There has been a lot of coverage of mobile world congress. I have said before that the event was a success and also that we, as an industry are adding value when there is so much economic chaos around us. GSMA also validates this trend by their statistics and attendee numbers GSMA Releases Congress Visitor Stats
If there was an underlying theme for the event, then I think it was 'practical innovation' i.e. innovation designed to solve problems. This is a more interesting trend which I genuinely like. However, there is also space for radical innovation and also incremental innovation. Hence, I will discuss innovation in these themes below. By 'incremental innovation', I mean changes that take a few years to manifest but are significant. Most changes in the devices, networks and infrastructure will be in this space. The challenge for incremental innovation is: Customers may be overtaken by more nimble/sometimes imperfect. And then, there is radical innovation which may be a game changer
I will provide a series of links to announcements that caught my eye in the show (and afterwards). But first, a note of caution: Let's not forget what happened to Palm AFTER the MWC. Last year, Palm was an 'innovator' with much talk of its 'comeback'. Today, there is an overall doom and gloom around Palm. . Palm's products may be good .. But does it matter when the industry is moving so fast and customers have so much choice? Will developers continue to support a waning platform? Today, we see excellent new devices from Samsung, Microsoft, HTC and others which were not present a year ago. All this means that the rate of change has increased. This is a matter for optimism but also caution as the woes of Palm demonstrate.
Firstly, before we discuss further, some of the big announcements. Again, I provide links so that I don't duplicate much of what we have seen before.
Major announcements
Carriers Connect to Rival Apple's App Store
Moblin + Maemo + Linux Foundation = MeeGo
VOIP and Skype. See the white paper written by me and Chetan on the tipping point for VOIP
Wholesale Applications Community
Vodafone calls for tiered mobile-bandwidth pricing
Also see my talk as well: Is Twittter the glue for the Internet of things?
Practical innovation
Orange Healthcare joins the mHealth Alliance to develop mobilehealth solutions in west africa
GSMA Announces Winners of the 15th Annual Global Mobile Awards
RIM to offer free BlackBerry Enterprise Server
mHealth potential: More questions than answers
Radical innovation
Access SIM-Based Services Just by Tapping or Shaking the Mobile Phone
An Accelerometer 1,000x More Sensitive Than the iPhone's
Growvc launches with an innovative model for mobile startups
Incremental innovation which could be pointers to bigger trends
DEVICES
Huawei and Acer add high-end phones to Android mix
Microsoft to let you install apps on memory card sticks
Huawei unveils first HSPA+ Android phone
Adobe joins LiMo Foundation, adds Flash support to LiMo platform
10 things the iPhone can learn from Mobile World Congress
Qualcomm's Dual-Core 1.5GHz Snapdragon: Smartphones Are About to Go Hyperspeed
The best phones, stunts, and demos of Mobile World Congress
LG Licenses Push Email from Good
Layar Looks to Create the App Store of Mobile Augmented Reality
Nokia chief: we want to be all things to all consumers again
Vodafone To Sell Sub-$15 Phone in Developing Countries
RIM shows off the new WebKit-powered BlackBerry browser
Gallery: Biggest Smartphone News From Barcelona
LG: No plans for a proprietary OS
The Puma phone
Samsung's Wave Is Bada-Full
Samsung's About to Own More of the TV Market Than Any Company in 60 Years
NETWORKS
Alcatel-Lucent beefs up carrier apps strategy
Gemalto Innovation: Gemalto Launches "Device Service Link" to Facilitate Access to Mobile Broadband
OneAPI Gains Momentum as GSMA Announces Commercial Pilot with Leading Mobile Operators in Canada
LTE-Advanced specs to be published in 2011
Huawei show first triple-mode LTE modem
GSMA Outlines Progress with RCS Initiative
40 Companies Back GSMA's Voice Over LTE Fix
OneAPI Standardizes Carrier Billing APIs Across Networks
1 comment:
Hi Zahid,
I think you make some interesting points here definately worth expanding on. One of my key areas of interest is femtocell vendors. They have marketed their products through all stages of your innovation- Practical, radical and incremental. It seems that after it being seen as a radical innovation by some the reality is that it is a practical innovation. Its main selling point is enhanced coverage, not all the bells and whistles that vendors like to trumpet. As '07,'08 and '09 passed it seems '10 will be the take-off year. A practical innovation taken on board "incrementally" by operators.
Great blog, keep them coming.
Rob Symes
rob.symes@campbellblack.co.uk
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