Handset vendors are using Mobile World Congress to raise the competitive stakes again, with Huawei, HTC and ZTE all debuting quad-core smartphones, while Nokia unveils a phone with a 41 megapixel sensor.
Huawei has introduced a line of quad-core devices, including a tablet and what it says is the world's fastest smartphone, the Huawei Ascend D Quad.
The Android 4.0-based device uses a quad-core 1.2GHz/1.5GHz processor based on ARM architecture. Huawei claims it is the first 64-bit smartphone, and is 49% faster than rivals such as the latest iPhone.
HTC meanwhile has used the event to launch its HTC One series of smartphones, including the quad-core HTC One X.
This handset uses a 1.5GHz quad core CPU, as well as a 12-core Nvidia GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). LTE versions of the device will use LTE-enabled dual-core Qualcomm processors. The HTC One series also uses Android 4.0.
ZTE announced the ZTE Era and PF112 HD smartphone and the PF100 tablet, all of which use Nvidia's Tegra 3 quad-core processor.
Nvidia's Tegra 3, part of the GPU vendor's push into the handset market, delivers speeds of 1.4GHz/1.5GHz, according to the specifications.
Among Nokia's handset announcements, meanwhile, was the Nokia 808 PureView, a handset with a 41 megapixel censor.
The handset is capable of photographing at resolutions of up to 38 megapixels, Nokia said, claiming that the censor will also allow for zooming in at standard resolutions without losing clarity.