Mozilla's Firefox OS in spotlight, Nokia introduces new Lumias, and more at MWC

The Mobile World Congress kicked off Monday in Barcelona as exhibitors touted their latest devices. Finnish smartphone maker Nokia is one of the companies there to showcase the newest mobile gadgets, as The Post's Hayley Tsukayama reports:

Nokia is padding out its smartphone line with new models that it hopes will help expand its footprint in developing markets around the world.

The Lumia 520 and 720, two Windows Phone 8 devices, will cost less than the company's flagship 920 phone, and will give Nokia something to market against cheap smartphones based on Google's Android operating system.

The 520 and 720 do not have U.S. availability dates, but will be rolled out in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.

The Finnish company introduced four new phones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday, all of which are aimed at customers who are unwilling or unable to buy a top-of-the-line device. The Nokia 105 and 301, also announced Monday, are feature phones, but come in the eye-catching candy colors of the Lumia line and are aimed at customers in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. The 105 will cost less than $20 and the 301 will cost just under $90. The 301 will be aimed at Africa, Asia, the Middle East, India, Europe and Latin America.

For U.S. customers, T-Mobile and Nokia also announced that they will offer the Lumia 521, a Windows Phone 8 device, that the carrier described as having "high-end features at an affordable price." The companies haven't, however, said much about the phone's specifications, price or availability.

Besides smartphones, companies have also announced their new tablets. On Sunday, the day before Mobile World Congress officially began, HP introduced its $170 Slate 7, VentureBeat.com reports:

After a year of licking its wounds, HP is making its long-overdue return to tablets. But it's not exactly a triumphant one.

At Mobile World Congress Sunday, the company announced the Slate 7, its new 7-inch, $170 Android tablet.

Unlike the 10-inch, iPad-focused TouchPad, the Slate 7 is all about snatching some of the tablet market away from devices like the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire. HP is leaving the 10-inch tablet space to Apple, at least for now.

The Slate 7′s internals are decent, but uninspiring: dual-core ARM A9 processor, 1024 x 600 FFS+ display, 16GB of RAM, and 8GB memory. It also comes with a pair of cameras and Beats Audio. Like I said: It's decent, but no blockbuster.

As far as mobile operating systems go, it looks as if Mozilla is off to a good start, VentureBeat.com reports:

At Mobile World Congress, the company fleshed out its vision for Firefox OS, which is heavily targeting emerging markets.

Early support for the effort looks particularly strong on both the hardware and carrier ends. Mozilla says that it's partnering with ZTE, Alcatel, Huawei, and LG for the first round of phones, some of which will arrive by the second quarter of this year.

Firefox OS will be pretty well-represented on the carrier end, too. Big names like Deutsche Telekom, Japan's KDDI, and Telefonica are all committed to pushing out Firefox phones. Mozilla says that 18 network operators are on board, which is a pretty significant feat for new OS with a nonexistent track record.

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