RIM made an unprecedented move earlier this week when it gave away pre-production BlackBerry 10 hardware to developers, but it was a smart one. In order to develop for a brand new operating system and help grow develop support for a new platform, you need to be able to test on real hardware. Since this isn’t the phone that RIM will launch in the fall, there’s no issue letting the public see the hardware, right? Well, there’s more to the story.

The BlackBerry 10 Alpha unit is a device RIM has been testing internally for quite some time. In fact, our sources have confirmed that it’s the BlackBerry Colt handset that RIM originally planned to ship as its first BlackBerry 10 smartphone, which was later canceled.

This is just another insight into how disorganized RIM is — looking at the phone, you can clearly see how much time, effort and money RIM put into it. It’s pre-production, but this is a phone that is set up for the company to ship. It’s manufactured very well, feels good, and has way too many details for this to just be something RIM made to give away to its developer base.

The display is beautiful, and the unit is literally a smaller PlayBook. I have also been told that Mike Lazaridis and other RIM executives have been showing BlackBerry 10 off to partners using this exact device over the past few months — another sign that this was indeed in the running to be RIM’s first real touchscreen device.

Sprint and HTC have been partners for years, but it wasn’t until the HTC EVO 4G launched in June 2010 that the companies realized their potential. HTC’s sleek, technology-packed flagship smartphone and Sprint’s unlimited data plans were a match made in heaven for smartphone power users, and the EVO 4G was the first handset to truly offer a complete package to Sprint subscribers. While Sprint’s EVO line of devices has remained popular for the carrier — Sprint has sold more than 7 million EVO-branded smartphones and tablets to date — the company has yet to recapture the magic introduced with the original EVO 4G. With the new HTC EVO 4G LTE that Sprint and HTC unveiled on Wednesday, however, Sprint hopes to do just that. Hit the break for our hands-on impressions of Sprint’s new flagship smartphone.

We spent some time with Sprint’s flagship device for 2012 ahead of tonight’s press conference, and we left impressed. Powerhouse Android smartphones seem to be a dime a dozen these days, and although the EVO 4G LTE is certainly a cut above almost every device currently on the market, it doesn’t quite recapture the magic created by the EVO 4G, which was among the first of its kind.

The handset’s hardware is truly unique, and it is instantly recognizable as an EVO device. The red accents are unmistakable and the kickstand made famous by the EVO 4G is back — and improved. The red aluminum kickstand on the EVO 4G LTE is now spring-loaded, so it can support the device in landscape orientation with the display turned to the left or to the right.

The case on the EVO 4G LTE is made from a single piece of anodized aluminum that has a great look and a nice, soft feel. As an added touch and a means of further distinguishing this smartphone from the pack, HTC machined the edges of the smartphone to remove the anodized coating and leave a smooth polished aluminum finish that circles the outer edge of the device.

While we weren’t able to spend as much time as we would have liked with this sleek new smartphone, we did give it a quick spin and walked away very impressed. The 4.7-inch Super LCD display with 720p HD resolution is absolutely gorgeous, and the dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor helps the Sense 4.0 user interface jump from screen to screen with ease. We fired up as many apps as we could launch on the new EVO and the phone was completely unphased.

Our biggest qualm with the handset after the short amount of time we spent with it is absolutely the styling. This is a slick smartphone with a unibody anodized aluminum case and brushed detailing on the edges, but it is completely ruined by the glossy black cover at the top of the device’s back. HTC had to use a material that would allow radio waves to easily pass through, but a matte rubber-feel plastic like the material used on the back of the HTC One S would have looked infinitely better. We’re sure there is a reason HTC chose the material it did, but the glossy plastic really does ruin the look of this otherwise sleek smartphone.

While Sprint hasn’t yet announced a release time frame beyond some time in the second quarter, the HTC EVO 4G LTE will be available for pre-order starting May 7th, and it will cost $199.99 on contract. We’re definitely looking forward to reviewing this new flagship smartphone but in the meantime, be sure to check out our hands on photos of the HTC EVO 4G LTE, which are linked above.

