Day two of Mobile World Congress is in the bag, and it was another day filled with news from Barcelona about great Android-powered gadgets. I can't be the only one the sees phones and tablets and bugdroids in my sleep, and for an Android fan it's a good problem to have -- I'm certainly not complaining. We've seen something for just about everyone, from the small to the gigantic, and in every sort of style imaginable. It can get a bit overwhelming though, and that's why I'm here to help. I spend my day immersed in what's happening in Ciutat Comtal because you might not have time to.
Hit the jump, and let's walk through it all!
A good place to start would be with the day one Mobile Nations special podcast. The fellas got to sit down and rub their feet while they talk mobile. You read the news from day one, and if you're like me some of it needs talking about, and Phil, Dan, Alex and Simon know how to talk about it.
We can't talk Android without talking apps. There's over 600,000 of them in the Market, and you need them to make the most of your phone, because slicing fruit is important. The folks at Google showed off a couple official MWC apps today, The Android MWC app and a nifty Badge Scanner app. Because they're Googlers and therefore awesome (look it up, it's a requirement) the source code is available for us all to see how it's done. Open. We like it.
Toshiba showed up, with an all new 7.7-inch tablet in tow. It's thin, it's fast, and it looks good. Phil took a few minutes and checked it out, see his hands-on with this little beauty.
Need more Padfone? Alex spent some more time with ASUS' screen inside a screen that docks in a netbook and has a stylus that they call the Padfone. ASUS, you have a real winner on your hands here. Hurry up and get it in our hands while we're thirsty for it.
Tegra 3, meets LTE in Fujitsu's Android prototype phone, and there's about 100 million potential customers out there who would love to see this one on store shelves. In the meantime, Phil had a look and shares it with us all. Good thing it's waterproof, 'cause I'm sure there was plenty of drooling going on.
Samsung has you covered if you want a phone under 4-inches with the Galaxy Ace 2. They took what worked the first time around and made it better. It's a mid-range phone for sure, but good mid-range phones are important -- they're bound to be popular, and inexpensive phones are important to many people around the world. And this one looks like a winner.
Panasonic announced the Eluga Power today, and Alex was there to put his fingerprints all over one. It's big, fast, and has the funnest name to say out loud ever. Eeeee-loooooo-gaaaaaahhh Power! Almost as fun to say, (just not quite as powerful apparently) is the Eluga we say yesterday, and Alex had a chance to play with it as well. Thin and light, yet still waterproof.
Former Google CEO and current chair Eric Schmidt gave his Keynote speech today, and spent some time reflecting on the current state of connectivity in today's world. We were there live, and got to listen in and see the passionate side of Schmidt as he spoke about ways to get people connected and how Google could help. Hugo Barra was there as well, and he showed off the Chrome for Android Beta a bit. It's as fast in Spain as it is in the US.
Remember that ASUS Transformer Infinity that looked so good from yesterday? I looks even better when it's turned on for the camera. Check out the hands-on and see what we mean.
We're already seeing retailers in the UK announce availability dates for phones that aren't yet 48-hours old, and today we heard that the Xperia P and Xperia U will hit the shelves in Britain this April. Following in June, the LG Optimus 4X HD will be at Clove, and they're taking pre-orders today. If you've got £456 and want to trade it for some quad-core phonage, hit them up.
Another day, another big pile of cool Android stuff. We get to do it all again tomorrow, and until then I bid you Eeeee-loooooo-gaaaaaahhh my friends. Think my wife will get tired of that any time soon?
