LG, Samsung kick off Mobile World Congress with new smartphones

A slew of new smartphones and tablets have debuted at the first official day of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where dozens of tech companies and telcos are showing off the latest in mobile technology and gadgets.

Companies including VoIP leader Skype and chip manufacturer Intel have made major announcements, including the introduction of a new partnership which will see Skype join up with thousands of wireless operators as part of a hot spot service.

LG Electronics made some of the first major announcements, launching the new 3D Optimus smartphone and the Optimus tablet.

The major focus is 3D content, with both devices running the Android operating system, film in 3D and ability to display 3D video. The company says you won’t need glasses to watch 3D content.

The Optimus 3D smartphone features a 4.3 inch display, a 1Ghz processor, two five-megapixel cameras and a 3D hotkey. 3D clips will play back in 720p and normal clips will play back in 1080p. The gadget comes with Wi-Fi, USB syncing, 8GB of internal memory and HDMI connections.

LG is focusing on the speed of the device, given that 3D content requires so much memory power.

“Unlike other single-channel, single-memory, dual-core smartphones, the LG Optimus 3D offers significant performance benefits as a result of the simultaneous — and thus faster — transfer of data between the dual-core and dual-memory,” a company spokesman said.

“Users can browse web pages, multitask between programs, play games at a higher frame rate and enjoy movies more smoothly and longer than ever before.”

The Optimus Pad is LG’s first entry into the tablet market. Like its smartphone companion, the Pad can record and display 3D content on the 8.9-inch display.

The gadget features 1280×768 WXGA resolution with a 1GHz dual core processor. You will need glasses to watch the 3D content on the Pad and the company said it now has a partnership with YouTube that will allow users to upload content to the site straight from both devices.

YouTube now has a dedicated channel for the 3D content.

“We are already focusing all our resources on delivering the widest variety of smart devices for all types of customers,” Park Jong-seok, head of LG’s mobile division, said. “This will be a critical year for LG and a lot of eyes are upon (whether) we’ll succeed. We don’t intend to let them down.”

Chip manufacturer Intel made a number of presentations, saying it will be developing new mobile chips that will handle faster speeds.

Competitor Qualcomm made a similar announcement, showing off its quad-core SnapDragon processor for mobiles.

Samsung showed off its new smartphone, the Galaxy S II, which features a 4.3 inch screen and runs on Android 2.3. The camera has eight megapixels, LED flash and a front-camera with two megapixels.

Wi-Fi is included along with support for NFC, which Samsung says can be used for sharing files in close proximity to other users.

The company said it wants to sell more units of the device than the original Galaxy S, which has shipped 10 million units.

“With the Galaxy S II Samsung wants to set the new standard of quality viewing on mobile, powerful performance, and slim and modern design,” a company spokesman said.

Skype said it had expanded its Skype Access program to thousands of new wireless hot spots, including many in Australia. The service allows users to pay for access by the minute, rather than by the half-hour or hour, as hot-spot vendors usually charge.

The company announced a range of new partnerships that will allow telco carriers to offer Skype services on their phones.

“We see a growing demand for differentiated services from mobile operators across the world,” Russ Shaw, vice president and general manager Skype mobile, said.

“Our mobile operator program will give operators in emerging markets the possibility to tap into the global Skype community while providing a great user experience on a variety of mobile handsets.”

New reports emerging from the MWC have indicated that Apple is in talks with Samsung to buy $US7.8 billion worth of components including displays, app processors and flash chips to be used in future models of iPhones and iPads.