Hasta La Gadget!

Mobile World Congress is coming next week and our team is already en route to Barcelona to prepare for the onslaught of mobile content. We’re sure there will be a number of big announcements for upcoming mobile devices at MWC, one of which will come from ASUS as they released a video teasing their upcoming announcement.

The teaser video is called “Ultimate Craftmanship. Today.” and shows a UFO flying over Barcelona while people in the city watch it land on a church. The video then ends with a invitation to its viewers to “join ASUS to embrace the metallic miracle” on February 25, during Mobile World Congress.

We’re not entirely sure what exactly a UFO landing on a church in Barcelona means as we can’t imagine such an act results in the future of mobile technology. If we had to guess based on the video and the message, we could expect whatever ASUS has to unveil will be made of chrome or some other material made of metal. Haven’t the recent leaks of its upcoming Fonepad hinted at a metal back?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Samsung Teases ‘Next Big Thing’ While BlackBerry 10 Shows What It Can’t Do In Super Bowl Ads, Samsung Targets iPhone, BlackBerry In Business-Focused Commercial,

Mobile World Congress is coming up soon, folks, and companies are getting ready by teasing some of their products to eager onlookers before the event. ASUS released a quick teaser today that doesn’t give us a lot of details — if any — about what to expect from them at MWC, but it seems that the company may be planning an extraterrestrial takeover sometime soon.

The quick teaser video features a large alien spacecraft being recorded by a curious onlooker Cloverfield style. The spaceship ends up landing on top of the yet-to-be-completely-built Sagrada Família church in Barcelona. The words “Ultimate craftsmanship. Today” appear on the video along with a message at the end to join ASUS “to embrace the metallic miracle.”

Of course, we have no idea what to expect from the teaser, although the description of the video mentions bringing “Pad and Phone” together, so it likes we may see a hybrid Transformer-like product from the company, but we’ll ultimately have to wait and see what ASUS has in store for us come next week.

Rumors have been quiet surrounding ASUS lately, which either means that they’re really good at keeping secrets, or there’s just not enough general interest surrounding ASUS’s next offerings. Either way, though, a product that brings together “Pad and Phone” seems incredibly intriguing, and we’ll be there live at MWC to bring you all the latest. Stay tuned!

ASUS teases “metallic miracle” for MWC 2013 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Acer has outed a pair of new Android smartphones, the Acer Liquid E1 and Liquid Z2, ahead of Mobile World Congress, each running 1GHz processors and targeting the entry-level point of the market. The Liquid E1 is fronted by a 4.5-inch qHD display and will have a dual-SIM option, with a 1GHz dualcore processor, stereo speakers and a 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash. Up front is a VGA-resolution camera, while inside there’s WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0+EDR.

Connectivity also includes dualband 3G and quadband GSM/EDGE, in addition to a microSD card slot to add to the 4GB of internal storage. Acer fits a 1,760 mAh battery to the 132 x 68.5 x 9.9mm, 130g handset, and loads a copy of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with some of its own customizations.

As for the Acer Liquid Z2, that’s a smaller device, at 110 x 62.5 x 12.25mm and 110g, and pairs a 3.5-inch HVGA screen with a 1GHz processor. It also runs Android 4.1, but has only half the RAM – 512MB – of the bigger E1; you still get microSD and 4GB of storage, though.

Two camera versions – either 3-megapixels or 5-megapixels – will be offered, along with a dual-SIM option. All will have dualband 3G, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0+EDR, and an FM radio.

Acer will offer both new phones first in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the Ukraine, followed by launches in Russia, the UK, and Italy. Expect prices around €199-€229 for the Liquid E1 and €99-€129 for the Liquid Z2

[via Engadget]

Acer Liquid E1 and Z2 aim for entry-level Android is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’re definitely curious as to what Nokia will be bringing to the table come MWC 2013, but until then we guess we will just have to be patient and hope that leaks and hints clue us in on what to expect. In any case the folks at My Nokia Blog have spotted a mysterious looking Nokia device in an advertisement meant to showcase the Lumia 920 on Dutch carrier, KPN. Based on what we saw in the video (embedded above and around the 0:05 mark), this particular device features curved edges which is definitely not of the Lumia 920’s design. Instead it appears to be something of a combination between the Lumia 822 and the Lumia 620, suggesting that perhaps this mystery device could be another budget Windows Phone offering by the Finnish company. Either way with the Lumia 920 currently being Nokia’s flagship smartphone, we doubt that they will be introducing a new flagship device so soon, but we guess we will just have to wait and see. We will be at MWC 2013 so be sure to check back with us then for all the live coverage of the latest news!

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Blackberry OS 10.0.10.261 Leaked, Available For Download, Google Rumored To Be Opening Their Own Retail Stores This Year,

Mobile World Congress is still a couple of weeks off, but LG hasn’t been able to resist announcing some of its new smartphone line-up ahead of schedule, in the shape of the new Optimus L Series II. The three-strong updated lineup – consisting of the Optimus L7 II, the L5 II, and the L3 II – tidy up their design for 2013, with crisper cuts to the chassis, tighter join-lines, and “smart” lighting on the home button.

There’s also software tweaks to be found, with QuickMemo for handwritten notes – albeit with a fingertip, not with a digital stylus – and Quick Button for a personalized hot-key to load an app or blank notelet. Safety Care, meanwhile, can be used for emergency call forwarding, “phone non-usage notice – which presumably warns a relative if you’re not active on your phone for an unusual length of time – and the ability to have the Optimus L Series II handset automatically ping out your location.

At the top of the range there’s the Optimus L7 II, with a 1GHz dualcore MSM8225 processor, 768MB of RAM, and up to 4GB of internal storage (with a microSD card slot to expand it). The screen is a 4.3-inch IPS panel running – disappointingly – at WVGA resolution, though the 8-megapixel camera on the back (complete with LED flash) is a little more acceptable. A VGA camera is on the front, while a healthy 2,460 mAh battery is inside.

LG will be offering both single and dual-SIM versions of the L7 II, and in fact the dual-SIM model will be on sale first, hitting Russia sometime this week. No word on pricing at this stage, nor availability details for other countries.

As for the Optimus L5 II, that will have a 4-inch WVGA display and a 1,700 mAh battery, while the Optimus L3 II steps back in time with a 3.2-inch QVGA display and a 1,540 mAh battery. Pricing and release details will also be shared later.

LG Optimus L7 II, L5 II, and L3 II tackle Android mainstream is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.