This post was written in advance of most of the Mobile World Congress 2010 Press Releases and companies announcing new products, so what do I think will be announced across the week of the event…

Firstly, HTC will announce a replacement Android device to replace the Hero, possibly with a QWERTY keyboard too.

Nokia will announce a new top of the range N-Series device to replace the N97, and hopefully not following the trend of the Nokia N96 and the Nokia N97 in not really being a fantastic / perfect device to head up the range.

Nokia will announce at least one new E-Series device, possibly using a form factor not seen within the E-Series range before.

INQ will announce something; either a concept of their Android devices due later this year, or an actual phone, possibly also announcing more operators who will be taking their phones.

Sony Ericsson seem to have already announced a range of new phones:

• The X10 Mini and the X10 Mini Pro (which adds a QWERTY slider), both Android devices
• The Vivaz Pro; a QWERTY slider version of the already announced Vivaz, both S60 5th Edition devices and shown below
• The Aspen, a Windows Mobile device

The Vivaz will be available in Q1 2010 along with the X10, whereas the X10 Mini, X10 Mini Pro, and the Aspen will all appear in Q2 2010.

The most important thing seems to be that the main mobile companies are back on form, and releasing devices worthy of discussion…

Last week we covered the news of the new v3.3 for Symbian and Windows Mobile, and today Google has launched v3.3 for Android as well.  However, it’s not quite got the same feature set, with some additional features, and some missing features too.

Firstly, they now have the “What’s Nearby” feature, which lists nearby businesses, and can often provide useful information on cafes and restaurants nearby.  To access this, just long press on the map and tap on the bubble, and look for “What’s nearby?” in the menu.

Secondly, they have added a range of Labs features (in essence, Beta features that you may want to use to make the program a little better); these include:

• A scale bar on the map
• Showing a terrain layer which adds a level of height and the ability to see a shaded relief map
• Search for popular categories
• Turn the blue dot into a compass to show which way you are facing when stationary
• Added Layers support to be able to see Traffic, Satellite mapping, Latitude users, and Transit lines (eg the London Underground)

There’s also a “Report errors in the map”, but that’s definitely US-only, so won’t be available in the UK.  It’s worth noting there is no mention of the star / favourites syncing that comes with the v3.3 on Symbian and Windows Mobile.  It’s not clear whether any other of the Labs features are US-only, but it’s nice to see Google still managing to innovate and provide new features into the products, even if it’s not consistent across their full platform range.

Google have improved their Google Maps mobile product by now adding support for syncing of your “Stars”, or favourites.  Both the Windows Mobile and Symbian version have been upgraded to v3.3 this week and now offer to sync these favourites so that they will also appear in Google Maps in your desktop browser.  Of course, on Symbian, Google Maps shares the Location Favourites with Nokia Maps / Ovi Maps, which can also sync to the Ovi browser solution too.  For those who are not using the Ovi Maps browser support, you can now use Google Maps to find favourites and sync them to your phone, as well as having a nice safe backup of the favourites.

Once you have installed the new version, and performed the initial sync, the stars should appear on your Google Maps in your browser.  For me, I had to star a new item for them to appear, but once they appeared, they remained visible irrespective of the zoom level selected.

Obviously, for me, as someone who regularly uses different mobile phones, the ability to have my list of favourites synced from device to device as well as from device to my PC (and any PC I happen to use) is a very useful feature, and one I am already using on a near daily basis, despite the feature only being released in the last few days.  Google have confirmed they will be bringing this same functionality to the other Google Maps Mobile platforms as soon as possible.

Last night I was privileged to be invited to a small, cosy location in London 2 floors underground to discuss with LG some of their new phones recently released, and about to be released.

John Barton, the UK Sales & Marketing Manager, spoke candidly about the LG range, and there’s a summary of the devices that were discussed after the break…

The LG Chocolate BL40 (which I have recently reviewed continues to be well received), and leads their Black Label range, and is one of their top phones.  However, for those techies amongst you, read on, for the crown may be about to be lost…

The LG Chocolate BL20 (above) is the little sister of the LG Chocolate BL40, and although it doesn’t offer a touchscreen, it does perform well, and is a nicely designed stylish phones; maybe those with the BL40 will choose a BL20 when they need a smaller device for an evening out…

John also covered the LG POP (above), a 3inch touchscreen only device, where the touchscreen covers so much of the device, you really don’t think the screen can be as big as that.  It features a single Intellikey, which glows green when a call is coming in and needs to be answered, and then turns red, indicating you press the same single button to end the call.  This is a clever use of button lighting, and removes the need for a second button, giving the device a very clean look.  This is likely to retail for around £100 on PAYG, yet still features a 3 megapixel camera.

