Mobile World Congress: iPhone, Android, MSN Direct, and More

It's thrilling to be in Barcelona for any reason, and it's exciting to be at the huge Mobile World Congress any year. But the event is particularly newsworthy this year for several reasons.

1. The iPhone factor. I haven't seen an Apple booth, but the iPhone's influence is apparent everywhere. Almost every cell phone vendor is showing one or more touch-enabled handsets, displays are getting bigger and bigger, and several new mobile browsers are competing with established ones (such as Opera) to bring desktop experiences to tiny handsets.

I'm also seeing lots of amazing video capabilities (AMD showed me a roomful of impressive technology demos using their chips), navigation features (in Nokia's 6220 Navigator and Garmin's Nuvifone, for example), and at least one new visual voicemail offering (from Simulscribe, which has created an app for BlackBerry and Windows Mobile handsets).

2. Google's Android mobile phone platform. Everybody's talking about the prototypes sprinkled around the show floor (see IDG News correspondent Peter Sayer's report on Android). I spent a couple of hours trying to track down a demo, and finally found one at the Texas Instrument booth--but it lacked a SIM card so it wasn't great. Still, along with other Linux-based phone operating systems, it promises to shake up the handset landscape. Here's my photo of that TI prototype.

Texas Instruments Android prototype

3. WiMax is coming. There are lots of prototypes for this 4th-generation technology that promises to eclipse today's mobile broadband network with Wi-Fi like speeds. Sprint is carrying the torch for WiMax in the U.S., but the rollout has been slow. However Samsung, Motorola and others are showing or announcing WiMax products.

4. Microsoft dramas. Yahoo may have turned Microsoft down, but Danger didn't. At its news conference Monday, Microsoft announced it has agreed to acquire Danger, makers of the cult-favorite HipTop (a.k.a. Sidekick) handsets.

Microsoft also showed off a cute new widget-like app that puts MSN Direct content (mostly news headlines and weather) on the home screen of Windows Mobile devices. Clicking eventually leads you to full versions of the content on the Windows Mobile version of Internet Explorer.

I've already installed the beta (a free over-the-air download from MSN Direct's Web site) on a Motorola Q9 Global handset, and it's fun to see what pops up on the screen (I frittered away some time reading about the McCartney-Mills divorce proceedings today).

On the other hand, the MSN Direct box did push down some content, such as my appointments, that probably should have been higher up on the display. Here's a screenshot (courtesy of Microsoft) showing what the new MSN Direct app looks like on the Windows Mobile home screen (on their handset you can still see your appointments).

MSN Direct for Windows Mobile