Commencing on the 15th of February and lasting until the 18th, it’s the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. As you can expect as the congress starts to unfold, tech heads and blogs (such as MS mobile news!") will be itching to see what is being announced and shown!

My biggest want is to see Windows Mobile 7 in some kind of working form! And maybe a definite release date?

We can also expect to hear some other big announcements seeing as 1,300 companies will be showing off what they think will define the future of mobile and smart-phone technology!

Expect to see some announcements here once the event gets underway!

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Today HTC announced their phone which is being aimed at the masses. It’s called the HTC Smart. HTC are saying that this is going to be a “new category of easy-to-use, connected smartphones that are accessible by people all over the world.  The HTC Smart will be available this spring across Europe and Asia.”

So we can expect to see this device soon. The Smart will be running Qualcomm’s Brew MP, a good and popular system for operating mobile phones. Using this OS rather than having yet another WinMo or Andriod based device will allow HTC to be a lot more competitive on pricing than they are with their other devices, making the HTC Smart more accessible to more people and expanding HTC’s market. I’m sure there will be many HTC fans out there looking forward to seeing this device in stores!

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Now the Google phone has a name, and it’s called the Nexus One! Obviously being Google’s own device it is running Android 2.1, and people are already claiming it’s an Iphone killer… but is it too early to tell? Apple really have a big hitter with the Iphone and it would be a challenge for anyone to knock them off of that spot.

The Nexus One however, is a very attractive device. My personal opinion is; it looks a more futuristic and smoother version of the iPhone.

Just imagine it, being able to run Android and Windows mobile on the same handset! Well the guys over at VMware have achieved that dream.

They have got Android 2.0.1 to run on the previous generation of Windows Smartphone's (HTC Touch Diamond, Touch HD & Touch Pro). Its a dual boot system at the moment but in the future they are targeting being able to run two OS’s simultaneously . VMware has selected 3 different carriers (U.S, Australian & European) to begin prototyping phones for beta testing in 2011.

Zane Adam, Microsoft’s head of virtualisation’s argument is there is little or no demand for the service, productivity would drop and the consumer made the choice to stick with a certain OS at the time of purchase. The latter point he made i think there is room for argument. Should the consumer be tied down to  a certain OS when they’ve shelled out money for a device? for example, The HTC HD2, there huge demand for a very similar looking device but running Android, this is where VMware would be very handy.

Smartphone's are increasingly becoming similar to actual computers, so having the option to run whatever OS you want should be a option. Bring it on VMware!

Ok technically speaking this isn’t really Windows Mobile news. But it will most likely affect Windows mobile so I think I have dodged the bullet there!

Google have managed to break into almost every market that presents itself to them. With the release of Android for mobile phones it was only a matter of time before Google made their move and made it known they planned to release their own device! Google phone will most likely (I think I can say 99% possible) run Android as its chosen OS.

So it seems the HTC Touch.B isn’t going to support Windows Mobile, or the Android operating system. In fact the device is going to be run by “Qualcomm's BrewMP OS” to give it it’s full name, a full Flash OS.

An unusual move for HTC as I think I would be reight in saying that every other deivce they have produced as been Windows Mobile or, more recently, Android OS. It puzzles me, and I’m sure some others as to why HTC would take this seeming backward step, is this a bid to sell handsets in to the mass-market?

The OS does however seem rather smooth and tidy, as does the device, looking all the world to be a twin to the Touch2. But HTC seem to be limiting the capabilities of the HTC Touch.B.  You can catch a short video of the device in use here showing the new OS in action!

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We've always been big fans of CoPilot GPS Navigation software at MSMobileNews.com so thought it only right that we broadcast the news of their latest release, that of CoPilot Live Satellite Navigation for the iPhone. Costing £25.99 from the App Store it gives you full UK and Ireland maps (including 7 digit UK postcodes), portrait and landscape modes and all maps are stored on the device meaning no data costs (rarely a problem for iPhone users anyway though I guess?). With such a buzz around the iPhone and its App Store has Windows Mobile missed a trick?

Visit the CoPilot website here: http://www.alk.com/

Not content with their iPhone dominance in the UK, operator O2 have now secured the highly anticipated Palm Pre to an exclusive deal too! With Orange believed to be the main contender O2 will be more than happy with yet another hot device attracting customers to their network.

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O2 is set to capture yet another high profile smartphone, the Pre, when it launches next week exclusively on the Telefonica owned mobile network and UK's largest mobile operator.

Richard Wray from The Guardian has confirmed that O2 won the deal, beating the other serious contender, Orange. The newspaper is also reporting that the Pre will be available at the Carphone Warehouse which is also selling the iPhone 3GS.

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