There was a focus on entertainment and enterprise; the two key areas seen to provide sustainable growth for the mobile industry over the next few years.
The quest for speed, the latest devices and networks for 3G, HSDPA and higher Wi-fi speeds was also demonstrated. In recent years we've seen something of an arms race across handset makers, network vendors, application providers and network operators. Yet, understanding what is possible helps us all to see the future and plan how to deliver services for consumers in the most effective way.
Scale was also emphasised. With 1.3 billion mobile devices due to be shipped globally in 2007, a plethora of new models was on show. With 3G device penetration in the UK running at an estimated 20 per cent and about 70 per cent of all new devices forecast to be sold in 2007, the message is 3G is available for all.
New messaging applications and services also abound. After the biggest mobile network operators announced a collaboration last year to help the development and interoperability of Instant Messaging, we could see some initial services. Additionally from third parties, in particular the big internet players, we also saw new IM clients.
As convergence becomes a reality, the entertainment industry and web players were represented in force. Alongside traditional telco CEOs, keynote speakers included: Marco Boerries, SVP of mobile at Yahoo; Edgar Brohman Jnr, president and CEO of Warner Music; Bill Roedy, president of networks at MTV; and Sir Tim Berners-Lee, 'inventor' of the World Wide Web.
Mobile advertisers and operators will also be high-profile. In particular, keyword search on mobile will receive attention with the battle between the big players (Google, Yahoo, MSN) and white-label providers (Infospace, Medio, Jumptap) as they vie for the attention of mobile operators. There have been press rumours of high-level meetings between network operators to discuss their options as views on the way forward seem divided.
So, there was plenty to see. Moreover, during the week, an estimated tens of thousands of press releases were expected. But, which ones were significant? That's for a forthcoming issue.
- Hugh Griffiths is a mobile consultant; hugh.griffiths@haynet.com.