MWC 2012 Parties app is here!

If you are going to Mobile World Congress this year, you probably know that the real action happens in the many networking events and parties held during MWC.

It is hard to keep track of everything, so to make things easier I compiled a list of events into an app - and this year it is available for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and JavaME. It is a native app, so once you download it you can view all events offline and save some roaming $$$...

Download Links:
iOS: http://tinyurl.com/mwc12ios
Android: http://tinyurl.com/mwc12a
BlackBerry/JavaME: http://tinyurl.com/mwc12j

Note that after downloading it is recommended to press the "Refresh Data" button to get the latest event (Very necessary in the iOS version which is the least updated due to the approval process time)

Enjoy the show!

MWC 2011 Recap

As every year, it is time to sum up Mobile World Congress, which was quite packed this year. What did we have this show? In one word - Android. In four words: Android, 3D, HD and Tablets. Want some more details? Here you go:

Star of the show: Android

Android did a really great job this year at the show. It started with their pavilion that showcased Android solutions in just about any category you can think of. It was neatly designed so that big green robots (androids) were placed in the pavilion - each android showcasing a different aspect (gaming, productivity, shopping etc.). The pavilion also offered some attractions such as androdifying yourself, some weird tasting slushies and a slide to get from the upper floor to the lower...

Aside from this pavilion, they had presence basically all over Hall 8, and in some other halls as well - overall over 30 companies who use Android partnered with the pavilion and had a smaller green android on their counter. In each such counter there were limited edition Android badges, which quickly became the talk of the show and visitors traded them like crazy. Also, these badges have already made their way to eBay...

The total effect is that wherever you looked at - Android was there. Of course this was true even without the branding effort - Android has taken a bite of almost any device vendor out there, and it's here to stay.

Best 3D device: LG Optimus 3D

Another trend at the show was 3D screens. I've seen several handsets with 3D screens, but of all, I have to say LG's (Android-based) handset was the best. First, I'd like to emphasize that we're not talking about a 3D screen that requires special glasses - you can look at these screens with your bare eyes, and still see the 3D effect in all its glory. Obviously you can't see the 3D effect from pictures (As you are using a stone age 2D screen...) - but it is truly amazing.

The downside is that you have to hold the handset firmly and look straight at it to get the full effect - viewing angle is key here, since it is all based on getting a different picture to your left eye than the one received on your right eye. And that leads to the second downside which can only be described as a "3D headache" - the same type of eyes/brain uncomfortable feeling you get while watching 3D content. However, of all devices I saw, the Optimus 3D was the easiest on the eyes.

The applications for 3D are quite obvious: videos and gaming. And the great thing is that aside of consuming 3D content, you can also produce it - the Optimus 3D features a stereoscopic camera that allows capturing 3D videos.

The Optimus 3D also features a 3D user interface which looks quite nifty, but a tad annoying... But anyway, you can also use it as a regular 2D handset. When 3D content is not available (i.e. browsing the web) the display looks like a high-quality 2D display.

And the best thing is that we're not talking about a futuristic technology that you'll see only in trade shows - the Optimus 3D will be released in Q2 2011 (April 25th in the UK)

Best show in town: Samsung Galaxy S II

And yet another Android based handset that struck some waves in the show was Samsung Galaxy S II. It is a truly remarkable handset, very slick and amazingly thin (8.5mm), and it features a crisp Super AMOLED Plus 4.3" display all on top of Android Gingerbread.

Even though it's a great handset, the Galaxy S II has a lot of competitors starting with the Optimus 3D and countless other slick Android handsets from other manufacturers. However, what I do know is that Samsung did invest a lot of marketing $$ in MWC to prove they have the best Android out there - their launch event (Samsung Unpacked) was well done with orchestra players playing both traditional instruments and modern instruments such as the Android music apps on the Galaxy S II...

The resolution revolution

Once upon a time a QVGA resolution (240x320) seemed like a dream - today QVGA is considered more like a nightmare for most savvy phone users... While the iPhone 4 is still king featuring 640x960 resolution, in most other smartphones we saw up until recently resolutions of up to 360x480 or so. But in this show it was clear that the new standard that most decent 4.3" Android phones feature is 480x800 resolution. That's 5 times the pixels we had in the ancient QVGA and about twice from just one generation ago.

