ICYMI: February 22, 2016

Good morning! Mobile World Congress has kicked off in Barcelona and there's all sorts of exciting device news coming out.

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The biggest story of yesterday and why you should care today: It's Mobile World Congress, which is happening approximately nine hours ahead for your correspondent, so it's really the news of tomorrow today. Among the product announcements, courtesy of the Windows blog:

"ALCATEL announced their new ALCATEL PLUS 10, a beautiful 10 inch 2-in-1 device powered by Windows 10. This new device joins their Windows 10 phone, the Fierce XL. We’re excited about ALCATEL’s contributions to the Windows ecosystem and believe the PLUS 10 is an excellent portable 2-in-1."

"One new device we see as a breakthrough in mobile computing is the HP Elite x3 – powered by Windows 10 and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor. The device, specifically created for business, truly embraces the idea of the mobility of experience to help people be more productive."

"With Mobile World Congress well underway, we’re excited to showcase the newest Windows 10 devices from Lenovo, the new YOGA 710 and 510 PCs, and the ideapad MIIX 310 2-in-1 detachable tablet."

"The MateBook [2-in-1 laptop with Windows 10] is HUAWEI’s first desktop device and is indicative of how traditional phone partners are building on their heritage of phone engineering to create truly innovative PCs."

The Lenovo news is worth lingering on, because the price point on the ideapad MIIX 310 tablet is just $229, which is on the low end for a Windows 10 tablet. Also worth paying attention to is Lenovo's approach to defining tablets by specific user types. Per the Verge:

Lenovo’s new 7-inch and 8-inch [Android] Tab3 tablets are designed for families with multiple users. Lenovo has built its own kid’s mode that includes settings for less blue light (like Flux) and the ability to lock down apps, monitor activity, and restrict kids to certain times for tablet usage. Both tablets are also splash proof, so if a kid decides to spill juice all over one then it will probably survive. The 8-inch model will be available in June for $99 or $149 with LTE. Lenovo’s 7-inch Tab3 will also be available in June priced at $129 with LTE.

The Verge also covered a mobile phone with a thermal-imaging camera (good for engineers and emergency services personnel), and the latest smartphone for emerging markets, the Obi MV1. 

Finally, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge had not yet debuted as of press time when we wrote this, but the Verge had the leaked specs:

The S7 Edge will have "Dual Pixel" front and rear cameras, coming in at 5 and 12 megapixels, respectively. That represents a slight drop from the Galaxy S6, but it's likely that Samsung will focus on the improved low-light capabilities afforded by having fewer, but larger, pixels. The packaging also confirms the return of waterproofing — a key feature from the Galaxy S5 that was missing on last year's model. 

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The most useful tech news: Make this the week you learn how to configure and run Windows 10's System Restore. Learn now, so you don't curse yourself later when you need to run a recovery operation.

Or bulk out your collection of PowerPoint templates. (Or find a great table explaining all the differences between Sway and PowerPoint.)

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The most amusing tech news: Astronaut Scott Kelly tweeted a photo of himself wearing a HoloLens. For those who don't immediately recall Kelly, he's currently serving a year-long mission aboard the International Space Station. And we all live in a world where people in space can tweet about the virtual reality devices they wear. Isn't that cool?

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What we published yesterday: Just check out the wrap-up of everything we posted last week. It's handily sorted by how-tos, interviews, product reviews and news.