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Smartwatches and waterproof gadgets catch our eye at MWC (pictures)

Waterproof gadgets, an armful of smartwatches, and lots of other cool gadgets caught our eye on the eve of Mobile World Congress.

Richard Trenholm
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Andrew Lanxon Editor At Large, Lead Photographer, Europe
Andrew is CNET's go-to guy for product coverage and lead photographer for Europe. When not testing the latest phones, he can normally be found with his camera in hand, behind his drums or eating his stash of home-cooked food. Sometimes all at once.
Expertise Smartphones, Photography, iOS, Android, gaming, outdoor pursuits Credentials
  • Shortlisted for British Photography Awards 2022, Commended in Landscape Photographer of the Year 2022
Richard Trenholm
Andrew Lanxon
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1 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

GoPro Hero 3 Black+

Here's a look at some of the waterproof gadgets and smartwatches that have caught our eye so far at the 2014 Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain.

The GoPro Hero 3 Black+ is for adventurers, and soon for rock stars too -- GoPro is planning special mounts to attach the camera to musical instruments.

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2 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

SlimPort

This friendly chap is all about plugging your phone into your TV with SlimPort, which has a USB connection on one end and an HDMI on the other. Look at him. I want to stroke his beard. I wish he was my dad.
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3 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Logitech Ultimate Ears Mini Boom

Here comes the boom -- but only a mini one: the Logitech Ultimate Ears Mini Boom. Aw yeah, that was some pretty solid captioning right there. Keep clicking for more pure gold.
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4 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Tech21 Impact Snap

Brace for impact: The gorgeous Tech21 Impact Snap protects your MacBook in style. I was tempted to say "Mac in black" there, but I went for "Brace for impact" instead. Did I make right choice? This is the kind of question that keeps a caption writer awake at night.
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5 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Google Glass

We met this nice lady from software company SalesForce sporting a pair of Google Glass high-tech specs.
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6 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Tech21 gear

That orange goop is Tech21's impact-defying protective goo, which is lucky for this chap's lucrative pointing-at-things career. Tech21 also makes an anti-reflection iPhone case called Impact Shield, and I was going to caption it "without a glare in the world", but my photographer didn't take a picture of it. Such is the lot of the caption writer.
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7 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Snack time

We found some cheese at the show, but it didn't seem to be launching any new products.
Kyocera Hydro Elite
8 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Kyocera Hydro Elite

We've all been there: one minute your phone is safely ensconced in your hand, the next it's floating in your drink like a very expensive ice cube. Fortunately the Kyocera Hydro Elite is waterproof, so it takes a dippin' and keeps on tickin'.
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9 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Audience motion sensors

More tea, vicar? Motion sensors made by Audience allow you to control your phone by moving it around in certain ways, which are read by the software as demonstrated by this demo. To be honest, you kinda had to be there.
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10 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Acer Liquid E3

Look, it's an Android phone! The Acer Liquid E3 in black, to be precise. Not much else to be said, really. Man, sometimes writing captions is hard.
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11 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Acer Liquid Z4

The Acer Liquid Z4 in white. Again, I'm at a loss. It's an Android phone, what do you want from me?
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12 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Martian smartwatches

Mars attacks! Martian smartwatches are voice-controlled, so you can for example dictate a text message to your wrist.
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13 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Torture test

Ever wondered how Corning tests its super-strong Gorilla Glass? With this fiendish torture device. It's like that bit in Casino, only with phones.
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14 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

P2i waterproof coating

P2i not only waterproof the outside of your phone, but the insides too. This tissue is coated in P2i's waterproof coating, so if you try and blow your nose on it you're in for a nasty surprise.
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15 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

SteelSeries Stratus

The SteelSeries Stratus is a mini Bluetooth gaming controller for playing games on your phone. Whatever will they think of next?
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16 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

SnappGrip

Aw snap! SnappGrip is clever camera lens that slides onto your iPhone so you can take snaps in an app via Bluetooth. It's coming to Android this spring.
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17 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

BuzzLaucher

BuzzLaucher adds a touch of class to your Android phone by customising your home pages. Hmm, I wonder if they do awards for photo captions? I hope so. I'm going to enter this one.
Omate TrueSmart
18 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Omate TrueSmart

Oh mate, that is smart. The Omate TrueSmart is yet another Android smartwatch.
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19 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

WildTangent games

Bear with us: WildTangent makes games like the chilled-out Polar Bowler. Dude, it's that kind of wordsmithery that caption writers live for.
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20 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Proxi batteries

Chaaaaarge! Proxi makes batteries that charge wirelessly, so any AA-powered gadget -- like this toy car -- can become a wireless wonder. When you want to juice up, just dump your kit into the Proxi 3D and they'll soon be raring to go once again.
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21 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Muvee

You've just barrelled down a mountain with a GoPro strapped to your dome, and you can share your adventure with the world by editing the footage in Muvee, an Android video editing app.

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