Stacking up the tablets, large and small, of MWC 2013

Mobile World Congress is generally all about phones, but this year there are a fair number of tablets out and about. Feeling like you're losing track? Check out the roundup below, covering the biggest hits (HP Slate 7 and Samung Galaxy Note 8) and a few unknowns (ZTE, anyone?).

On Day 1 of Mobile World Congress, here's what mattered

The first official day of Mobile World Congress was riddled with exciting launches and delivered press conferences from some of the big guns of the smartphone world. Without Samsung and HTC to stand in their way, the likes of Asus, LG and ZTE threw down the Android gauntlet, and Nokia revealed the latest handsets in its ever-expanding range of Windows Phone 8 devices.

Despite the early hour, CNET staff were out in force with not a bleary eye in sight to cover Nokia's 8.30 a.m. press conference. A series of budget and midrange handsets were launched, chief … Read more

Asus explains why smartphones are more expensive than the $249 FonePad

BARCELONA, Spain--Asus has taken the wrapper off its new FonePad device, a 7-inch Android tablet that contains all the necessary tech to make phone calls. It also costs a mere $249, or £179. If Asus can sell what is basically a giant phone at half the cost of a high-end smartphone, why are smartphones so expensive in the first place?

I put the question to Asus, and while I didn't get a single, clear answer, I was given some clues.

"[With] small devices," Asus' regional director Jonahan Santaub said, "Often there's more engineering, development, … Read more

ZTE V98 is a metal-backed 10-inch Windows 8 slate (hands-on)

BARCELONA, Spain--ZTE's V98 tablet was initially announced in September of last year but it's shown its face again at Mobile World Congress. The V98 is a 10-inch tablet packing an Intel Atom processor and full-fat Windows 8. I went in for a closer look.

In terms of design, the V98 is pretty unremarkable. The front is home to an unbroken sheet of glass, bordered by machined aluminum edging. That metal continues all the way around the back too. The full-metal jacket gives the V98 a more premium feel, although aesthetically, it's unlikely to get your heart racing.… Read more

Microsoft to launch Surface tablet in Japan

Microsoft's Surface tablet may surface in Japan as early as next month, according to a story from the Nikkei news service, as reported by the Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch.

A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed to CNET that Surface will reach Japan in the near future but didn't specify a launch date.

"As part of our phased approach to Surface availability, Surface will be coming to Japan in the near future," the rep said, promising to provide more details soon.

Microsoft is expected to sell the Surface RT edition to Japanese consumers. That version can run certain … Read more

The Asus PadFone Infinity delivers on specs, doesn't come cheap (hands-on)

BARCELONA, Spain--While "PadFone" wouldn't be the first name to spring to mind while attempting to come up with a marketable brand, the name has apparently worked for Asus. The company announced today that it would continue its PadFone line with the unveiling of the PadFone Infinity. It's a 5-inch LTE smartphone that becomes a 10.1-inch tablet when docked into the included PadFone Infinity Station. The whole package comes out this April for 999 euros.

The phone Thanks mostly to its metal edges, the phone piece looks and feels not too dissimilar from an iPhone 5, … Read more

Sony's waterproof Xperia Tablet Z is the thinnest, lightest 10-inch tablet yet (hands-on)

BARCELONA, Spain--The Sony Xperia Tablet Z has been announced for U.S. and European markets. The Xperia is a 10.1-inch tablet and features a quad-core Qualcomm processor. This is Sony's third large-form Android tablet in two years. While the previous entry had some technical issues, the Xperia Tablet Z has the potential to be the company's best tablet yet.

Very, very thin and awfully light Sony claims the Xperia Tablet Z is the thinnest, lightest 10-inch tablet yet, and while I didn't have a chance to break out my scale or tape measure, it definitely felt … Read more

Nvidia Tegra 4 supercharges smartphones (hands-on video)

BARCELONA, Spain--Nvidia's latest mobile processor, the Tegra 4, and its little brother, the Tegra 4i, will soon be turning up in all manner of smartphones and tablets. I went hands-on with some of Nvidia's reference devices at Mobile World Congress and found the new silicon to deliver some impressive results.

Like the Tegra 3 chip before it, the Tegra 4 is a quad-core processor with a fifth power-saving core for less intense tasks. Based on ARM's latest Cortex A-15 platform, it boasts a faster clock speed and a whopping 72 GPU cores -- that's six times … Read more

Lenovo unveils a trio of Jelly Bean Android tablets (hands-on)

Business-friendly ThinkPad Windows laptops are still Lenovo's best-known product, but that's not stopping the company from hedging its bets with Android. The China-based manufacturer has unveiled a trio of new tablets at the Mobile World Congress show: the 10-inch S6000, and a pair of 7-inchers, the A3000 and A1000. All three run the version 4.1 (Jelly Bean) of Google's tablet operating system. Look for them in the second quarter of the year; pricing info and local availability hasn't yet been specified.

The 10-inch S6000 features a standard "blacktablets.com" looks and feel. It'… Read more