As day 2 of Mobile World Congress rounds to a close, and day 3 begins (ahem – it’s nearly 3am), I thought I’d point out a few highlights from Mobile World Congress so far:

Pre-MWC: I started the pre-MWC whirlwind with The NAVTEQ awards party, in which the EMEA winners of the Global LBS Challenge were announced.  It was a good event.  A handful of promising companies showcased their LBS-enhanced mobile products.  From there, I went to MobileSunday, which was, as usual packed with a great crowd of mobile enthusiasts bracing for the week ahead.  After that, I hit the town with the team from Skyhook Wireless (whose wi-fi location-based technology is embedded in the iPhone and millions of others worldwide) and a few of their 3rd party developer partners – all of whom are working on things that would set any mobile enthusiast’s heart racing… I’d tell you more, but that’d be like ruining a good surprise, and that’s no fun.

Day 1: I kicked off Monday by moderating a couple of panels in the “Mobile Applications – Innovation Vs Fragmentation” stream.  The first was “Attracting investment to the apps market – Identifying the key success factors,” and the panelists were fantastic: (more…)

Today, I read a fascinating report today from Mobile search engine, Taptu, which outlines trends in the “Mobile Touch Web” (i.e. content that can be run on “any touch screen device equipped with a Webkit- based mobile browser.”)  Taptu “analyzed, categorized and measured more than 100 million sites on the mobile touch Web and classified them by 20 categories and 200 sub-categories”, and this report provides insight into the areas of emerging importance in this space.  (more…)

The mobile app store landscape is growing and evolving quickly, and keeping up with the latest information when you’ve already got a day job is tough.  One of the most useful ways to keep up-to-date is to watch what some of the mobile analytics vendors are writing about on their blogs and white papers.  One of the best and most recent cross app store information resources I’ve found is from Distimo.  (more…)

Apple is making its big (rumored Tablet) announcement tomorrow, and the folks at StageTwo and I are organizing a tweet-up afterward to chat about whatever is announced and the impact it will have.  Whether you’re going to the Apple event or wish you were, everyone is welcome.  We’re also thinking of this tweet-up as a pre-cursor event to meet others who are heading to Barcelona for  Mobile World Congress in mid-February. (more…)

I’m looking forward to attending Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona this February.  It’s going to be a great show… This year, apps take center stage, and GSMA has taken a huge step forward, investing a lot of time and effort in showcasing them in App Planet, and making sure the conference agenda appeals to the people that are shaping the mobile ecosystem.

I’ll be moderating two panels on Monday, February 15, 2009 in the “Mobile Applications – Innovation Vs Fragmentation” stream.  A few of the details are still being confirmed, but here’s what’s been announced so far… (more…)

• Fierce Wireless reports that a phishing app was found on Android Market. 1 of the few problems w/ an “open” marketplace: http://ow.ly/VbcS #
• I’m at #momosv at the W hotel in #SF. Panel tonight is about mobile virtual currency & virtual goods. #
• Panelists are from Mig33, flirtomatic, zynga, hi-mobile… Interesting stuff. #momosv # (more…)

Randy Ksar from Motorola (the face of MOTODEV on Twitter) is running the San Francisco Half-Marathon on February 7, 2010 to raise money to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  You can learn more about Randy’s fund raising efforts on his blog or make a donation on his page on the Team in Training website.  Please consider making a donation (no matter how small) or sending word of encouragement to help Randy in his efforts to support this great cause.  You can also become a Fan on Facebook and follow @teamksar on Twitter.

UPDATED: 2/12/10 6:32 CST: Last year, I created a list of networking events and parties at Mobile World Congress. This year, I’ll be doing the same, updating the following list and the Socialize Mobilize “Events” page until the Congress kicks off in mid-February 2010.  If you have a party or event you’d like me to add to this list, please send me the details and RSVP requirements. (more…)

Ted Erfer over at Intertek tells me that Intertek will be giving away a bunch of $500-$1,000 testing credits at their booth at the Blackberry Developer Conference in San Francisco, California November 9-12th.

If you’re unfamiliar with Intertek, they’re one of the world’s largest mobile device and application testing companies, with a global network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices in 110 countries.  They acquired mobile testing giant NSTL back in 2007 and are transitioning the NSTL brand to “Intertek”.  Many of the world’s leading mobile certification programs run through Intertek.

If you’re a mobile developer, you know that mobile app certification costs can quickly add up – especially when you’re testing your app on multiple devices and platforms. So, if you’re going to be at Blackberry Developer Conference, stop by Intertek’s booth to see if you can score some of those free testing credits.

After listening to the podcast I did on Wednesday with Motodev on how to incorporate social media into mobile applications, Matthäus Krzykowski,  (a fellow mobile consultant, freelance writer for VentureBeat, and fascinating guy) tweeted: “@motodev @lisawhelan is great, enjoyed the podcast. However, as @danshapiro http://bit.ly/3eRvaK says viral broken is in mobile. Thoughts ?” It’s a good question.  The short answer is “he’s right,” but while the mobile ecosystem sorts itself out, there are things developers can do to make their apps more viral… (more…)