By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
2015 looks to be a major year for mobile. Various product leaks have given a glimpse of the major moves from manufacturers days before MWC.
It’s been a busy period for pre-show product leaks heading into the Mobile World Congress taking place in Barcelona, Spain from March 2 to 5.
The biggest names in smartphones and mobile are set to launch major devices at the event as well as set the tone for what’s to come for the rest of the year.
This year feels a little different as many surprises have been let out of the bag early.
Products from Sony, HTC, Samsung and even BlackBerry have leaked early in the form of images and even video.
Whether or not these leaks are unintentional (or planned), they’ve gotten the attention of the Internet and people are already weighing in on what’s been purportedly leaked.
MWC is expected to focus on new handsets, possibly wearables, and more importantly what each player in the global mobile space is planning to focus on for the coming year. Here’s what we’ve learned so far.
BlackBerry
The Canadian smartphone pioneer is expected to launch a new device called the BlackBerry Leap. A QWERTY-keyboard free multi-touch device, this is likely the replacement to the ageing BlackBerry Z10 and looks to be a mid-range model.
Expected to feature a5-inch 1280×720 display, dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Plus processor, 8-megapixel rear and 2-megapixel front cameras, 16GB of storage, a microSD slot, 2GB of RAM, and 4G LTE connectivity.
By launching the Passport and the BlackBerry Classic late last year, BlackBerry complied with the ‘something new, something familiar,’ requests of its fan base, so now they need another device that can compete with popular Android smartphones out there in order to stay relevant. More Internet of Things announcements are expected from John Chen and Co. at the show.
HTC
The HTC One (M9) is the successor of the Taiwanese companies’ previous flagships, the HTC One M7 and the HTC One (M8). If product leaks and video are to be believed, the latest One retains a lot of the styling of last year’s model. What HTC seems to have changed are the cameras. Gone are the divisive low-resolution Ultrapixel cameras which seem to have been replaced with a more conventional 20 Megapixel sensor.
Samsung
Samsung is expected to launch the anticipated Galaxy S6 and a new Galaxy S6 Edge. Rebounding from poor sales of the Galaxy S5, Samsung is reportedly going for a metal and glass construction for this device ,but is also removing the option to add a microSD card while sealing in the battery.
The Galaxy S6 Edge will continue the trend started by the oddball Galaxy Note 4, but will feature two edge displays on both sides of the phone.
The Edge Display is a slanted strip of screen reserved for icons, widgets and information tickers. It showcases Samsung’s skill in innovating display technology as well as their desire to push out features unique to their devices. The new Galaxy S6’s are also expected to feature a new fingerprint verification home button and possibly a mobile payments play to compete with Apple’s TouchID and ApplePay combination on the iPhone 6.
Sony
Sony apparently leaked its own Xperia Z4 tablet through their Xperia Lounge application.
They have since pulled the announcement through the app, but people have already caught a glimpse of the upcoming device. Based on the listing, the Xperia Z4 Tablet have a 2K display, ultra-fast performance, industry-leading battery life, and a lightweight design.
Sony’s mobile arm has been in dire straits, and despite churning out some of the best products in the market, they’ve had a tough time winning users. Could MWC be the a good point to jumpstarting
Microsoft
MWC has always been a big event for Nokia and now that Microsoft has subsumed the once-proud mobile giant, we expect a big announcement at the show.
Save for the midrange Lumia 830, there hasn’t been a notable Canadian Lumia announcement in a long time. Microsoft is expected to launch no less than five new handsets at Mobile World Congress.
The devices are expected to run the gamut from affordable entry-level Lumias, to flagship and phablet permutations.
Rumour has it that Stephen Elop, who now heads devices at Microsoft, will unveil the new hardware while Joe Belfiore, Microsoft’s OS head, will dish about Windows 10 as it applies to smartphones.
Mobile World Congress looks to be an exciting event with many huge announcements and despite these product leaks, I expect a number of surprises from each of these manufacturers and many others who have managed to keep things tightly under wraps.
