Android

When it comes to conferences, the preshow is often just as important as the opening day, if not more so. Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, is no exception.

Day 0 has already proven Android's virility with five Android 2.3 Gingerbread smartphone announcements and two Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets, with much more to come.

Even before a trio of press conferences from Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Nokia got under way, LG announced its 9-inch, dual-core Optimus Pad tablet and spilled more beans on the Optimus 3D smartphone, a lens-less way to view 3D media.

A few hours … Read more

I bought a PSP Go a year ago. Why? Because I believed the PSP could transform, become something more than it's been. Perhaps, even, achieve the promise I first felt when I held the very first PSP in my hands back in 2005. It was a magical device back then. It drew crowds, turned heads. Waiters and subway riders wanted to know what it was that I was holding, how they could buy one. My parents were fascinated. Friends wanted to hold it. A Sony portable device hasn't achieved that original PSP magic since--certainly not once the iPhone … Read more

Dying to get your hands on the highly rated Motorola Atrix 4G? No, AT&T isn't doling out hidden-away handsets from a secret stash, but buyers with their hearts set on the dual-core, Android 2.2 Froyo device that powers a laptop-like accessory can start claiming their units prior to the March 6 sale date by preordering on AT&T's site.

Keep in mind that the Atrix is no bargain--the high-end smartphone sells for $199.99 with a two-year contract. A bundled package gives you the laptop dock as well for $299.99 with a tethering … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play wasn't the only new cell phone that the company released at Mobile World Congress. The slim and media-centric Xperia Neo and Xperia Pro also had their official coming out party in Spain.

The candy bar smartphones look very much like the handset that we caught a glimpse of last week. The only physical difference between the Neo and the Pro is that the former has a virtual keyboard while the latter adds a physical keyboard.

On both handsets, the 3.7-inch touch screen supports 16.7 million colors and a 854x480-pixel resolution. Three … Read more

It's game time. At Mobile World Congress, CNET got a thumbs-and-eyeballs-on look at the much-anticipated Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, the official name of the long-rumored "PlayStation phone."

Unlike the unsettling Frankenstein-esque nightmare of a Super Bowl ad, the Xperia Play's Android 2.3 Gingerbread-plus-PlayStation duo is much cooler in the non-mutilated flesh. See for yourself in our gallery.

BARCELONA, Spain--As promised, Samsung unveiled its next-generation Galaxy S smartphone at Mobile World Congress 2011 today.

Dubbed the Samsung Galaxy S II, the handset improves on its predecessor in a number of ways. First, you've got the addition of a dual-core processor. We were originally told by the company that it was using Nvidia's Tegra 2 chipset but were later informed that it was Samsung's own chip; unfortunately, further details were not provided at the event but generally speaking you should see faster performance and graphics.

It also runs the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but unlike … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Along with the Galaxy S II, Samsung introduced its second Android tablet today on the eve of Mobile World Congress 2011.

Joining the 7-inch Galaxy Tab, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 features a larger 10.1-inch WXGA (1,280x800-pixel resolution) TFT touch screen, and runs the latest Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system. In addition, it's a Google Experience device, so the tablet will feature the stock Android user interface instead of Samsung's custom UI, TouchWiz. This should, hopefully, prevent any delays with future OS updates.

In other good news, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will … Read more

Is Motorola's Xoom being priced not to sell? That's the question a lot of folks are asking as a tipster pointed Engadget to a listing on Best Buy's Web site, showing the upcoming 10.1-inch tablet priced at $1,199.99, with preorders starting in Best Buy stores on February 17.

Over the last few weeks, some reports suggested the Xoom, which has impressive specs and is the first tablet to run Google's Android 3.0 operating system (Honeycomb), would be priced at $800. But for now, anyway, the Best Buy Web site seems to state … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--The show doesn't begin until Monday, but LG has spilled more details on its new devices for Mobile World Congress. We already knew about the Optimus 3D, but the company also will show the Optimus Pad tablet. Here are the preliminary details on each device from an LG press release.

The LG Optimus 3D will have a 1GHz dual-core processor with dual-channel and dual-memory architecture. It will offer a 3D-capable 4.3-inch WVGA display that won't require glasses. We're still not sure how that will work, but we'll find out tomorrow at LG's press … Read more