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While the Mobile Sunday gathering passed the +250 registrants, and the Mobile Jam Session - a developers focused event, announcing its final program, speakers and topics (check also list of companies attending), the Mobile Monday Peer Awards Barcelona event is heading for another exceptional roll.

+700 attendants signed up already to attend the event. There are some 100 entries left. Don’t wait any longer to register and to be part of this unique networking event. The awards will be issued at 6:30pm (18H30) following our - not to be missed - MobileMonday networking cocktail including walking buffet - between 5pm and 6:30pm (17H-18H30)
The finalists presenting in the 2 categories (early stage and emerging start-ups) have been selected now, as well as the jury panel members for each category. Each finalist has 3 slides and 3 minutes to convince the jury of its great idea and business model. You can download the agenda in PDF here. Also a PDF-file with directions how to get to Espacio Movistar (only 10 minutes with metro line 3 from The Mobile World Congress at Plaça Espanya).

Also on the agenda two great keynotes: Luis Jorge Romero, Director of Standards and Innovation in Telefónica España, and Pekka Ala-Pietilä, CEO and Co-Founder, Blyk.

There will also be a premier view on barcelona.mobi mobile website.

Below the finalists presenting:

3:00-4:00pm - Category 1: Early-Stage Start-Ups

Amsterdam - Movels
Bangalore - Mobisy
Barcelona - skuair
Berlin - ViiF
Boston - SnapMyLife
Brussels - Mobixx
London - The 3G Dating Agency
New York - BuzzD
Paris - WebWag
Rome - Nanology
Shanghai - DuoGuo
Singapore - mBit.tv
St. Petersburg - 4Mobi.TV
Taipei - Toro

4:15-5:15pm - Category 2: Emerging Start-Ups

Chennai - Mobile-worx
Dublin - Sentry Wireless
Dusseldorf - Cellity
Helsinki - Fromdistance
Istanbul - Mobinex
London - Taptu
Madrid - Kimia
Milan - Waymedia
Mumbai - Ziva
Munich - Qiro
Oslo - Adactus
Silicon Valley - Funambol
Stockholm - Momail

See you on Monday!

The Mobile Jam Session event - focused on developers - I’m organizing with Caroline Lewko of the Wireless Industry Partnership (WIP) during the Mobile World Congress, is taking its’ final shape. Hosted by MyStrands in their new MyStrands offices, the event takes place on Tuesday, February 12, 2008. It is a day to inspire new ideas and innovate solutions to existing challenges.

The event is free of charge for all participants, coffee breaks, lunch and networking cocktail included. Check the attendants list, we’re quite surprised and happy with the enthusiastic reactions and feedback we got so far!

Attendants include developers from companies like Admob, Accenture, Access, Bango, Vodafone Betavine, Bebo, Kyte.tv, Dell Mobile, Facebook , Future Platforms, GetJar, Google Inc., Idean, Intrinsyc, Kimia, LemonQuest, mBricks, Mippin, Mobile Complete, Mobile Distillery, MyStrands, Nokia, OpenID, Peperoni, PixSense Inc, Qualcomm, Reuters, scanR , Seesmic, Six Apart, Shozu , Skyhook Wireless, Sun Microsystems, Telecom Italia, Telefonica I+D, Truphone, Trutap, UIQ Technology, Vertu, Vodafone, W3C, Wavefront, WURFL and Yahoo! to name the most prominent. It’s a great combination of big and small companies; carriers/operators, device manufacturers, content aggregators, platform and developer programs reps and some great start-up companies with a lot of experience in mobile and web convergence.

You can still sign up here if you’d like to attend the morning and/or afternoon sessions or want to join us for our closing networking cocktail.

Check out the Speakers and Topics designed on feedback we received by participants:

• OPENING PANEL
• IMPROV SESSIONS
• CLOSING ENCORE PANEL

Check out the Topics and Speakers:

1. Open ID
2. Mobile Web Development Frameworks – Widgets/Ajax etc
3. Mobile OS / Platforms
4. Usability / UI / Localization / Mobile Interfaces
5. Mobile media / Web Convergence
6. Open Source in Handsets

10:30am – 12:00 noon
Pre-Session for Developers Only

Come early to grab some talk time, croissant and coffee with your peers about what you are developing and your important issues. These will then be brought forward for the rest of the day.

