Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is cancelled due to coronavirus outbreak

Mobile World Congress or MWC, which is the world's largest phone trade show, took the unprecedented step of cancelling the entire show set to happen between February 24 and 27 in Barcelona, Spain. The GSM Association (GSMA), which organizes MWC, has already released a statement about the show's cancellation due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. The trade show routinely attracts 100,000 visitors from across the world. Several companies, including LG, Amazon, Sony, and NVIDIA, have pulled out of the show ahead of GSMA's announcement citing concerns about the coronavirus. Coronavirus infections have affected over 42,000 people, with the total number of deaths at more than 1,000. 

GSMA CEO John Hoffman said in a statement, "With due regard to the safe and healthy environment in Barcelona and the host country today, the GSMA has cancelled MWC Barcelona 2020 because the global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak, travel concern and other circumstances, make it impossible for the GSMA to hold the event. The Host City Parties respect and understand this decision. The GSMA and the Host City Parties will continue to be working in unison and supporting each other for MWC Barcelona 2021 and future editions. Our sympathies at this time are with those affected in China, and all around the world."

Source: CNET + The Verge

LG tipped to unveil V60 at MWC 2020

While the LG V50 with its dual-screen attachment didn't make its way here, we're hoping the rumoured LG V60 will be available here. The phone is reportedly going to be debuted at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this next February. The V50 successor will reportedly support 5G and have a new dual-screen attachment with a hinge that allows it to stop at any angle. Nothing else is known about the phone so far, but MWC is just around the corner, so we'll be waiting for the announcement then.

Source: Android Central

This Energizer phone has an 18,000mAh battery

Energizer teased this phone ahead of MWC 2019, but in case you haven't seen it yet. Here's a quick look at this brick of a phone from French company Avenir Holdings. The Energizer P18K Pop has a gigantic 18,000mAh battery—and it shows. It basically looks like a power bank attached to the back of a smartphone. What do you get by having this big, chunky boy? You're promised up to 50 days on standby, 90 hours of calls, or two straight days of video. You need a full eight hours to completely charge its battery.

In front, you get a 6.2-inch edge-to-edge display. The lack of a notch is because the camera is hidden and just pops up when you need it (thus, the Pop in its name). It has two front-facing cameras and three at the back. The Energizer P18k Pop runs on a MediaTek Helio P70, Android Pie, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB expandable storage. It also comes with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, which is wise because trying to wrap your hand around and get to a fingerprint reader in the back isn't ideal. According to a rep from Avenir Telecom, we could expect to see this phone as early as June 2019 with a starting price of around €600 (around CA$900).

Source: 9to5Google

MWC 2019: Google Assistant is coming to Android Messages

Google is rolling out "over the coming months" an easier way to pull up information when you're on Android Messages. The messaging app is getting Google Assistant support. This means you'll be able to see a Google Assistant button appear in the smart replies section of the app. When you tap it, it'll ask Assistant a question and give you options of what you can answer in your thread. Like if you want to find out about restaurants in the area where you're meeting up with a friend. For starters, the feature is limited to English.

Google claims it isn't reading your messages. The only information that gets sent to Google is the text of the Google Assistant button you tap. The "suggestions chips" are based on a local analysis of what's in your conversation thread. When you tap on a chip it'll send you a card with information and options. From there you can send the results of your search to the chat. This feature basically helps you do your search right from within the thread.

Source: The Verge