Apple’s iOS platform seemed to come out of nowhere and take the world by storm in 2007. The introduction of the first-generation iPhone set in motion a chain of events that lead up to the holiday quarter in 2011, when Apple recorded the most profitable quarter in technology history thanks mainly to unbelievable iPhone, iPod touch and iPad sales. No platform is selling as quickly as Apple’s mobile platform right now, but iOS is still in its infancy and the fact remains: as hot as iOS is right now, and as popular as smartphones and media tablets are, no platform installed base on the planet even comes close to approaching the size of Windows right now.

The Future

Microsoft said this past December that there are now more than 1.25 billion PCs running the Windows operating system. Billion, with a “B.” Smartphones are the hottest segment in consumer electronics right now and people are buying Apple’s iPad in droves, but even still, more people around the world rely on Windows than ever before. This is because the software that powers countless businesses from the ground up is built on Windows. From web browsers to accounting software to point-of-sale systems to 3D animation software to word processors to custom proprietary solutions and far, far beyond… Entire industries are built on Windows.

The future is anything but “post-PC.”

We are now entering the post-post-PC era, and its focus is the PC. A new, smarter, more versatile PC. A PC that lets users browse the web casually in bed and work with massive databases in SQL Server. A PC that can run a $0.99 news reader as well as it can run proprietary $99,000 CRM software. A PC that is as ideal for playing Angry Birds as it is for running a modeling environment that allows its user to build schematics for a skyscraper. This is the future of computing.

That is not to say Windows 8 is an “iPad killer” or that media tablets are going away. Far from it. While their functionality may overlap in a number of areas, light-duty tablets and full-fledged PCs serve different purposes and will continue to coexist for some time. What we will see, however, is media tablets becoming more capable and more powerful as PCs become better suited for touch input. At some point down the road the two categories may merge, but neither will “win” or “lose.”

The OS

I’ve spent the past week playing with and working on a Samsung tablet powered by Microsoft’s new operating system. It’s nice to be able to work and play on the same tablet.

While Windows 8 is not quite in a state where it is ready to be released to the public, it is a completely different beast than the Developer Preview Microsoft released more than five months ago. During a meeting with Microsoft executives, I was told that the Consumer Preview version of Windows 8 includes tens of thousands of changes compared to the version that was released to developers in September. Thousands of changes are system-level items that I’m sure I didn’t notice, but thousands more are user-facing changes that have helped improve the user experience dramatically.

One of my favorite features is the implementation of swipe gestures. As can be seen in the second and third images within our Windows 8 screenshot gallery, Microsoft has tweaked the main menus used to navigate the OS and perform a variety of key functions. While using a touchscreen to interface with Windows 8, these menus are opened using gestures.

A swipe from the bezel around the screen in from the right opens the start menu, which includes a search button to search for files and apps, a share button to share the current page via email or using other services, a start button, a devices button that lists devices connected to your PC, and a settings button that provides quick access to basic settings such as brightness and speaker volume, as well as a link to more system settings. A swipe in from the left switches between open apps, and a swipe in from the left and back out to the edge of the display opens the app-switcher. Within an app, a swipe down from the top or up from the bottom opens app-specific menus.

While using a keyboard and mouse, gestures from the sides are replaced by keyboard shortcuts or mouse touches to the corners of the screen. A touch to the top-right or bottom-right corner mimics a swipe in from the right and opens the start menu while a touch to the top-left or bottom-left corners opens the app-switcher.

There are countless other great features new Windows 8 Consumer Preview; from picture password, an enhanced security feature that lets the user unlock a PC by tracing preset patterns on an image of his or her choosing instead of using a simple alphanumeric password, to “roaming,” which automatically syncs settings, apps and other data between different Windows 8 computers. While one convertible slate can handle duties as a tablet, notebook and desktop computer, Windows 8 is all about choice. Some users may opt for a single device while others will want a lightweight 7-inch ARM-based tablet in addition to an eight-core beast of a desktop PC.

In terms of performance, Windows 8 exhibited the smoothness and stability we’ve come to expect in a post-Vista world, and this is just a preview version. There were hiccups, of course, but overall the experience was vastly superior than it has been with any other version of Windows. The setup is remarkably fast and easy, touch responsiveness is iPad-like and I was quite impressed with the versatility of this platform. To understand the concept of one device for work and for play is one thing. To sit in bed hopping around lightweight apps and then walk over to your desk, dock your tablet, and have desktop-grade productivity software running on the same device is something else entirely.

