The rumor mill is working overtime in the run-up to the Mobile World Congress and, if the gossip is true, consumers in the market for a new smartphone are going to be spoiled for choice in 2013.
Android may have announced that it will not be making an appearance at this year's event, scheduled to take place February 25-28 in Barcelona, but many of Android's leading smartphone lights are expected to make a strong showing.
LG
LG is rumored to be showcasing its LG Optimus G Pro handset which, keeping with the latest trend for ever-growing screens is expected to have a 5.5-inch display, a huge battery to ensure all-day use, and a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor. It will also boast a 13 megapixel rear-facing camera and 32GB of internal storage, which can be doubled to 64GB via an SD memory slot. Perhaps most intriguing of all is that it will offer HDMI output for connecting with HD TVs, tablets and other multimedia devices. LG has been winning many fans recently with the LG Nexus-4 smartphone handset and the company is committed to challenging Samsung's dominance in the smartphone market. So expect an impressive device.
HTC
The company made headlines earlier this week when it announced its new handset's camera would capture ultrapixels, rather than megapixels. The name change was an attempt to draw attention to HTC's new image sensor and processing technology that uses a number of 4.3 megapixel sensors laid on top of each other to ‘over process' an image to ensure optimum results. This technology is expected to make its debut on the HTC M7 handset which, according to a print advertisement from the Phone House in France, will be on sale as soon as March 8. It will cost €649 without a contract but offers a 4.7-inch full HD display, 32GB of internal storage, and Beats audio speakers as well as the 13 megapixel ‘ultrapixel' camera technology.
Nokia
Moving away from Android, but staying with cameras with a high resolution, further details have emerged about Nokia's next Windows Phone. Originally codenamed EOS and rumored to have a 41-megapixel image sensor for professional-quality photographs, China Mobile is claiming that the handset will be called the Lumia 1000 when it launches at this year's event. As well as incredible image-capturing abilities, the phone is expected to have an alumininum case and will supplant the Lumia 920 as the flagship device. Also rumored is a Lumia 520 handset which would become a new entry-level handset and path for consumers into the Windows Phone 8 ecosystem. Further details are patchy but the 520 could be powered by 1GHz dual-core processor, a 4-inch touch screen and 4GB of internal storage, plus the option for expansion via a micro SD card slot.
Samsung
Last, but by no means least, is Samsung, which is expected to launch number of tablets and other accessories at the event, but is going to wait until March to launch the replacement for its all-conquering Galaxy SIII handset, originally named the Galaxy SIV. It is expected to have a 5-inch full HD display and use something called maXTouch S, a controller that enables users to interact with their handsets via gestures alone, meaning there will be no need to touch the screen to execute certain commands. The technology may sound sci-fi but Sony has already used it on its Xperia Sola smartphone.