Oh, there’s an optional solar battery cover for the LG POP which should help keep the device charged (although it’s unlikely to be available until Spring next year)…

However, the two key phones for me and many of you were…

The LG GM750 is a Windows Mobile 6.5 device, and I have to say this is one of the first Windows Mobile device I could actually live with over time.  It features a combination of the Windows Mobile homescreen, but also supports an LG S-Class UI, allowing you to swip left and right and access 4 other homescreens, giving access to commonly used areas of the phone.  The majority of the functions on the device were easily performed with a finger (although a stylish stylus is included).  All the usual functions are included (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HSDPA,  GPS), and the device supports the new Windows Marketplace for additional applications.  As you can see from the photo above, this is a Vodafone exclusive for a while.

However…

The LG GW620 though was even more impressive, and was the device of the night!  This is LG’s first Android device, it’s a QWERTY slider, and features a 5 row keyboard (Nokia, I’m looking at you here!) and provides a combination of the LG UI alongside Android.  Featuring 5 megapixel camera (as does the LG GM750), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HSDPA, GPS etc but it also features some unique LG software.  Firstly, they are installing their SNS manager (Social Networking Services) software on a number of these newer phones, which brings you access to Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, but links into the core phone apps wherever possible.  Also included is their Auto Face-tagging software and Face to Action technology.  Not forgetting their roots with other phones, LG have also included DivX and Xvid support in this device too.

Both the GW620 and the GM750 had good touchscreens, although as both are resistive, neither are quite as good as the tempered glass capacitive screen of the LG Chocolate BL40.  For me, the LG GW620 looks to be a key phone for LG for 2010; a QWERTY slider combined with Android should see many sales of this device.

I managed some hands on time with all of the above phones yesterday, even including the LG Watchphone (which I believe is no longer exclusive to Orange) and was most impressed with all the devices.

Alongside the LG GW520, I now have a number of these phones to review, so expect a fair few LG phone reviews over the coming weeks.  All, that is, except the Android LG GW620; this phone won’t be out until the New Year, but I’ll hopefully have a review device then to provide feedback on.

Just to finish off, well done to Vodafone, who somehow managed to get their 3G signal 2 floors underground allowing phone network access whilst I was there, and obviously thanks to both LG Mobile and the LGBlog for the invite in the first place.

Nio is a new Bluetooth based security solution, which launched yesterday.  It works by establishing a Bluetooth connection between your mobile phone (not all devices are supported, and some are supported, but the app must remain in the foreground) and the nio device, and then, should the two become separated, both will sound an alarm.

Ever left your mobile in a taxi / on a train?  Ever lost your keys and wanted to find them?  In both cases, this device can help; as well as both devices sounding an alarm if they go greater than a set distance apart, you can also use the application on the mobile to locate the tag.

If you buy multiple tags, you can track them all within the application (and configure different alert tones for each tag), and even specify times as to when the monitoring should be turned on (eg during your commute by public transport you may want to turn it on automatically to ensure you don’t get separated).  As well as visual and audible alerts, you can even configure a vibration alert.  Tenbu, the comany behind the Nio claim you should get around a 20m connection between the devices.

In terms of the phone ranges supported, they prominently feature BlackBerry devices in their marketing, but also support Nokia N-Series, E-Series, and a whole range of devices via their Java client.  They also list Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6.1 as compatible.  No iPhone or Android devices at present though.

The nio features a rechargeable battery, which they say should last a few weeks, although whether this duration is only achievable with only using the connection for a few hours a day isn’t clear.

Each device currently costs £39.95 (RRP £59.95) and is available direct from the manufacturer here (and they accept Paypal if you are nervous of giving them your credit card).  This looks an interesting way of ensuring you don’t lose your valuable gadgets, yet manages to be a gadget in it’s own right too.

Despite historically only concentrating on the Windows Mobile platform, Microsoft and Nokia announced this week a joint agreement to make Microsoft Office based applications available on Symbian devices (actually, like a number of other agreements, this may be specific to Nokia Symbian devices, and hence not available to other phone manufacturers using Symbian).

Microsoft Office Mobile and its stablemates (including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Communicator and OneNote), will be among the first to appear on Nokia’s Symbian smartphones, equipping you with the ability to easily edit and collaborate on Office docs from anywhere around the world.

