The times we live in

It was inevitable that the prevailing economic situation would have an effect on MWC. From talking to many of those attending it is clear that attendance is down, but this does not seem to have put a damper on the job of doing business. The current situation appears to have simply discouraged the purely curious from attending. The general consensus seems to be that while business may get a little tougher, the mobile industry remains on a growth path.

It's new, it's funky, it's yellow

Symbian came to MWC with a new image and a renewed sense of enthusiasm.

The new corporate branding for the Symbian Foundation throws off Symbian's formal branding overcoat for something that has certainly been a talking point. But the process is possibly the most interesting aspect of the change. The branding is being presented as a work in progress, something quite unusual for an organization of Symbian's size and profile. This work in progress approach is designed to show that the Symbian Foundation is planning to embrace the open source ethos as widely as possible. Virtually everyone from Symbian is emphasizing that the community is invited to comment on and suggest alternatives or improvements to the branding.

Lee M. Williams, executive director of Symbian Foundation, communicated a tangible excitement about the progress. One point he emphasized is that the foundation is not a 'logo collecting' exercise - 'there are plenty of other places companies can go to do that' Lee said. All the companies who have signed up are bringing components to the platform, according to Lee, including those that might seem unlikely contributors, such as mySpace and HP.

I do, I do, I do

Sony Ericsson brought their first concept device to the show, the IDOU (pronounced without the 'u'). The primary goal of the concept was to act as a concrete demonstration of how the Entertainment Unlimited offering would work. At the same time it is a flag to developers that Sony Ericsson is moving forward with Symbian. Jens Greve is Senior Manager and Head of Sony Ericsson Developer World also emphasized that there was a roadmap of other Symbian devices to be rolled out.

Talking with Jens it was clear that, while Symbian developers were still important to the company, Sony Ericsson would be placing more emphasis on developers working with 'runtimes' and web applications. Given the Foundation's role as a central source for developer support this makes sense.

The IDOU is certainly an attractive looking device and the initial specifications suggest it will have kudos. However, one does have to wonder if the quality of optics will really make its 12 mega pixel camera significantly better than lesser specified devices. One interesting feature (which may or may not make it to the final device) is that the memory card is micro SD, not Sony Memory Stick. The IDOU also marks the beginning of the end to specific Walkman and Cybershot phones, the functionality and branding being merged in the new Entertainment Unlimited devices.

It's an ill wind …

While the prevailing economic environment will make life tough for the entire mobile value chain, it will create new opportunities. Robert Harmsen of Klomptek is one person ready to take advantage. Klomptek is developing a system to allow companies to control and monitor smartphone usage. While it is still operating in stealth mode, when it comes to details, its technology enables limits to be set on personal call staff can make on company supplied phones, for example. The demonstration of control and locking possible with the technology was impressive, and the appeal in these cost conscious times is obvious.

And now for something different

Lee hinted at Symbian OS making its way onto a broader range of devices, however the existing hardware is already finding some interesting niche applications. One such application comes from SwissQual which has implemented a network quality testing application on S60 devices. This application allows field testing of mobile networks and, as Salvatore Plazzolla head of product management explained, it offers advantages over conventional testing technology because of its size. This means that the S60 based testing system can be used in environments where bulky testing equipment would be unwelcome, such as airports or shopping malls.

And there will be more …

While MWC may be less busy there is still no shortage of Symbian related technology to explore and experience, more on that before the end of the week.