One of the big buzz phrases circulating at the start of this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain is "wearable tech."

Lucy Du with more on what we can expect to hear out of this year's event.

Report: The latest generation of smart watches can alert you to messages on your phone and can even scroll through text.

Martian watches are among the latest innovations.

Stanley Kinsey is the company's president.

"Martian watches are about getting notifications and being able to respond to them. We have two different lines of watches. One actually has, this one I'm wearing, has a microphone and speaker on the watch - that you can connect to the voice commands on your smartphone. Android or Apple IOS. So in this case, if I were to get a text message coming in from my phone, it would show up on the watch. I would feel a custom vibration pattern. If it's long, short, long, I know that it's an email. Long, short, short, a text message."

Meanwhile Kyocera, a Japanese manufacturer, claims to have produced handsets which can survive a dip in water.

Its "Torque" model can survive up to 30 minutes, submerged in water up to one meter deep.

Microsoft is also here in Barcelona. It's announced that there'll be an update to its Windows 8 software platform this spring.

Microsoft hopes that the update will also improve the launching of applications and the interchange of apps.

Away from Microsoft and there's a focus this year on the future of internet-connected gadgets. They're set to talk more and more to home appliances - with mobile devices likely to be at the centre of the conversation.

Samsung has scheduled one of its 'unpacked' events. The Galaxy S5 is expected to be on show.

Nokia is rumored to have a new Android phone to reveal, with Sony and LG putting up their latest handsets.

Elsewhere, ahead of the Mobile World Congress, Mozilla is promoting a new search tool for gadgets with Firefox OS.

It's the "adaptive app search" which promises to connect users with content faster and more easily than before.

Peter Dolanjksi, a Mozilla spokesman, elaborates on more details.

"On the home screen, you can see here I have a search bar. If I type into that search bar, I can type anything I'm looking for, content like U2, the band. So if I type in U2 instead of having to search for music apps and music ticket applications, lyric applications. I just type in the name of the band and immediately I'm presented with relevant mobile applications to me. So Soundcloud, Spotify, Ticketmaster. From there, I can use one of those applications without having to install it. And if I like it, I can add it to my home screen."

The adaptive app search function is already available for use.