You don’t have to go home, but you gotta take the Android slide out. Mobile World Congress 2011 is officially over, that’s a wrap. The lights are turned off in Barcelona, and all the Androids are locked back up in their cages. With everyone stumbling back into reality, it’s time to take a look back at a few of the highlights from one of the biggest techie shows of the year. While there were really too many announcements to mention, there were a few that stood out above the rest.
Android Version Confusion seemed to be a hot topic, with talk of Ice Cream, Ice Cream Sandwich, Gingerbread, and Strawberry Shortcake. Ok I made Strawberry Shortcake up, but with several different versions of Android OS being released Google is making it a wee bit tricky for us to keep up with exactly which is what.
There was Google’s main event, the Eric Schmidt Keynote, maybe not the most entertaining, but definitely one of the more Android informative bits of the show. There was also Google’s Music Service Announcement to compete with iTunes. With iTunes already staking claim to the music service market, it’ll probably be an uphill battle for Google, but just as the Android OS is rising quickly in rank, there’s always a chance Google’s Music Service could do the same.
With each and every major manufacturer on hand we were bombarded left and right with smartphones and tablets. To make a long smartphone list short, in no particular order we were introduced to the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, Neo, and Pro, the Samsung Galaxy S II, the LG Optimus 3D, and a handful of HTC releases which included the Salsa and oddball ChaCha.
Still craving Gingerbread? On the tablet front we saw the likes of The LG Optimus Pad, The Acer Iconia, the much improved Samsung Galaxy Tab II, and a surprise with a stylus, the HTC Flyer Tablet. Of course the previously announced Motorola Xoom was seen sulking around the dark halls while Android addicts had their hands all over these new tabs.
I have a single core. You probably have a single core device too. Having dual core smartphones as the norm is getting so close that it hurts. But whats this, quad core you say? Not to overshadow all that’s great and golden within the halls of MWC, Qualcomm Quad Core Snapdragons were announced, as well as NVIDIA Quad Core, leaving a trail of drool in their wake.
In a nutshell, that was the show. Here’s looking forward to 2012. If there was something you felt should have been mentioned in this post let us know what and why, and feel free to comment on what you thought about the show in general, and the Android devices mentioned above. Which announcement/smartphone/tablet was best of show? Or worst?