Posts Tagged ‘next week’

The madness that is MWC begins next week

Monday, February 9th, 2009

I’m looking forward to Mobile World Congress next week. The action begins officially on Sunday evening.

We’ve got a few interviews booked across Monday and Tuesday then the rest of the week is pretty empty. Deliberately so.

It’s been rather difficult looking at all the email pitches that come in from the PRs. Almost every single one of them is half-interesting. That is, I reckon — with a lot of work and consideration on our part — we could make the company or news semi-relevant. Enough to warrant a post or a video interview.

But it’s a lot of work.

I’ve done this a few times before at various conferences and it’s meant I’ve often had to really work to deliver something I’m really pleased with to you, the reader.

So every time I’m reading an interview request or a MWC PR pitch, I’m reminding myself that I’m paying. Vanity publishing at it’s best. I’m paying for every single minute of the conference. And the multi million pound companies wanting to meet to show me their wares… sorry. Unless it’s really something that our audience will want to hear about… no dice.

Instead we shall be touring the conference and the parties, looking for stuff that we hope will really rock your boat.

There’s a slight possibility that this year’s MWC might actually shock the hell out of us. Microsoft MIGHT announce some real joy. The handset manufacturers MIGHT surprise us. And I suspect the mobile operator CEOs will simply re-hash last year’s speeches. You never know.

Do you remember that company, Scalado? MIR’s Ben Smith found them. I was initially skeptical. Another mobile-software company? I looked back at the original post and my actual words were ‘Another boring Symbian thing?’. Stick with it, Ben said. We did. Sheer brilliance. And the video we brought you of their technology working was simply superb.

That’s what I’m looking for. More of that. More interesting, exciting and stimulating products/services. And I’m pretty positive we’ll have some good stuff for you come Monday.

Surprise hot handset that we’re filming next week

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

We’ve got our hands on a fantastic handset to show you next week. Oh yes. It is definitely not what you are expecting.

02102008120

That’s a close-up of the box.

If you’ve guessed the identity of the handset, don’t spoil it for the other readers as I’m sure it’s not on everyone’s lips at the moment.

All will be revealed on Monday 10th.

We’re getting our hands on Android next week

Thursday, September 25th, 2008

Ah hah!

I just had a note in from Oliver regarding the T-Mobile event we’re filming at next week. There’s going to be Android units galore to check out. I’m looking forward to that — and I’m looking forward to seeing what the MIR Show team, Dan Lane, Ben Smith and James Whatley, make of it.

Nottingham University launches WiMax network next week

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

If you’re living in the Radford, Forest Fields and Haddon Park areas of Nottingham, you’ll shortly be serviced by a rather wicked WiMAX network, courtesy of Nottingham University.

Ostensibly the network is a pilot — aimed at connecting students, teaching staff, business and local residents. The network launches on the 29th of September (the day, by the way, when I turn 31).

WiMAX is a dirty word here on Mobile Industry Review after our industry columnist, Mr Operator, went to town on it. Here’s a reminder of just how scathing Mr Operator was:

If WiMax had come along 5 years ago, it would have been a lighthouse for Mobile operators struggling to right the shipwreck of 3G’s launch. But WiMax - and critically its mobile version - just didn’t arrive in time. HSPA and the roadmapped HSPA+ / LTE have stolen the show.

Evolution, not revolution. Why tear apart what you have, when you can just bolt on some new cards? Why give customers ‘orphan’ handsets when they can have devices that are backward-compatible with legacy networks?

For nations where 3G mobile broadband with its high QoS and device choice is already commoditised, WiMax has no place to play. Not because it’s inherently inferior, but because it doesn’t have anything to differentiate it except less choice in vendor/device, premature mobility & QoS standards, poorer performance in approved bands and the same cost base for infrastructure.

All it can do is play catch-up. And there’s precious little profit in being last to the party.

I’ve been meaning to head up to Manchester to check out the Freedom4 WiMAX network there — and now I need to add Nottingham to my list.

More news about the Nottingham roll-out at http://www.ingenuitygateway.com/programme/.


. PercentMobile Tracking