The machine I tested Windows 8 on is a pre-release dockable Samsung tablet with a 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor and 4GB of RAM. Yes, it’s a tablet with a fan. It’s also a tablet that can run your existing desktop-grade enterprise software, consumer software and lightweight Metro-style apps. Get over it.

The Endgame

Windows 8 gives us a glimpse at the future of computing, but it’s not quite there yet. While the version I spent time with is merely the Consumer Preview and not the release build of Windows 8, it gives us a very good idea of what Microsoft’s new operating system will look like when it launches. The concept is fantastic and I very much like Microsoft’s execution thus far, but it still feels like a marriage of two completely different operating systems rather than a fusion of two experiences.

This is by design, in part. Because the function of a true PC varies so greatly from the function of a media tablet (as we know this category of devices today), Microsoft has created separate experiences for each category. There is a tablet experience with the fantastic Metro UI, a desktop experience reminiscent of Windows 7, and a bit of overlap with each, intended to create some amount of cohesiveness. The end result, however, is not a consistent experience.

There is a disconnect that can be felt across Windows 8. Again, this is mostly by design. In what I call “tablet mode,” the user is presented with an interface that is quite clearly built to be touched. It is characterized by a cascade of large tiles that display live data and can be poked to open apps. The Metro-style apps that are revealed house nice big buttons and a touch-friendly design. Metro-style apps also take up every last pixel of the display, which is a fantastic canvas on which developers can paint terrific experiences.

In “desktop mode,” Windows 8 has the look and feel of Windows 7. In fact, it basically is Windows 7. There are some elements of Metro that spill over into desktop mode — such as the app-switcher and Windows Phone-like lock screen, which displays notifications from up to five apps — but they are effectively completely separate platforms.

Desktop mode has not been optimized for touch at all. In fact, tapping in a text field while no physical keyboard is attached to the tablet doesn’t even bring up the virtual keyboard. Instead, the user must tap on a small keyboard icon in the task bar to open the keyboard, and then he or she must tap another two buttons to close the keyboard once finished typing. And while in desktop mode, by the way, I found that the keyboard often obscured the text field in which I was typing.

Perhaps I can better illustrate my point about the disconnect with this simple example:

Windows 8 ships with two completely separate web browsers. One is called “Internet Explorer”. The other is called “Internet Explorer.”

Internet Explorer is a fantastic Metro-style browser that is designed with touch in mind. Controls are large and easy to poke, menus retract and let web pages occupy every inch of the display, and pages load lightning-fast in this lightweight tablet browser. Then, in desktop mode, users can browse the web using Internet Explorer, the same robust web browser hundreds of millions of people currently use around the world on their Windows PCs.

Confused yet?

Microsoft’s inclusion of two completely different web browsers that share the exact same name is indicative of the separation present in Windows 8. One tablet OS and one desktop OS, together on the same machine.

In the end, this disconnect is probably a good thing for now. Windows users come in all shapes and sizes, and millions of people who will upgrade to Windows 8 in the coming years will be terrified of doing so. They are used to Windows as we know it today, and the look and feel of Metro is a complete departure from the Windows they currently rely on day in and day out. After the initial shock wears off, these people who are so scared of change will find themselves eased into the new Windows because desktop mode is so familiar, and because “tablet mode” is so separate from it.

But this is not the future of post-post-PCs.

Windows 8 is the tip of the iceberg. The start of a shift that will eventually see the “tablet” UI and the “desktop” UI merge into one comprehensive user experience. Apple is taking a different approach; as we’re seeing in OS X Mountain Lion, Apple is slowly readying its desktop user interface for a touch environment by taking some of the elements from its gorgeous mobile UI and adapting them for desktop computers. This varies dramatically from the path Microsoft is taking with Windows 8, but the endgame is the same: one experience that is as capable as it is versatile, and as user-friendly as it is beautiful.

This is the future of computing.

