MWC 2011: Android Tablets & Smartphones Galore; What's Coming at the Mobile World Congress?

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We’re hopefully in Spain, and by that I mean I have most likely gotten on that delayed flight towards the capital city of the mobile world for the next few days, at some point after I started writing this particular article. But what are we going to see at the 2011 edition of the Mobile World Congress once everything starts officially?

Well we have a few ideas on what various companies working in this mobile business have prepared for this week. Naturally we’re expecting a bunch of new devices to be unveiled as that’s what we’re really interested in here. Sure apps and new mobile plans are always nice to talk about but they’re still nothing without proper new devices for this new mobile year.

2011 already surprised us in January, at CES, where we’ve seen and previewed for you a significant collection of mobile devices, both tablets and smartphones. And most of them were Android-based and ready to take on their direct iOS adversaries, the iPhone and the iPad and the future iPhone 5 and iPad 2.

So can MWC trump that CES 2011 mobile performance? We’re in for a lot a bunch of MWC announcements this year and we have manufacturers like Samsung, HTC, LG, Mototola, HP, RIM, Microsoft, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and plenty of others ready to impress us from day one.

Samsung

Samsung will unveil its next gen smartphone lineup. We expect to see bada, WP77 and Android devices with the huge emphasis on Android. We’ll see the Galaxy S2 superphone, the Galaxy Tab 2 tablet and we could certainly go for a few more surprises.

HTC

HTC is expected to announce its next flagship(s) Android smartphone(s), which will bring dual core processors needed to fight against the iPhone but also against all its other Android peers. Besides Gingerbread smartphones we’re also very interested to see what Honeycomb tablets are coming from the Taiwan-based manufacturer this year.

LG

LG has to step up to that Android plate in 2011, and while it already demoed three Android devices at CES, we’re waiting for more from them too. We want to see that LG Revolution make LTE calls, the Optimus 2x blazing at dual core speeds, but we’re also waiting for the Optimus 3D and the LG G-Slate tablet to bring 3D support to the mobile universe. Not that we’re really that interested in 3D on the go features just yet.

Motorola

Moto has admitted that the arrival of CDMA iPhone 4 will hurt its business in the USA so we re expecting it to want to prove to the world it can also fight Apple, and the rest of them, on European and international soils. We want European and international Xooms and Atrix 4Gs too!

Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson has really evolved lately, especially when it comes to creating hot Android smartphones. At MWC we expect to see the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play (PlayStation Phone) made official and we can’t wait to see other Sony Ericsson Android plans, and not only, mentioned on stage. But this time around we expect proper Android OS updates to all future Sony Ericsson smartphones.

HP

HP has gone ahead and announced a bunch of webOS devices with a few days to go to MWC. The Veer, the Pre 3 and the TouchPad, even if they arrived a little too late (considering that webOS has been out and about for a long time now), could end up to be some impressive mobile players this year. And they’ll be at MWC for our viewing pleasure.

RIM

RIM leaked a bunch of totally new, modern BlackBerry smartphones a short while ago but we’ll we see any trace of them at MWC? The PlayBook will probably be there and maybe it’s time someone revealed pricing details and launch dates for it.

Microsoft

Microsoft was one of the key players of last year s MWC. They unveiled Windows Phone 7 Series (later to become just WP7) at a time Samsung was making its bada platform public and Nokia was trying to impress us with new Symbian plans and new UI features. Can Microsoft again convince us this year, especially after its new deal with the Finnish giant, that Windows Phone 7 is going to be a true force later down the road?

Nokia

As for Nokia, well, the new ship lead by a former Microsoft employee has partnered up with Microsoft and killed Symbian in the process. Does that mean we’ll see any Nokia WP7 action in Barcelona?

And these are just a few of the bunch present at MWC 2011 so we can’t wait to see what they have prepared. What do you want to see in Spain this year when it comes to the modern mobile business?