BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — HTC hasn’t announced any new devices here at Mobile World Congress, but that’s because it chose to give its latest Android flagship, the HTC One, its own press event earlier this month. It is here to show off that device, however, and it’s easy to see why the Taiwanese company wants everyone to get their hands on it.

Android smartphone vendors are often criticized for using too much plastic, and making devices that feel cheap — especially in comparison with Apple’s premium iPhone. But the HTC One is very different. Made from a block of aluminum, the device actually has a lot in common with the iPhone, and it looks and feels exactly how a high-end smartphone should.

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — As I was walking around the show floor at MWC today, I noticed a number of smartphones that looked very familiar — yet they were being paraded by Chinese companies I’d never heard of. I saw what looked like a large iPhone 5, an entire range of Samsung Galaxy devices, and a number of high-end HTC handsets.

Except they weren’t really Apple, Samsung, or HTC devices at all; they were actually cheap clones that were trying their best to look like the real thing. They even had fake accessories that were identical to the originals.

Apple and Samsung have been exchanging blows with each other in the Australian courtroom for the past two years. Neither side has emerged as a clear favorite to win, but the case is already breaking records.

Because of the enormity of the case, Australia’s Federal Court has appointed two judges to hear the case together. It’s the first time Australia’s Federal Court has ever needed to have two judges hear a case together.

The latest commercial for the Optimus G Pro starts as a homage to Apple’s iPhone 5 ad, “Cheese!”, which famously advertised iOS 6’s Panorama functionality.

Man, though, does LG one-up Apple in this advertisement, not only showing how the Optimus G Pro can create a 180 degree panorama of a scene… you can actually use the camera to stitch together a full 360 panorama as well, which LG calls a VR Panorama.

Throughout the Samsung vs. Apple patent trial, Judge Lucy Koh has been a stern and sardonic overseer that has more often than not resembled a fight between children than an actual lawsuit. Now Koh is speaking up again, telling Samsung and Apple that, once again, they are wasting everyone’s time throwing a million and one allegations at one another, and that they need to “focus and streamline” their cases against one another.