The last five Mobile World Congresses round up

With all the lead up to Mobile World Congress next week, we decided to take a look at the last five events and the devices, operating systems and manufacturers.

They made a splash at the time, but what does 2013 hold?

MWC 2012 – the Nokia 808 Pureview and the  Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

Mobile World Congress 2012 saw the explosion of Android smartphone development. Sony’s Xperia range expanded, bringing two ste down devices to the Xperia S – the 4 inch P and the even smaller U.

LG debuted its 5 inch Optimus Vu with 8MP camera and 1.5GHz processor and Samsung offered up the Galaxy Note 10.1.  Then there was Panasonic’s Eluga, the phone built to survive being dropped in a bath or the toilet, demonstrated by dunking the phone in a fish tank (although quite why you’d want to recover your phone after dropping it in the loo is a question for another time).

Nokia showed off its 808 Pureview with the 41 MP camera that allowed 7152 x 5368p shots and 1080p 30fps video.  16GB of storage rounded off what was lauded as the camera phone to watch in 2012 and whose successor could already be on the cards…

HTC showed its One X off with the 4.7 inch screen and 8MP camera, a change from its Sensation range the previous year.

MWC 2011 – Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Xperia Play

HTC announced a whole flock of smartphones, including the low end Salsa and Cha Cha with dedicated Facebook buttons and updated versions of the Desire, Wildfire and Incredible  ranges, all ending in S, the latter of which What Mobile gave five stars over all  in a review at the time.  The HTC Flyer tablet was also announced, the final product after two earlier versions were scrapped.

Samsung launched its subsequently embattled Galaxy Tab 10.1 running Honeycomb, as well as the Galaxy SII, the S’s successor and similar to the Nexus S.

Sony Ericsson, before the divorce, released the Xperia Play, the first PlayStation phone, running a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, which What Mobile rated pretty well at the time.

And Hewlett Packard, before scrapping its webOS division, release three new webOS devices, including the Veer smartphone, the Pre 3 and the TouchPad tablet.

Motorola launched its GLEAM, influenced by its famous RAZR devices and marketed by the company as a phone for people simply wanting to make calls.  It also also launched its PRO device with QWERTY keyboard and running Android 2.2

MWC 2010 – Windows Phone 7 and MeeGo

Microsoft unveiled its new operating system, Windows Phone 7, taking over from the somewhat stop-gap Windows Mobile 6.5, What Mobile reported.  It linked in Xbox Live and Zune for the first time, and introduced the live tiles look that Windows Phone users tend to love.

Samsung launched the Diva with its weird lumpy back cover, Nokia and Intel worked together on the open source, Linux-based combined platform MeeGo, later to be replaced by Tizen.

Motorola announced the Quench, with Motoblur, and Acer launched a new range of devices, the beTouch and neoTouch ranges.  And HTC once again unveiled three new handsets = the Legend, Desire and HD Mini.

MWC 2009 – HTC Magic and the Sony Ericsson Idou

Windows finally updated to Windows Mobile 6.5 (soon to be replaced, as above) and HTC got cosy with Vodafone, releasing the Magic exclusively with the telco.  The device featured an onscreen keyboard on a 3.2 inch display.

Also launched were a host of phones from Nokia including the N86 and the E55, the first Nokia with a BlackBerry-style ‘compact QWERTY keyboard’, What Mobile reported.

Manufacturer INQ, owned by Three’s parent company, won best in show with a focus on Facebook integration, good pricing and user interface, Endgadget reported.

Sony Ericsson launched its first Symbian device with the Idou with a 12.1MP camera and a 3.5 inch display.  It also launched its Entertainment Unlimited concept – uniting music gaming and messaging into one offering and integrating them with other devices in the home.

MWC 2008 – Loadsa phones

Too many phones to count! Sony Ericsson launched the Xperia range, with the Experia X1i with a sliding QWERTY keyboard, the music oriented W908i, and the high speed internet browsing oriented Z770i.

Nokia unveiled its N78, building on its Nseries range, with 3.2 MP camera and Nokia Maps services, as well as the next step up from the Navigator devices, the 6210 Navigator.

Samsung  announced its Soul, with a 5MP camera and HSDPA cellular connection, with touch display.

LG released a bunch of phones including the flip-open KT610, the manufacturer’s first Symbian device integrated with GPS, with a 2.4 inch screen.

What Mobile also caught up with some industry heads at the time, including former Nokia UK managing director Simon Ainslie, who said the company would not produce a handset until it  as ready, in order that it didn’t make a “rubbish touch phone.”

LG  Mobile president Scott Ahn said it would work on creating products based on customer feedback, which included that ease of use was more important than advanced features or multimedia capabilities.

“We see touchscreens as a growing trend in the mobile industry.”

So what are we going to see at MWC 2013?

While there are rumours floating around about the successor to the Pureview 808, the long-awaited Google Phone X and the Samsung Galaxy S4, we’ll be there on hand to confirm the latest announcements and happenings in the mobile world.

Check out our tips and a guide to the live coverage here and some handy phrases here for you lucky so and sos who happen to be attending.