While movie fans have traveled to Berlin this week, the mobile industry met in Barcelona. At the Mobile World Congress 2010 show manufacturers, providers and network suppliers presented latest devices and upcoming trends. Some of it – like eye-controlled earphones by Japanese operator NTT Docomo – seems weird, other things like higher data transmission rates over 4G networks or efforts to introduce standards to the world of smartphone apps sound rather promising. And, of course, handset manufacturers showed lots of new devices with new features. Here is a short wrap up of the most interesting phones and platforms of the show.

Android smartphones are great for using Google web services on the way. Services such as Google Mail, Google Talk, Google Search, Google Maps and Google Chrome web browser are already installed on the mobile, new emails are automatically forwarded to the smartphone, and contacts and calendar on the phone are synchronized with the Google server over the air. In Germany, the first Android smartphone T-Mobile G1 appeared one year ago. Vodafone sold the second Android device in the German market, the HTC Magic. O2 Germany was the third German operator …

The exclusive unveiling on January 5th in Mountain View arranged at short notice, the new category “super phone” invented by Google, the new sales model over the Google web store and new features of Android OS 2.1 on the one hand - poor customer support, poor sales on the first week and a high purchasing price whereas manufacturing costs are low on the other hand: The Google phone Nexus One built by Taiwanese manufacturer HTC is the talk of the town. My first impression after being able to put my hands on the new smartphone for a few hours: The Google phone Nexus One (still) is just another Android smartphone.

The most important question for German smartphone users at today’s official presentation of the Google phone Nexus One has been answered: The Google phone Nexus One will not be available in Germany or any other European country at least for another few months. Even though Google partners with T-Mobile USA in selling the new Android smartphone, it is only available at the new Google web store at http://www.google.com/phone for USD 529.00 for an unlocked phone or USD 179.00 for a phone with a two-year contract of T-Mobile. According to today’s announcement by Google, Vodafone will offer the Nexus One phone in Europe in spring.

With only a few days more to go until the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the question is: Will the Nexus One be the Google Phone or a Google phone? Will the Nexus One offer new features that other Android smartphones such as the Motorola Milestone with Android 2.0 do not support or will it just be the epitome of what all future Android smartphones will be capable of? There is evidence for both sides of the argument: Google genuinely getting into the hardware business or just giving Android another push as the competitive platform to the iPhone OS.

It seems as if Motorola has found its sheet anchor with new Android and Windows Mobile smartphones. The first Android smartphone is the Droid which is sold in Germany as the Motorola Milestone. In Germany, the Motorola Milestone is available at Vodafone stores for EUR 499.90 or at O2 Germany stores for EUR 481.00 without contract. My judgement after having testing the Motorola Milestone for a short time: With a great touchscreen, a real QWERTZ keyboard and the Android 2.0 operating system the Milestone is surely the most powerful Android smartphone currently available, but multimedia capabilities trail behind other smartphones.

When you want to buy the new Android smartphone Motorola Milestone without a long minimum term cell phone contract in Germany, expect prices beginning at EUR 459.00. That’s how much the Motorola Milestone costs at the online store of discount mobile phone provider Simyo, including delivery of the new smartphone. At other German online stores such as Amazon.de buyers of the Motorola Milestone pay at least EUR 463.00 when they do not agree to a new mobile phone contract. Operator O2 Germany sells the Motorola Milestone for EUR 481.00 without contract, Vodafone for EUR 499.90.

The new Android 2.0 (Eclair) smartphone Motorola Milestone (the GSM version of Motorola Droid) will be available in Germany at O2 Germany and Vodafone stores. O2 Germany will sell the Motorola Milestone for 481 euros without contract, Vodafone has not revealed any prices yet. At German online stores the Motorola Milestone will be available for prices beginning at 450 euros without contract.

The new HTC Hero is the most mature Android smartphone in the market at the moment. Menu and applications are easy to use, the touch screen supports multitouch, it has seven well-designed home screens with widgets, and it offers up-to-date technical features such as a 5-megapixel camera, WiFi and HSPA as well as the Chrome Lite browser with Flash support and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. Workmanship is good and, in addition, the body of the HTC Hero is protected against fingerprints by a Teflon coating. The user experience is comparable to the Apple iPhone – just with Android apps and Google services instead of iTunes or Safari.