A week ago today we were running all over Barcelona in one of the more insane days of coverage in recent memory. So many devices, companies and events. So how'd we do? It's hard to not wake up in Barcelona excited. It's a beautiful city, first of all. And it takes its time getting out of bed on the weekends, so on occasion you can feel like you have the streets to yourself. I'd...
It's almost not fair to write about Vive, the virtual reality system that HTC and software company Valve announced here at MWC. "You have to experience it" was the line the folks who make the thing kept telling us leading up to the announcement.
Your Galaxy S6 won't have to look like everyone else's, that is if you can find a theme that fits your style. Most of the criticism surrounding Samsung's software is about the looks more than the functionality, but with the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge Samsung is giving users the ability to quickly and easily change the look of TouchWiz. Usually reserved to those who want to root their phones...
The best of what we saw from Mobile World Congress 2015 As we wrap up another MWC, it's time to talk about the shining gems that we've seen this year. Android had a huge presence this year, with several huge announcements along the way. There were things announced here that could easily be the start of major shifts in the mobile market we play in today, as well as incremental but no...
Let's get this out of the way: there are some similarities between the recently announced Galaxy S6 and iPhone 6. A lot of ink has been spilled over Samsung copying Apple's designs, but it's not as bad as you might think. The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Apple iPhone 6 both have glass fronts, a physical home button below the screen and metal around the sides. They have LTE radios and are...
It's a massive show this year, with exciting news coming at us from every direction. We've had boots on the ground for several days now, and the sheer volume of news coming out of Barcelona this week has been nothing short of exciting. We've seen huge product announcements, brief glimpses into the future, and a whole lot of new ideas that are going to keep everyone quite busy for a...
Imaging is a big focus of Samsung's new Galaxy S6 and S6 edge — not only is the Korean company talking up image quality, but also how quickly the camera can be launched at any time — Samsung says the camera can be brought to life in as little as 0.7 seconds using a variety of shortcuts. To put this to the test, we spent some time with the phone at Mobile World Congress, and captured the...
GSMA, the group behind Mobile World Congress, has handed out their Global Mobile awards for the 2015 show. Big winners this year include LG, Apple, Motorola, and Microsoft. The award for Best Smartphone this year was split, taken home both by the LG G3, and Apple's iPhone 6, both beating out last year's winner, HTC. The Android Central review of the LG G3 called it a "fantastic...
So this is the HTC Vive. Or, rather, it's the visor for the Vive, the virtual reality system produced by HTC and Valve and announced here at Mobile World Congress. And this is what it looks like on my face. The outside side of the visor isn't really the interesting part, of course. It's what you see inside that matters. But this sort of gives you an idea of the physical nature of the...
The $299 Pebble Time Steel starts shipping in July and will be available in silver, black, and gold. Early birds can pre-order via Kickstarter today for $250. Just a week ago, Pebble Time launched on Kickstarter and became the fastest growing crowd-funding project in history. Raising well over their $500,000 goal, massive interest has already been shown in the next-generation device...
Once synonymous with portable music, Walkman has been one of Sony's most iconic brands. From classic cassette-based offerings of the early 1980s to the wackier, Android-based versions of 2015, the purpose of a Walkman product is clear — it's all about music on the go. So it wasn't surprising to see Walkman name used in Sony's own music app, which is preloaded on all the manufacturer's...
It's a big week for the folks at Cyanogen Inc. as it enters into a partnership with another Android phone manufacturer. Hot on the heels of a new partnership with Qualcomm, the Cyanogen team have announced a device with Alcatel OneTouch. The Hero 2+ is a North American remix on the original Hero 2, which we took a look at back in September. This new version swaps out the MT8392 found...
Samsung boasts that the software on the Galaxy S6 has been pared back by as much as 37 percent. But a couple of new additions are raising eyebrows, and probably just taking up space. I can remember sitting in more than one briefing for the latest Next Big Thing and being fairly overwhelmed by all the software features Samsung packs into its Galaxy S line. I'm pretty good at this...
Today ARCHOS unveiled a new line of tablets dubbed Magnus, offering up to 256GB of internal storage. In addition, they announced ARCHOS Fusion Storage, which combines internal and micro SD card storage for increased storage of apps, games, and files on an Android device. The new line of Magnus tablets include the 101 Magnus, 94 Magnus and 101 Magnus +. The 101 Magnus is sporting a...
We've been intrigued by the idea of the HP Pro Slate 8 and 12 since they were announced, and after checking them out at MWC 2015, we're really kind of impressed. There was a time not long ago where the only tablet manufacturers worth mentioning were Apple and Samsung. Today that's all changed, with practically every major company that makes Android tablets actually making one that's...
Sony's latest mid-ranger, announced at Mobile World Congress, is a 64-bit waterproof phone running Lollipop out of the box Sony didn't surprise us with a new high-end flagship phone at Mobile World Congress this year, however it did introduce a solid new mid-range handset — the Xperia M4 Aqua. With a 5-inch 720p display and a plastic back panel, the M4 Aqua sits squarely in the...
Sony brings Lollipop, Snapdragon 810 and a 2K display to its latest Xperia tablet. Although Sony's tablet line hasn't seen massive widespread success, the Japanese manufacturer has arguably offered some of the most compelling Android slates around. Last year saw the arrival of the Xperia Tablet Z2 and Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact which, in spite of their wonky branding, offered high-end...
Microsoft has announced a new foldable Bluetooth keyboard that works on cross-platform devices. Dubbed the Universal Foldable Keyboard, Microsoft's latest accessory works with iPads, iPhones, Android smartphones and tablets as well as Windows tablets. Also announced is compatibility with Windows Phone, starting with Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2 as well as Windows 10 for phones, which is...
Google today announced that Waze will be an option as pre-installed software on Android smartphones. The move will provide OEM partners (and carriers) the opportunity to have the service already installed and ready to go for when consumers first switch on their new handsets. While no one likes bloatware, it'll be a welcome move by those who use the service and would like to see Waze...
Google's Sundar Pichai dropped something of a bombshell today at Mobile World Congresss 2015: Google is working on some sort of limited wireless operating status — becoming a cellular service provider of some manner. The idea is to show what's possible, Pichai said during his session at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Basically Google is exploring how to integrate Wifi and...