BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — After ZTE unveiled the ZTE Open, the world’s first commercially available Firefox OS smartphone at Mobile World Congress on Monday, other manufacturers are pledging their support for Mozilla’s new open platform. Sony Mobile has now confirmed that it has “an ambition” to launch its first Firefox OS smartphones in 2014 under a new partnership with Telefonica.
BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — I’ve used both the original Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Note II for fairly lengthy periods, and although I’ve quickly gotten used to their super-sized displays, there was one thing that never failed to frustrate me. Samsung didn’t make the capacitive buttons beneath the display compatible with the S Pen, so when you’re working with the stylus, you have to move it out of the way and use your fingers to go back or access a menu.
Sure, it’s only a small flaw, but it’s still a frustrating one — as I’m sure anyone who’s ever owned a Galaxy Note will tell you. Thankfully, Samsung has fixed this with the new Galaxy Note 8.0.
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.
If you were expecting Samsung to unveil the Galaxy S4 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, prepare to be disappointed: Samsung has instead sent out invitations to a press event in New York on March 14, where they will debut their much-anticipated (and iPhone 5 challenging) new smartphone.
