It seems smartphones and virtual reality is an emerging trend this year at Mobile World Congress (well, at least for Korean phone makers). Earlier this week, LG has announced the G5 along with a number of accessories including a 360 degree camera and a head-mounted display. 
Samsung, the other Korean phone maker at MWC is doing the same thing by announcing an accessory that will help users to create VR content with the help of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. This is the Samsung Gear 360, which is equivalent to LG’s 360 Cam.

The camera is just a tad smaller than a typical golf ball and sports two 15MP camera sensors that are located at the back and front of the device. There’s a 0.5-inch PMOLED panel on the top of the device which displays basic information about the device including its battery as well as its current shooting mode. The Gear 360 also sports a 1350mAh battery, 1GB of RAM, a microSD card slot that supports up to 128GB cards and an accelerometer.

As far as performance is concerned, the Gear 360 is able to churn out close to 4K quality 360-degree videos – 3840 x 1920 clips (at 30 fps) to be more specific. Using only one camera, the Gear 360 is still able to capture 180-degree videos at a resolution of 2560 x 1440 (30 fps). If you’re planning to capture still images, the Gear 360 is also able to snap up to 30M photos on dual cam setup and 5MP shots on a single cam setup.
Samsung has also taken the liberty to add different video modes when using either single lens mode or dual lens mode. These include time-lapse video as well as looping video. Moreover, the camera is IP58 certified which means it has some sort of waterproofing, though it shouldn’t be treated as a full-fledged action camera.

The Samsung Gear 360 will work on PCs via an ActionDirector software and on some of Samsung’s smartphones including the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, Note 5 and of course the newly announced Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. 
There’s no word on pricing yet, but Samsung promises to ship the device by Q2 2016 in select countries.

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After months of circling rumor land’s drain, Samsung’s seventh generation flagship phones have finally arrived. The Korean tech giant has announced the two phones at Barcelona today on its Unpacked event in Mobile World Congress.
The two highly anticipated phones are exactly what previous leaks have suggested sporting a refined design to that of its predecessor and packing more computing power and features than any of the company’s previous flagship handsets.

Design-wise, both phones still take on the glass and metal aesthetics of the S6 and S6 Edge, but are now more refined and curvier. For instance, the curved edges of the glass are now present on the front and back of the device. The physical home button is also now more rectangular.
On one hand, the Galaxy S7 retains the 5.1-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) AMOLED panel of the S6 with a screen density of 577ppi. On the other, the S7 Edge outgrows the S6 Edge by having a 5.5-inch display.

Samsung hasn’t confirmed what chip the two phones will run on, but it will likely be a Snapdragon 820 chip or the company’s own Exynos 8890. RAM has been bumped 1GB which now sits at 4GB with LPDDR4 technology while internal storage is set at either 32GB or 64GB. For those who feel that these options are not enough, you’d be happy to know that Samsung is bringing back the microSD card into both of the phones which will allow users to crank up the storage up to 200GB more.

Looking at the camera department, the Korean firm has decided to go with the same sensor size but fewer megapixels. Both phones will have a 12MP sensor (a few megapixels fewer than its predecessors which both have 16MP cameras) that uses Dual Pixel technology and features a f/1.7 aperture and smart OIS.

Energy is provided by a 3000mAh battery on the S7 and a 3600mAh cell on the S7 Edge. Both phones also support fast charging both on wired or wireless methods. The S7 and S7 Edge also comes with dual-band Wi-Fi, MIMO, Bluetooth v4.2, NFC and IP68 certification which means the two phones are shockproof and waterproof.

Interestingly, unlike LG’s G5, Samsung has decided to stick with a micro USB 2.0 connector instead of the USB Type-C port.
Both phones will run on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with TouchWiz on top. The S7 Edge will of course carry the Edge Apps platform we first saw on the S6 Edge last year. However, this feature has been improved further this year, which now displays two columns of apps or contacts for the user.

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Huawei’s flagship device the Mate 8 is still not yet available in other countries, so I’m really not expecting Huawei to unveil a new flagship smartphone yet. However, there’s no stopping the Chinese firm from announcing other devices at Mobile World Congress though.

Take for example the Huawei MateBook – a 12-inch convertible that rocking Intel’s new Core M processors and can have up to 8GB of RAM, 512GB SSD storage, and run a full version of Windows 10.

The MateBook’s display has a resolution of 2160 x 1440 pixels which equates to a screen density of 216ppi. The device exudes a premium feel thanks to the metal used in its construction. Huawei has installed a 4430mAh battery on this 2-in-1 which the company claims can last for more than 10 hours on light to moderate use.

At 6.9mm, the MateBook is rather thin compared to other convertibles in the market. It also features a splash-proof design and sports dual speakers with Dolby Audio technology.

Huawei is also marketing the MateBook ala Surface Book by offering accessories that increases user productivity. These include a stylus called the MatePen and a keyboard cover called the MateDock.

The MateDock is made from environmentally-friendly leather and comes with keys that are backlit. The MatePen on the other hand boasts a couple of hardware buttons that perform specific functions when pressed and a laser pointer to aid in presentations.