12:00 Noon – 1:00pm
Registration, Lunch, Networking

OPENING PANEL – 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
We have a complete line-up of players to open up our Mobile Jam session. A great combination of big and small companies; a carrier, a device manufacturer, an aggregator, a platform, reps from developer programs and two great small companies with BIG experience. What a great way to get started – don’t miss this one!

The Players:

• Daniel Appelquist, Senior Technology Strategist at Vodafone Group
• Carl Uminski, CTO, Trutap and formerly of Yahoo!
• Souheil Gallouzi, CTO, Intrinsyc and formerly of Qualcomm
• Terrence Barr, Technical Evangelist, SUN Microsystems
• Tom Libretto, VP of Forum Nokia
• Ray Anderson, CEO, Bango

IMPROV SESSIONS 2:30pm – 4:30 pm

The Six (6) Improv discussions are designed for more one-on-one discussions and a deeper dive on topics. Also a better way for you to meet the speakers and your fellow participants.

Note: As this is about improv and flexilbity, so the speaker list still has room for some last minute additions!

1. OpenID
Discussion Leaders:

TBC

2. Mobile Web Development Frameworks – Widgets/Ajax
Discussion Leaders:

• Representative from Forum Nokia
• Dominique Hazael-Massieux, W3C

3. Mobile OS / Platforms
Discussion Leaders:

• Vincent Berge, Co-Founder & General Manager, Mobile Distillery
• Rich Killmer, Sr. Sales Director, Mobile Complete
• Oscar Gutierrez, Vodafone Betavine
• Terrence Barr, Technical Evangelist, SUN Microsystems

About this topic:
From Mobile Java to other platforms like Symbian, BREW, FlashLite, Android, PalmOS, Access Garnet and Windows Mobile.

4. Usability / UI / Localization / Mobile Interfaces
Discussion Leaders:

• Mikko-Pekka Hanski, Idean
• David Mery, Editor - Developer Program, UIQ Technology
• Morten Hjerde, Senior Interaction Designer at mBricks

5. Mobile Media / Web Convergence
Discussion Leaders:

• Carmen Sales - Product Development Coordinator, Kimia
• Jakub Danilewicz - Alembik project architect

About this topic:
Return of Prometheus: bringing the web to mobile devices. Giving the power of free media transcoding and web rendering to the mortals.

6. Open Source in Handsets
Discussion Leaders:

• Bill Lee, Developer Relations, ACCESS
• Luca Pasani, Admob and founder of WURFL

CLOSING PANEL: MOBILE JAM SESSION - ENCORE 4:45pm – 5:30pm
We’ll start off with some closing remarks from our panelists and then add in other players from the audience to ‘jam’ with them.

The Players:

• Fabio Ricciato, Mobile Handset Evolution, Telecom Italia, Mobile (TIM) Access and Terminals in Technology Division
• Bill Lee, Developer Relations, ACCESS
• Karel De Beule - co-Founder, Kimia
• Open seats to rotate audience members.

Jam - gather and play without extensive preparation or predefined arrangements.

5:30pm – 7:30pm
Reception
Let’s end the day raising a toast – Salut! Other player’s will join us.

Rudy and Caroline will choose their favorite Jazz picks for a perfect cocktail mood.

MobileMonday has announced its Peer Award nominees. 25 chapters from around the world have chosen companies that have demonstrated exceptionally innovative mobile technologies, products, services and concepts.

This year’s nominees are:

Amsterdam - Movels
Bangalore - Mobisy
Barcelona - skuair
Berlin - ViiF
Boston - SnapMyLife
Brussels - Mobixx
Chennai - Mobile-worx
Dusseldorf - Cellity
Helsinki - Fromdistance
Istanbul - Mobinex
London - The 3G Dating Agency / Taptu
Madrid - Kimia
Milan - Waymedia
Mumbai - Ziva Technologies
Munich - hiClip
New York - BuzzD
Oslo - Adactus
Paris - WebWag
Rome - Nanology
Shanghai - DuoGuo
Silicon Valley - Funambol
Singapore - mBit.tv
St. Petersburg - 4Mobi.TV
Stockholm - Momail
Taipei - Toro

Additional information is available at
http://www.mobilemondaybarcelona.com/peerawards/

Register here if you’d like to attend, don’t wait too long. Over 500 people registered already to attend the event!

