Way back in February, we made some Mobile World Congress predictions as to what would be at the Spanish wondershow. What can we say, we were pretty much spot on! Let’s survey the evidence…
1. Apps, apps, everywhere…
We said there would be a profusion of Application storefronts coming along on handsets. Sure enough…there were.
We saw Nokia brought along an extension of existing services under the umbrella of Ovi Store, Microsoft announced their Windows Mobile Marketplace, Palm’s new Pre has a webOS Software Store, RIM’s BlackBerry Storefront was reiterated, and Samsung had their Innovators system to bring new Symbian apps to a wider audience.
Even now, Apple seems to be lightyears ahead of the opposition when it comes to App Store. With the nearest competition, the T-Mobile G1’s Android Marketplace languishing on 140 apps…it is making Apple’s 15,000 look all the more insurmountable.
Having been accidentally bundled into an intense analyst briefing with Franis Schmeer, Head of Corporate Strategy and VP of Sony Ericsson (notes in a future interview!) at Mobile World Congress, we came out plenty of stuff to discuss with their Head of Portfolio Planning Steve Walker (left in the below image) and Merran Wrigley, Head of External Comms. and Global PR.
OMIO: We hear that the ‘branded’ devices will be scaled down across the Sony Ericsson portfolio in 2009. What’s the better selling between Walkman and Cybershot devices?
More Walkman phones, due to more being in the marketplace, it started about a year and a half before Cybershot. The Walkman was the first Sony brand to be used with a phone, and has sold in excess of 100 million units. Cybershot has sold around 50 million.
OMIO: And the UK availability and release dates for your new breed of devices announced?
There is a really good fit between the Sony Ericsson brand and the UK, so they will all be released there. Some before summer, some after summer.
Merran Wrigley: S-E had over 160 journalists attending our UK press conference on Monday after our Sunday night announcements, so the interest is very much there!
OMIO: You mentioned that Cybershot and Walkman phones are going to be reduced in volume. Is this a global strategy?
The UK market is important, but not the only one to see these changes, they will occur globally. We will still very much see Walkman and Cybershot phones in the range, but they may be the slightly lower down segments, perhaps for someone taking their first step from a voice phone to something richer.
As you go up in the market, people don’t want to have to make that compromise of music or camera phone, they might just choose something else.
Ahh, Motorola. Despite the expanse of their stand, they had little by way of new handsets and certainly none of the fruits of their Android labour was on show. It was all about ‘home networks’ and ‘personal media experiences,’ with little room made for mobile related stuff. Which was strange.
All the ones on display were fairly well known, with the only draw being the ‘reassuringly expensive’ Motorola Aura.
Knowing that it is hard to get people excited about a £2000 handmade phone, they did what any self-respecting company would want to show during the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression…took it to Amosu and filled the bezel with diamonds!
Packing 99 brilliant cut VS diamonds, the Motorola Aura ‘Diamoniqe’ will be limited to a production run of only 50 handsets. At £4995, it may not be more of an investment than an impulse purchase, but it was an interesting distraction from all their talk of networks and CrystalTalk technology.
However, Motorola are going to have to sell a lot more than 50 Auras if they want to get back to former fortunes. A lack of interesting devices and reliance on staples like the RAZR series has caused a great deal of trouble in recent months. Something tells me that a big Motorola Android phone announcement will be pretty soon if current leakage is anything to go by…
Squishing together their Sunday night shindig and official stand is the order of the day, as Sony Ericsson had a lot to show off this year!
Obviously, the big announcement was for the Sony Ericsson ‘Idou’ handset, the first phone to champion their new ‘Entertainment Unlimited’ service, as well as their new positioning as the communication entertainment brand.
Running Symbian Foundation software whilst retaining the familiar Sony Ericsson user interface, the Idou is a multimedia behemoth. With a 12.1 megapixel camera good enough to leave your SLR at home, Walkman-quality music and video playback and a rich touch based user experience, the Idou epitomises this idea of ‘convergence’ in Sony Ericsson’s future devices.
However, the Idou is far from showing up in your local Carphone Warehouse, the name is merely a placeholder and the ones on display were all demo handsets in various stages of completion. That being said, it already looks to be in impressive shape, with the slick user interface and rich and vivid screen proving a draw for many. How on earth did Sony Ericsson manage to keep this one under wraps?
We just hope that they don’t keep us hanging like with the Xperia X1. The handset looked amazing, and the panel interface intuitive and gorgeous, yet it all proved a tad disappointing upon its eventual release. Being quick to get handsets to retail is almost as important as the initial innovation, and the Idou had better capitalise on this before the competitors reveal something even better!
Sony were far from neglecting their highly successful Walkman and Cybershot brands however, with a buffet of both mid range and high end handsets on display.
The T-Mobile Booth was more like a separate hospitality building full of comfy chairs, tasty food and magenta coloured…everything.
First concern, whose idea was it to have a cook grilling meat indoors? That place was hotter than the surface of the sun, we could only spend about fifteen minutes in there before our vision started getting blurry and we got hungry at the same time!