Prices for the Matebook start at $699 for the base version and can go up to $1599 for the Intel Core m7 version with 8GB of RAM and 512GB storage.

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Aside from the G5, LG also introduced a couple of accessories for its flagship phone which it calls “Friends”.

The first member of the G5’s clique is the LG 360 VR, a head-mounted display that features two 1.88-inch displays with a resolution of 960 x 720 pixels each. The 360 VR requires a connection to an external device such as a tablet or a smartphone and works with Google Cardboard and YouTube 360 content.

Now, if you’re in the mood to produce content, LG has also introduced the 360 Cam. The device comes with two spherical cameras with dual 200-deree 13MP sensors that allow the device to capture everything around it.

The camera runs on a 1200mAh battery and supports 2K video recording, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The content produced on this device can of course be viewed on the 360 VR or uploaded to YouTube 360 for viewing.

Then there’s the LG Rolling Bot, a spherical companion bot for the G5 and acts as a home monitoring camera, although it seems LG wants to market it a device that can take care of your pet.

The Rolling Bot comes with an 8MP camera which can live stream videos to the internet.  The device can also be controlled remotely through a smartphone. The bot sports an IR emitter, which means you can command it to take control of other appliances in your home.

As for the remote pet-nanny part, the Rolling Bot theoretically does this using a multitude of sensors to interact with your pet. These include a camera, a microphone and a speaker. The Rolling bot charges via a USB cable.

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The first major keynote at MWC 2016 has just ended and with it came the announcement of the first major flagship for this year – the LG G5.

For this year, LG has jumped aboard the flagship bandwagon and employed metal in the construction of the G5. However, in contrast to other flagship models from other manufacturers, the design of the G5 doesn’t use chamfering. Instead, LG has opted for what it’s calling a “fluid metal” body with a beveled glass on the front.

The phone is built around a 5.3-inch LCD panel with the same resolution as the LG G4. The display is always on, which LG achieves through a dedicated memory and a power-management chip so the main chip can go to sleep even though the display is on all the time.

The innards of the G5 is composed of a Snapdragon 820 chipset with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage with option of expandability through a microSD card.

Just like the LG V10, the G5 features a dual-camera setup but this time, LG has implemented it at the back. There’s a 16MP+8MP camera combo at the back which allows the handset to have up to 135 degrees Field of View (FoV). The phone also comes with a USB Type-C port and a fingerprint scanner at the back.

As with the G4, LG’s flagship model for 2016 also comes with a removable 2800mAh battery. The Korean company has managed to keep this feature despite the all-metal body by having a removable bottom part.

On top of that, LG has upped the ante by making this removable part accessible to other accessories. These add-ons which the Korean tech giant calls as “friends” snap on place as modules much like how Google imagined its Project Ara phone.

At MWC, LG introduced two add-ons for the G5 – a camera grip and a Bang & Olufsen DAC.

The camera grip called the LG Cam Plus adds an 1100mAh battery to the G5 and features hardware controls for the phone’s camera. These include a hardware shutter key, a video button and a zoom dial. On the other hand, the B&O DAC transforms the G5 into a Hi-Fi smartphone.

LG promises that it will open the standard to third-party manufacturers so they can create even more add-ons.  

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Mobile World Congress has officially begun and the first company to send in its new products is Alcatel. The company’s keynote is where three new interesting devices made their debut – the Alcatel Hero 4, Hero 4S and the Hybrid Plus 10.

The two Hero 4 models will of course be the successor of the OT Hero 3 that we saw last year at MWC. Both phones bear the signature reversible design of the Hero moniker. On top of that, Alcatel has teamed up with JBL to give the Hero 4 phones a boost in audio performance.

Specs-wise, the two Hero 4 phones sport slightly different innards. The base model comes with a Snapdragon 617 chipset with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. It also sports a 13MP+8MP camera combo as well as a 5.2-inch Full HD IPS LTPS display, Cat. 6 LTE, dual-mic noise-cancelling setup and two 3.6W speakers.

On the other hand, the higher end model comes with a slightly bigger 5.5-inch AMOLED panel and sports a more powerful Snapdragon 652 chip and 32GB of expandable storage. Battery has also been upped from 2610mAh from the base Hero 4 to 3000mAh.

Both phones will come with Android 6.0 Marshmallow and will ship with a retail box that transforms into a VR headset much like Google’s cardboard.

Lastly, there’s the 2-in-1 Alcatel Plus 10. As the name suggests, the device sports a 10.1-inch IPS LCD panel with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. The innards is composed of an Intel Atom x5 Z8530 processor clocked at 1.92GHz and comes with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of on-board storage which is expandable up to 64GB using a microSD card.

The tablet also comes with a 5MP+2MP camera combo and a plethora of ports including a full-size USB port, a microUSB and microHDMI ports. The tablet also sports built-in LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and two battery packs – one for the tablet (5830mAh) and one for the keyboard (2580mAh).

By the looks of it, Alcatel is going to market the Plus 10 as a budget tablet probably for consumers or students on a budget. 

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