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.

The Samsung B7620 Giorgio Armani is the third fashion cell phone made by the Korean manufacturer. Supposedly, it is designed by Giorgio Armani himself. True or not, at least the smartphone bears the fashion designer’s name in big letters on the front. With the Fashion Weeks in Milan, Berlin and Paris in mind, I have been taking a closer look at the Samsung B7620 Giorgio Armani. My conclusion: This is definitely not a phone for a bag of bones on the catwalk, but rather for a techie or a show-off who likes to spend his money before it burns holes in his pocket. The Samsung B7620 Giorgio Armani is almost as expensive as the Apple iPhone 3G S – and it is even more powerful.

When I had the chance to take a first glimpse at the new Samsung smartphone Omnia II I8000, I was excited about the phone: It offered all up-to-date functions, had a well responsive touchscreen and was easy on the eyes. Now that I had the opportunity to take a closer look at the Omnia II I8000 and after having found several weaknesses of the phone, I have to revise my first opinion. Please read this review in order to get to know more about the strong and the weak points of the new Samsung smartphone.

“Apologize” parody by OneRepublic feat. Timbaland. Now really new, but just now found at YouTube: