Latest mobile gadgets: Hands on at MWC

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Photos: From smartphones to smartbooks, designer kit to eye-controlled earphones...

Mobile World Congress - the world's biggest mobile phone trade show - takes place in the Fira de Barcelona exhibition space in Spain (pictured above).

This year's event saw around 49,000 attendees - up slightly on last year when 47,000 mobile industry professionals walked through the door. More than 1,300 exhibitors showed off their wares this year but there were a few high-profile absentees: Nokia, which set up a press and analyst meeting area just around the corner from the Fira inside Once - the National Organisation of the Spanish Blind (see photo below), and LG which paid a flying visit with an off-site press pavilion.

Two high-profile mobile companies with no presence inside or outside Congress were Palm - and of course Apple, which only participates in its own conferences.

Nokia set up camp outside MWC - but there was no mobile hardware on show, just chit-chat

Photo credits: Natasha Lomas/silicon.com