Microsoft’s Windows 8 Consumer Preview will become available to the general public on Wednesday as a free download with an initial cache of more than 100 apps in the Store, all of which will be free during the preview period.

You would think that, given the impressive specs of its new CloudMobile smartphone, Acer would want to place this thing front and center at Mobile World Congress. Think again. For some reason, the company decided to hide its new flagship model within the Google booth. Location aside, the handset’s specs are nothing to scoff at. A 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon chip powers this monster, which sports a 4.3-inch 1,280 x 800-pixel HD screen with a truly incredible range viewing angles, and a really well-engineered tooled metal exterior. The CloudMobile software itself is heavily guarded at the moment, and Acer wouldn’t give us so much as a peek at any screens related to its upcoming cloud service, but company reps assured us that we would be “impressed” when launch time comes around. Let’s hope the software lives up to the promise of the hardware. In the meantime, be sure to check out our hands-on photos, which are linked below.

These three new devices announced by Samsung at Mobile World Congress are each intended to occupy different spaces in the mobile market. The Galaxy Mini 2 is a diminutive little smartphone with pretty unimpressive specs, but it is aimed at the entry-level crowd where it may fare well. The 3.27-inch small handset sports a single-core 800mhz processor, Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread with TouchWiz, a 3.2 megapixel camera and a positively terrible HVGA display. It feels odd to use the word “terrible” when describing a Samsung display, but Samsung cut some corners to keep this phone’s cost down and the display was definitely one of them. Performance in use was lackluster as well, but then again, if you’re in the market for a phone like the Mini 2 you’re probably not very concerned with the latest and greatest. Hit the jump for more.

The Galaxy Ace 2 is the European version of the Blaze 4G and, as such, slots in between the last-generation Galaxy S and the current Galaxy II. A dual-core 800MHz processor powers a TouchWiz-skinned version of Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread, and the WVGA display is far less impressive than the Super AMOLED screens used in other Samsung devices.

Finally, the Galaxy S WiFi 4.2 provides an alternative for those who don’t need a device with embedded cellular connectivity. Sporting Wi-Fi only, the Galaxy WiFi 4.2 has a nice glossy white finish and it is extremely responsive. It’s also just 9 millimeters thick, and the TFT IPS screen is quite beautiful. It only has a 2-megapixel camera though, so you’re not going to be shooting any Leibowitz-grade images with this puppy, but all told it’s a nice entry into the PMP game.

Be sure to check out our hands-on photos of the Samsung Galaxy Mini 2, the Galaxy Ace 2 and the Galaxy S WiFi 4.2, which are linked above.

Samsung has a number of new devices on hand at this year’s Mobile World Congress, and one of them was the Galaxy S Blaze 4G set to launch on T-Mobile later this year. We got a chance to check out the Blaze 4G, and we left relatively unimpressed. To be fair, the Blaze is a lightning-fast smartphone on par with a number of recent additions to Samsung’s Galaxy line, but it’s hard to get excited over a phone that is only a modest upgrade compared to T-Mobile’s current Galaxy S II. The Blaze 4G features a 1.5Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen, a 5-megapixel camera and Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread. It’s certainly a solid phone but with HTC’s One S heading to T-Mobile in April and Samsung’s full-HD Galaxy S III on the way as well, T-Mobile subscribers looking for the latest and greatest may want to sit tight and wait another month or so. The Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G launches in March for $149.99 on contract, and our hands-on photos of the handset follow below.

Huawei is making quite a splash at this year’s Mobile World Congress. The company announced one quad-core handset — the Ascend D quad, which is built on the company’s proprietary in-house processor platform — in addition to a dual-core TI OMAP-based device, the Ascend D1. We got a chance to play with both models and, especially in the case of the D quad, we left quite impressed. These things move fast. Really fast. What’s more, these handsets mark Huawei’s entry into the chip making game, and place the company in direct competition with other smartphone vendors that moonlight as chip makers, like Samsung and Apple. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the coming year. That said, the handsets themselves will be the stars of Huawei’s lineup for at least the first half of 2012. The D quad sports 8GB of on-board storage, 1 GB of RAM, Android 4.0, Huawei’s 1.2Ghz quad-core chip, a 4.5-inch display and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The Ascend D1 is externally identical to the D quad, but it will hit a much lower price point thanks largely to its 1.2Ghz dual-core chip, which replaces the D quad’s quad-core processor. Check out our hands-on shots in the gallery below.

