Matias Duarte talks about virtual reality as future of mobile devices

We’ve seen Google make some pushes into augmented reality with their recent push with Google Glass, and Google’s Direct of Android User Experience, Matias Duarte, fully agrees with that direction. At MWC, Duarte talked about gestures and tangibility being the next step for mobile devices, saying “computers have to work the way people expect, and not the other way around.” He also talked about the importance of users interacting with objects simil…

ASUS FonePad official: 7-inch tablet with phone functionality, priced at $249 (hands-on)

We already knew ASUS was prepping a product called the FonePad, a 7-inch tablet with built-in phone functionality (yes, just like the new Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0). Well, ASUS just formally unveiled it here at Mobile World Congress, which means we’ve got a few more details to share than we did previously. First off, the speculation about its specs was all true: this does indeed have an Intel processor — a 1.2GHz Atom Z2420, to be exact — along w…

OPTiM outs wireless smartphone-to-smartphone screen sharing and remote control app for Android

One of the more notable features of BlackBerry 10 is built-in screensharing, but here in Barcelona at MWC 2013, OPTiM has just one-upped Waterloo with a new app for Android. It not only lets users share screens, but it also allows them to remotely control devices over WiFi. Called Optia for Android, it works with handsets running Android 2.3 and up, and has a built-in chat function for facilitating communication while screensharing. Naturally, th…