It appears that E-Series devices will lead the way in terms of this Office support, although it’s an interesting announcement from Nokia’s point of view; most Nokia phones today ship with QuickOffice, and the E-Series already ship with the full version, allowing the ability to Edit and well as Read Office files.

No timeframes have yet been announced.

This is the new HTC Hero, similar to the HTC Magic already available on Vodafone, but enhanced by a number of HTC customisations on top of the base Android OS, in a similar way to the TouchFlo interface that HTC add to their Windows Mobile devices.

The spec includes a 3.2″ 320×480 display, 5 megapixel camera, 512MB ROM, 288MB RAM, HSPA, WiFi, GPS, compass and microSD slot.  It features a fairly powerful 1350mAh battery, weighs 135 grams and is 112×56.2×14.4mm, and features a Teflon coating to help keep it clean.

In a similar way to Nokia E-Series devices which feature two theme profiles, the HTC Hero will have a Scenes profile feature to allow you to swap between business and personal modes (although we don’t believe it’s limited to 2 profiles like the Nokia solution).  It looks like it will have the ability to integrate some social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter into the Contacts, and the phone features a dedicated search button that provides “you with a more natural, contextual search experience that enables you to search through Twitter, locate people in your contact list, find emails in your inbox or search in any other area in Hero”.

Best of all, HTC are talking about a July availability date in Europe, and to back that up, Orange UK have already announced they will be selling the HTC Hero, and T-Mobile have stated this is the phone dubbed the G1Touch.

The G1Touch will be available from mid-July and will be free on T-Mobile on a £40 per month contract (no contract term stated by T-Mobile, so that might be 24 months) on a Flext tariff offering £225 of credit to spend each month, and that tariff will also include “unlimited” internet browsing (likely to be 3GB per month).

Orange have stated the HTC Hero will be free for customers to take out the £39.15 per month (24 month contract), which will offer 1200 cross-network / landline minutes, “unlimited” texts, and “inclusive anytime” internet browsing (which means 500MB); which looks to us to be the Dolphin 40 tariff.  It will also be exclusively available in ‘Graphite’ (dark grey) from early July.

It’s nice to see Orange finally starting to offer half-decent internet access deals, and we note that the Dolphin 40 tariff has no “out of bundle” charge for texts, so maybe they actually mean unlimited texts… <later> Oh no, it actually means 3,000 texts, just like the other networks….

This phone was originally due to be made available by Garmin late last year.  Then Garmin announced it would be delayed until the first half of this year.  Well, now, it’s been delayed even further, and it’s now not likely to appear on sale until Q3 this year.  This is interesting, as the device was clearly on show at the recent Gadget Show Live in Birmingham, whereas the Garmin Oregon 550 wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

As we’ve seen in years gone past with both Symbian and Windows Mobile devices from various manufacturers, we suspect it’s the interaction between the device and the GSM phone element that’s delaying them.  Of course, if they keep delaying it much more, they will have released an Android based phone by then (along with the Windows Mobile based M20 which isn’t so delayed (yet!).

More news on availability and pricing as and when Garmin finally get this device on sale.

Social networking is becoming big business, and Social Networking websites are now the number one type of website we apparently all access whilst at work.  As such, over the last few months we’ve seen a lot of site specific mobile applications being developed, and Facebook, as one of the more popular worldwide sites is no exception.  Well, you can now get a dedicated Windows Mobile (WM6 only) Facebook application direct from Microsoft here.

This now leaves Nokia and Symbian as the obvious platform without a decent Facebook native application, although we are still hearing that the Nokia Ovi Store, when it launches next month, will feature such an application amongst the rumoured 20,000 other applications / games / wallpapers etc. that will be available.  However, if you can’t wait that long, then shortly Gravity, one of the better native S60 Twitter clients will soon include support for Facebook.

Continuing today’s Wi-Fi theme, fring have updated their client (for Windows Mobile and Symbian S60) to now support WeFi, which is a Wi-Fi location service.  WeFi users map areas of all the useable Wi-Fi hotspots, which are then published and shared for everyone to use.  A WeFi client will then automatically look for the best connection available in the area.  With fring’s addon, you will be able to locate the available internet access either via your GPS, or search by typing in the address.  WeFi currently have over 20 million Wi-Fi hotspots discovered in their worldwide database.

To get the new WeFi addon on your Symbian S60 or Windows Mobile Device, you’d need to download fring’s latest version here.  More information about WeFi can be found here.

