Mobile World Congress 2010 photo wrap-up

Sony Ericsson kicked off the event on Valentine's Day. The mobile phone manufacturer is hoping Google’s Android operating system will help it regain its position in the global mobile phone market. The Xperia X10 Mini is the smallest Android handset yet released - while the X10 Mini Pro (pictured) includes a slide-out qwerty keyboard. Both have a 5-megapixel camera and touchscreens Photograph: PR

Samsung, also unveiling new devices on Sunday, is betting on the rise of HD content on mobile phones to create demand for its new Wave handset. Coming to the UK in April, its 3.3 inch AMOLED screen is super-sharp, offering a surprisingly wide viewing angle and supports 720p video. Its 1GHz processor, meanwhile, means it can compete with other super-fast phones such as Google's Nexus One. However, it runs Samsung's own Bada platform and some analysts were left wondering whether consumers need yet another operating system
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Nokia was playing it low key at Mobile World Congress this year. It had no handsets to announce and instead unveiled MeeGo, an open source software joint venture with Intel designed to power the next generation of wireless devices (apparently)
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Motorola used Mobile World Congress to launch its eighth device that uses Google's Android operating system. The Quench, however, left analysts unimpressed with its clunky design and poor screen compared with many of the other handsets that were on show in Barcelona
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It was Taiwan's HTC that produced the stand-out handset of Mobile World Congress. The Android-powered HTC Legend is produced from a single piece of milled aluminium and may have stolen a march on Apple's design plans for the next iPhone. Vodafone has snapped up the phone and will be bringing it to Europe in April, adding the phone to its Vodafone 360 suite of products. During the show, Vodafone said it has sold 300,000 units of the Samsung H1 and M1, its first two Vodafone 360 handsets
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HTC also unveiled the HTC Desire - previously codenamed the Bravo - which has caused quite a stir among the European operators because it is essentially a slightly better version of the Nexus One. It has the same screen and processor but includes an optical trackpad instead of a trackball. T-Mobile will stock it in the UK from 26 March and Orange in April
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Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer took to the stage in Barcelona to unveil the software giant's latest attempt to break into the mobile business. Windows Phone Series 7, however, left a lot of unanswered questions
Photograph: Albert Gea/Reuters

Among all the talk of operating systems, super-fast chips and pin-sharp screens, France's Sagem revealed a refreshingly idiosyncratic device. The company, which has already produced Hello Kitty and Porsche phones, has tied up with German sports shoe maker Puma to create the Puma phone. There's all the usual internet access, video callling, and GPS functions, plus a delightfully retro "spin and scratch music player". Drawing on Puma's sports heritage, the phone also has a pedometer, GPS tracker and stopwatch built in. You can download Java apps to the phone, which uses a proprietary OS, and they are stored in a 'sports bag'. The back of the phone is taken up with a solar panel which while not powerful enough to fully charge the phone, will give you a quick emergency top-up should you get lost while jogging
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But Mobile World Congress was not just about the latest in function-filled super-smartphones. Sagem also revealed the Cosyphone (which surely should come with pipe and slippers) aimed squarely at the “older generation of mobile phone user”. Rather than insist the older user programmes all their numbers into the phone and then hunts around a variety of menus to find the right number, the phone uses the same wireless technology as Oyster cards. It comes with a series of cards which you can load with vital numbers - like family and, rather scarily, "doctor" according to Sagem. Tne you just swipe the phone against the card to make the call. The downside, of course, is that means that rather than just having a phone to lose, pensioners will have a phone and a load of cards to lose as well
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There was a lot of talk at the show about 'democratising' the smartphone - ensuring that more people can enjoy the world of apps and fast browsing. But that means making smartphones cheaper. At the show O2 announced it will be stocking the HTC Smart, which is an entry level smartphone (though pricing details have yet to be announced). It can be personalised with widgets to give the user quick access to contacts, photos and music and includes HTC's Friend Stream service that integrates Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr into one organised flow of updates. The phone uses Qualcomm’s Brew Mobile Platform. Orange, meanwhile, used the show to announce it plans to have an Android phone priced at under €150 in time for Christmas
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Vodafone went even further in the race to get mobile phones into every pair of hands on the planet, announcing its cheapest device ever. The Vodafone 150, to be launched in India and Africa in the next few weeks, is a voice and text phone that also supports m-payment services. There is also a colour screen version - the Vodafone 250 - that also has an FM radio. The Vodafone 150 will retail (without an operator subsidy) at under $15, with the Vodafone 250 at below $20
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Much of the talk at Mobile World Congress was about 'apps', the downloadable widgets which have become synonymous with Apple's iPhone. The conference was full of developers touting their latest apps, including British animators Foof Productions and developers Fluid Pixel with their newest offering Pimp Da Chimp. As they put it "what you’ve all been waiting for - a dancing monkey for your phone!"
Photograph: PR