Two weeks before the opening of the Mobile World Congress, the third annual Mobile Sunday Barcelona - an unofficial, informal and generally cool and funky gathering of mobile bloggers and their chums - has already over 100 people subscribed to the wiki!

Here’s your chance to meet some of the key mobilist bloggers, key industry people from carriers/operators, device manufacturers, mobile applications and service providers companies. This is also an occasion to hear about the exciting stuff happening during the congress and learn about start-ups and interesting projects and launches, the evening before the big show. If you’re not on the list yet and would like to attend, just add your name + info to the wiki.

There’s also a Mobile Sunday Facebook group for picture and video uploads of the evening. FYI: it’s recommended to add your name to the wiki to make sure you’ll get in in case it gets too crowded! Thanks to our friends at MyStrands, who will generously provide some ‘more’ free beer this time.

List of current attendants:

Coming to Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress? Don’t miss the MobileMonday Peer Awards Barcelona 2008! Sticking with MobileMonday’s recipe for success, the event will cook up a bunch of fresh innovations mixed with honest feedback and a dash of fun. Served with plenty of juicy networking at the NEW Espacio Movistar in Barcelona on Monday February 11 starting at 2:30PM.

The MobileMonday Peer Awards are recognised by the industry as one of THE interesting events in the mobile industry. Last year’s Barcelona Peer Awards event attracted 23 competitors, the MoMo community award went to Mobile Complete, the audience award to Plazes, and the expert jury award to Realeyes 3D. Check the Peer Awards 2007 Flickr Group pictures and winners’ announcement here.

Mr. Pekka Ala-Pietila, former president at Nokia Corporation and currently chief executive officer of Blyk Corporation, a virtual mobile operator in the UK, will be the keynote speaker.

The event concept is pretty similar as last year: every MobileMonday chapter is invited to nominate one startup to the Peer Awards Barcelona 2008. This year, we’ll divide the start-up finalist presentations in two categories: early-stage start-ups (founded in 2007, early-stage financing) and emerging start-ups (founded in 2005 and after, inbetween Series A & B funding). The organizing committee and jury selects the finalists to present at the awards event. Entrance into the running is free! Check the Peer Awards website for details.

There will be three awards in each category: jury, audience, and community (MoMo chapters). This year’s winners at the MobileMonday Peer Awards Barcelona will also be invited to participate in the Innovation Pad activities at the MobileMonday Global Summit in conjunction with the World Congress on IT in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 18-22, 2008.

Master of Ceremony is once again Mrs. Caroline Lewko, from the Wireless Industry Partnership (WIP).

The jury consists of some of the most recognized mobile industry experts and thinkers, currently confirmed:

• Carlos Domingo, General Director, Telefonica R&D;
• Ann Mei Chang, Mobile Engineering Director Google;
• Bena Roberts, Founder and Chief Analyst at BKI Media / GoMo News;
• Russell Buckley, Managing Director, AdMob Europe / Vice-Chairman of MMA’s EMEA;
• Carlo Longino, Mobhappy;
• Daniel Appelquist, Senior Technology Strategist, Vodafone Group;
• Madamohan Rao, Editor, The Asia-Pacific Internet Handbook;
• Jed Rice,VP, Market Development, Skyhook Wireless;
• Peter Vesterbacka, Founder, Some Bazaar;
• Jouko Ahvenainen, Chief Operating Officer, Xtract;
• Michael Wendell, General partner, Nexit Ventures;
• Sirous Kavehercy, Strategist and Consultant, Market Development Director at Acision;

The MobileMonday Peer Awards Barcelona 2008 are being organized collaboratively by the MobileMonday community and hosted by MobileMonday Barcelona. The event is free but you must register in advance since the 800 places will go quickly.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at Torre Mapfre in Barcelona.

Infused with the spirit of the early days of Jazz, the Mobile Jam Session is a day to inspire new ideas and innovate solutions to existing challenges. The purpose is focused, but the agenda is improvised along the way.

Caroline Lewko of the Wireless Industry Partnership (WIP) and myself are ‘jazzed’ about working together to bring you the first of - hopefully - many Mobile Jam Sessions. The idea emerged to open up the mobile ecosystem and connect experienced and talented developers, with industry experts and decision makers.

Most importantly we want this event to be driven by developers – what they want to hear, who they want to talk to, what they want to say… Any mobile developer can propose a hot topic he would like to to discuss with other mobile value chain players in a workshop and productive environment, simply add your name and topic to invitation list. Be prepared to be an active participant in the sessions.

