smallest Android handset, but we can also confirm that it is – THE BOMB. But a very small bomb… an incendiary device perhaps?

Sony Ericsson offer a highly customisable version of Android, in contrast to Motorola’s stripped down presentation of google’s OS. At it’s centre is a Social-Media Time-Scape which allows you to manage all your communications with contacts from a single place.

Moreover, the X10 Mini offers customisable shortcuts in the four corners of the device’s cute 2.5” QVGA screen, making navigation even more simple and going some way in sidestepping the frustrations of having to operate a tiny handset with multiple button-pushes.

And if you feel you need a QWERTY, then Sony Ericssson have thrown that in with the Mini Pro too.

You won’t have to wait long to get your mits on this little beast either… expect to see Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro and X10 Mini deals on Omio at the beginning of April.

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HTC Smart

Despite more entry-level phones now claiming to grant you access to all your favourite social networks, few of these actually deliver a satisfactory experience. HTC Smart on the other hand, offers the first smartphone experience at a low price, with uncompromised functionality:

The HTC Smart represents the future of entry-level handsets.

Conceived and executed around the concept of HTC’s “people-centricity”, the HTC Smart features the ‘Sense’ UI, which at it’s core features an integrated friend stream that pulls together all your phone conversations, email, SMS and IM’s into one place.

Clean compact design on the outside is then mirrored on the inside with a clean and efficient BREW MP Operating System, courtesy of Qualcomm.

At half the price of other smart phones, the HTC Smart punches way above it’s weight.

HTC are confident that this is the phone that will entice the youth market away from PAYG and into the wider world of social messaging on the move. Having tried this handset out at MWC, we’re inclined to agree.

Expect to see HTC Smart deals available on O2 from April.

MWC 2010: 50 Million Opera Mini Users Make The World Look Beautiful

One of the prettier things at Mobile World Congress, a visualisation Opera had at their booth illustrating real-time page load impressions from some of the 50 million users of their Mini mobile browser across the globe.

Breathtaking.

MWC 2010: Motorola Booth Tour – All A MotoBLUR

We are all pleasantly surprised at Motorola’s return to relevance in the mobile game, betting the farm on taking the Android OS close to their bosom and coming back with a bold bunch of phones, as well as decent customisation with the MotoBLUR interface.

Whilst we hear that the US manufacturer might have already been tapped up to make the next Google phone in the form of the Shadow, but we were focussed on the present at Mobile World Congress and Motorola certainly had some decent phones to show.

Whilst the idea to offer a stream of instant messages, tweets and status updates directly to a handset’s homescreen or widget might have been refined (and rinsed) by the competition, but MotoBLUR still offers the original ‘phone with social skills’ experience on Android.

The Motorola DEXT was present and correct, a forerunner that lacked a bit of flair in execution and build quality, but still served as a great proof of concept that Android widgets could perform equally as well as blanket customisation to Google’s operating system.

Building on that social networking heritage was the Motorola BACKFLIP, seeing its first European airing here at Mobile World Congress.

The idea takes the experience from the DEXT’s slider to a reverse-hinged clamshell device, adding a touchpad behind the display for unobscured scrolling.

A gentle tap on the pad serves as a click, whilst the keyboard and build quality have both been tightened up significantly.

The insanely quirky form factor and novel touch method of the Backflip may not be copied by the rest, but certainly demonstrated Motorola’s individuality yet again.

The Motorola QUENCH presents yet another form factor – the single candybar – for use with the MotoBLUR social synching service, chucking out the QWERTY keyboard and offering a responsive touchpad at the bottom of the device.

Specifications are largely the same as for the original DEXT, with a 3.1-inch display, Android 1.5, 3G and HSDPA. Browsing is a bit better than expected, with multi-touch support and YouTube integration.

A 5-megapixel auto-focus camera is also carried over, this time with the addition of an LED flash.