And that's only on-screen resolution, many handsets come equipped with the ability to connect to external screens and show Full HD videos (1920x1080). Your phone can now be your streamer with no compromise on quality.

And if a big screen is not enough for you - some handsets come equipped with an internal projector. Now that's a killer feature: You can show up to a meeting and project slides or movies directly from your handset. These projectors still have a few issues, their brightness is usually very low which means you have to project in a dark room, and they consume quite a lot of battery - but the great thing is that's it's already commercial and I've seen handsets from multiple vendors with this feature (And yes, most were Android...)

Mobile gaming promise: Xperia PLAY

For the gamers amongst you, SonyEricsson's Xperia PLAY should be a real treat. But since previous attempts to combine a mobile handset and a gaming console all-in-one failed miserably (Anyone said N-Gage?...) - we'll have to remain skeptical and let this new challenger prove its promise.

SonyEricsson has a real asset here which is Sony's PlayStation brand. And indeed the gaming controls that slide out of the phone (Instead of a keyboard) look like PlayStation controls, but certainly don't feel that way. The games I tried look great on the handset, but to my surprise PlayStation is mostly used here as a brand and not as a platform: All games are actually remastered version of the original PlayStation games.

The actual platform used here is no other than Android (again...) with some external APIs to allow access to the gaming controls. So if you thought you're getting a phone that knows to run PlayStation games, forget it - it will run Android games, which is not bad at all - but I think we'd all appreciate if this point was made more clear in this phone's marketing briefs.

Tablets, tablets and more tablets

While Apple did not exhibit at the show (They never do...), its impact was well felt again- with Tablets being a buzz leader in the first MWC after the iPad was launched. And in the same way that almost every vendor had an Android phone, every vendor had a tablet - and in fact in most cases, an Android tablet.

Other than the iPad (And its soon-to-be revealed successor), it seems the BlackBerry is getting a good traction with its PlayBook, Samsung Galaxy Tab and Motorola Xoom lead the Android space (Both running Android 3.0 Honeycomb) and there's also HP with its TouchPad based on Palm's WebOS (Good luck with that...)

When Apple launched the iPad, people didn't know what to make of it. Some claimed it'll change our lives while others claimed that the iPad is just a big iPhone... I think that sales figures have proven that a tablet is  more than just a big smartphone, and are here to stay - and we'll probably hear more on the future of tablets from Apple later on this week.

Blast from the past: Device cases

Remember the days we switched our Nokia handsets cases in the same rate we switched ringtones? Well, I'm afraid to announce that these days are knocking on our doors threatening to come back from the dead...

In the past few years the case-switching phenomenon disappeared and people were quite happy with their original phone casing (Also I get the feeling people change ringtones much less than they used to). But now I've seen several companies trying to ressurect this trend. For example CaseMate who markets various covers for Android and iPhones - including completely modular sets that allow you to customize your case in ways you never wanted to...

They're not the only company, I've seen it also in LG's booth and you probably also saw the Angry Birds smartphone cases. This adds up to another trend which is more useful, and that's magnetic charge. There are now adapter cases that replace your original smartphone's case, and hookup internally to its charging port. Then charging is done by simply placing it on a magnetic charger (See Powermat)

Coolest Demo: Sonim Rugged Phone

Sonim produces rugged phones, resistant to dust, shocks, water, oils, extreme pressure and freezing or extremely hot temperatures. It is not clear if the human using this phone should also be as rugged - but at least the phone will survive...

While this is a niche product, they have the best demos - they placed the phone inside an ice cube and also in a glowing green-yellow liquid that has the cozy temperature of -25 degrees Celsius... A "cool" demo indeed - and in both cases the phone survived... They also have other videos you can check of the phone surviving a spin in a washing machine and other forms of phone-abuse...

NokiaSoft and MicroKia

And finally the biggest mystery of them all: With Android's momentum, is there any place left for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7? And what will the new partnership between the two giants mean? Call it NokiaSoft or MicroKia or whatever you like - even though analysts have written many obituaries about past moves of these two players - combined together we may be in for a surprise.

I experienced a Windows Phone 7 first hand, and the UI is quite smooth and very friendly. It has all you expect from a new age smartphone and more. Is it enough to triumph Apple fans/cult-members and Android's soaring figures? Unlikely - but only time will tell. Though it looks like a difficult challenge, I believe this move is great for Microsoft which was a niche mobile player until now - and it's a big bet for Nokia that is not going for Android like all other vendors - but one that may pay off if they play their cards right.

