Phone makers to battle for attention next month

Excitement is building ahead of the Mobile World Congress 2019 next month, when up-to-date technologies from leading phone makers are expected to change the way we use our smartphones.

Ranging from flexible display screens and in-display fingerprint scanning to gesture control, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Huawei, Xiaomi, Sony and Motorola are planning to debut their new models ahead of the MWC 2019 that kicks off Feb. 25 in Barcelona, Spain.

LG on Wednesday sent an invitation to global press and industry officials for an event on Feb. 24 to unveil its flagship model for this year.

The invitation that included a 10-second video hinted at a new user interface for its flagship phone -- assumed to be the G8 ThinQ -- that will allow users to control the smartphone via hand gestures without the need to touch the screen. 

Along with the eighth edition of the G series phone, LG is rumored to introduce a dual display smartphone that has a second display attached to the rear of the phone, instead of a true foldable display phone.

LG’s foldable model is to be showcased for VIP customers at a private booth during the MWC event, The Korea Herald confirmed earlier.

“Rather than making a drastic change in the form factor, LG seems to be focusing on a new UI that does not overlap with Samsung or other rivals,” an industry official said.

Four days ahead of the LG event, Samsung is going to present the 10th anniversary Galaxy phones in San Francisco.

According to an image leaked by company insiders, Galaxy S10 models are to come with new features such as cinematic display, in-display fingerprint sensing, a triple camera and wireless battery sharing.

A newly spotted feature of the Galaxy S10 is the wireless battery sharing.

This technology will enable users to charge the phone without a charging cable and to share the battery from one device to another as if sharing photos via Bluetooth. 

“It is the first time to see such wireless charging technology be adopted for a smartphone so far,” said a telecom industry official.

Expectations about Samsung’s first foldable model are high as well, despite industrial speculations that the phone will be priced over 2 million won ($1,770).

China’s Huawei is reportedly announcing its 5G-based smartphone on the same day as LG.

It will be announcing the triple camera P30 and quadruple camera P30 Pro phones. It is also expected to show off its foldable phone that it claimed the company had since late last year.

Xiaomi will be unveiling its first 5G phone on Feb. 24th as well. The Chinese tech startup will reportedly also show a prototype of its foldable phone.

Sony will announce the Xperia Z4 on Feb. 25, the same day as fellow Chinese player OPPO with its 10x zoom technology and Finnish mobile phone maker HMD Global with the penta-lens Nokia 9 PureView.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)