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Kyocera's Smart Sonic receiver and tissue conduction technology have been around for some time, but this year at MWC, we had another chance to test it out. In case you didn't know, the receiver's a ceramic piezoelectric actuator that takes the place of a phone's speaker to let listeners hear phone calls in even the loudest environments. We got to test it out with a Kyocera Torque, and well... trust us, you'll want to see (and hear) the results in the video after the break.

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The pathway to innovation is paved with failed attempts to produce wireless charging solutions that a) actually work and b) people genuinely want to use, but we've got yet another upstart here at Mobile World Congress willing to give it a go. PowerbyProxi's solution looks pretty similar to renditions we've seen from Fulton Innovation, but it's quick to point out the differences. The loosely-coupled method uses a bantam receiver that's "efficient enough to be integrated into the processor board of a smartphone without causing over-heating."

While previous industry designs have resulted in longer charging times than if the device were plugged into a wall socket, PowerbyProxi's solution reportedly "provides charging at the same speed as wired charging." In fact, it claims to offer the only system that can rejuvenate up to three devices at the same time at full power. If you're wondering what working group these guys are going to side with, that much is still up in the air -- it's remaining "agnostic towards the selection of an ultimate standard" for now.

We spoke with the company here at Mobile World Congress, and it confirmed to us that it's working with the top five major battery manufacturers, and we should see wireless AA and AAA cells "within 12 months." It wouldn't confirm how soon we'd see it in phones, tablets or laptops (yeah, it'll work in all of 'em), but it's clearly working with some of the top OEMs and hoping for the best. In the demo we witnessed, specially equipped Galaxy S III handsets charged alongside one another, even when barely clinging to the charging pad. Despite a bunch of metallic objects being heaped on the pad, it was intelligent enough to only send power to the phones, keeping gum boxes and coins cool, calm and collected. Head on past the break for quick video tour as well as a press release.

Dana Murph contributed to this report.

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Alcatel wasn't the only one to flash some Firefox OS hardware at Mozilla's big MWC event. ZTE was also showing off two shades of its new smartphone, the Open. The device will launch in orange and blue in global territories starting in Q2. It has a very handy 3.5-inch screen, meaning there's no issues holding it in one hand but there's not a lot of premium feel going on here. The plastic shell felt like any low-end Android device, though we won't fault the grippy finish here.

Other specs (that we've already snuck a peek at) include a Cortex-A5-based Qualcomm processor that could be clocked at either 600MHz or 800MHz -- we're trying to get a confirmation on that. There's also 256MB of RAM, 512MB of expandable storage and a humble 3.2-megapixel camera on the back. The 480 x 320 screen itself is nothing to shout home about. Again, it feels like a flashback to those sub-$150 smartphones that did the rounds back in 2011 and while it's not the flashiest spec sheet, ZTE (and Firefox) are pitching this at those millions of future smartphone users that haven't already plumped for a mobile OS. However, the search function looks pretty pervasive, able to tap into apps, the web and more in search of the answer you're looking for. Specific carriers will be able to add in their own apps (pre-installed or not) for its customers. We got a glimpse at a data monitoring app that could pull together your data habits and respective carrier plans -- even if there's no word on a US release beyond some time in 2014. There's a quick hands-on after the break.

Myriam Joire, Terrence O'Brien and Sharif Sakr contributed to this report.

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ZTE may have had a head start in the Firefox OS race ahead of MWC, but Alcatel's also got something similar to ride on the waves of some "500 million Mozilla users." Suitably dubbed the One Touch Fire, this entry-level phone is basically a rehash of the budget One Touch T'Pop announced back at CES, packing a 3.5-inch HVGA TN display, a 1GHz processor, 256MB RAM, 512MB storage and a 3.2-megapixel camera. There are also the usual bunch of radios: WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, FM radio and UMTS 900/2100 and 850/1900/2100 (up to 7.2Mbps for download and 5.76Mbps for upload). Underneath the removable 1,400mAh battery you'll find a microSD slot that'll take anything up to 32GB (a 2GB card is included), as well as a slot for an old-school Mini-SIM card.

We got the chance to play with the Fire earlier today and while the glossy plastic body -- in either orange or pink -- felt solid enough, the performance wasn't quite there yet: the touch and software response were significantly sluggish, as you'll see in our hands-on video after the break. On the brighter side of things, the surprisingly large loudspeaker on the back produced some punchy bass, but don't expect too much from its audio quality. Alcatel has a few more months to grease up the phone before its June launch across Latin America and Europe, so we'll be able to give it a proper score then. Press release after the break.

