Xperia Tablet Z, Galaxy Note 8, Nokia Lumia 720: MWC devices day one

Mobile World Congress has kicked off with a handful of device announcements -- nothing groundbreaking -- but some that are pretty interesting.

We take a look at the big announcement from the first day at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Huawei

Huawei's press conference was the first thing to happen at the congress and the company launched the Huawei Ascend P2 alongside its new company branding structure.

The Ascend P2 represents fashion, although the device looks more like one of LG's Optimus devices.

With a 4.7-inch screen, glossy back and little else to get excited about, the Huawei Ascend P2 was a little disappointing.

Nokia

Next up was Nokia. The Finnish manufacturer announced a range of devices, although all are targeted at the lower end of the market. The Lumia 520 and Lumia 720 are both Windows Phone devices. 

The Lumia 520 features a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of storage which can be expanded up to 64GB via the microSD. The Lumia 520 will also have a four-inch, WVGA IPS LCD screen, a 5-megapixel camera that can record 720p HD videos and Bluetooth 3.0. 

The Lumia 720 includes 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM, an 800 x 480 ClearBlack screen, NFC, wireless charging capabilities, a 6.7-megapixel camera with a f/1.9 lens but no 4G LTE.

LG

LG launched the Optimus G Pro and a number of lower-end devices under the L Series II moniker.

The Optimus G Pro features a 1.7 Ghz quad-core chip, 13-megapixel main camera, a 2-megapixel front facing HD camera and a huge 3140mAh removable battery.

The L Series II is a follow up to the budget original L series, which includes the L3, L5 and L7. The flagship L7 features a 1GHz dual-core processor, 4.3-inch IPS display, 768MB of RAM, 4GB of internal memory, 8MP rear camera and a 2,460mAh battery.

Sony

Sony's press conference was a little boring this morning. Although the company launched the Sony Xperia Tablet Z, the company talked a lot about the Xperia Z and showed the new ad for the handset.

The Sony Xperia Tablet Z, which has aleady launched in Sony's native Japan, is a super-thin, 10.1-inch tablet with a hefty 6,000mAh battery.

No carrier or price information has been announced as yet.

Samsung

Samsung hasn't held a press conference this year, but it did announced the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 on Saturday night, which probably won the award for the first launch of Mobile World Congress.

Like the rest of the Galaxy Note series, the 8.0 features Samsung's S Pen technology.

The device features a 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos 4 processor, 2GB of RAM, and comes with 32GB or 64GB of storage.