The number of sites that were unaware of the LG ‘hero’ handset at this year’s Mobile World Congress could be named on one finger, nevertheless the LG Arena was pretty exciting to finally see after such a long wait and all those teaser images!
Fortunately, LG knew this and let the Arena take centre stage at their booth.
As good as this was, the worst decision they could have made was to also have a touch-driven interactive table powered by magic blocks. Each one, when placed on the surface, triggered demos illustrating the LG Arena’s features. It was so amazing that many people were ignoring the handset purely to play with the cool interface (ourselves included!).
Eventually, we composed ourselves and got a decent demo of the LG Arena, and the intuitive new 3D touch-driven interface dubbed “S-Class”.
All very impressive, and the user interface takes some interesting changes in direction from touchscreen leaders like the iPhone.
Well, it wasn’t all about the Arena and S-Class, the slightly under-performing LG Renoir has received a revamp to court consumers a bit more. Now sporting an exciting ‘i’ addition to the KC910 model number, the Renoir now has lost the camera lens cover and bulked up slightly.The software running the 8 megapixel camera has also been brought up to date, and they had a cool miniature village on hand to test out the phone’s rebooted camera credentials…
We had a good look at everything Samsung had to offer at their booth at Mobile World Congress, and it was all about touchscreen handsets!
The Samsung Tocco Ultra was definitely their star device, and the guys were pushing it loads on their stand. It’s an impressive device and certainly holds it’s own, with the TouchWiz UI easy to use as well as fun.
This quick hands-on video shows off some of the more impressive features on the device, including multimedia playback and the huge screen.
The Tocco Ultra was good, but don’t underestimate the multimedia prowess of the Samsung Omnia HD! They were showing off the richness and clarity of the handset’s 3.7″ AMOLED screen in quite an impressive way…
Last night saw some of the biggest movers and shakers in the mobile phone industry rub shoulders with celebs like hobbit-faced crooner Jamie Cullum and fashion ‘pioneer’ will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas at the National Palace in Barcelona last night, as the GSMA Awards celebrated the biggest and best innovations over the last twelve months.
Everything from best mobile game to best use of mobile for social and economic development was recognised at the event (Nuance Communications won the latter for their Airtel-T9 India Consumer Vernacular Messaging Campaigns, but you knew that already), so here are the big winners!
Best Mobile Game:
Gameloft’s Real Football 2009 was the runaway winner, official FIFPRO licensing, 3D graphics and console-quality gameplay making it a hit with the judges. How much of the praise heaped upon it was for the iPhone version, I wonder?
An honourable mention went to Digital Chocolate for AvaPeeps: FlirtNation. Looks to me that this game is teaching kids to dress up their avatars and ‘hang out’ in strange parts to proposition other real world underage “peeps”. Social networking of the dirtiest kind…
See the demo video for yourself below.
Yes, you did see “Use your sex appeal” as one of the options for your avatar.
Best Mobile Music or Video Service:
BBC’s iPlayer was the clear stand out in this category, beating out Nokia’s own Comes With Music and Sony Ericsson’s remixed PlayNow Arena. The iPlayer’s is available across all operating systems from the Nokia N96 to the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, and the retention of the desktop version’s functionality has changed how, and where, people watch TV.
Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough:
Ooh, controversial! 2008’s mobile phone Marmite was certainly the Blackberry Storm 9500’s ‘SurePress’ screen. The SurePress screen clicks like a physical button allowing the user to receive a tactile response from a virtual interface, one thing that has proved difficult thus far for touchscreen manufacturers.
Many felt it offered a unique experience that was the best of both worlds, whilst others found it imprecise and forced.
Nevertheless, the judges loved it!
Best Mobile Handset or Device:
The big one! The shortlist consisted of some interesting phones, all unique in terms of both looks and features. Among them was the ‘my first smartphone’ LG KS360, the ground-breaking T-Mobile G1, the touchy feely BlackBerry Storm 9500 and our Nokia E71 review showed just how good that one was!
Even so, the humble INQ¹ Facebook phonebeat them all! The seamless integration of the popular social networking site, web calls with Skype and killer looks all in one nice device was too good to beat! Congrats to 3 for making a handset good enough to make people change networks to get one!
As the black tie event went on into the early morning, we at Omio were tirelessly toiling to bring you the most interesting stories of MWC 2009. Not least because it cost an arm and a leg to attend, but because we love you loyal readers that much!
What do you guys think of the results? Were the judges crazy to put the INQ¹ ahead of the Storm? Are you amazed a great iPhone game wasn’t at the top of the charts? Let us know in the forums!
One of the most prevalent recurring themes throughout Mobile World Congress this year was one of ‘going green’.
Many manufacturers introduced their initiatives to reduce the harmful effects that mobile phone production has on the environment, whilst Motorola, LG and Samsung have all announced new handsets which are solar-powered.
Charging the device is performed through panels on the rear, offering a great solution to people around the world with little or no access to electricity, as well as allowing people in the developed world feel as though they are playing their part in saving the planet.
Sony Ericsson, however, has other ideas.
Speaking to Mats Pellbäck-Scharp, head of corporate sustainability for Sony Ericsson, he mentioned that adding solar panels to a phone can in fact have a net negative effect on the environment.
