Mobile World Congress - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Commonwealth Bank to trial 5G edge computing tech

  ​Commonwealth Bank of Australia will “trial and explore” 5G edge computing technologies over the coming months, in collaboration with Telstra and Ericsson.

• Telstra details 5G network plans

  Telstra has provided further detail of the plan that will lead the telco to the delivery of its 5G network by 2019.

• Most network equipment ready for 5G: Cisco

  Cisco Systems said on Sunday it aims to disrupt the wireless radio access market led by Huawei, Ericsson, and Nokia by backing challengers who make more flexible software versions of traditional mobile gear.

• Facebook's Zuckerberg envisions a 'dial tone for the internet'

  Calling it an 'on-ramp to the Internet,' Mark Zuckerberg advocates for carriers and other gatekeepers to provide free basic services for all in his first-ever keynote at Mobile World Congress.

• In Pictures: What to expect from the world’s biggest mobile show – MWC 2013

  Smartphones, smart chips, mobile browsers and augmented reality will be reality at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

• Wall Street Beat: Tech vendors issue upbeat sales reports

  Since the beginning of the year, doubts about economic recovery have sent markets on a roller-coaster ride, but the IT sector keeps plugging along, showing signs that it is becoming increasingly dynamic.

• Smartphone OS leaves one hand free

  Today's smartphones are too much of a handful, according to Israeli company Else: You either need to grab them with both hands and punch away at the keyboard with your thumbs, or you hold them with one hand and touch the screen with the other.

• Puma trots out a smartphone for the sports-minded

  Puma's first phone, logically named the Puma Phone, comes with a number of sports-related features, including applications for runners and cyclists that let them keep track of speed, distance and pace, the company said on Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress.

• SK Telecom crams Android, processor inside a SIM card

  The SIM cards in cellular telephones might be smaller than a postage stamp and less than a millimeter thick but that hasn't stopped South Korea's SK Telecom from cramming all the major components needed to run Google's Android OS inside one of them.

• Toshiba unveils its TG02 smartphone

  Toshiba's update on its TG01 multimedia smartphone has made a quiet debut at this week's Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona.

• Google CEO has no plans to compete with mobile operators

  Google has made investments in wireless networks, is testing gigabit-to-the-home technology, and is selling 60,000 Android smartphones a day -- yet has no plans to compete with network operators, CEO Eric Schmidt told attendees at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Tuesday.

• Mobile operators talk up prospects of voice on LTE phones

  While LTE modems delivering mobile broadband services already appearing on the market, LTE phones are still some way off -- not least because manufacturers and operators have yet to agree how calls will be placed and voice traffic carried over LTE's all-IP networks. One of the solutions to that problem got a boost Monday, though, with more operators and vendors lending it their support.

• Biggest mobile operators join forces on app store project

  Twenty-four mobile network operators have formed the Wholesale Applications Community to avoid fragmenting the apps market and to give developers one point of entry to all the members, the GSM Association announced on Monday.

• Nokia and Intel launch new mobile operating system

  Nokia and Intel will merge two of their mobile operating systems into Meego, a Linux-based, open operating system for everything from advanced smartphones to netbooks, connected TVs and tablet computers, the companies said at a joint press conference on Monday.

• Chip vendors hope to turn phones into HD media players

  Both Qualcomm and ST-Ericsson are demonstrating at Mobile World Congress concept smartphones that can connect to and play HD content on TVs.