The first day of this year's Mobile World Congress featured some of the world's biggest phone manufacturers unveil a variety of new smartphones and tablets for an ever-growing industry.
The first of a four day conference, which is taking place in Barcelona, saw companies including Nokia, HTC and Samsung all debut new devices that they hope will stand out in an increasingly crowded and competitive marketplace.
In general all of these devices boasted extremely fast processors, along with better quality cameras and larger, sharper screens than what is currently available.
Tablets have also proven to be a popular product this year, with many companies hoping to gain in a market currently dominated by Apple's iPad.
Besides these established players, a significant number of Asian manufacturers and companies also used today's conference to take the wraps off new devices and handsets.
Chinese manufacturers Huawei, best known for its mobile broadband devices, and ZTE have both signaled their intention to compete in the European market having built a solid base in their home country.
Japanese electronics giant Fujitsu has said it is also considering a European launch.
Aside from the big manufacturers, the opening day of this year's Mobile World Congress saw a significant trend towards the areas of mobile applications and software.
Apps are now a key battleground for companies, as the tools available on a device become as important to users as the device itself.
A number of Irish companies are active in this area and 18 of those are displaying at Enterprise Ireland's Mobile World Congress stand.
These companies range from consumer-focused tools to back-end systems that help make networks more efficient.
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