Mobile World Congress Review of News: LG G Pro 2, Galaxy S5, Nokia X, HTC & Qualcomm

mobileworldcongress2014Today at Mobile World Congress there were new announcements and news from LG, Samsung, Nokia, HTC, Facebook, Qualcomm and more.LG announced the LG G Pro 2 and G2 mini.  The G Pro 2 has a 5.9" screen and many updated camera features such as taking two photos at once. Features include 1W Hi-Fi speaker, Knock-on security, 13MP camera, 4K Ultra HD video recording, content lock, and dual browser.

The LG G2 Mini has a 4.7" screen, rear-key, quad-core processor, Android KitKat and will come in a 3G dual-SIM model with LG's software features. New LG series phones include the L40, L70, L90 and F70.

There were multiple connected car announcements from BMW, Jasper, Tech Manhindra, Qualcomm, Samsung & WiPro

Samsung UnPacked their latest Galaxy S, the Samsung Galaxy S5 with a 5.1" Super AMOLED touchscreen, quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, ANT+, microSD slot, 16GB camera, home fingerprint scanner button,  water/dust resistance and 16GB or 32GB storage options. It will be release in the U.S. on April 11 with a heart rate monitor that will work with the Gear Fit.

The Gear Fit is a wristband that is smaller than the Galaxy Gear 2 or Gear 22 Neo with a portrait screen with a 1.84" screen with a 210mAh battery, Bluetooth, changeable strap, accerlerometer, gyro and heart rate monitor.  It works with Galaxy smartphones for incoming calls, emails, SMS alerts and apps.

Nokia announced smartphones that look like Windows Phones but use Android and Microsoft cloud, the Nokia X phones are budget priced and include the Nokia XL, X and X+. The 4"-screened Nokia X will cost less than $100. X phones will have Nokia Here maps, Microsoft One Cloud.

HTC announced two mid-range smartphones the HTC Desire 816  with a 5.5" 720p touchscreen, 1.5GB RAM, 2600 mAh battery, 8GB storage and 13MP camera. The HTC Desire 600 has a 4.7" screen, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage 2040 mAh battery and 8MP camera.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg as a keynote speaker touted the need for a free tier of Internet service that encourages subscribers to pay for a higher speed/level. In the Philippines, Globe offered free Facebook access and charged to access to other sites. He asked for more carriers to join the organization.

Meanwhile for those who care about privacy the Android Blackphone will sell for $629 and feature 4.7" screen, 2GHz quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, 8GB camera and 4G LTE running the PrivateOS operating system for private searching and apps.

Globally, Wi-fi usage represented 78 per cent of all data consumed on smartphones for all data subscribers in the markets studied, reported Mobidia Technology. 4G subscribers used 1.9GB in December 2014 while 3G subscribers used 894MB.

Qualcomm revealed the Snapdragon 615, it calls the first 64bit, octa-core processor with 5-mode global LTE.

The Mobile World Congress exhibit floor space is * 2.6 million square feet (45 football fields). Pole Star is offering iPhone and Android mapping apps during the event.

Sprint will soon offer the Harman Kardon Onyx Studio wireless speaker system.