Mobile World Congress 2008 preview: part two

There is a plethora of mobile industry players exhibiting, speaking and attending next week's Mobile World Congress (MWC, formerly 3GSM) in Barcelona. News announcements and technical sessions are likely to be fast and furious with a danger of missing something if you stand still to blink.

IT PRO will be attending the congress to bring you the news as it happens, but to whet your appetite and ensure you don't miss anything, we contacted those making an appearance and asked them for a sneak peek into what we can expect.

We asked them: "Without giving away too many secrets, what can people expect from you at the forthcoming Mobile World Congress (formerly 3GSM) and why should business and IT decision makers be interested?"

Here's what they had to say.

M

Mobile WiMAX Acceleration Group

"The Mobile WiMAX Acceleration Group (M-WAG), a collaboration of companies aiming to prove the business case for mobile WiMAX, will announce the location and nature of the first ever UK mobile WiMAX user trials, over 2.5 GHZ," said Kerl Haslam, the group's chair. "The trial will look to establish the capabilities and business case of the wireless technology, using the wireless spectrum originally set aside for 3G network expansion, and set to be auctioned later this year by Ofcom."

Haslam added: "Mobile WiMAX vs LTE will certainly be a hot topic for discussion at this year's show. Mobile WiMAX will be first to market and promises to deliver robust, resilient and secure data transmission at a much lower cost than fixed line alternatives, making it exciting for consumers and businesses alike. [It] will help avoid the pitfalls that hampered the profitability of 3G networks after the auctions of almost 10 years ago. The technology is now ready and presents a great opportunity to operators, service providers, businesses and consumers alike."

Movial

"When you think about social networking today - sharing and communicating about social content doesn't happen in real-time. In fact, social networking to date is anti-social and passive in nature....Movial is launching a brand new software application that enables instant social communication on any device. Carriers will be very interested in this as Movial's application is the glue between mobile operators and internet companies, helping mobile operators increase their ARPU - and capitalise on a truly integrated user experience," said Victor Donselaar, president of Movial.

"I think we are going to see more and more applications bridge social media with the capability to instantly talk and communicate to any device with the same user experience."

N

NewStep

"NewStep is seeing a shift in the convergence market, away from a focus on the underlying network and technology, to more of a consideration of what makes converged services compelling for consumer and enterprise users. NewStep is planning a series of announcements over the coming weeks in the lead up to MWC that will introduce our access-agnostic approach to FMC, which enables us to move beyond a discussion of VCC vs UMA vs Femtocell and provide a more user-centric approach to convergence," said Shannon Bell, NewStep's vice president of product management.

"We will also be announcing a major partner in the application space, which is critical for how we see this market moving forward. To build the compelling proposition for enterprise and consumer users, convergence cannot just be about delivering voice in multiple modes - the focus needs to change to incorporate the compelling applications that will drive a truly converged communications experience. Finally, NewStep will be introducing a product evolution focusing on enabling personalised communications."

Nuance

"As the mobile device is now a critical business tool, Nuance is using its speech and predictive input interfaces to help unlock the potential of mobile devices, thus ensuring the user can remain productive as well as mobile. Whether a handset manufacturer or mobile operator, Nuance has the solutions that enables them to provide their customers with even more convenience and functionality, or increasingly comprehensive mobile services," said Robert Weideman, senior vice president of marketing for Nuance in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

"Last year, there was evidence of a great synergy between the mobile content providers, the handset manufacturers, and the mobile operators. In 2008, this will manifest itself in a richer mobile experience for the consumer, which should translate into increased profitability for the operators, reduced customer churn and an increase in sales for smart mobile devices."

O

On2 Technologies

"On2 will introduce a new embedded hardware video decoder, the 8190, which is capable of delivering full 1080p high-definition video the handset. The company's full line of software video codecs - including VP6 and VP7 - predominate in the industry; the company now offers the broadest line of high-definition video for PC manufacturers, broadcasters, and mobile handset manufacturers," said Bill Joll, the company's chief executive.

"MWC 2008 will be the central point in the discussion around mobile high-definition video. This has not been a major issue until now, as broadcasters and production companies discover the value of HD on the handset. Previously, this was a concept play; now, this is a market play."

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PixSense

"Who will win the big battle of the third screen? Mobile operators, online companies or handset vendors - all are trying with mobile operators still in the lead," said Paul Singh, the company's president and chief executive.

"Many new mobile software companies, like PixSense, are in the market and can help any of these players to win the battle. The challenge is who will move faster, and will mobile become like the web of today where it is open to everyone to create a business model."

Click here for part one of the preview. Come back tomorrow for the third and final part.

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