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Smartphones, app stores dominate conversation at Mobile World Congress

Mobile World Congress has turned into one big gusher of announcements related to apps. Like corporate jets, every mobile phone manufacturer worth its salt has to have an app store. At least that's what our roving correspondents sensed on day two.

Jim Ricotta is CEO of Azuki Systems
The big buzz on day one was apps. The hundreds of millions of dollars that have flowed to Apple and its developers since the iPhone app store opened in July have not gone unnoticed.

Nokia announced their app store, as well as Microsoft. These join previous recent announcements by Research In Motion, Google and Palm.

The mobile operators are also getting into the act, with reports of app stores coming from Vodafone, T-Mobile and AT&T.

This may seem like too much of a good thing, but one panelist pointed out that if app developers can leverage a common services backend, and keep the actual software on the phone "thin,"they could play in most or all of these app stores and gain huge leverage in monetizing their services.

Nokia had a special twist on its Ovi store: personalization. They described an experience where the store would make recommendations based on what you have downloaded previously, or what your friends have downloaded.

Personalization and relevancy are growing themes here.

Of course, the keynoters had to acknowledge the economic downturn. The mobile industry is not expected to be resistant, but it should be more resilient, since mobile voice, and increasingly data, are must-haves for most consumers and businesses.

One speaker pointed out that mobile broadband -- 3G and coming 4G -- is cheaper to bring to consumers than fixed broadband, so government stimulus plans may lead to increased mobile build-out.

Another noted that while fewer phones will be sold in 2009 versus 2008 -- the first year-over-year decline ever -- there will be more data-capable smartphones sold in 2009 than ever before. And data revenue growth is projected at 19 percent in 2009. Pretty good for a "down"economic year, isn't it?

In the operators' keynote session, the CEOs of Telefonica, Vodafone and TeleNor described the evolution of their businesses. They used to be called "walled gardens"and then later "dumb pipes,"but they all stressed that the reality would have to fall somewhere in the middle.

Monetization of services/content is what they all want, and this will take cooperation between operators and content providers -- neither can do it alone.

Michael Neidhöfer is CEO of Netbiscuits
Touching is believing -- believing in better times to come for the mobile device industry.

In Barcelona you can see new touch screen phones all over. Did I say Monday that the iPhone is still No. 1?

In terms of mobile Web site requests, this is definitely true for most of the big sites that are based on our mobile software service platform.

But in terms of "It-devices"I saw some new cool stuff since Monday. The one I liked most was the Palm Pre. It has a great user interface/experience and much better "office"capabilities than the iPhone.

My guess is that it will take away some market share from iPhone and BlackBerry very soon.

With the latest generation of smartphones the concept of app stores is more widely spread. Not everybody has implemented one successfully, yet, but at least everybody claims to be doing so within the next couple of days/weeks/months.

It's an interesting market trend: On the one hand, apps stores are a great way for developers to monetize their work.

On the other hand, it prolongs their nightmare of developing and adapting apps to all the different platforms out there.

My prediction is that fewer developers are willing to go through this nightmare again and again.

At the end, it is the old battle between client-based and browser-based mobile Web access. I made my mind up long ago, on which option will win in terms of reach, market share and monetization.

Barcelona is great for talking to executives from the broadest variety of industries. You really get insights into the concepts for content convergence being discussed in different circles.

Web-to-mobile to gaming-console-to-TV is my favorite of the day and you will soon hear more about this from Netbiscuits.

Lars Aase is vice president of marketing at Momail
The Ericsson party was great -- 2,500 people there. I heard from the head of marketing at Ericsson. I also heard that there are 1,300 persons from Ericsson here this week.

So, what about mobile software and services -- my game at Momail -- presented here in Barcelona?
In general, no big sensations, but there were some inklings of interest. Most talked about are the "Facebook phones,"the INQ Social Mobile phone and the Sony Ericsson Nan.

Other discussions swirled around the mobile application stores from Nokia (Ovi Store) and Microsoft (Windows Mobile Marketplace), both trying to catch up with the successful Apple App Store.

I hope my favorite Handango (celebrating 10 years!) will continue to be platform-independent. They just have to adjust pricing.

Another thing that amazes me is that most offers are based on special client software that must be downloaded and installed on the mobile.

With the many operating systems out there it's a big headache to give support. Besides, how should users manage when changing mobile models? This is especially true for basic solutions such as messaging, tools for upload/download to/from mobile device, backup/restore, address book (again) and security.

I believe the already-embedded clients are OK in most cases, especially from vendors such as Sony Ericsson that are good in following standards (some other Japanese are not). Really, how many clients can a normal end-user manage?

