MWC 2008: MDA crystal ball gazes hot topics

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Against the backdrop of last week's news that users' appetites for mobile data and on-the-move web browsing continues to grow, these two subjects will share centre stage with others as the hot topics at this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

So says Mike Short, chair of the UK Mobile Data Association (MDA) and head of research and development at O2, who believes that the event will play host to much talk about mobile data and applications, mobile commerce and banking, mobile advertising, accessories, social networking and machine-to-machine (M2M) interaction.

"There will be a lot of experience shared around the 3G evolution, mobile internet and mobile email space again this year as we head towards a much richer and comprehensive data market. The growing influence of the web will also come through in both business and consumer applications, touching new sectors such as transport, health and education," he said.

"Support for the GSMA Pay-By-Mobile initiative took off last year with a range of handset manufacturers and operators such as Nokia, Motorola, O2, Vodafone and Orange pledging to examine the use of NFC for contactless payments. With the UK's first large scale NFC trial - the O2 Wallet - going live in November 2007, Mobile World Congress will be a platform for further brands to review and discuss their plans for using NFC technology in 2008. This may also be complemented by GSMA-led money transfer initiatives, to help the unbanked through mobile around the world."

Mobile advertising will come of age during 2008, thanks largely to the growing pool of users spending more time browsing the web on their devices, according to Short.

"At MWC expect operators, partnering with advertising specialists, to discuss how they can provide better targeting and measurement for mobile advertising, campaigns, from behavioural and demographic to geographic and channel-based targeting," he said.

How users will interact with technology in the future will also be high on the agenda, with some suggesting innovations straight out of science fiction.

"MWC 2008 should see the start of products such as pico projectors. With companies like Plastic Logic, Polymer vision, Vuzix, Microvision, and MyVu on show it will be interesting to see how this market develops as we move from a verbal to a visual world of mobile," Short said. "It may not be long now before wearing video eyewear on the beach to watch the latest episode of Lost, whilst still getting a tan and protecting your eyes from the sun may not be far off."

Short predicts that social networking will also share the limelight as it replicates its success in the mobile space.

"The steady growth of Facebook, Bebo and MySpace means making these communities truly mobile will generate excitement as well. The mobile industry has dabbled in this area with messaging and applications that can be downloaded straight to a handset there are still a lot more to be understood and implemented," he said. "We will see further offerings coming down the line later this year, potentially around what the future holds for user generated content (UGC) on mobile."

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