'Macworld Mobile' Coming to Mobile World Congress 2011

[MacRumors]

The GSM Association today announced that it has partnered with IDG World Expo, organizers of Macworld Expo, to offer a new "Macworld Mobile" event as part of the Mobile World Congress 2011 to be held in Barcelona next February. The event will bring dedicated support for iPhone and iPad development to the more broadly-focused mobile industry event.

At Mobile World Congress 2011, the GSMA is partnering with IDG World Expo, organisers of Macworld, the world's premiere event focused exclusively on the Apple products platform, to produce Macworld Mobile, a mobile developer event for the Apple iPhone and iPad platforms. The Macworld Mobile iOS Developer Conference will provide full-day, in-depth training on this critical platform, with technical sessions, targeting tools and applications specifically designed for mobile application developers and engineers.

"We're excited to bring Macworld Mobile to Mobile World Congress," said Mary Dolaher, chief executive officer of IDG World Expo, a leading producer of world-class tradeshows and events. "Macworld is known around the world for helping to drive and stimulate the Apple products community with educational programmes and business development activities. At Mobile World Congress, we will help international iOS developers to strengthen their skills, as well as facilitate connections with other developers and the worldwide audience of mobile decision makers who attend."

Mobile World Congress is the world's largest exhibition and trade show focused on the mobile industry, and has seen increasing attention placed on Apple's contributions to the industry as the popularity of the iPhone and iOS in general have continued to grow. For its part, Apple has stepped back from the trade show scene, arguing that its network of over 300 retail stores offers a better opportunity for its customers to get hands-on time with its products. At Apple's media event last week, Steve Jobs noted that Apple's retail stores see in excess of one million visitors on some days, far exceeding the reach of the trade shows it had long participated in.

Mobile World Congress 2009, the first to occur after the launch of the App Store the previous year, saw executives of mobile phone companies criticizing the iPhone's closed ecosystem while also scrambling to develop their own answers to Apple's entry into the market. This year's event saw Opera demoing its Opera Mini browser for iOS, which appeared in the App Store several months later as the first major-name alternative to the built-in Safari browser for iOS.

Article Link: 'Macworld Mobile' Coming to Mobile World Congress 2011

 

[GFLPraxis]

Interesting.

Could this be the start of separate Mac and iOS events, or will this just replace Steve's usual January announcements?

EDIT:
Actually, this looks like it's just developer sessions...I see no mention of Apple's involvement or Steve Jobs in there anywhere.

Still interesting though.

 

[alent1234]

the real story is that trade show season starts in January. very bad for customers to buy new gizmos in December only to see newer ones announced a few weeks later.

and apple likes to stagger product releases to even out financial performance over the year. and if you notice apple marketing and rumor release, they like to hype one product at a time. there were almost no Mac rumors until the iPad shipped. most of the trade shows take place in the first half of the year with E3 being in the early part of Q3

this year i Core PC's started shipping the second week of January

 

[LagunaSol]

Cue the "Oh noes, Mac is dead!" crowd.

 

[RawBert]

Sounds like fun. Wish I could be there.
Here's my cue - But some of us are starving for a MAC Expo... (Truck Show)

 

[Peace]

Over the past few years Apple has stopped being part of these "Expos". I see no change now.

 

[jav6454]

So only iPad and iPhone... hmm. Little to add. However, it's the most "popular"

 

[BornAgainMac]

I am still hoping that Steve Jobs replaces the Microsoft Steve for the CES keynote in 2011. That would be amazing if he is up to the task.

 

[longball11]

ONLY iPad and iPhone? What about iPod Touch?

What a pointless event, if there is one. And if the iPhone goes to another carrier, preferably Verizon Wireless.

 

[AidenShaw]

I am still hoping that Steve Jobs replaces the Microsoft Steve for the CES keynote in 2011. That would be amazing if he is up to the task.

There isn't "a CES keynote" - there are many. Both Steves could deliver one.

And, too late:

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer will deliver a preshow keynote address at the 2011 International CES.

“As leader of one of the world’s most innovative technology companies, a keynote address from Steve Ballmer is the perfect way to kick off the 2011 International CES,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. ...

The full lineup of 2011 CES keynote addresses will be announced in the coming months.
http://www.cesweb.org/events/keynotes.asp​

 

[LagunaSol]

I am still hoping that Steve Jobs replaces the Microsoft Steve for the CES keynote in 2011. That would be amazing if he is up to the task.

Nahh, we look forward to seeing the next vaporware FUD attack Uncle Ballmer has in store for us.

"We call them slates." LOL!

I'm sure that game-changing HP Slate with Windows 7 will be here any day now...

 

[alent1234]

Nahh, we look forward to seeing the next vaporware FUD attack Uncle Ballmer has in store for us.

"We call them slates." LOL!