Highlights of yesterday:

- The application store initiatives gives users easier access to a formidable amount of useful and/or entertaining mobile software
- Voice message without calling, such as Bubble Motion and Kirusa, will be used by youngsters and people in emerging countries
- Flash applications is hitting the small screen, creating better user experiences
- More carriers are offering fixed (and affordable) data plans -- the key to mobile Internet usage.
- User interfaces are becoming better, at least on some platforms (thank you, Apple!)

And here were the lowlights:
- Mobile TV -- last year's big star. Where is it today?
- Mobile standards. There are too many of them.
- Working mobile payment solutions. I want it now.
- Good address book application. Not found a usable one yet. I believe this will be a must for the mobile consumer.
- Roaming cost for data -- hello, EU, time to act!

Jaime Lanchares is CEO of Unkasoft
Another day at Mobile World Congress and most people continue talking about the number of people attending the event and the quality of the meetings, which are improving.

I saw a nice device yesterday called the Clock Phone from LG and although I have some usability doubts about it and it looks like one of James Bond devices, it could be one of the innovations of this year.

I found a lot of hardware manufacturers, not too many content developers and content providers and most of the companies using the mobile marketing messages last year weren't using them this year.

Two remarkable things that we can see is a lot of secured mobile phones or applications for securing mobile phones, and style and complements.

Styles such as Modu, where you can use different jackets with your mobile phone, create the final customization of a mobile phone, like if you changed the skin of an operating system, but with the cover of the device.

Security, where cryptography could be the next development business in mobile with our voice, messaging and data.

Again, we can see Flash and Flash Lite growing with more compatible devices and trying to create enough critical mass of compatible devices.

Sun was showing its JavaFx technology for mobile but it was impossible to check it because of my agenda. I will try it later.

We can see a lot of Chinese companies. In my opinion, they are the strongest in the event.

I came this year thinking of seeing the next model of the Android HTC device, but G1 is the unique model we can see here.

Of course, touch-screen mobiles are the stars nowadays. It is hard to see keyboards.

Alex Moukas is CEO of Velti
Mobile World Congress saw giants Nokia and Microsoft launch apps stores designed to compete with Apple's highly successful App Store.

Nokia's Ovi Store and Microsoft's Windows Marketplace are the latest spars in a battle between the key players in the mobile industry to tap into the booming applications space, whilst other challengers such as Research In Motion and Samsung are also rumoured to be jumping on the bandwagon.

Not only does this latest news indicate a healthy smartphone market, it also strongly reflects the growing demand amongst consumers for greater freedom to personalise their mobile device.

Where people previously were restricted to wallpaper and ringtones as a means of self-expression, this new second generation of handset personalisation has enabled consumers to bring an unparalleled level of context and relevance to their lives by tailoring the mix of widgets and apps that they use on their handset, whether that be a Crazy Disco, Koi Pond or an iBeer.

Valerie Christopherson is managing director of Global Results Communications
Connectivity, capacity, consumers and compatible innovation were some of the themes heard in the halls of Mobile World Congress yesterday.

As network technologies continue to evolve from 2G to 3G, LTE, WiMAX and beyond, the sentiment is network operators are looking more and more for cost-effective solutions to help them maximize and update their network's performance.

From enhancing coverage and capacity of 2G and 3G networks to optimizing radio frequency planning and automatic cell planning to in-building planning and backhaul transmission infrastructure transformation, these themes continue to resonate within the industry.

For example, Aircom International announced several new partnerships -- Aria Networks, MTN Syria, iBwave Solutions and Atlantique Telecom.

Continue to watch network optimization, capacity and connectivity as a leading topic as networks evolve into newer generations.

Mobile marketing and branding initiatives took the stage, making the channel a very viable and active part of today's mobile industry.

From iPhone and Windows phone applications, most of what is showcased are brands looking to extend their reach via mobile.

When looking at most iPhone applications in the iPhone app store, most are created by a brand or on behalf of a brand, bringing a product or service to a mobile audience with marketing, gaming or entertainment components built in.

As this industry propels itself forward, I expect to see the mobile marketing ecosystem become a daily part of consumers' lives globally. The Mobile Marketing Association is looking forward to see what CTIA and other major wireless events will bring to the forefront this year.

Bringing compatible innovation to market in developer software programs was another topic of note yesterday.

An ecosystem of applications to help foster innovation such as software kits, APIs, developer tools and more is attracting mobile and consumer electronics companies.

With on-device self-services, customers gain more control of when and how they access help, and in a more relevant and intuitive way.

At the end of the day, the complete, connected consumer experience is what matters and seemed to prevail over much of yesterday's communications at Mobile World Congress.