Acer Iconia TAB A500 Hits The Stage. #MWC

Following the tablet-filled tech fest that was CES2011, MWC is proving to be just as inviting to large-screened devices. Earlier, we showed you the Acer Iconia Smart, a 1024 x 480 21:9 smartphone. For this afternoon, we’re moving on to tablets. Welcome to your surely growing list, the Acer Iconia TAB A500.

In hopes of giving the iPad a run for its money, Acer has equipped the A500 with a 10.1″ display and Android 3.0 to show you the world in the palm of your hand. Fulfilling that task comes by way of an Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor, 5-megapixel rear-facing camera/front-facing camera, Flash 10.1 support, and 3G/WiFi capabilities — sorry, no 4G/LTE/WiMax/HSPA+ here.

Is the A500 different and unique enough to stand out in the crowded tablet arena? We’ll have to wait and see come April when the device is supposed to ship. At the time of writing, price has not been announced.

ViewSonic ViewPad 4 Shown Off Running Android 2.3. Promised To Have Latest Version Of Android At Launch. #mwc

All too often we see some great on paper Android device artificially limited with an older version of Android. At least we won’t have to worry about that with ViewSonic’s ViewPad 4. At MWC, ViewSonic marketing manager James Coulson, stated that at launch, the ViewPad 4 will ship with Android 2.3. Coulson also stressed that the phone/tablet would be updated with the latest version of Android before the shipping date (if the update rolls out before then) or at the very least, receive the update over the air.

To recap: The ViewPad 4 is powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and features a 4.1″ display as well as 8-megapixel camera. “Competitive against other Android devices” is all that could be gleaned from Coulson regarding pricing. But rest assured, once we know you’ll know.

ZTE Unleashes Amigo, Blade, And Skate Into The World. #mwc

ZTE isn’t the most popular mobile device manufacturer in the U.S., but in other parts of the world, they provide a rather large range of offerings spanning everyone’s price range. Today at MWC, the company unveiled three new smartphones: Amigo, Blade, and Skate.

The Amigo is the first of the three new smartphones and features among other things, a 3.5″ display, 800MHz processor, slide-out full qwerty keyboard, and Android 2.2 (Froyo).

The Blade is the lowest on the totem pole between the three deviecs announced today, as it features a slower 600MHz processor and overall cheaper build quality. The display is the same size as the Amigo (3.5″) and is brighter to boot. However, various reports say that it is not as clear or crisp as the other two phones’ displays.

Finally, the Skate tops ZTE’s line of smartphones announced today. A 4.3″ display with 800 x 400 resolution is the main draw. As told by PhoneScoop, the high-end Skate felt awfully cheap.

As of writing, these three ZTE deviecs aren’t slated to come stateside. Though if things should happen to change, we’ll be sure to update you accordingly.

Acer Iconia Smart Packs 1GHz Processor And 4.8″ 1024 x 480 Display. #mwc

4.3″ may be the default size for a high-end smartphone these days, but Acer looks to push that standard and challenge the very word “phone” with their Iconia Smart smartphone. To start, the Iconia Smart makes use of a larger (and longer) than life 4.8″ display running at 1024 x 480 resolution. For those not able to do the math themselves, that translates to a 21:9 screen — on a phone. Such display sizes are few and far between in the smartphone world. Truth be told, they haven’t proved to be all that popular yet. Acer hopes customers will think otherwise, however.

Other features of the Iconia Smart include a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255-1 processor, 512MB of RAM w/ 8GB of ROM, 8-megapixel camera with 720p video capture + 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat, aGPS and GNSS (Russian GPS technology) and Andorid 2.3 skinned with Acer’s own Acer UI version number 4.2.

The feature list is worthy of attention which is more easily evident by actual pictures of the device. As for upgrades to future version of Android, Acer wasn’t quite as forthcoming meaning it could be dead at Android 2.4, or it could all the way to 3.x and beyond.

Is 4.8″ and 21:9 too much for the pocket?

Fujitsu Reveals MeeGo Powered MH330 NetBook. #mwc

While everyone may be focused on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets at MWC, netbooks also make a large showing — I mean, they are “mobile” afterall, right? Today’s netbook-that-will-surely-fly-under-the-radar is the Fujitsu-built LifeBook MH330. Powered by MeeGo, this average on paper netbook has quite the uphill battle. To start, the “average” specs: 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455, 250GB hard drive, 10.1 display, and 1GB of RAM don’t exactly grab and hold your attention. Then of course there’s the whole little issue of one of MeeGo’s largest backers — Nokia — pulling up the anchor and high tailing it to WP7 land. But if you can look past all of that, you’ll find a capable netbook.

Priced right, the MH330 might not be such a bad little deal after all. Though the jury is still out on how useful MeeGo is going to be after the developments over the past week. Our advice: Hold off on MeeGo for now.

RIM: PlayBook With HSPA+ And LTE Coming In 2H 2011. #mwc

WiMax not your favorite 4G spec for RIMs PlayBook tablet? At MWC, RIM alleviated some fears that the would cater to one 4G technology over the other by announcing two additional PlayBooks — an HSPA+ model and an LTE model — to sell alongside the WiMax model. For those keeping track, that’s four separate PlayBook variations

• WiFi

• WiFi + HSPA+

• WiFi + LTE

• WiFi + WiMax

While it would seem to make since to condense a the above to one or two devices, sometimes you just can’t cram as much technology as you’d like into the ever shirnking devices we consumers demand.

In other news: RIM also announced that all PlayBook devices will support Bluetooth tethering, mobile hotspot support, and BlackBerry Bridge.

In the quickly growing sea of high-end consumer tablets, where does RIM’s PlayBook stand in yours?

Intel Shows Off MeeGo Tablet UX UI. #mwc

Less one partner in Nokia, Intel has already voiced their determination to keep the MeeGo platform moving ahead. And at the 2011 Mobile World Congress, Intel kept to that promise by showing off an ExoPC tablet running the latest MeeGo Tablet UX. While designed specifically for this tablet, Intel noted that the WeTab and other Atom-based tablets that share a common 10-inch design should also work with little fuss.

From the start, the underpinnings of Nokia’s touches shine through in the panel interface seen above. (We’re sure Nokia’s bits run deeper too.) Overall, it’s a play on webOS’ card-style interface. We’re not complaining though. WebOS’ cards work really well. On that same note, webOS looks a lot better to boot. But seeing as how MeeGo has had quite the stroke of bad luck since it was announced at MWC 2010, we can’t exactly fault it for that.

There’s plenty more of MeeGo: “Tablet Edition” to see. So hop inside and check out the video. Be sure to tell us what you think.

Bonus Question: After seeing the video, was it a good idea for Nokia to cut ties and run with WP7?