Another missive from Peter Sells, our reporter at the Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona.

Noticeably absent this year are the mobile TV companies. They’re still here of course flogging their wares from the less high profile (less expensive) stands, but its no longer the hot topic. Mobile TV is not like TV on your mobile, it’s a painful experience that relies on patience, good eyesight and a commitment to consuming content that only exists in business plans. If your telly took 20 seconds to buffer after you turned it on or changed channel, consumed power so you could only watch 40 mins before it died, and the picture regularly froze up, then you wouldn’t get addicted to Eastenders.

The Nokia N96 - which comes with DVB-H as standard (and even a kick-stand to help you watch it)

read full post »

I’ve just received an email post from our ‘man in the field’, Peter Sells, Knitware’s very own mobile phone expert. He’s currently wandering the halls of this years (2008) Mobile World Congress exhibition in Barcelona. Over to you Peter…

Day 1 - The iPhone effect.

Hall 8 is the handset hall, a cathedral dedicated to the god of convergence. We are most definitely in the Post iPhone age. Samsung, LG Sony Ericsson are all touting touchscreen media devices that attempt to mimic - whilst being careful not to fully replicate - Apple’s seductive UI. Perhaps Apple should be flattered by this homage, but really they should be worried. Samsung can knock these babies out way cheaper than Team Jobs. Soon, or at least “quarter 2″, I can buy a device without the commitment, without subsiding the handset, that easily runs all the 3rd party software, and is nearly, but not quite, as sexy as the iPhone.
read full post »