Visitors arrive during the opening day of the 2015 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on March 2. Phone makers seek to seduce new buyers with even smarter Internet-connected watches and other wireless gadgets as they wrestle for dominance at the world's biggest mobile fair starting today. — AFP

 

BARCELONA — Thousands of people are gathered in Barcelona this week for the Mobile World Congress 2015 to see the latest and greatest phones from the biggest names in the industry.



From Samsung's hottest new devices to phones built for emerging markets, this show has it all. Following is a random roundup of phones from the show.



Microsoft introduced its new 5-inch Lumia 640 and 5.7 inch Lumia 640XL devices, reports AnandTech. Both devices will be available in 3G and LTE versions, with both single and dual SIM options depending on the market.



Both devices will ship with Windows 8.1 but will be upgradeable to Windows 10. The devices will also come with one year of Office 365 which can be installed on one PC and one other device as a part of the deal.



Samsung officially announced its Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones, reports the Verge. Both flagship devices sport  5.1-inch QHD Super Amoled displays, 3GB of RAM, 32, 64, or 128GB of internal storage, 16-megapixel cameras with optical image stabilization, a fingerprint sensor, an infrared heart-rate monitor, both Qi and PMA wireless charging and integrated support for Samsung Pay, which uses either NFC or MFT (LoopPay) technology for transactions.



Samsung Pay, which was also announced today, will allow users to make payments in-store using their smartphones instead of using payment cards.



The company has partnered with Mastercard and Visa for the same, and claims it has to potential to be accepted in 30 million stores today.



In order to use it, users need to add a payment card to the app, and then swipe up from the bezel to choose the saved card when paying.



HTC announced its first wearable device, which will let users track their workouts and other activity reports thenextweb. Dubbed the Grip, the device features GPS tracking and a 100 mAh battery that will last a couple of days, although only for 5 hours with the GPS on.



HTC also launched its flagship phone the HTC One M9 at the conference. Mobile company Huawei also unveiled the 2nd generation of its wearable platform the TalkBand B2.



The updated version will has better motion tracking and a touch screen. Users can now swipe the screen to show the time as well as stopwatch, pedometer, sleeptracker and calorie monitor.



Note that the congress will also feature a conference session on wearables in Hall 4 on Tuesday 3 March at 14:00 – 15:30 CET.



Firefox has announced that it will launch a new batch of flip and slider phones running its Firefox OS to consumers in third world countries.



The devices are yet to be created, and with Android smartphones getting cheaper by the day, it will be interesting to see if Firefox can get them out it time to be a viable alternative.



The browser maker also had its OS preinstalled on Panasonic’s 4k UHD Viera TVs, which are to ship later this year.



ZTE, a leading global mobile device maker, is showcasing a range of smart devices that are soon to be launched in markets across Europe.



Flagship products on show include the smart voice ZTE Star 2, Smart Sense ZTE Blade S6, and the innovative Spro 2, the only smart projector with a touchscreen Android operating system.



"We are very excited to confirm the upcoming European availability for several of our hottest new products,” said Kan Yulun, CEO of EMEA & LATAM, ZTE Mobile Devices, and Vice President of ZTE Corporation.



"We will continue to bring our latest smartphones to markets across Europe, as well as other smart connected devices such as our Spro 2 smart projector.”



With optimized system-level voice control, the ZTE Star 2 on show at MWC 2015 has been upgraded to feature English-language GPS and speech-to-text input that supports British English.



ZTE’s Star 2 is set to launch in Germany at CeBIT on 12 March 2015. At present, voice control functions that support Spanish are under development, which will be the third smart voice language available after Chinese and English.



The ZTE Blade S6, which features ZTE’s innovative Smart Sense - an intuitive and practical set of gesture and motion controls - will soon be launched offline via channel partners in Germany, Spain, and France at the end of the month.



This follows recent online launches via AliExpress globally, as well as via eBay and Amazon for the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.



Outside Europe, the ZTE Blade S6 is also set for offline launches in Malaysia, Thailand, Russia and other markets across the Asia Pacific.



The ZTE Blade L3 was also on display at ZTE’s booth, a device aimed at the budget shopper and younger smartphone user, which is also destined for European launches in April 2015.



Devices in the Blade series underscore ZTE’s commitment to offering premium smartphones at affordable prices. – SG/Agencies