That's all this time - See you next year in Barcelona (And the year after that perhaps in Munich, Paris or Milan...)

MWC 2009 Recap - Here we go again...

As in most previous years, I went to the Mobile World Congress (Previously known as 3GSM) which is held in Barcelona. A totally overwhelming event by all standards, including a huge exhibition floor (though a bit less huge this year), a full conference program, networking events, parties and much more...

As in the last conference I've been to, I decided to sum up my experiences by giving the virtual "Nextys" Awards (which don't really mean anything...) to the following companies and trends:

Missing and yet present: Apple

The only apple I could find this year was in the Barcelona market, and even that was not exactly an apple... The people who brought us the iPhone didn't bother to come and display their stuff in MWC. Perhaps they don't have anything new to announce or simply feel others will do the work for them. And guess what? They're right... Even though Apple itself didn't present, the news from practically all handset vendors focused on sleek UI, touch screens and app stores - all old news in the iPhone world. You could hear everywhere "So, how does it compare to the iPhone?"... So though they didn't have a physical presence, Apple was present spiritually bigtime...

Hottest trend #1: Touch UI

As said all vendors have been quite busy with designing new and sleek touch UIs, which were not all the time as sleek as expected. For example, Samsung showcased their TouchWiz UI, which features several neat concepts but when I tried it on the device pictured here, it was a bit sluggish. On the left side of the device you have a strip of widgets which appears after a tap on the screen. You can scroll the widgets using your finger, and to open one, you just drag it and drop on the main section of the screen. Widgets is also a hot trend now for some time, and this word was used (and misused) quite a lot both by handset vendors and application providers.

Hottest trend #2: App Stores

App stores are big. Everyone, and especially the handset vendors, hope this is what will help them balance things a bit when it comes to operators and their walled gardens. All vendors have relaunched their appstores initiatives due to the success of Apple. They all offer the same thing, but one thing did catch my eye, and that's SonyEricsson's PlayNow Download Station. This is basically a physical appstore - you plug your handset and stick in a moneycard, and then choose the content you want using the screen. The prime target is developing markets in which prepaid is king, and this was launched in seeral southeast Asian countries. However, come to think about it, it does have some upside which is no operator in the way and no internet plan needed... I recall that some experts foresaw great future to "sideloading" (i.e. downloading a game/app on your computer and then sending it via bluetooth to a handset), this might be one enabler for that.

Best Blast from the Past: Palm Pre

Like an 80s rock star that refuses to fade away, Palm is also disturbing our peace with its new and shiny Palm Pre device, which was the uncrowned star of the show. The Pre features a sleek UI (Should I even mention it's iPhone-like?...) that looks a bit more sleek than others with some neat tricks like the "fluid" menu (in the picture) that pops up when you slide your finger from the device's right-bottom corner. Everything is done with hand gestures and provides a great experience. In addition it features an advanced address book that combines your phone contacts with social networks, email and other sources and provides you with presence info and direct connectivity in any supported means. It also has a cool magnet charger, no need for cables, just place the pre on the magnet and it will charge... The only drawback is that it doesn't support any of the known platforms for mobile applications. Instead everything will be done in web technologies (HTML, JavaScript etc.), which makes it unclear how rich applications will be supported, if at all.

Most uninvited guest: Mr. World Recession

A free space in the middle of MWC? This was an odd site in previous years, when booths were so dense you can barely squeeze in your way... But this year, some exhibition halls were quite spacious and some spaces as the one shown here were left empty - however the exhibition was still huge, I actually expected much worse decline of presenting companies, but it was around 15%-20%. Also, the number of visitors decreased by around the same magnitude, on Monday I thought the industry is really going down, but then Tuesday was quite packed and looked like the good old days, and Thursday as always, but a bit more so, I felt like walking in a ghost town. Some areas were more affected than others, mobile content for example was barely seen in the exhibition, while in previous years it had a great presence.

Another clear sign of the recession was the almost complete lack of advertising around Barcelona. In previous years all the buildings across the exhibition as well as metro stations and central locations were covered with ads from the big players. This year, for the first time you could actually see some of the buildings around the congress.... Another thing was the hotels and flights which were not fully booked as in previous years, which made things easier for participants, so at least we get some upside... However, even with less attendees, MWC remains the only place on earth where the line in the men's WC is (much) longer than the women's...

