As Barcelona readies for Mobile World Congress next week, we examine the top rumours floating around ahead of the massive mobile show.
Windows Mobile 6.5
A new mobile Windows platform has been rumoured for a while. It has been almost a year since Windows Mobile 6.1 was announced, so it's about time the mobile platform was updated.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer accidentally name-dropped the platform in Australia late last year, suggesting it will largely contain tweaks and optimisation enhancements rather than a full-blown overhaul.
From pictures, we can see that the menu system takes on a redesigned honeycomb look menu screen, new look home screen and Internet Explorer search application which looks similar to Google Search.
Microsoft has also announced three new services that will be launched at the same time as Windows Mobile 6.1. SkyBox syncs phone information such as contacts, calendar, emails and SMS to a cloud storage system that allows automatic backup and retrieval. SkyLine is the business version of SkyBox with the additional option of hosting business Exchange servers with Microsoft, and SkyMarket is the online store for Windows Mobile apps.
Samsung
As always, hardware launches will take centre stage at Mobile World Congress. Samsung's launches are probably the most exciting, as it shows the company is moving its focus to smartphones.
The Samsung Pivot will apparently run on Windows Mobile 6.5, and is expected to boast a 5.0-megapixel camera, Qwerty keyboard, LED flash, aGPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
The Louve will run on Windows Mobile 6.1, and features a 3.2-megapixel camera, tilting screen, with a fully customisable Samsung-skinned interface.
Samsung has also pre-launched it application store, offering 1,100 applications for S60 and Windows Mobile devices from launch. At the moment, 11 handsets are supported, including the i8510, G810 and i900 Omnia, but more will follow soon.
HTC
As the whole of HTC's roadmap was inadvertently leaked at the beginning of the year, it's pretty hit and miss to judge which ones will launch at Mobile World Congress.
The Touch Cruise 09 is a pretty safe bet as one device to pop up. The Cruise 09 follows up on the original Cruise and is said to feature HTC's TouchFLO interface, a 2.8-inch 65K colour QVGA touchscreen, 3G with HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 3.2 megapixel fixed focus camera. It is also the first of HTC's phones to include Advanced Navigation System and HTC Footprints location-based services.
Android
New launches on Google's Android will always be the talk of the town as the newest platform, especially as up to now there's only been one handset available running on Google's OS.
One company that will definitely be launching a new device on Google's system will be General Mobile. The DSTL1 will feature a 3-inch touchscreen WQVGA display, Sharp-branded 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, Wi-Fi/GPRS/EDGE, 4GB internal memory which is expandable to 12GB with an 8GB microSD memory card, and a whole range of preloaded software.
T-Mobile has also announced that it is currently developing more Android-based devices, so it's a strong possibility that some of these will be making an appearance at Mobile World Congress, one of which could be the G2.
Symbian S60 Touchscreen
Symbian S60 Touch saw its debut onto mobile phones last year, thanks to Nokia's expertise and the release of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. Nokia has now launched the N97 too, combining S60 Touch with a full Qwerty keyboard, but what else will be in store for this impressive platform?
Pictures of the Samsung i8910 were leaked recently, with no hardware keyboard in sight. The device is rumoured to run on S60, especially as Samsung has pre-leaked two devices which operate on Windows Mobile, but no more on Symbian as yet.
There haven't as yet been any leaks from Nokia pre-MWC, but we're placing our bets on another touchscreen handset, most probably for the business-oriented E-series range.
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