Gadgets

Charge your Nexus 4 without hassle

BARCELONA, Spain--Hot new handsets weren't the only products LG had up its sleeve at MWC. The phone maker also unveiled a new wireless charger, the LG WCP-300.

About the size and shape of your average bar coaster, the WCP-300 is designed to be simple and straight forward. Once connected to a power outlet (or Micro-USB port), just drop your compatible phone onto the WCP-300's disc-shaped charging pad. A small LED on the charger's edge lights up in green when juice is flowing.

Since the LG WCP-300 relies on the Qi wireless charging standard, it supports numerous smartphones … Read more

Qualcomm's Wi-Fi coffee machine: High-tech caffeinated kicks

BARCELONA, Spain--If you're sick of trekking to the coffee machine every time you want a fresh mugful, Qualcomm's concept Wi-Fi coffee machine may be right up your alley.

Making an understated appearance at Qualcomm's stand at Mobile World Congress, the machine is a standard coffeemaker that the processor company has hooked up to one of its Atheros 4100 chips.

To control it, Qualcomm's put several of its own platforms to work. Using Vuforia augmented reality tech, you wave your tablet's camera in front of the coffee machine until it's recognized, at which point you'… Read more

Fujitsu New Generation GPS Cane takes you places

BARCELONA, Spain--We all need a bit of direction in life, especially when we're getting on in years. With the Fujitsu New Generation Cane, a prototype superconnected walking stick, seniors can find their way, stay healthy, and keep loved ones posted on their progress.

The cane prototype is on show at Mobile World Congress, proving that "mobile device" doesn't just mean a phone or tablet. Packed with GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, it not only guides you to your destination but records data to make sure you're not in trouble.

The cane is topped by a contoured handle made of glossy plastic, which curves all the way around the hand in a loop. The handle flares at the front, a bit like the pommel of a sword, where there's a screen of large light-up colored dots that displays useful information to the walker. It displays either big green arrows pointing you in the right direction, or big green numbers to tell you your heart rate. … 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

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

Live stream your life with Looxcie HD (hands-on)

BARCELONA, Spain--If you live an extraordinarily fascinating life and believe that everyone should be able to witness every glorious second of it as it happens, the Looxcie HD may well be the gadget for you. It's a video camera that's small enough to attach anywhere on your person that, thanks to its built in Wi-Fi, allows you to live stream everything to your Facebook wall.

Like the ever-popular GoPro Hero range of video cameras, the Looxcie HD is designed to be as small and inconspicuous as possible. It's small enough to sit comfortably in the palm of … 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

Vudu's in-home Disc to Digital service: Promising yet lacking

It sounds ideal. Take all those DVDs and Blu-rays you own and, from the comfort of your own home, effortlessly gain digital copies for a low price. That's the promise of Vudu's new "In-Home Disc to Digital" service. Vudu delivers on that promise in some cases but disappoints in other ways.

Last year, Walmart-owned Vudu launched its Disc to Digital service that required people to go into Walmart stores for the conversion. Who wants to do that? This is where the "In-Home" version of Disc to Digital comes … Read more

Samsung HomeSync is a Jelly Bean-powered Apple TV rival

BARCELONA, Spain--Samsung's not content with just making smart TVs -- now it's taking another lunge into your living room with HomeSync, an Android-powered media hub.

The glossy black box, announced today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, has an HDMI connection, but also hooks up to other gadgets over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The HomeSync hub streams Android movies, TV shows, and games, but Samsung promises the system will also work with Galaxy smartphones, giving smartphone owners the power to beam their home movies or photos onto the big screen.

Samsung says the HomeSync will feature a "… Read more