A quick walk through the yearly Mobile World Congress – the biggest mobile phone show around – and you’ll realise you are actually gazing at a crystal ball that shows what people will tote in their hands in the coming months.

Here in Barcelona, as this year’s phone extravaganza kicks off today, the power is clearly with Google’s Android. With Sony Ericsson, Motorola and China’s Huawei showing off world-beating Android phones this week, it’s easy to think 2010 will be the year of the Google phone OS. (HTC has also launched two hot numbers in the Legend and Nexus One-lookalike Desire).

But very clearly, rivals are not going away quietly. Microsoft, Samsung and Nokia all have their sights aimed at the emerging powerhouse OS.

Voice search for your phone – sounds good yeah?

I thought so too – so I tried out the latest Google Mobile App’s voice search feature on my Nokia E71 (which means the S60 flavour of the app).

Google Mobile App

The app is basically kinda like a one-stop-shop to quickly link to and search through Google stuff, so you will need a data connection (wifi or cellphone network), and the other mobile apps (Gmail, Google Maps etc) loaded if you want to fire it up from the above home screen.

If you enable its location-based function, it’s supposed to yield more relevant results. But it didn’t seem to do anything for me in terms of returning more relevant search results so I shut that feature off.

Hero in white - chio!

Once in a while, a phone can come along and seriously wow you just by its looks.

HTC’s new “hero” phone, aptly called the Hero, is one such gizmo that is just begging to be carried in your hands. Dressed in white and dark brown, this looks at first like a HTC Touch Diamond 2 with Google Android in its DNA. But look closer, and you’d find a few surprises.

Announced yesterday, the 135-gram phone comes with the a generous 3.2-inch screen, 5-meg camera, 7.2Mbps 3.5G downloads and many other goodies.

SingTel first in Asia to launch Android phone

The first Google Android phone will go sale in Singapore tomorrow with prices ranging from S$238 to S$448, and will be tied to SingTel’s cellphone plans just like the iPhone here.

These cellphone plans range from S$39 to S$95 a month, and users have to sign up two-year contracts with SingTel.

That was essentially the only new info from a rather lavish SingTel event this afternoon, which finally launched the Google Android phone, known also as the G1, or HTC Dream, here. Users in the US and Europe, of course, already had the phone for several months.

Asked about this, SingTel and HTC both said the delay was because they wanted to bundle in more local apps into the device, which comes with a large touch-screen, speedy 3.5G as well as a nifty slide-out Qwerty keyboard that’s great for surfing the Web and messaging.

T-Mobile G1 aka HTC Dream

As anticipated, Google launched the first phone with its Android OS just a while ago in New York. The device, also known as the T-Mobile G1 and HTC Dream, comes with the following specs:

-Qualcomm 528MHz chip
-ROM: 256MB, RAM: 192MB
-156 grams with battery
-3.2-inch TFT screen
-HSDPA up to 7.2Mbps (making its one of the fastest ones out there and able to take advantage of StarHub’s speedy network here).
-3.2-megapixel camera
-Trackball (interesting!)

Showing off the Google Android screen

It will go on sale in the US for US$179 on Oct 22. I’ll find out more about Singapore pricing and update you folks soon about Google’s new foray into the mobile space.

UPDATE: HTC has declined to say when the phone will be out in the rest of the world (outside the US and Europe). But if I’ll be surprised if they don’t make it here in the next 2-3 months (the Diamond was here in SG shortly after its Europe launch)

In the past few months, it’s been photographed and it’s been talked about to no end. No, I’m not thinking of the iPhone, which has a fast-growing list of flaws that now includes a faulty charger that may electrocute users.

I’m talking about Google’s Android phone, dubbed “Dream”, which will be out tonight Singapore time (Tuesday United States time).

One of the worst-kept secrets (even Apple couldn’t keep its iPhone completely under wraps), the Android phone will likely come with both a slide-out keypad and a touch-screen. It is also said to have a tilt sensor, so you can play “true 3D” games, a la the Apple iPhone and HTC Touch Diamond.

But will Google change the game?

Nokia ovi

A year after announcing its ovi online services, Nokia today showed off a near-complete version of its answer to Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s online offerings here in Singapore.

At a demo for reporters at the Geek Terminal cafe here, it presented new features like remote file sharing and sync’ing of contacts.

ovi is Nokia’s attempt to hook up its phone users to online services, seeing how Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are reaching out to mobile users through their Web-based e-mail, calendaring and productivity offerings. Let’s not also forget Apple and its tightly-integrated iTunes and recently, MobileMe application.

When fully ready, Nokia’s ovi offers the usual calendaring, contacts backup, as well as maps and games. Sounds like Google? Yup. Reminds you a bit of Apple’s iTunes and AppStore? Uh huh.