Chocolate waterproof phones... and all that!

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is where the global mobile phone industry comes together. It is a week where new phones and new phone concepts get revealed. Here we've picked just a couple of our favourites...

The NTT "Chocolate Bar" phone



Perfect for chocolate lovers (we are assured that the phone won't melt in your hand!). However, more relevant to ViewRanger is that this is one of a new breed of water-resistant phone handsets. Currently these use non-standard operating systems and therefore won't run ViewRanger - but by the end of 2010 I'd expect to see water resistant and more ruggedized handsets capable of running ViewRanger software. Known as the SH-04B in Japan, this NTT handset includes GPS, OLED display and more.

HTC Legend and Desire



Two brilliant new Android handsets from HTC. The Legend (shown here) can be seen as the follow up to the successful HTC Hero, whilst the Desire could perhaps of been known as the Nexus V2! With Android 2.1 and a fast processor, both handsets are quick. The Legend phone's casing is machined from a single block of aluminium - meaning it will be robust in the outdoors. The screen on both models is large AMOLED display - 3.2" on the Legend and a huge 3.7" on the Desire.

We were able to briefly try the upcoming ViewRanger for Android software one of these new handsets. The maps look absolutely fantastic with fanastically rich colours and contrast from the AMOLED display. Awesome!

Android

Motorola, Samsung, Acer, HTC, Sony Ericsson and more all announced Google Android handsets during the show. A few are pictured below.

Android is shaping up to have a lot of support across a lot of manufacturers. Our experiences with Android handsets so far have been very positive. Register your interest in ViewRanger for Android at http://www.viewranger.com/android



Puma Phone with in-built Solar Charger



This Puma-branded Sagem phone comes with a solar-charging panel on the rear. Whilst add-on solar chargers for your phone are not new, this could be the first to include a solar panel integrated to the handset. Let's hope we see this technology move onto more mainstream handsets soon.