Rounding out the selection was a few handsets (such as the Motocubo, below) that have only seen release in the far flung corners of the globe, but show Motorola’s insight and innovation in the form factor of hardware.

What was most immediate about Motorola’s stand at this year’s Mobile World Congress was the difference that twelve months has made for the company. Last year, there was barely a single handset on display, and a focus on enterprise solutions and audio cancelling technology.

This year was a vibrant display of Android handsets, a proud demonstration of a calculated risk in Android that has paid off a little, if not in spades.

With the recent news that the business will split into two separate entities, perhaps this new found freedom will see Motorola’s mobile division return to those halcyon RAZR phone days. Their turn out at MWC was certainly a good start.

Universal Mobile Phone Charger Approved: One Size Fits All

A universal charger for all mobile phones took a significant step closer to becoming a reality last week, with the International Telecommunication Union – a branch of the United Nations – giving it the go-ahead.

Manufacturers having brand-specific chargers which often become incompatible when people upgrade results in an estimated 51,000 tonnes of wastage, according to the GSMA.

New energy efficient phone chargers not only conform to a micro-USB plug – a standard currently used by many gadgets including cameras – they are also able to save a potential 13.6 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by not having to be disposed of when owners recycle mobile phones.

“This is a significant step in reducing the environmental impact of mobile charging,” said Malcolm Johnson, director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau.

Whilst not compulsory to switch over to the standardised chargers, many major handset makers pledged support at Mobile World Congress including Nokia, Samsung, LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson, as well as operators 3, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange and O2-owner Telefonica.

The BlackBerry Storm already ships with a micro-USB charger whilst Sony Ericsson phones are planned to be bundled with it in 2010.

Great news for both the consumer and the environment and also well overdue, we say.

LG Watch Phone Gets UK Pricing, Release Date On Orange!

Orange have certainly gone for the exclusivity angle for the LG GD910 watch phone, a sleek device that has turned many heads since appearing on the catwalks at Mobile World Congress.

They will be releasing the first of their ‘future phones’ range on the 27th of August at the Orange Shop in Bond Street, at a decidedly designer price tag of £500.

They will also be releasing a limited number of GD910′s through the official Orange web site in mid-September, allowing you to still pick one up if your helicopter doesn’t get clearance to land in Central London or if you are currently in the Seychelles for your summer hols…

The admittedly very stylish piece of cutting edge tech is an exclusive to the Orange boutique, and offers a full touch screen interface on the tiny 1.43″ display, in-built speakers, 3G connectivity including video-calling, and even MP3 playback.

Coming in a lot cheaper than the initial rumoured cost of £1,000, a GD910 at half that price (before considering the cost of a monthly contract) still seems like a pricey proposition… We will brave the queues and bring you a detailed review when the watch phone is released!

UPDATE: Now with video demo from Orange!

Sony Ericsson : Interview With Head Of Portfolio Planning, Steve Walker

Having been accidentally bundled into an intense analyst briefing with Franis Schmeer, Head of Corporate Strategy and VP of Sony Ericsson (notes in a future interview!) at Mobile World Congress, we came out plenty of stuff to discuss with their Head of Portfolio Planning Steve Walker (left in the below image) and Merran Wrigley, Head of External Comms. and Global PR.

OMIO: We hear that the ‘branded’ devices will be scaled down across the Sony Ericsson portfolio in 2009. What’s the better selling between Walkman and Cybershot devices?

More Walkman phones, due to more being in the marketplace, it started about a year and a half before Cybershot. The Walkman was the first Sony brand to be used with a phone, and has sold in excess of 100 million units. Cybershot has sold around 50 million.

OMIO: And the UK availability and release dates for your new breed of devices announced?

There is a really good fit between the Sony Ericsson brand and the UK, so they will all be released there. Some before summer, some after summer.

Merran Wrigley: S-E had over 160 journalists attending our UK press conference on Monday after our Sunday night announcements, so the interest is very much there!

