Watch the Samsung Unpacked 5 press conference here

Samsung's dedicated press event at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is about to get underway. There is less than an hour left before we see the global market leader announce its latest flagship smartphone and you can watch all the action live here.

Apart from the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy S5, the company might showcase a couple of new tablets and wearable products.

The press event is scheduled to begin at 8 PM CET (7 PM GMT), and you can watch how things unfold right here, without even having to leave our site.

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MWC 2014: HTC Desire 816 hands-on

GSMArena team, 24 February 2014.

Introduction

HTC stuck to its strength with the two devices it presented at the MWC – the Desire 816 phablet and Desire 610 smartphone. Both feature attractive designs, LTE connectivity and BoomSound speakers.

The HTC Desire 816 is a 5.5" phablet, "one of the best value smartphones ever introduced by HTC" says the company. LTE is certainly a good step and the 13MP camera sure helps. There's also a front-facing camera with 5MP BSI sensor for better selfies.

The HTC Desire 610 is a smaller device, with a 4.7" qHD screen. The Desire 610 has an 8MP camera and is powered by a Snapdragon 400 chipset. It has a fairly large battery too, 2,400mAh, which surprisingly is only a bit smaller than that of the phablet.

Unfortunately, HTC only brought out a Desire 816 dummy, so we couldn't handle the live device. Still, there are some photos on the next page you can look at - HTC should allow hands-ons with the real deal tomorrow. The situation with the Desire 610 is even worse, there isn't even a dummy.

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Security-heavy Blackphone is now available for pre-order

The security-heavy Blackphone which was officially announced last month is now available for pre-order with a price tag of $629. Orders of the device will begin shipping in June.

Developed by Silent Circle and Geeksphone, the Blackphone runs a heavily modified Android build called PrivatOS. The OS allows users to take full control of their communications’ privacy and security.

A quick look at the listed specs of the Blackphone reveals that its pricing carries a notable premium for the added privacy and security features. They include 4.7” HD IPS display, 2GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in storage, and 8MP camera. Connectivity options include LTE, HSPA+, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS.

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HTC unleashes Desire 816 and Desire 610 in the mid-range

HTC’s press event at the MWC pulled the curtain on two new midrange smartphones named Desire 816 and Desire 610. The Desire 816 will be taking charge of the company’s updated midrange lineup, with the latter serving as the more compact alternative.

HTC Desire 816

The latest addition to the Desire club measures 156.6 x 78.7 x 7.99mm and weighs about 165g. The Desire 816 looks a lot like the company's flagship smartphone, the HTC One. With the new device, HTC is looking to offer an extremely competitive device at an affordable price point.

HTC's new midrange phablet has a 5.5” screen with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. The Desire 816 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with a 1.6GHz quad-core CPU and Adreno 305 GPU. The 1.5GB of RAM will allow trouble-free multi-tasking, while the 8GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD, will try and fit in all your content.

HTC has put a 13MP camera at the back of the device and, with a 5MP front facer, the quality of selfies is bound to rise.

The connectivity options on the Desire 816 include GSM/GPRS/EDGE and WCDMA/HSPA+/4G LTE. Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with Wi-Fi Direct are also on board.

HTC's latest phablet comes with Sense 5.5 out of the box and the device is powered by a 2,600mAh battery. The Desire 816 will be up for grabs in black, white, orange, mild green, dark blue and grey color options when it hits the stores in April.

HTC Desire 610

The Desire 610 comes with a more compact 4.7-inch qHD display. Under the hood, there is a Snapdragon 400 processor with four Kraits running at 1.2 GHz, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory, which can be expanded up to 64GB via a microSD card.

There’s an 8 megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 1.3 megapixel front facing unit. As usual, there is a wide range of connectivity options, including support for 4G LTE networks.

The HTC Desire 610 runs on Android Jelly Bean with the company's proprietary Sense UI and packs a 2,040mAh battery. The smartphone will be available across Europe in May.

