BARCELONA, Spain — Facebook and Ericsson are looking to spur the connection of the next …

BARCELONA, Spain–Microsoft wants to make it a lot easier for companies to develop Windows Phones. The software giant on Sunday unveiled plans to release a reference design based on its mobile operating system and using Qualcomm hardware. Basically, that means anyone — from established handset vendors like HTC to PC makers like Hewlett-Packard — can build phones relatively quickly and …

BARCELONA, Spain — An iPhone fanboy will sneer at it. A long-term Android user will have unpleasant flashbacks to the early versions of Google’s operating system. But Mozilla’s $25 Firefox OS smartphone is real. I toyed with a prototype Sunday at its debut at Mobile World Congress here, and I have to say, I’m impressed — given the price. A …