The event is free of charge for all participants, coffee breaks, lunch and networking cocktail included. We’re looking for passionate, exciting and talented developers. We have confirmed participations from Telefonica, Vodafone Group, Telecom Italia, Nokia, Sun Microsystems, Yahoo!, Mystrands, Mobile Distillery, Trutap, Kimia, …

The event is hosted in the new MyStrands Barcelona offices in the Torre Mapfre at the Villa Olympica. MyStrands generously offers us the superb 350 square meter space on the 20th Floor of the building with a breathtaking view on all Barcelona, the city, the Olympic port and its beaches.

New tunes often come from unlikely associations, so… Jam on!

The Mobile World Congress is coming near, so I’m starting to announce some side events I’m involved in.

The third annual MobileSunday - an unofficial, informal and generally cool and funky gathering of mobile bloggers and their chums - will be taking place in Barcelona on the eve of this year’s Mobile World Congress (formerly known as 3GSM).

Last year’s event, which was also organized by myself with the much appreciated help from blog pal Stuart Mudie, and was attended by over seventy people (check who attended last year here). This time round, there’s going to be some more free Belgian beer, generously provided again by the good people at MyStrands.

I you would like to catch up with some mobile passionates, Mobilists and MobileMonday founders, mixed with some healthy dose of ususal suspect bar-hangers, this is your spot to be. What possible reason can you have not to join us? To confirm your attendance, simply add your name and URL to the Mobile Sunday Barcelona wiki.

This gathering will be held at the BelChica bar (10 minutes walk from the Congress).

More cool event announcements coming here any day soon now, so stay tuned!

Many readers have been contacting me regarding interesting side events during the Mobile World Congress (formerly known as 3GSM) from February 11-15 here in Barcelona. There’s too much happening in too few days - as usual - I’m working on a couple of networking parties involving many blogger friends and mobile value chain industry people, developers, VCs, and press. Anyone interesting in sponsoring such events, please contact me directly (email in sidebar).

Somehow unnoticed was the anouncement yesterday of the strategic partnership between MobileMonday, the global community of over 70,000 mobile industry visionaries and developers, and the GSM Association, the global trade association for mobile phone operators.

The two organizations have entered into a strategic partnership to stimulate, accelerate and showcase innovation in the mobile sector, more specifically related to the Mobile Innovation Programme, created to help the thousands of small and medium-sized companies developing innovative mobile products and services to rapidly reach mobile operators and bring their innovations to end-users.

“I can truly say that this partnership is what the MobileMonday community members have been looking for – how to streamline the process from innovation into beneficial products and services. These innovations occur all over the world today, and MobileMonday’s and GSMA’s partnership will now showcase them to GSMA members in a new way” said Jari Tammisto, CEO, Mobile Monday Ltd.

“This partnership brings together the thousands of innovative small companies that belong to MobileMonday community, and the 700 mobile operator members of the GSMA, enabling these two key constituencies to better work together to create exciting new mobile products and services that will appeal to consumers and business users,” said Bill Gajda, Chief Commercial Officer of the GSMA. “The Mobile Innovation Programme is a completely new approach that enables promising ideas to be identified and commercialized across the globe much faster than has been possible in the past.”

September 27th is the extended deadline for award submissions from companies aiming to be recognized at the first Mobile Innovation Summit in Macau at the Mobile Asia Congress in November 2007.

The categories are:

• Most Innovative Consumer Application or Service
• Most Innovative Wireless Device-Centric Technology
• Most Innovative Carrier Infrastructure or Platform
• Most Innovative Mobile Application in a Vertical Market

From the four category winners above, one overall Mobile Innovation Award winner will be selected.

Check the Innovator Showcase page, some start-ups you might know are already listed like muvee Technologies, PixSense, Shozu, AdMob, Refresh Mobile, Mozes and MobileMonday 2007 Global Peer Award winner Realeyes3d and a lot of others.

I’m happy to see such partnerships, I think this is a great opportunity to bring both member communities closer together for the benefit of the start-ups and the whole mobile value chain in general.

Interesting rebranding… from 3GSM to Mobile World Congress - check the new domain: mobileworldcongress.com, a sign that we’re finally entering a new and different global mobile space? I believe so looking at all the new players coming in this space, definately a good choice!

(source: a tweet from Kelly)