MWC 2013 Day Zero Highlights: Huawei Ascend P2, HP Slate 7, Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 And Much More

Galaxy Note 8.0 - Oh! It's not an iPad Mini killer

So, who wants to crush iPad Mini from within? Obviously, it's Samsung who can compete with Apple. Well, after months of speculation and hullabaloo, the Korean giant unleashed Galaxy Note 8.0. If you don't mind carrying an 8-inch smartphone(it can make calls too) in your pocket then this device is surely made for you.

It is a tablet as well as mobile phone. Stuffed with an 8-inch display with a resolution of 1280 X800 pixels, 1.6Ghz Exynos 4 Quad Core processor, S-Pen, 2GB of RAM, 16 GB/32GB of internal storage (expandable), a 5-mega pixel rear camera and 1.2 -mega pixel front facing camera, Wi-Fi , 4600mAh battery.

The device supports Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and comes in optional 3G/4G LTE connectivity. No specific release date as of yet.

Mozilla Firefox OS - ZTE Open and Alcatel One Touch Fire

Welcome Mozilla OS! MWC is not just about high-end devices; it's more of a combined effort to drive mobile technology all together. One of the new players finally announced list of hardware partners along with their offerings.

Two major players- ZTE and Alcatel made their smartphones running on Firefox OS official. The ZTE Open is an ultra low powered device with a 3.5-inch display, Cortex A5 processor and 256MB of RAM. The Alcatel One Touch Fire comes with a 3.5-inch, 1 GHz processor, 256MB of RAM, 512MB of storage, a 3.2-mega pixel rear camera and Wi-Fi. Both devices will hit Europe first.

Huawei Ascend P2 - It's not going to Outshine HTC One

The Chinese brigade is mentally prepared to take the world by storm. Huawei is one among them that has a potential to rival Samsung in the smartphone race. This time, the Chinese brand announced their flagship device - Huawei Ascend P2. Unfortunately, the folks over at Huawei didn't care much about 1080p HD craze and settled for 720p HD display to be used in their flagship device.

The device comes with company's stock layer on the top of Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. They call it as ‘Emotional UI'. Stuffed with a 4.7inch display with resolution of 1280 X 720 pixels, Quad Core processor , 1GB of RAM , 16GB of internal storage, a 13-mega pixel rear camera and 1.3 -mega pixel front facing camera, NFC, Wi-Fi and LTE Cat- 4(150Mbps speed).

Available around the world in Q2 2013, there is a fair chance that the device will sell in healthy numbers.

Lenovo Android tablets - A1000, A3000 and S6000

Looks like Lenovo is running after Google Nexus line. The company has come with three Android powered tablets. One of them has a 10-inch display while other two settled for a 7-inch display. The Lenovo A1000 comes with a 7-inch display (1024 X 600), 1.2 GHz dual core processor, 16GB of internal storage (expandable), and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

The Lenovo A3000 is again a 7-inch IPS LCD slab with resolution of 1024 X600 pixels, 1.2Ghz Quad Core processor, 16GB memory(expandable up to 64GB), Wi-Fi and 3G. Lastly the company announced a 10-inch tablet with a resolution of 1280 X 800 pixels, Quad Core processor and mini HDMI port. Expect Q2 2013.

Acer B1-A71 - Now with 16GB internal memory

The Acer B1-A71 now boosts of 16GB of internal memory. The 8GB version will be available in the market alongside 16GB variant.

Specifications are still the same including the 7-inch display, 512MB of RAM, plastic body, VGA quality front facing camera, 8GB/16GB internal memory (expandable) and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The 16GB variant will cost you a mere €139(Rs 9916).

HP Slate 7 - Coming this April

Let's be clear. HP is rated as a failed tablet and smartphone maker. The company's past track record in this mobile field speaks loud. After retiring WebOS powered TouchPad from its catalog, the company officially made its exit from so -called Apple dominated market. Now the world's largest PC maker wants to come back with a bang. The HP Slate 7 is a $169 (Rs. 9,142)tablet with second hand specs. It has a 7-inch display with a resolution of 1024 X 600 pixels, 1.6 GHz ARM Cortex - A9 dual core processor, 8GB of internal storage (expandable), 1GB of RAM and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

This is a budget tablet from the maker with two camera fitted inside; a 3-mega pixel rear camera and front facing VGA camera. There is nothing fancy about the tablet except metal chassis and Beats audio support. If HP says that they are competing with Nexus 7 then the answer would be: Grow up!