TECH SPECIAL.............. Five cool computing highlights from MWC 2016

Five cool computing highlights from MWC 2016





Step away from phones and check out the killer computing products at the MWC this year

Mobile World Congress is the best convention in the world if you're into smartphones. As it turns out, Barcelona's techfest is also a grand time if you're not into smartphones, partly thanks to a few nifty computing products hitting the show floor this year.

HP Elite x3

With Windows 10, Microsoft wants your phone to act as your PC. HP is putting its own spin on the concept with its Elite x3, a phablet-sized Windows phone with a 5.96-inch display.

Like Microsoft's Lumia 950 and 950XL, you can hook it up to a monitor to get a desktop-like experience. However, HP is also offering the massive handset with a 12.5-inch laptop called the Mobile Extender.The x3 connects to the peripheral using WiGi and Miracast wireless tech to display the desktop on its 1,920x1,080-pixel display.

Huawei Matebook

The Chinese smartphone giant has made its first Windows 2-in-1.Featuring a raft of future-gazing tech, such as a USB Type-C port, finger print reader, QHD-resolution display and digital stylus packing 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity and an eraser, the Matebook has enough going for it to give Microsoft's Surface Book a run for its money.

HTC Vive

If you've been tuning in to virtual reality, you're already familiar with the HTC Vive. This year's MWC finally saw the headset's price tag revealed, and it'll set you back by $799.

Orders start February 29, with shipping to start on April 1. HTC also revealed one of the Vive's newest fea tures, Vive Phone S er v ic e s, wh ich lets you make and receive calls using the headset's built-in microphone. The service also lets you send messages and check calendar updates through the headset, removing the need to take your smartphone out of your pocket.

Panasonic FZ-F1

It's tiny -it's a tablet. And it's also hard as a rock, so don't call the Toughpad FZ-F1 any names.Panasonic's 4.7-inch device is designed to be a highly portable (and practically indestructible) Windows 10 tablet used for business.

Weighing less than 280 grams, Panasonic is aiming the device at couriers and warehouse operators (thanks to its barcode scanning capabilities), in addition to workers in retail and manufacturing and the emergency services. It's something of a Skype warrior, too, thanks to three onboard microphones that pack noise suppression tech. Its connectivity options include a micro USB port, micro SD card slot and dual micro SIM slots.

Imagination PowerVR GR6500 GPU

Processor maker Imagination thinks you deserve a better gaming experience on your smartphone than what you have today. The company reckons it can deliver one through its new PowerVR GR6500 GPU, a chip small enough to slip into mobile devices.

Imagination has been talking up the chip's capabilities in Barcelona, and it's all down to a programming trick called ray tracing. By using it, reflections, shadows, lighting and other visual tricks are rendered on-the-fly, removing the need for programmers to spend time baking them into games manually. The result is gorgeous-looking games running on smaller devices such as smartphones and tablets.

in techradar com

ET27FEB16