Wave 578 is Samsung’s newest addition to its bada-powered Wave family. The bada handset has been announced at the Mobile World Congress 2011 and the phone’s claim to fame is the integration of Near Field Communication (NFC) chip. NFC allows users to initiate making contactless payment along with using other services like door lock/unlock etc.

President and Head of Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business JK Shin said, “With the Samsung Wave 578 handset, we will provide the latest innovation in mobile industry running on bada platform. The enhanced connectivity, design and social experiences enabled by this handset, represent Samsung’s commitment to democratizing the smart phone market and providing users around the world with access to rich experiences and content.”

The phone has a 3.2-inch WQVGA display, Social Hub, 3.2MP camera, 3.5mm headphone jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and front facing camera for video calls.

Samsung Wave 578 will be available in May of 2011 in France and will progressively be brought in European countries, CIS, South East Asia, India, Middle East, and China.

You can check out detailed specifications of the device here.

We’ve got the first pictures of C5 candybar phone from the Nokia’s trademarked CSeries. DailyMobile got hold of the images and to be honest, the phone looks like just another Nokia candybar. The phone will be unveiled at the MWC in Spain this month and features S60 v3 with FP2 OS, HSPA, 3.2MP camera, 2.2-inch QVGA display, microSD card slot, 50MB internal memory, 3.5mm audio jack and GPS.

Well, well we’ve got the first picture of the rumored Galaxy 2. Not sure if it’s real but Androphone, claims a lot of things in addition to the image. Except for the large 4-inch AMOLED display from the last rumor, the site claims similar specs. The Galaxy 2 will purportedly have a 3.7-inch AMOLED screen and will be powered by Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Other features completing the phone will be 32GB internal memory, 5MP camera, Android 2.1, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3.5mm audio jack, microSD card slot and GPS.

According to the site, the phone will be released in Q2 2010 with unveiling coming next month at MWC.

We’re keeping this in rumors for now until more substantial proof crops up. How about some live pictures?

[Via Andrphones Thanks, Ralph!]

Note: This post has been republished from Samsung Hub. For more Samsung news, head over to Samsung Hub.

Nvidia had a decent display of Tegra 2 devices at CES early this month but most devices shown were internet tablets. Now Fudzilla has gathered some information that says that Nvidia will be showing couple of new tablets and “other” devices at MWC next month. There are no prizes for guessing that those “other” devices could very well be mobile phones since MWC’s core area is – obviously – mobiles. However, we’re not sure which handset manufacturer will jump the gun first.

So are you ready for a phone that does up to full HD video decoding, supports Adobe Flash 10.1 and have a massive battery life? I sure am.

CES did not have the slightest mention of Windows Mobile 7 but the MWC starting next month will supposedly be filled with it. In an analyst briefing, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division President Robbie Bach confirmed that Microsoft is going to reveal the next Windows Mobile platform. Bach said that the “(WM7) has set the bar forward not in (just) an evolutionary way” and MS will enhance its “go to market approach” with its mobile OEMs. Now let’s hope WM7 will at least try to come close to Android and iPhone user friendliness, if not beat them.

[Via Engadget]

Hero has been doing really well for HTC and to cash in on its Hero brand, the Taiwanese company is looking to unveil the Sense UI toting Android phone early next year. Patrik Andersson who has been snagged from LG to increase HTC sales in Sweden has confirmed the Hero follow up handset will be shown at the Mobile World Congress that starts from Feb 15, 2010.

The specific details are not known but we expect the newer Hero to run at least Android OS 2.1 and maybe have a physical QWERTY keypad.

[IDG via PhoneArena]

Despite the massive avalanche of mobile devices last week at the MWC, one more thing that caught attention was the pick pocketing of an HTC phone (either Touch Pro 2 or Touch Diamond 2) given to Telstra’s CEO Sol Trujillo. Even though the theft’s motive is unclear, the thief had an access to three major things – unreleased ROM of WinMo 6.5, spanking new phone and contacts and other private details of the CEO.

If the pick pocketer had intentions other than scoring a new handset, he might have to face disappointment. A Microsoft employee has confirmed to the APC Mag that both the parties had nothing to lose except the handset. As soon as the theft occurred, MS remotely wiped off the whole OS as well as the user data on the handset.

Good thing: Microsoft has the ability to wipe of the OS; Security feature that could prove a boon to corporate users.

Bad thing: Probably it works like a kill switch that has more (read: full) control than the Apple’s app kill switch.

[Via APCMag]

Apart from iPod, Hyundai has also got a penchant towards the human friendly marine mammal. Another phone that was exhibited at the MWC was MB-490i, which when looked from the side, has a silhouette of a dolphin. Features-wise, the phone has a WQVGA touchscreen with touch sensitive navigation, 2 megapixel camera, Yamaha speakers, Bluetooth, music player and FM Radio. Hyundai expects to launch the phone in Europe in May with a price tag of around 250 Euros.

[GSMhelpdesk via Unwiredview]

Caribbean cellular operator, Digicel along with ZTE have announced Coral-200-Solar which will be the first ultra low cost handset powered by solar energy. Of course, this phone doesn’t have features to boast like Samsung or LG’s solar prototype but Digicel says the low cost can prove beneficial to almost two billion people who are deprived of electricity. The phone will be released in selected markets from June.

Hyundai maybe good at designing cars but they are definitely lagging in the CE industry. They decided to come out with a music centric phone and what better way than to attract the iPod loving crowd – with an iPod like phone. Hyundai B400 is similar to iPod’s design, it’s just the touchscreen display and four extra phone features on the click wheel sets it apart. No word on the availability but the phone’s chances of getting out of Korea seems very less. Ok, maybe it will reach China.

[Via Gizmodo]