OMIO: You mentioned that Cybershot and Walkman phones are going to be reduced in volume. Is this a global strategy?

The UK market is important, but not the only one to see these changes, they will occur globally. We will still very much see Walkman and Cybershot phones in the range, but they may be the slightly lower down segments, perhaps for someone taking their first step from a voice phone to something richer.

As you go up in the market, people don’t want to have to make that compromise of music or camera phone, they might just choose something else.

Read more…

Mobile World Congress 2009 In Pictures

Yes, we took a lot of pictures at Mobile World Congress. A lot.

Yet many pale in comparison to the awesome pics that self-proclaimed hack Sylvie Barak of the Inquirer managed to capture.

From booth babes to beautiful skylines, her pics are a good taster of the manic atmosphere of MWC 2009.

Go here and here to check out her handiwork. We took some pics too, they’re pretty good!

The CBOSS girls had everyone engrossed in Business Geography Expansion.

Read more…

Motorola Booth Tour: Mobile World Congress 2009

Ahh, Motorola. Despite the expanse of their stand, they had little by way of new handsets and certainly none of the fruits of their Android labour was on show. It was all about ‘home networks’ and ‘personal media experiences,’ with little room made for mobile related stuff. Which was strange.

All the ones on display were fairly well known, with the only draw being the ‘reassuringly expensive’ Motorola Aura.

Knowing that it is hard to get people excited about a £2000 handmade phone, they did what any self-respecting company would want to show during the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression…took it to Amosu and filled the bezel with diamonds!

Packing 99 brilliant cut VS diamonds, the Motorola Aura ‘Diamoniqe’ will be limited to a production run of only 50 handsets. At £4995, it may not be more of an investment than an impulse purchase, but it was an interesting distraction from all their talk of networks and CrystalTalk technology.

However, Motorola are going to have to sell a lot more than 50 Auras if they want to get back to former fortunes. A lack of interesting devices and reliance on staples like the RAZR series has caused a great deal of trouble in recent months. Something tells me that a big Motorola Android phone announcement will be pretty soon if current leakage is anything to go by…

Sony Ericsson Booth Tour : Mobile World Congress 2009

Squishing together their Sunday night shindig and official stand is the order of the day, as Sony Ericsson had a lot to show off this year!

Obviously, the big announcement was for the Sony Ericsson ‘Idou’ handset, the first phone to champion their new ‘Entertainment Unlimited’ service, as well as their new positioning as the communication entertainment brand.

Running Symbian Foundation software whilst retaining the familiar Sony Ericsson user interface, the Idou is a multimedia behemoth. With a 12.1 megapixel camera good enough to leave your SLR at home, Walkman-quality music and video playback and a rich touch based user experience, the Idou epitomises this idea of ‘convergence’ in Sony Ericsson’s future devices.

However, the Idou is far from showing up in your local Carphone Warehouse, the name is merely a placeholder and the ones on display were all demo handsets in various stages of completion. That being said, it already looks to be in impressive shape, with the slick user interface and rich and vivid screen proving a draw for many. How on earth did Sony Ericsson manage to keep this one under wraps?

We just hope that they don’t keep us hanging like with the Xperia X1. The handset looked amazing, and the panel interface intuitive and gorgeous, yet it all proved a tad disappointing upon its eventual release. Being quick to get handsets to retail is almost as important as the initial innovation, and the Idou had better capitalise on this before the competitors reveal something even better!

Sony were far from neglecting their highly successful Walkman and Cybershot brands however, with a buffet of both mid range and high end handsets on display.

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T-Mobile Booth Tour : Mobile World Congress 2009

The T-Mobile Booth was more like a separate hospitality building full of comfy chairs, tasty food and magenta coloured…everything.

First concern, whose idea was it to have a cook grilling meat indoors? That place was hotter than the surface of the sun, we could only spend about fifteen minutes in there before our vision started getting blurry and we got hungry at the same time!

What they did have were some phones!

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