Top 10 MWC 2012 phone rumours

hopping for a new smartphone? It's just four weeks until Mobile World Congress kicks off in Barcelona. Here are the juiciest rumours so far...

Best MWC 2012 phone rumours – Samsung Galaxy S III

Samsung Galaxy S III rumours have been looking and sounding pretty tasty already – we've got this prototype phone (above) which turned up in a CES highlights vid made by Sammy, to drool over. Plus details of Samsung's very own Exynos quad-core processor have turned up on the interwebs too – teasing us with the prospect of Sammy's quad-core squaring up against the Tegra 3-packing HTC Edge at MWC.
Samsung's Galaxy S III has a lot to live up to but features could also include 3D capabilities (to hook up to Sammy's 3D TVs), a Super AMOLED Plus 720p display and 4G connectivity.
TouchWiz on top of Android Ice Cream Sandwich is almost a dead cert for the Galaxy S III's OS and interface – and it's also been rumoured that the handset will be packing a healthy 2GB of RAM. Can you say excited?

Best MWC 2012 phone rumours – HTC Edge

The HTC Edge is a pretty badly kept secret – we've known the basic specs of the quad-core Edge for months now. But even though there probably won't be many surprises, it's still set to be one of the highlights of MWC 2012.
First thing – it might not launch as the Edge, we might get treated to the HTC Endeavour or even the HTC Supreme instead. Either way, we're talking a sexy NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor with a secret fifth power-saving core, 1GB of RAM and a killer 4.7in 720p display with pin-sharp 312ppi.
Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 should be running on the HTC Edge from launch with a HTC Sense 4.0 cherry on top, according to our sources, plus the 8MP snapper will have the same amazing f/2.0 aperture that we reported for the HTC Primo and Beats Audio. i-what?

Best MWC 2012 phone rumours – LG X3

LG's quad-core X3 is a newbie to the Mobile World Congress rumour mill but it's crashed straight onto our most-anticipated list this week. Like the HTC Edge, that's a massive 4.7in HD display – and LG is going all out with what should be a beautiful 1280 x 720 resolution screen.
The LG X3 is set to pack a 2,000mAh battery, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and two cams (8MP and 1.3MP) into a sleek and skinny 9mm shell. And, like Sony's Xperia S, it will be one of the first big-name, top-specced smartphones that also sport NFC capabilities.

Best MWC 2012 phone rumours – Sony Nyphon/ Nypon

Sony (Ericsson)'s Nypon – we'll stick with that spelling for now – is also appearing as the LT22i in pics and rumour stories. It looks like an exciting mid-range Android phone, to prop up the new Xperia S in Sony's line-up. We're talking a 4in qHD display – who's counting pixels anyway? – dual-core, Sony-built NovaThor U8500 chipset and 1GB RAM.
Also on the drawing board for the Sony Nypon are an 8MP Exmor R rear-facing camera and Android 2.3 Gingerbread – if those buttons in the pic are to be believed. If the price is right, the Nypon could find itself very popular indeed.

Best MWC 2012 phone rumours – Huawei Diamond series

Eagel-eyed Huawei devotees will notice that we've stuck a picture of the Huawei Ascend P1 S in this rumour round-up. We are aware that this is a real phone – in fact, we played with the skinny smartphone at CES – but we ain't got anything to show you in the way of upcoming Huawei handset snaps just yet.
What we do know is that Huawei is planning to rid itself of the cheap phone-maker moniker with a high-end series of phones named – wait for it, this probably took them ages – Diamond.
The new phones can't possibly trouble the Ascend P1 S on skinniness so we reckon Huawei will beef up the specs and performance to compete with the rest of the big players in this list. We can't wait to see what Huawei does next.