Skype has released their iPhone Skype client, and although it has a few features missing, has been well received.  The main complaint seems to revolve around the inability to make Skype calls via 2G or 3G networks, however, Skype have been keen to point out that it is a license restriction placed upon them by Apple, and hence not within their pwoer to fix.  The other issue is that the client crashes on install or running, although Skype claim this is only happening on jailbroken phones.

Skype on iPhone is available from here in the iTunes Store.

Ignoring the 3G call issue, you can make and receive Skype calls via Wi-Fi hotspots (however, we should point out Skype chats, and setting your Skype status and mood message will work over EDGE / 3G).  Skype have done a lot of good integration work on this client, so it can use the built in Contacts (for SkypeOUT calls), and can use the camera to set your photo.

Of course, with the inability to run apps in the background, as soon as you move away from the Skype client, it shuts down.  Any messages or calls that occur whilst you have the app shut down will be notified to you when you next start it up.  In that respect, running Skype on Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian (via clients like fring), or even the INQ1 and Skypephone all benefit from the ability to leave the app running in the background.

A final point; 3UK have reacted to this release pointing out that Skype has been available on their network (ie via 3G) since 2006, but they also claim that there are “over 1 million minutes of Skype to Skype calls made on 3 every month”. Now, that includes Symbian phones running X-Series (or simply having the current Internet Access) but wow, that’s a lot of Skype support…

Last week, Google released a YouTube client for Symbian S60 (and Windows Mobile devices).  It supports a wide range of handsets, including all the current popular devices (Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia E71, Nokia N86) and offers automatic selection of the best stream quality based on device and network connection speed, including Wi-Fi streaming.  Users simply need to head to m.youtube.com where you should be offered the download.

We’ve been a big fan of mobbler, the Symbian S60 client for last.fm, which allows you to scrobble your tracks (record what you have listened to), and also access and play last.fm radio streams.  However, this week, last.fm have made two statements which may not help mobbler…

Firstly, due to the lack of an established ad business, last.fm have found it difficult to find advertisers to cover their costs outside of 3 main countries, UK, USA and Germany, and hence all subscribers outside of those countries will need to subscribe and pay €3 per month for access what will remain the “free” service here in the UK.

However, the key issue is their second announcement, which signals the end of 3rd party clients using unofficial API calls to access the streamed music.  These old APIs will be switched off (potentially by the end of next week) and new music streaming APIs will be used instead.  These new APIs are available to developers to use within their clients, so, unlike some news reports, last.fm are not preventing 3rd party clients from working, simply ensuring that they use the right code to access the streams.  There are 2 key points:

Firstly, only subscribers will be able to stream music, unless the developer of the client enters into a specific deal with last.fm

Secondly, last.fm have said that their license prevents the streams being streamed to mobile phones.

Ironically, further clarification seemed to have muddied the water even further.  last.fm have stated that this decision is not “set in stone” (which seems bizarre if it’s a licensing issue).  Also, last.fm official Android and iPhone/iPod Touch clients do not seem to be affected by this.  Finally, they have confirmed that the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, as it is does not contain a SIM card, is not affected, and the 3rd party client Vagalume will still be ok (presumably if it supports the new API).  What’s odd about this is that a common method of connecting the N810 to the Internet is via Bluetooth and a mobile phone, so ironically, you will be able to listen to last.fm on an N810 whilst out and about, but won’t be able to listen via your Nokia E71 using Wi-Fi at home (as it’s a device issue, not the actual network connection)…

last.fm need to reconsider this; limiting music streaming to paying subscribers should help ensure a steady revenue model to cover the costs of paying royalties, and allow all users to continue to enjoy the music they want to listen to.

It should be pointed out that there are other 3rd party clients affected, the Pocket Scrobbler on Windows Mobile and FlipSide on the BlackBerry will also be affected.  However, neither the Vodafone S60 last.fm client nor 3UK’s INQ1 phone will be affected, as these only supported scrobbling (which remains free and unchanged) and had no music streaming support.

Update: last.fm have now stated “I’m working with third-party mobile client authors at the moment, and I’m fairly confident that we can allow them to use the new API in mobile mode for subscribers” and “I am working to make sure that existing mobile clients like Mobbler will get grandfathered in”, and last.fm have re-confirmed that only paying subscribers will be able to stream music; why they didn’t simply state this, along with the change in API we don’t know, instead of announcing and now, in essence, withdrawing their statements over mobile phone streaming.

