Apple on the Mind
February 17th, 2009The GSMA Mobile World Congress is currently taking place in Barcelona, Spain, and while Apple is noticeably absent, the company’s name is not. CNET reports:
The iPhone and Apple’s successful App Store got more than a passing mention on Tuesday during a panel moderated by The Wall Street Journal technology columnist Walt Mossberg.
The panel which included three of the most powerful CEOs in the mobile industry–Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility, the second largest mobile operator in the U.S.; Olli-Pekka Kallasvu, CEO of Nokia, the world’s largest handset maker, and Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, the worldwide software leader–centered on the need for more openness to spur successful innovation in the mobile market.
The overall panel discussion centered around the need for simplicity and openness. “The iPhone is a great success, but it would be even better if the applications were interoperable,” said Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility.
While that may be true, several mobile companies at the conference have recently launched phones aimed at directly competing with the iPhone. CNET also reports that “Microsoft and Nokia clearly think that Apple is on to something with its App Store, since each company announced its own version of an application marketplace here this week.”
The iPhone wanna-be Toshiba TG01 features a 104mm (4.1-inch) 800x480-pixel face touchscreen. (Photo credit: Crave UK)
Powered by FireStats