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Top 10 gadgets out of Mobile World Congress 2014

Smartphones for seniors, tablets and mobiles galore -- this year's Mobile World Congress has gotten off to a blazing start.
By Charlie Osborne, Contributing Writer
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1 of 10 Charlie Osborne/ZDNET

The iPro Lens System

Revealed at Mobile World Congress 2014, hosted in Barcelona, Spain, Schneider Optics showcased interchangeable lenses now compatible with a long list of devices.

CNET: Mobile World Congress coverage

The iPro Lens System range, a set of interchangable lenses -- Macro, Wide Angle, Super Wide, Fisheye, and Telephoto -- has now been expanded to include the iPhone 5, 5S, and 4/4S, as well as Samsung Galaxy S4, and current iPad models.

Schneider Optics says that a new clip fits the latest models of the iPad Mini, Air and iPad 2, allowing you to fix the lens on the back without damaging your tablet.

Prices for the kit range from $50 upwards.

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2 of 10 Aloysius Low/CNET

A smartphone for seniors: Yezz's Andy AZ4.5

For some, the advance and rising complexity of mobile devices are little more than an irritation, especially if such a gadget is only wanted in order to take phonecalls and send text messages.

If someone in your family has these needs, perhaps the Yezz Andy AZ4.5 is worth a try.

Powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and running on a tailored version of Android, the smartphone features large icons and a voice assistant. In addition, the smartphone has an SOS button located at the back of the handset for emergency use -- and can be changed within the phone's settings to call an emergency contact or send out text messages if pressed.

Available at the end of March worldwide, the phone will retail for roughly $250.

Via: CNET

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3 of 10 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Lenovo's Yoga HD+ tablet

Lenovo wasn't a silent party at this years' Mobile World Congress, choosing the venue to showcase a new Yoga tablet model.

The Yoga Tablet HD+, now available in silver or champagne gold, also sports a new 1,920x1,200 full-HD resolution screen, up from the previous model's 1,280x800 display. In addition, Lenovo says you can squeeze up to 18 hours of battery life out of the tablet.

The Yoga runs on Android 4.3, is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with quad core CPU, and has a new 8MP rear camera.

A longer and redesigned kickstand allows you to use the tablet in three different modes and settings - Hold, Tilt and Stand.

Prices start at $349 and will be available in April.

Via: Lenovo | See also: CNET hands-on

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4 of 10 HP

The Hewlett-Packard ElitePad 1000

At Mobile World Congress, Hewlett-Packard unveiled an enterprise lineup of Windows tablets.

The ElitePad 1000 is a Windows 8.1 tablet built for the business user who wants to maintain a connection between work and play. The ElitePad 1000 G2 is an enterprise-focused tablet, touted by the firm as a "total business solution." Flexibility is the tablet's main focus, with full-sized HDMI ports, multiple accessories 64-bit Intel processors, dual cameras and enterprise IT integration software.

The ElitePad 1000 G2 will start shipping in March with a base price of $739.

Via: ZDNet

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5 of 10 HP

360 degree hinged laptops, the HP Pavilion x360

HP showed us a 360 degree convertible PC at MWC 2014, a hybrid which allows users to convert from laptop to tablet easily.

Weighing just over 3 pounds, the laptop is equipped with an 11.6-inch diagonal high-definition (HD) SVA display, Intel Pentium processor and an HP TrueVision HD webcam. In addition, the hybrid computer -- aimed at Millennials -- sports up to 8GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive.

See also: CNET's full coverage of Mobile World Congress

The HP Pavilion x360 is expected to be available in the Brilliant Red color in the United States on February 26 for a starting price of $399.99. Silver will be offered later in the year.

Via: HP

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6 of 10 Sarah Tew / CBS Interactive

Huawei reveals: the world's fastest MiFi?

Huawei claims to have developed the world's quickest MiFi, the E5786.

Able to connect to LTE networks and providing download speeds of up to 300Mbps, the device will also support upload speeds of roughly 100Mbps, according to the telecommunications equipment maker. In addition, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n and 802.11ac are supported for up to ten devices.

The Huawei E5786 will be available later this year.

Via: CNET

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7 of 10 Plantronics

The Plantronics Voyager Edge

The Plantronics Voyager Edge is a Bluetooth earpiece for talking on the go.

I own a Plantronics headset, and while the voice quality is not brilliant if receiving calls from abroad, for local use the headsets do have good range and stability. The new design includes smart sensors for answering calls through voice activation or placing the tech within your ear, noise cancellation, a portable charging case and an option of three different colors.

The Voyager Edge will be available from April.

Via: Plantronics

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8 of 10 Sarah Tew/CNET

A 59 euro Firefox mobile phone

While a number of tech firms are looking at emerging markets and low-cost entry smartphones to boost the bank account, few have gone so far as to create mobile devices for no more than 59 euros ($81).

Running the Mozilla Firefox operating system, Alcatel's Fire C smartphone includes a 3.5-inch HVGA screen, 1.2GHz dual-core processor and VGA camera.

The phone is due to ship out in the first quarter of 2014.

Via: CNET

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9 of 10 Charlie Osborne/ZDNET

A data compressing, roaming cost saving app

Opera Max, a free, data saving app has been launched at Mobile World Congress this year.

The application compresses data across applications including video, text and images on your mobile device -- in order to get the most out of data plans and make roaming cheaper. The company says that your data plan's life can be extended by up to 50 percent.

A beta version is currently available and pre-registered Android users in the U.S. and Europe are able to download a version of the application.

Via: Opera Software

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10 of 10 Charlie Osborne/ZDNET

Sony's waterproof tablets and smartphones

Sony has launched a range of waterproof tablets and smartphones at Mobile World Congress.

CNET: Mobile World Congress coverage

Among the offerings are the Xperia Z2 tablet, a 10.1-inch gadget with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor and 2.3 GHz processor quad-core Krait CPU. Available in black or white, the waterproof tablet has 3GB RAM and is only 6.4mm thick. The tablet weighs 426g as the Wi-Fi model and 439g for the LTE/3G model.

See also: Sony Xperia Z2: 4K-shooting flagship sharpens up its display

In addition to the Xperia Z2 tablet, Sony also announced the Xperia Z2 and M2 smartphones.

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