O2 in Germany will be the exclusive carrier for the Toshiba TG01 smartphone according to a press release.  As of right now, the TG01 is the world’s thinnest smartphone.  It runs on Windows Mobile and has a 4.1″ 800×480 touchscreen display.  The TG01 has GPS and 3G built-in.  The phone was introduced at this past Mobile World Congress event.  The phone will be available in Germany in Summer 2009.

[via SlashGear]

At Mobile World Congress, an Engadget Spanish editor asked an Acer representative about plans to launch devices powered by Android.  The Acer rep pulled out a notepad that shows their product roadmap.  At the bottom of the product roadmap, it was written “Android secret models” as shown in the picture above.    Earlier today I wrote about how Acer is getting into the smartphone market with their Tempo line.

Given Acer’s core competency at creating netbooks at a discounted price, perhaps we’ll starting seeing some of them powered by Android a few years from now.  That is assuming that their future Google-powered phones do well.

[via Engadget]

Acer, the Taiwanese netbook manufacturing company has decided to step into the smartphone market.  They announced this at Mobile World Congress and unveiled about 8 new handsets.  “The smartphone market is a natural direction of our long-term mobile strategy,” stated Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci.

The first four handsets will be available in March or APril.  The first Acer models will be the DX900, X960, M900 and F900.  These phones will be part of Acer’s Tempo line of phones and will feature touch-screen capabilities.  Last year, Acer acquired E-Ten, a phone manufacturing company.

Another major announcement made at Mobile World Congress is the unveiling of the Nokia Ovi Store.  The Ovi Store will go live in May of this year.  The store will be selling games, apps, widgets, videos, podcasts, etc.  The Ovi Store will be made available on the S60, Series 40, and N97 Nokia devices.  The Ovi Store will include a built in social discovery feature that will allow users to share activity on social networks about the applications being used.

“Ovi Store will empower consumers around the world to take better advantage of the power of mobile through a new content discovery experience,” stated Mauro Montandaro, CEO of Fox Mobile Group.  Nokia expects that by 2012, 300 million users will have access to the Ovi Store.  Content publishers can register today for an account on Ovi.  Developers and publishers will be able to upload content starting next month.  More information is available at: http://publish.ovi.com/.

Samsung has launched several new lines of phones at the Mobile World Congress events, but their best attraction was the Omnia HD.  The Omnia HD (pictured above) can record videos in HD and play it on HDTVs.

The OMNIAHD is Samsung’s first Symbian full touch handset and has 720P HD video recording and deconding.  It also has the world’s biggest Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) screen on a mobile device with a size of 3.7″.

“Samsung OMNIAHD is an incredibly exciting product for us as it is a mobile perfectly suited to the needs of today’s consumers who want exciting multimedia experiences on the move,” said JK Shin, Executive Vice President and head of Mobile Communication division in Samsung Electronics. “OMNIAHDdemonstrates our vision for the Samsung mobile business, which is to provide premium phones for users who desire functionality, style, usability and entertainment in one innovative device. With Samsung Mobile, I believe that our users can enjoy being at the forefront of work and play, staying connected anytime, anywhere.”

Other specs include 16:9 screen, live video capabilities, 8MP camera, HSUPA 5.76Mbps and HSDPA 7.2MBps, GPS, 8GB/16GB option internal memory with optional 32 microSD add-on, intuitive 3D interface, motion-enabled features, etc.  Videos can be shot at 1280×720 with 24fps from the camera.

No word yet on cost or availability.