The future of mobile telephony will be one of the key topics on the agenda when the industry's great and good come together for the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this February. And for some participating companies and organizations, the showcasing of their unknown innovations could mean a sudden fast track to success, thanks to the 2008 GSMA Mobile Innovation Awards.
The Mobile Innovation Awards recognize excellence and innovation within the mobile industry by providing an opportunity for innovators in small or new companies to present their ideas to a panel of leading industry investors and mobile operators - as well as being showcased to the event's 52,000 visitors. For the second successive year, Ericsson will be co-sponsoring the event.
Kurt Sillén, Head of Ericsson Mobility World and one of the members of this year's judging panel, says: "By participating in the event at a major level, Ericsson can help stimulate innovation and growth within the industry. As a company, we are driven by continuous innovation, and consumer service mobility is increasingly important as technologies converge. Supporting innovation in this way is beneficial for both the industry, and for Ericsson. We get to see what good things are in the pipeline."
Success can bring bigger rewards for winners than just the presentation awards dinner. Last year's prize winner in the Most Innovative Technology Development category was Polymer Vision, developers of the world's first rollable electronic display for mobile phones. This simple idea allows the display of more information and content on a regular-sized mobile phone screen. The company now holds contracts with three of the world's top four mobile handset developers, including Sony Ericsson.
Other category winners have enjoyed similar success. The Most Innovative Mobile Application and Content Award 2007 went to ShoZu for its mobile multimedia delivery platform. Based on a service called Share-It, ShoZu's technology allows one-click posting of photos or video clips to sites such as YouTube. "These are typical winning ideas," Sillén says. "They are simple, but they add to the user's overall experience."
The GSMA's Mobile Innovation Awards are open to all eligible mobile industry and supporting industry companies. All products, services, solutions and innovations entered must be supportive of the GSM family of mobile technologies, such as GSM, GPRS, EDGE, W-CDMA and HSDPA.