I'm sure that game-changing HP Slate with Windows 7 will be here any day now...

remember what happened in the 1990's. Windows was crap for years until late 1995. we had a good year when Steve was gone, but it seems Apple is up to their old tricks. concentrate on "thin" and battery power at the expense of power. and lock users in. and Apple is already slipping on features because the 5 developers in their small team way of doing things are too busy.

and it's not just crap features, this is stuff like google goggles and mapping capability. and the iOS GUI while very good is starting to look used and old

 

[SockRolid]

Blame CES

the real story is that trade show season starts in January. very bad for customers to buy new gizmos in December only to see newer ones announced a few weeks later. ...

Caveat emptor. But really, of all of Apple's major product lines, only the iPad is updated right after the holidays. New iPads: Spring. New iPhones: Summer. New iPods: Fall. New Macs: who knows?

Apple doesn't need to attend trade shows any more. First, they aren't a good investment in terms of customer or media exposure. And second, exhibitors tend to schedule their product development so they'll have new products for the shows. And if they can't show actual products, they announce vaporware. Neither one of those options is good for Apple.

Apple spreads their announcements throughout the year to give each new product plenty of time in the spotlight. For example, iPad was on Apple's home page for 5 months, from January through June. Then iPhone 4 had nearly 3 months on Apple's home page. Now the new iPods plus Apple TV are sharing the stage. And iPad should make a return to Apple's home page after iOS 4.2 is released for iPad in November. Just in time for the holidays.

The iClone makers make the biggest waves if they announce their iPad knockoffs at CES in January. That's their Superbowl + World Cup all in one big bang. And what did Apple do last year? They waited until after CES was over before announcing iPad. Apple got huge press throughout CES without even attending.

During CES everyone knew Apple would be announcing some kind of tablet device. Nobody cared what HP or Notion Ink or Fusion Garage (remember the JooJoo?) or Skiff was doing. Ballmer timidly demoed the HP Tablet in a classic deer-in-the-headlights moment. The press politely reported on all the e-readers and tablets just to pass the time until iPad was announced weeks after CES ended.

The same should happen this year. The surviving iPad wannabes will be at CES, and everyone will compare their iClones with the 2010 iPad. And a few weeks later, Apple will reveal the 2011 iPad and the wannabes will scramble back to their drawing boards. Apple will have at least 8 months to promote and sell the 2011 iPad before the holiday season. They'll update iOS once or twice in the meantime to keep iPad in the news and to improve its value.

And the wannabes will scramble to get something, anything, to market by then. If they're lucky they will have something to sell by the holidays. If not, they'll be forced to announce vaporware at CES in January 2012. Right before Apple announces the 2012 iPad. And the vicious cycle continues.

 

[skeep5]

Cue the "Oh noes, Mac is dead!" crowd.

mac is dead! Viva la iPhone!

 

[SockRolid]

Jobs has learned from experience. Ballmer hasn't.

remember what happened in the 1990's. Windows was crap for years until late 1995. ...

And Apple just handed the desktop PC market to Microsoft. This is how tech giants fall. By failing to innovate against aggressive new competitors. It happens over and over again, in computers, TVs, audio, and now mobile internet devices.

Remember the Sony Walkman? I do, because I'm an old guy. Here's a brief history lesson: the Walkman totally dominated portable music in the '80s and '90s. But Sony handed the MP3 player market to Apple, starting in 2001 when the first iPod was released. Sony blew it with MiniDisc, Memory Sticks, and ATRAC encoding. This gave Apple an opening for iPod, and the rest is history. (I could go into why iTunes is the reason for iPod's success, but time is short...)

More recently, Palm dominated the smartphone market. Until, for many reasons, they totally stopped developing Palm OS. Palm OS changed very little for nearly 10 years. (I know. I owned several Handspring and Palm devices until 2008.) RIM released the first smartphone version of their BlackBerry devices in 2002 and it was game over for Palm. Even Microsoft's pitiful Windows CE sold as well as Palm for a while. Enough said.

Do you think Apple is going to just hand the mobile internet device market to Google? Do you think Steve Jobs hasn't learned from Apple's near-death experience in the late 1990s? Really?

Apple has a huge lead, Steve has a long-term plan, and the rest of the world is playing catch-up. Google has become the new Microsoft, copying everything Apple does. Badly. With no taste.

So where does that leave Microsoft? They're starting from square one. Windows Mobile 6.5, its phones, and all its apps are dead. Windows Phone 7 isn't Windows at all. And it's a 1.0 product since they're starting mostly from scratch. Remind you of something? KIN, maybe? All that experience with Windows Mobile down the drain. Ballmer hasn't learned anything from failure. Jobs has.

 

[twoodcc]

glad to see this. should only bring more positive things to iOS

 

[JAT]

Mobile World Congress is the world's largest exhibition and trade show focused on the mobile industry,

Good god, do you have to prove you are under 23 to get in?

There isn't "a CES keynote" - there are many. Both Steves could deliver one.

And children have destroyed yet another word. By its very definition and etymology, it is impossible to have 2 such speeches.

 

[AidenShaw]

And children have destroyed yet another word. By its very definition and etymology, it is impossible to have 2 such speeches.

The US political conventions have a keynote speech each evening.