Barcelona, Spain – Mobile World Congress 2016 begins on Sunday, February 21st bringing with it major smartphone releases. The convention promises a few days full of exciting news and we will definitely see some of the world’s biggest industry players introducing its latest smartphones, tablets and more.
The event put on by the GSMA, is the world’s biggest mobile trade show. Each year, large tech companies venture to Barcelona to show not just their latest smartphones, but also tablets and accessories. Nearly 100,000 are expected to attend this year’s conference.
Samsung and LG, both MWC veterans, have already said will make major announcements at the show, but several other handset makers, including HTC and BlackBerry, will also bring announcements of their own.
Samsung releases the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge
Samsung has been using the Mobile World Congress to introduce its latest gadgets from the past few years so it is easy to assume this year is the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge’s turn. This new 5.5-inch flagship smartphone, the successor to last year’s flagship, the Galaxy S6, won’t be much different from its predecessor.
It is expected to have a 12-megapixel rear camera, 2,800mAH battery, and the micro-SD card slot, missed on the last year’s model, will be back. Although it’s been rumored for months that the phone would include USB-C charging, the most recent leaked photos show a Galaxy S7 with a standard micro-USB charging cable.
LG will release a new flagship smartphone
This year the company will introduce the G5, which will have a brand new Snapdragon 820 processor, 3GB of RAM, and a smaller battery than before. Also, rumor has it that the company will introduce something called a “Magic Slot,” which will allow people to upgrade their smartphone using replaceable parts. This means people would be able to plug in new cameras, batteries and other accessories that would extend the life of the phone far into the future
Further reports claim the phone will have a metal body, a fingerprint reader, and a 5.6-inch display. Basically, it will be a little thinner, a little faster and will have a bunch of incremental updates.
Other companies will also show their gizmos at the conference
Samsung and LG won’t be the only enterprise presented at the biggest mobile conference in the world. Other phone makes as Huawei, Xiaomi and blackberry will also show what they have.
Very little is known about what Huawei will introduce at the conference, perhaps it will show a sequel to its high-end P8, the P9, naturally. This phone will have a metal body, curved display, and a dual-lens camera. It’s also said to feature some of the same specs as the Mate 8, including its fantastic fingerprint reader and the Kirin 950 chipset, albeit with a smaller, 5.2-inch display.
Xiaomi, a rising smartphone maker, is going to the MWC for the first time. There, it will introduce its new Mi 5 smartphone. Rumors suggest this phone will have a 5.2-inch display, Quad HD screen and 16-megapixel camera that shoots 4K video as well as a Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 chip.
BlackBerry could officially reveal another rumored smartphone: the BlackBerry Vienna, the first BlackBerry phone powered by Android. Vienna, will cost much less than the Priv, another awaited prototype, and will also feature a physical QWERTY keyboard.
Source: Engadget