"Phablets" the Main Draw at Barcelona Tech Show

At this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the line between smartphones and tablets is growing ever more blurred.

Published

3 months ago

Categories

Technology

Topics

Technology

Places

Spain, Barcelona

Companies

Samsung C&T, P.T. Lg Electronics Indonesia, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Zte Corporation

Tags

smartphone, tablet

Transcript

SCRIPT: It's said good things come in small packages, but that's not the case at this year' s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This is neither a tablet, nor a smartphone but a 'phablet' - a giant smartphone that works like a tablet. One of the key players in this category, is the Ascend Mate handset by Chinese maker Huawei. It's the biggest smartphone on the market - boasting a screen 6.1 inches long. SOUNDBITE 1 Eric (man) Visitor at Huawei's stand. "It's surprising to see a mobile that's this big. When you hold it, you think 'where will I put it?' But then you get used to it. I have a tablet and a smartphone, and I don't use my tablet any more." SOUNDBITE 2 Echedy (man) Visitor at Huawei's stand. "Screens that are bigger than 4.8 or 5 inches are really big - they hardly fit in any pockets but it's great for map reading and watching multimedia content." It's Asian developers who are trail blazing the biggest smartphones. For example Chinese maker ZTE is about to launch Grand Memo, with a screen measuring 5.7 inches. Elsewhere, the Korean-made LG Optimus Pro measures up to a comparatively modest 5.5 inches. SOUNDBITE 3 Ken Hong (man) Director of LG Global Communications (English, 12 secs): "It is a growing trend, especially in Asia, and a lot of these phones are favoured by women - women who don't have to worry about putting in their pockets. They carry it in their purse." More than 120 million tablets were sold last year in 2012 - an increase of more than 50 per cent in a year. As for smartphones, more than a billion are expected to be sold this year. And the line between smartphones and tablets is becoming increasingly blurred. SOUNDBITE 4 Isabelle Rojanathara (woman) Samsung's head of Telecommunications Product (French, 8 secs): "You can use that tablet to make calls. Here you have the phone, and you can make calls directly." With smartphones getting bigger, and tablets get smaller, Taiwanese developer Asus has merged the two to create the PadFone Infinity. Released in April, it's one of the many designs that have got tech-lovers talking at this year's phone festival in Barcelona. SHOTLIST: BARCELONA, Spain, 25 and 26 February 2013 source: AFPTV - VAR Huawei Ascend Mate and company stand - SOUNDBITE 1 - SOUNDBITE 2 - VAR ZTE company stand - CU ZTE Grand Memo - VAR LG Optimus Pro - SOUNDBITE 3 - Two shots of Samsung Galaxy Note 8 tablet - WS convention - CU Huawei Ascend P2 - SOUNDBITE 4 - VAR Asus Padphone