Maybe it's a bit late to make a projection of what's going to happen at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year. News have already leaked and press releases being pumped up at the event of the year for the mobile comms industry. I am on way to Barcelona to mingle and meet with the movers and shakers (hopefully, some of them are friends of mine).
But there a few things that I hope to spot and will keep an eye:
- The evolution of mobile apps from the smartphone to cover multiple screens - both in terms of reachability or interaction. Netflix is a good example emerging from hard-coded apps into various STBs into HTML5 UX engine to drive it to an install app for multiple devices. Magine, an innovator for distributing Live TV, connects the smartphone to the TV using it a remote control to setup the Samsung SmarTV or just streaming to an AppleTV.
- Content becoming even more important than what we thought year's ago (during the dot.com ear) and with the event of multi-screen evolution, accessing your own content seems to be an important driver in the industry.
- How big is the Android Avalanche and are there any serious contenders for the next couple of years. Will check up Mozilla, Firefox, Windows 8 and talk with heaps of developers to see what might be going on.
- Small Cells for LTE deployment is probably one of the most important developments for ubiquitous mobile access where your mobile experience should not be limited by bandwidth restrictions. Noticed an interesting company, Cloudberry Mobile, offering Operator-in-a-box to simplify and manage deployment of small cell networks.
- Are the Chinese coming? I think so and I think Huawei and ZTE are preparing for the next level of international presence, but there are others as well. The verdict is still out whether or not China will manage not to fall in the same trap as Japan when a strong domestic market drew them away from world domination.
- on the device side: Note 8, Nokia Lumia, LG, Huawei, ZTE, HTC and others of course.
On a personal note, I am also keen to meet up with people and companies to collaborate in driving new ideas, new strategies, new markets. So, please get in touch with me. I will be there to the bitter end.
Hola Barcelona