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Not content with a simple Deutsche Telecom announcement, Mozilla's using Mobile World Congress as a platform to launch its mobile operating system in a slew of markets. Rolling out in waves, the first round of devices featuring Firefox OS include the likes of Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Venezuela, with more markets soon, according to the company. The first round of handsets include devices by Alcatel, LG and ZTE. Mozilla also let slip news of a forthcoming handset from Huawei, who just capped up their own MWC press conference. As you'd expect, there's a whole slew of carriers on board. You can find the list in the release after the break.

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We've only just stepped into Mozilla's press arena but the Firefox creators handed a rich press kit as we did, detailing a fair chunk of what we're expecting to see over the next hour. One of the more noticeable announcements focused on Firefox Marketplace, detailing HTML5 apps you might have heard of before. Along the predictable likes of Facebook and Twitter, games like Cut The Rope will also make an appearance on the new mobile OS, as well as Where's My Water, Disney Mobile and EA game titles. There will be support for cloud file storage through Box too, as well as a mapping app from Nokia Here. Yes, the Finnish phone maker will be bringing its location clout to Firefox OS. SoundCloud, Pulse News, Time Out and Airbnb have also signed up for the new operating system.

Developing...

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Remember that orphaned spec list we saw for the Mozilla-powered ZTE Open? Well, we think we've just spotted the device that it describes. It only came out for a second, clasped in the hand of someone from Mozilla, but we were just about able to grab a shot. As we saw in an earlier leak, it should be arriving with a 3.5-inch HVGA TFT screen, Cortex -A5-based processor, 512MB of RAM and a 3.2-megapixel camera. Check it out in the dark sea of shapes above and then remind yourself of the rest of the likely specs after the break.

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How long will Europe have to wait for its first taste of the Mozilla smartphone OS? Not long at all, it seems. The Alcatel One Touch will arrive first in Poland before venturing forth across the mainland at dates that Mozilla isn't quite ready to reveal. We don't have a ton of detail at this point, beyond what's in the press release after the break, but Mozilla's press conference is just getting going so more is surely still to come.

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Mozilla has gone from having zero mobile presence to being a big name waiting in the wings pretty quickly. The powerful open-source browser only landed on Android in 2010 (and in a "pre-alpha stage"), while Firefox OS (formerly Boot to Gecko) made its debut roughly a year ago this week. So, twelve months after the big reveal, whats does Mozilla have in store for us at this Mobile World Congress? You'll just have to check back in at the time below to find out!

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Last week, Acer got out in front of the Mobile World Congress madness by reintroducing its Liquid E1 smartphone and announcing the new Liquid Z2. Well, we're on the ground here in Barcelona and we just got to see them both in person. A quick recap for those who missed Acer's first Androids of 2013: the mid-range E1 runs Jelly Bean on a 4.5-inch 960 x 540 IPS display, has a dual-core 1GHz processor, a 5-megapixel camera and a 1,760mAh battery. The entry-level Z2 also runs Android 4.1, but has a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 screen, single-core 1GHz CPU, a 3-megapixel shooter and a 1,300 mAh cell. Both phones come in either black or white and can be had in single- or dual-SIM configurations. Peruse our galleries of photos below, won't you? Then join us after the break for a video and our full impressions.

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A mobile-focused show like MWC 2013 seems like an odd place to show off a TV-connected box, but that's how Samsung has chosen to introduce its new HomeSync device. Powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core CPU and running Android Jelly Bean, it's a media hub that the press release claims will let you view all your videos, photos and apps at full 1080p resolution, with streaming from local Galaxy devices. Additional specs include 1GB of RAM, 8GB Flash memory, a 1TB HDD, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11n 2.4 & 5GHz, Gigabit Ethernet, plus optical audio and HDMI 1.4 outputs. It even supports up to eight individual password-protected and encrypted user accounts, with each able to individually sync content from other devices and share it with the other accounts. There's no mention of Google TV, but it has access to the Play store to get apps on its own, while also allowing remote control from a phone. Also unspecified is pricing or any support for specific streaming protocols like Miracast or WiDi, although it's supposed to launch in "select countries" starting in April.

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