ViewSonic is doing its best to make splash here at Mobile World Congress with a number of tablet-related announcements. In addition to specific hardware launches, the company has also made some significant inroads with running Windows 7 Pro on its slates, mainly as proof of concept in anticipation of the upcoming Windows 8 launch. We liked a lot of what we saw but the P100, running both Android 2.3 and Windows 7 (theoretically upgradeable to both Ice Cream Sandwich and Windows 8) was the undisputed star of the show for ViewSonic. This dual-booting beast separates the two operating systems by way of a disc partition, and it seems to run both platforms at lightening speed. Check out our gallery below for hands-on images of the entire ViewSonic tablet line including the P100, the E10 Pro, the E70, the E100 and the G70, and stay tuned to see what ViewSonic brings to the table once Windows 8 launches later this year.

ZTE doesn’t have a strong presence here in the U.S., but the vendor revealed several smartphones at this year’s Mobile World Congress trade show that will be big sellers in a number of markets. The Era, Orbit and PF112 are among the new ZTE phones that will launch this year, and we spent some time with each of them on Monday. The Era and the PF112 both run Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, while the Orbit is a Windows Phone. The Era is a quad-core Tegra 3-powered beast with a 4.3-inch screen and high-end specs that rival any device launched here at the show. The PF112 sports an even larger 4.5-inch screen, tri-band HSPA+ and an 8-megapixel shooter. The Orbit is the company’s low-end Windows Phone model, with a 4-inch display, a 1GHz processor and 4GB of on-board storage. In use, the Windows Phone-powered Orbit was definitely impressive for an entry-level smartphone, exhibiting the smooth user experience we’ve come to expect from handsets powered by Microsoft’s mobile platform. The Android phones weren’t operational, so we can’t comment on their performance. We can definitely still admire their sleek designs though, so check out our hands-on gallery for photos of each of these new ZTE phones.

We were only able to spend a few minutes with Sony’s new Xperia P smartphone as we rushed from Sony’s press conference to HTC’s press conference on Sunday, and we didn’t get any time at all with the Xperia U. Thanks to a slightly lighter event scheduled on Monday, we were able to make it over to Sony’s booth and spend some quality time with its new smartphones. These are the first smartphones that will be launched by the new Sony Mobile Communications unit that picks up where Sony Ericsson left off, and to be frank, we’re a bit concerned. This pair of Android phones is well-made and we like what Sony has done to its UI atop Android 4.0, but we’re still seeing some things that concern us. Check out our hands-on photos in the gallery linked below, and then hit the break for our initial impressions of the Xperia P and Xperia U smartphones.

First and foremost, these smartphones will hit the market in a very Sony Ericsson-like fashion. They will both launch running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and Sony has stated that the Xperia P and Xperia U will each receive an update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich some time in the second quarter. Slow software updates have historically been a big issue for Sony Ericsson’s Android phones, so this definitely isn’t a great way to instill confidence in users who might still have a bad taste in their mouths.

The devices themselves are solid phones, however. They share a very similar design identity that includes the transparent light bar near the bottom of each handset, and they also sport Reality Displays that make use of Sony’s Bravia engine.

The larger of the two phones is the Xperia P, and it features a 4-inch display with “WhiteMagic” display technology that Sony says is ultra-bright and power efficient. After spending some time with the phone we can definitely confirm that the screen is extremely bright, and colors don’t get washed out at all as the brightness increases. The 1GHz dual-core processor doesn’t really do Android 4.0 justice on this handset, but hopefully things will be a bit smoother in the release version of the software.

The Xperia U features a significantly smaller form factor and a 3.5-inch Reality Display. It’s powered by the same dual-core processor and it it suffers from the same occasional hiccups that we saw with the Xperia P. The display isn’t quite as impressive as the panel on the Xperia P unfortunately, but beyond that the two phones are very similar.

We’re looking forward to spending some more time with these phones but in the mean time, be sure to check out our hands-on gallery above.