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Asus shows two new Fonepad 7 versions

Asus didn’t have a big event like it did at CES, but the company still unveiled one new device. It's not entirely new, it's two new versions of the Asus Fonepad 7.

The first one brings LTE, which was missing from the original model. It's still powered by an Intel Atom Z2560 processor at 1.6GHz and has stereo speakers on the front.

Two new Asus Fonepad 7 versions that look the same as the original

The second version stays on 3G, but goes down a notch in terms of chipset – it uses a 1.2GHz Intel Atom Z2520 instead.

The company also had the PadFone, PadFone mini and ZenFone at its MWC booth too.

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Second generation of dual-screen YotaPhone goes official

The Russian manufacturer YotaPhone announced the second generation of its dual-screen Android device. The new YotaPhone features a 5” 1080p AMOLED display and 4.7” qHD e-Ink touchscreen, packed in a sleek-looking body which will be available in black or white.

At a quick glance, the newcomer surely is a massive improvement over its boxy-looking predecessor. YotaPhone has also equipped the Android 4.4 KitKat smartphone with specs worthy of a top-shelf handset.

The new YotaPhone packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC with 2.3GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of built-in memory. Photo and video capture is handled by an 8MP main camera, aided by a 2MP front-facing unit.

Connectivity options of the device include LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and GLONASS. FM Radio is also present.

The measures of the new YotaPhone are 144 x 69.5 x 8.9 mm, while its weight tips the scale at 140 grams. The smartphone is powered by a 2,550mAh battery.

The second generation YotaPhone will be available in Russia and EMEA countries in Q4 this year. Availability in Asian markets and the United States also planned.

Via

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Samsung Galaxy S5 live pictures and specs leak

Samsung Galaxy S5 has just leaked in live photos, specs and details. Some ingenious reader managed to guess the link to a hidden article and downloaded everything about the upcoming flagship smartphone. Unfortunately the page doesn't exist anymore so it's impossible to confirm if the images are the real deal.

So, the Galaxy S5 is said to pack a 5.0" SuperAMOLED display with 1080p resolution, not much of an upgrade over its predecessor.

Samsung Galaxy S5

The camera got a significant update though - it's now a 16MP one with just 0.3s shot-to-shot time, selective focus and 4K video recording. The Selective Focus seems to be similar to Nokia's Refocus app - it shoots a picture and you can choose the focus after the fact.

There is also some new HDR Live mode which allegedly lets you see how the HDR photo will look like even before you take it.

Another new addition is the heart rate monitor placed just below the rear camera under the LED flash. You just need to put you index finger there and the device will tell you your heartrate. Apparently Samsung Galaxy S5 will focus on fitness apps (S-Health 3.0 on board), especially with Samsung's newest wearables having a heart rate monitor, too.

Samsung Galaxy S5

Galaxy S5 will come with a fingerprint sensor (who would have guessed!) and it will be embedded in the Home key. You will need to swipe your finger 8 times to record it and after that you will be able to unlock the S5 with your fingerprint. You can also authorize PayPal payments with just a single swipe of your registered finger.

Finally, the Galaxy S5 will allegedly be water and dust proof. This means we are probably not getting an Active version as it was with the Galaxy S4.

Other specs we managed to collect over all leaked articles are USB 3.0 port, LTE connectivity with download booster mode where you can use both Wi-Fi and LTE for super-fast downloads, Android 4.4 KitKat with support for OK, Google command to launch Google Now anywhere, new TouchWiz skin with flat and round icons (probably the same as the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 slate).

Samsung Galaxy S5

Unfortunately, the design of the Galaxy S5 is nothing ground-breaking. The front looks quite the same as the previous Galaxy S4, though the back features a matte plastic with some dotted texture. If the previous leak is to be trusted, the Galaxy S5 will become available in black, white and gold colors.

The official announcement is this evening and we'll be there to cover it as it unfolds. Stay tuned for our hands-in impressions!

Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 3

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