(Second) Best Booth Babes: i-mate

Everybody knows that in MWC booth babes equals CBOSS... This Russian integration company always "invests" in top babes that may or may not be above 18... (Check out the girls dance in 3GSM 2007).So the only competition is on the second place, which goes this year to i-mate, with the Lara Kroft-like babes that had water guns to demonstrate their new water proof and shock proof device. Overall I must say that this year the number of booth babes grew, catching up with other shows finally... So at least the recession didn't affect that...

Creepiest Booth Babes: Access

And every year there's also the guys who don't think things through... And this time the Access babes were dressed as a... tree?! I don't know why but this creeps me up a bit... And no, this is not body paint, they were wearing suits, so you can return now your eyes to their place... Of course I have nothing against Access, but c'mon guys, next time a simple bikini would do...

Best Awards Event: Mobile Peer Awards

As the founder of Mobile Monday Tel Aviv, I might be biased a bit (correction: I am very biased..), but I do think that the Mobile Peer Awards which was held this year in a magnificent venue, is *the* event to be in. The event which is organized by MoMo Barcelona in collaboration with the MoMo community is a contest in which each MobileMonday chapter sends a startup to compete against the others. The startups get only 3 minutes to pitch and convince the jury, the MobileMonday chpaters and the audience that they deserve to win. What made the event even better for me is that MoMoTLV's nominee for the contest, fring, took the MobileMonday community award.

Best in-exhibition party: Yahoo!

Another "space" that seem unaffected by the recession were the famous MWC parties and cocktails (And there were plenty of those). I liked Yahoo!'s, mainly because they let me in... (Luckily I RSVPed for this one...) - just kidding, they showed a good hospitality in their booth and I also enjoyed hearing about their products, mainly Yahoo! Mobile App (previously known as Yahoo! Go) and Yahoo! Blueprint, their mobile platform for app development.

Best off-exhibition party: Swedish Beers

There wasn't a single night in which I returned to the hotel before midnight... Right after the conference everyone is going to the famous MWC parties. There are a lot of events in parallel so naturally I couldn't attend them all, but from the ones I attended, the most "happening" one was Swedish Beers organized by Helen Keegan which did a great job in creating a fun atmosphere which hundreds of people enjoyed (Then again I'll say good things on anyone who give me free alcohol....)

Best Developer Event: WIP JAM

Another good event worth mentioning is WIP's JAM Sessions. The heart of this event is discussion groups in which mobile developers talk about a variety of subjects. It is very enriching, and among the participants you can find high profile mobile experts, C-level officers and top consultants. This is my first time in this event, though it has been held last year in several conferences including MWC and CTIA.

Best (And only?) Mobile Content: Mobile Solid

As said above, mobile content was gone missing this year, but I did saw some neat thing: This technology from Mobile Solid enables video ringtones on your phone - a character of your choice dances to the beat of the ringtone. You can also create characters by cutting and pasting people's faces (Sounds familiar...) which is always fun with politicians, celebrities or your friends. In addition the character animates SMS messages by recognizing words and reacting to it with gestures. It looks really nice, question is of course what is the market potential and is it a gimmick or here to stay.

Coolest Appliance: Parrot by Starck

I am not really sure what this thingy does, as I didn't have the time to stay for a demonstration, but from what I saw it is simply a bluetooth speaker, you can connect your device and play songs through it. Nothing new here, but both the interface on top of the speaker and the product design itself are extremely sleek in a way that makes them stand out, and this is because it was designed by the top designer Philippe Starck. Parrot is the vendor of other bluetooth products such as speakerphones, digital frames etc. and they seem to do quite a nice job.

Best Booth Design: SpinVox

And last but not least, an award for creativity in booth design. MWC is still a very big exhibition and it is difficult to stand out. The guys from SpinVox certainly made an effort to do just that, and it certainly works... Very colorful and doesn't look like a booth at all, maybe more like a theme park... I was told they had the same booth last year, but it is the first time I saw it, so great job guys...

That's all for now, hope you enjoyed it. I should emphasize that these are really just a small glimpse of the exhibition and even I did not get to see everything, if you want to have the whole experience, make sure to book your hotel and flights early on towards MWC 2010...