BARCELONA, Spain — Facebook and Ericsson are looking to spur the connection of the next five billion Internet users. The companies said on Monday at the Mobile World Congress trade show that they would be building an “Innovation Lab” at Facebook’s Menlo Park, Calif., campus. The lab is part of Internet.org, an initiative designed to …

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 …

BARCELONA, Spain — There’s a vast number of new phone accessories here at Mobile World Congress — cases, clips, and camera widgets galore — but I’m willing to bet I don’t see a more lavish or expensive one than this. German company Avantgarde Acoustics is here showing off its new Zero 1 speaker, which as the headline gleefully informs you, …

Last week Artemis Networks unveiled a technology that company founder Steve Perlman said would revolutionize the wireless industry. So far the world has seen a brief demonstration of the technology, called pCell, which promises to overcome the dropped calls, congestion and slow data rates of traditional wireless networks. It creates a “personal cell” around the antenna of mobile devices that …

At CES in Las Vegas, Sony’s Kunimasa Suzuki announces the Core, a small device that will act as a fitness tracker, offering recommendations based on how users interact with the device. BARCELONA, Spain — The Sony SmartBand hits shops in March, followed by a special edition version celebrating the World Cup in Brazil this summer. The SmartBand SWR10 is a …

Whether it’s a quirk of scheduling or a sign of Nokia’s new-found confidence, the handset maker will be having its MWC press conference at the same time as Sony. Nokia’s EVP Stephen Elop. (Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET) The big rumour for this year is, of course, Nokia’s fabled entry into the Android market with the device code-named the Normandy. While …

BARCELONA — Mozilla doubled down on its bet that low-end smartphones will give Firefox OS a place in the crowded mobile market, announcing partnerships Sunday that will bring $25 smartphones to the large number of people who can’t afford high-end models like Apple’s iPhone 5S and Samsung’s Galaxy S5 that cost hundreds of dollars. At the Mobile World Congress here, …

P2i show off their waterproofing nanotechnology at Mobile World Congress Traditional waterproofing involves designing products with physical seals and barriers to prevent water ingress. This often means devices such as phones, tablets and cameras are bulkier to help house the additional seals. P2i’s technology involves placing devices in a specialised chamber where a polymer nano-coating is applied. The polymer creates …

Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore kicks off the company’s event at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Shara Tibken/CNET BARCELONA, Spain–Microsoft plans to provide an update to Windows 8.1 that it hopes will address the concerns that early adopters have expressed with the operating system. The update will improve the non-touch user interface controls, expand the options for hardware makers to create more …