This is the new O2 Joggler Home Appliance, with it’s 7″ touchscreen, launched yesterday by O2 UK.  It’s an OpenFrame-based products (although it has to be said, there’s very little that’s Open about their products, more below), which offers a chance to become the focal point for the whole family (especially if they are all O2 customers…)

It comes with a range of applications built in, with options to download more over time.  These include:

• Weather information (from Sky News Weather)
• Road Traffic information (from TrafficMaster)
• News and Sports (Sky News and Sky Sports)
• Ability to show photos (stored on it’s 1GB internal memory, or from USB stick)
• Ability to play music / video (either local or streamed from your PC; although iTunes format not supported, which is unfortunate given O2’s iPhone exclusive)
• Ability to play games, like Sodoku
• Tools (alarm clock, calculator)

In fact, O2 have already announced that during May the following additional applications will be available:

• Messaging; send up to 50 free SMS text messages to any UK mobile per month
• Internet Radio support

However, one of the key selling points of this device is the calendar, which is available both on the device and as a standalone free service on the internet.  “Appointments, birthdays, school runs, work deadlines and more can all be stored on the O2 Joggler’s calendar, which will text handy reminders to family members’ O2 mobile phones.”  That’s last point is quite key; the reminders by SMS are only available to O2 UK customers, which I guess is O2 trying to encourage the whole family to select their mobile network and remain loyal.

It connects to your home Broadband either wirelessly or using an ethernet cable, and needs a permanent power supply (no batteries). There is no in-built SIM and therefore no ongoing costs or monthly subscription, and will be available next month (6th April) at £150, or will be free if you elect to take this device instead of a new handset when your contract is up for renewal.  However, this upgrade route is only open to those who are on 18 or 24 months contracts, ie not PAYG or Simplicity (SIM only) customers, although PAYG customers can use part of their upgrade discount to reduce the price of the Joggler, and it’s not available at all as an upgrade deal to corporate customers.

Mobile Industry Review were at the launch, and have even produced a short video and their opinion of the device here.

The device is running a dedicated O2 specific OpenFrame firmware, which although it runs on Linux underneath is not an open platform.  As OpenFrame firmwares are only provided to companies who sell these devices like O2, there is no ability (yet) to hack a different firmware onto this device, or to remove the O2 branding.  Other devices who have used the OpenFrame software have had additional applications, such as the ability to display photos from Flickr, videos from YouTube, and support for reading RSS feeds, all missing from the O2 device (as Mobile Industry Review point out, some even have a Domino’s Pizza option, but not this one), which does show the potential missed opportunity here.

Mobile Industry Review also point out that they are aware some of the other UK mobile operators are planning similar devices, so this may well be an interesting type of device to keep your eyes on.  However, right now, with no support for syncing the calendar from work diaries, or even Google Calendar, nor support for being able to sync the calendar onto phones (irrespective of whether they are S60, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry or iPhone), it does appear they have missed a trick here; an OpenSource equivalent of this, which offered access to other solutions such as Apple’s Mobile.Me or Google would be more popular, and fit better into the likely customer base.

Also announced by O2 is a new family bolt-on for O2 customers.  One O2 customers pay extra each month for the bolt-on and this allows them to add a number of other O2 customers into their “family” group (no pricing or maximum numbers available) and once setup, all parties can call, text or MMS each other for free.  Link these two solutions together, and you have the potential for the O2 Joggler to become the hub of a small family’s communications, as long as you don’t want to share the calendar from beyond the device.

All in all, an interesting product, but with rumours of new iPhones due out in the next few months, now might not be the best time to use up your O2 upgrade on this device…

As well as supporting Android, Windows Mobile, having a mobile site, and having a mobile widget (more below), lastminute.com have announced today they have released their fonefood for iPhone client, and also a Symbian fonefood application.

The fonefood for iPhone client will show you nearby restaurants and any deals or offers that are available, and can also be used to search for the same information at other locations.

The Symbian application works in a similar way, offering to show you nearby restaurants, deals and offers.  To access this version, simply go to m.lastminute.com from your phone and it should offer you the option to download and install the application.

We didn’t cover much detail on the mobile widget before, but on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, this will also determine your location.  It’s also clever enough to set the language of the widget based on your phone’s language.  As this is a Symbian S60 5th Edition Web Runtime widget, it should work on all S60 5th Edition phones, including the new ones announced at MWC when they become available.