Somehow making the original Galaxy Note look positively diminutive in size, the newly announced Galaxy Note 10.1 is a proper 10.1-inch tablet from Samsung. Sporting a 1.4Ghz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, HSPA+, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.1, the only thing you won’t be able to do with this slate is place an actual call. Then again, given how ridiculous the original Note looks held up to the side of a human head, we’re not so sure this is a bad thing. In use, the Note 10.1 is snappy and responsive, and the S-pen implementation is well executed. Does the world need another 10-inch tablet? We can’t answer that one way or the other, but Samsung certainly has a competent device on its hands. Check out the gallery below for some hands-on pics!

A projector phone? From Samsung? Sure, why not? We got a chance to spend some time with Sammy’s newly announced “Beam” addition to its ever-expanding Galaxy line, and we left with mixed emotions. On the one hand, this is a solid and well executed smartphone, but it sports a 1Ghz dual-core chip, Android 2.3, a 4-inch WVGA screen, 8GB of built-in storage, and 768MB of RAM, so the specs aren’t exactly on par with other modern handsets. On the projector end of things, we’ve got a powerful 15 lumens unit capable of displaying a 50-inch wide image on any flat surface. This is pretty cool, but we’re still not sure this is a space that needs filling. That said, if you’re in the market for a projector-equipped smartphone, this is pretty much the best game in town. Our hands-on photo gallery follows below.

While the Pureview 808 sort of stole the show, the Lumia 610 marks a significant release as well, and something that is worth paying attention to. The decidedly downmarket Windows Phone device aims to provide the Windows Phone experience to a much wider array of folks, and we think Nokia might have a hit on their hands. The new suite of Nokia software includes a Library app, and a completely revamped Maps application. We had a chance to spend some time with the little guy, and we left generally pleased, though not overwhelmed. But, then again, we suppose that’s the goal with a 189 Euro smartphone, now isn’t it? Specs include 256 mb of RAM, a 3.7″ WVGA screen, a 5mp camera, and 8GB of onboard storage. Hit the gallery link below for some hands-on shots!

Hey folks. Following Nokia’s early morning press conference here in Barcelona, we got a litttttle bit of hands-on time with the freshly dropped Pureview 808. The software isn’t quite finished yet, but we did get some time to play with the audio recording and camera apps. Really cool stuff, and we can definitely see other manufacturers forced to follow suit. The handset features the flagship 41 megapixel camera, a 4″ screen, 512 mb of RAM with 16GB of onboard storage,  a 1.3 Ghz single core chip,  and a loft 450 Euro pricetag. Expect to see this sucker in May. Hit the link below to check out the gallery!

Rounding out the trio of smartphones HTC unveiled at its Mobile World Congress 2012 press conference on Sunday is the HTC One V, an entry-level smartphone that picks up where the HTC Legend left off. This will be the most affordable One-branded smartphone HTC launches in the first half of the year, and while the specs don’t hold a candle to the One X or One V, this is absolutely a phone that will go far among budget-conscious consumers in Europe and other regions where the phone will be released. Check out our hands-on photo gallery below, and hit the break for the rest of our early impressions.

The first thing you will notice about the One V is definitely the return of the famous Android chin, which was found on a number of early HTC Android phones and most recently, the Legend. It’s definitely a unique design element and we think it works well on the One V. The case of this smartphone is unibody aluminum and it has a fantastic feel, especially considering it’s an entry-level phone.

Beyond the exterior hardware, you’re basically looking at a toned down version of the HTC One X and One S. It features a slightly stripped down version of the Sense UI — Sense 3.6 — and a single-core Snapdragon processor to keep costs down. The difference can be felt, of course, but for a phone that is likely to be free on contract from a number of carriers around the world, performance seems more than adequate.

We couldn’t really get a read on the One V’s 5-megapixel camera compared to the 8-megapixel sensor on the One X and One S, but we can definitely confirm that it snaps images just as quickly as its two higher-end counterparts. HTC’s investment in mobile imaging R&D really seems to have paid off, and the vendor’s rivals have some serious work to do to catch up.

HTC did not announce any launch details for the U.S. market, so we should likely expect the One V to stick to Europe and other markets in the first half of this year.