Mobile World Congress 2011 Summary -Quick thoughts

BARCELONA- As usual, it has been a hectic 4 days at the MWC this year, with many exhibitors, new trends and, of course, plenty of gadgets on display.

Overall, the impression is that there were more visitors compared to 2010 and renewed optimism for the sector as a whole, following the gloomy economic backdrop to the 2010 edition.

There were rafts of new gadget announcements, with the LG Optimus 3D smartphone with 3D viewing as well as recording capabilities (no goggles required!) capturing the attention. You can see photos from the LG stand above during the Optimus demo.

Rare was the announcement of new products that didn't mention a tablet-type device, both 10 inch and 7 inch. Each tablet type will fill a different usage niche -though on a personal level, I prefer the 7 inch versions (like the sleek Blackberry Playbook on show) rather than a larger tablet than gets closer in size and weight to a laptop device.

On a geographical level, the might of the Chinese industrial powerhouse was evident, with an even bigger presence than last year in terms of exhibitors and, from the various Chinese OEM's I spoke to, a  clearer mobile strategy following the tentative moves of the last couple of years. It is clear that many of these manufacturers would like to re-grade their products and move them up the value chain by giving them brand support (rather than white-labelling for operators).

Finally, when it comes to the OS domain, let's just take a second to pause and consider the rise and rise of Google's Android system. Within one year, Android has risen to the top of the pack and for many stakeholders, is THE operating system of choice. It is not unrealistic to project that in one year, the once mighty Symbian/Java combo will be relegated to the bottom of the pack. Quite how the Microsoft WindowsPhone tie-up with Nokia will pan out is difficult to see, but the potential for it to be a contender cannot be denied.

The iPad Tablet Revolution-Three Reasons that Explain Why it is the Future

These days, it is very difficult to filter real news from the substantial amount of 'digital media noise' created on the web. This is even more the case, when it comes to new gadgets and technology. And no gadget caused  more noise and expectation than the iPad, when it was launched to a global fanfare in April this year.

I will not review the iPad's hardware and technical capabilities-enough has been said already and you can easily read this up elsewhere. I just want to make one point that is getting lost in the media hype -the iPad is the most revolutionary device type that has been rolled out this millenium.It is not a fad, it is not a toy and most definitely not merely a giant-sized iPhone.

It is the exquisite execution of the tablet computing concept that others before, including Microsoft, tried and failed.But let me say this again, the iPad is a revolutionary device. It is set to change mobile media forever. Here are three reasons why:

1. The iPad introduces a totally new way to consume mobile media, especially newspapers and magazines.Its screen size achieves a happy medium between readibility and portability. Again, something that is easily overlooked by reviewers is its landscape mode. Turn the iPad on its side from its vertical position and it automatically switches to landscape reading mode.This makes it ideal for newspaper and magazine browsing (Kindle take note).It also makes using those wonderful apps an even better experience.

2.The iPad is the first device of its size and weight to truly enable computing to be carried out. You can actually create and work on a Powerpoint presentation on an iPad. Yes, processing power needs to be upgraded, but then Apple is not perfect.

3. The iPad is designed to be a connected device. With 3G capability designed into the device (unlike a netbook which relies on a dongle or WiFi), data exchange and sharing comes as standard. Forget the WiFi-only version of the iPad, I am sure it will be phased out in due course.(Significantly, the iPad was conceived before the iPhone was, but put on hold to prioritise launching the smaller 3G iPhone device).

The iPad is an inspirational product, like many Apple creations before it. But don't take my word for it. You can check out many videos of how it was used as different musical instruments to create compositions. You'll find one in the title link. Enjoy!

Social Network Valuations Reach Record Levels

I wrote back in March about AOL's acquisition of Bebo and the (inflated) purchase price they splurged for it (USD$850m). This, you may remember, equated to $38 paid per Bebo user.

Now an article in Mashable.com suggests that frenzied interest in social networks is taking these frothy valuations to new heights, and that Facebook's 100m users are worth at least $150 each based on the company's estimated value of USD$15bn.

Clearly, the exact calculation of Facebook's theoretical value remains a mystery, but by all accounts makes it the most valuable social network in the world and sets the marker in terms of premium valuations.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose personal stake is worth an extravagant USD$3bn., must be rubbing his hands with glee. And execs at Microsoft must be praying that their investment in 2% of the company pays off strategically.

Meanwhile, market analysts anticipate that Facebook has the capability to continue expanding its user base to over 200m members, which would ramp up its value even further...someone please prepare the smelling salts...

Killer Apps in Mobile Social Networking

I will be contributing to a speaker panel on the Next Killer Application in Mobile Social Networking at the Mobile Web Europe conference in London in September and am gathering some thoughts on the subject.

So far, I have identified 4 potential candidates for what this next Killer App could be:


1. Mobile Dating applications
2. Mobile Social Network Aggregators
3. Virtual World or Second Life type applications that incorporate Instant Messaging
4. the Phone Address Book

I will be discussing the first 2 candidates in this post, while the remainder will be the object of a subsequent post:

1. Mobile dating applications are currently limited in their use of technology and frankly, have not made their case powerfully enough compared to web-based dating sites. Meetmoi, a $1.5m-backed mobile dating service launched last year still relies on SMS texting and requires the user to update his location manually-hardly revolutionary in the light of advances in location technology.

However, rumour has it that Microsoft is developing a mobile dating service that relies on Image-based face search in order to match prospective dates…a step in the right direction in terms of killer applications.

2.Mobile Social Network Aggregators (such as Spokeo) have attracted increasing levels of interest this year, in part due to the proliferation of mobile social networks and the tiresome task of keeping up with 4-5 different profiles and passwords. Different strategies are being deployed, with some aggregators going for Identity consolidation, others for message consolidation and others still for friend tracking.

Only a few days ago, news emerged that SonyEricsson was planning to release soon its own version of a social network aggregator, 3GLifestore.The game is hotting up…though would I pay €29/year to join Spokeo? Maybe not…

...to be continued

Under the Radar -Last Call for Nominations

Final selections are being made for Under the Radar's Business of Web Apps Conference scheduled at the Microsoft Campus in Mountain View (CA) on the 19th-20th March 2008.

You can find the application form by following this link.

Under the Radar (Spring) plans to uncover 32 startups, that have launched within the year, showcasing the newest web apps created by developers with a quest for innovation and a tendency towards disruption. Having launched numerous companies into startup stardom, acquisition and beyond, Under the Radar bills itself as 'the most discerning and reliable platform today for discovering tomorrow's leading technology companies'.

The idea is for the companies to demo their product to a panel of industry experts in front of an audience of early-adopter technology insiders, with plenty of Q&A planned into the session.

This time round, the organisers are particularly keen to get stuck into the web backend and virtualization plays, so companies (especially disruptive ones) in these areas will be favoured.

Nominations close tomorrow, so apply now to get yourself on the radar.