Top prototypes of Mobile World Congress 09

3D NEC screens
Although mobile phone screens are becoming bigger and higher resolution, NEC has gone one step further and demonstrated a 3.1-inch 3D screen.

The screen doesn’t require you to wear 3D glasses like on other applications, but encodes the information being sent to the device.

NEC’s move towards creating such screens is part of a wider scheme called MOBILE3DTV, a three-year initiative that aims to demonstrate the feasibility of mobile 3D TV broadcasting.

To be honest, we’re not sure if watching a top blockbuster in 3D would be very comfortable on a 3.1-inch WQVGA screen, but it’s a nifty piece of tech.

NTT DoCoMo Separable Mobile Phone
Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo always astonishes us with its crazy use of tech, but this modular device looks pretty impressive from the demo.

Modu has already released information about its modular device, but NTT DoCoMo added a new twist to this idea.

The phone comprises two elements magnetically attached. Depending on what you want to use the phone for, you can swap keyboards and screens to suit the task in hand.

If you want to play a game for example, you’ll use a soft gaming-style keypad. If you want to stream TV, you can detach the keyboard part of the device and use this as a remote control.

You can watch a video of the device in action here, thanks to Omio

Modu modular phone
Modu’s modular concept is no new idea, but the company previewed some of its new ‘jackets’ at Mobile World Congress this year.

Modu, Like DoCoMo’s Separable Mobile Phone, can be adapted to suit a particular task.

In Modu’s case, you insert the mini phone (apparently the lightest in the world) into a 'jacket'.

The company demonstrated a music jacket that comprises a 2.2-inch display on one side and JBL speakers on the other.

Another jacket turns the phone into a SatNav, with an integrated GPS module, while the bike innovation attaches the Modu phone to your bike.

To get an idea of how the phone works, take a look at this video from Phone Arena

i-mate Warrior and Legionnaire
The i-mate Warrior and Legionnaire was our favourite gadget of Mobile World Congress.

It’s so top secret that we weren’t allowed to publish photos or display a video of the laptop at all.

The nifty concept comprises the Legionnaire, a tiny mobile phone that slips into a laptop shell, codenamed Warrior.

Using virtualisation software, you can then use the Warrior as a normal laptop, navigating using the phone that becomes the laptop’s mouse pad.

The Legionnaire mobile phone will run on Windows 6.5 plus feature Wi-Fi and HSDPA. There’s also a microSD card slot and Bluetooth as is now the norm on phones.

The Warrior apparently includes a large battery that will charge the Legionnaire as it sits inside the laptop.

As soon as the concept is formally announced, we’ll upload our video.

Samsung watch phones
We’re all now aware of LG’s watch phone, but Samsung also demonstrated one at Mobile World Congress, along with its previous efforts.

The Samsung S1100 features a full touchscreen, Bluetooth and a speaker, just like LG’s watch phone.

Unfortunately, that’s all Samsung would tell us about the minimalist wrist piece.

It a shame the device was lined up next to Samsung’s previous watch phone failures.

To take a look at Samsung’s watch phones, past and present, feast your eyes on this video from Aving

Digicel solar powered phone
We saw eco-friendly announcements from Samsung and LG at Mobile World Congress, but one not-so-publicised solar powered phone was the Digicel Coral 200 solar powered phone.

In collaboration with ZTE, emerging markets provider Digicel unveiled a $40 solar powered device that is expected to hit the shelves in June.

There’s no word on when the phone will be launched in the UK, or what it’ll feature apart from a 1.2x2.8-inch solar panel on the back.

You can see what the Coral 200 solar powered phone will look like on this video from tecnocico.it:

Huawei Android phones
Mobile World Congress was filled up to the brim with Android expectation this year, quite naturally, but few companies showed the goods.

Huawei was one of the companies we were highly expecting to make an announcement and quite disappointingly, we were only presented with a prototype behind a glass screen.

Huawei’s touchscreen effort looks good though. In fact (and we hate to say it), the device looks a lot like the iPhone.

According to tech site Engadget, Huawei is working with an "established design consultancy" to develop its own custom interface for the device.

View all features on our features index page.