Crawl out of bed feeling okay – late night burger did the trick.

Al packed up and ready to go home. Been in for half a day I the last 10 days. This time last week was in Liverpool and was only back for Saturday afternoon before coming here. Could be last show for some time.

Tight schedule this morning. Fitted in two moiré meeting to already jammed roster.

9:30 – 1:00
Good meeting with mobile software firm. They do a lot of the IP stuff for both mobile TV and IP and business mobility. Give me bottle of win at end. Been shite on freebie front since day 1. Got one more memory sick but it’s an old 128 MB one. What an ungrateful bastard I am. These get he full half hour but next 3 only 20 mins covering security on mobiles, 3G networks, and 3G networks again, business mobility, chipsets then finally FMC. 3G networks at Ericsson good. Then again it’s near the lovely phones which I’d like to get my hands on. Could be the case that special broadcasting mobile TV networks will not be the sure thing they say it will be. Big operators supporting this TDTV technology and they have a business model.

Interviews slipping as key staff get lost. Still packed but more stand girls today. One company giving away Stetsons and soft gets are wearing them around the show. Spend last half hour finishing work work in particular storage column. That market booming as regulation driving the need to store more and more and companies just generate more and more data.

Spend half hour saying goodbyes in press room. Been a great trip and reminds me of trips of old. Done load of work here some good stuff as well. PR co been cool; we’ve all done our jobs and enjoyed it as well as it should be.

No one real highlight, just a great trip.

14:00

Airport heaving as ever. Actually a relief to see ‘normal’ people. Bump into PR trying to get on same flight as me; if she can’t she’s on the 10:00. I’ve done that one -you have to leg it out to get to the last pre-midnight train to Brighton. Pain with luggage.

Two of us start working as we talk. We look likely an advert for BT or HP: two suited people with laptops, phones and Blackberry on table (well in her case; it’s wireless LAN for me).

Latter a bit patchy. To work. Need to do webinar intro and do it as the sun stream in. even the airport is pretty in Barca, well airside anyway. It seems ludicrous to say but Barca has one of my favourite airports. It’s a steel and glass job and funnily enough it’s the first i.e. that I’ve been here during the day. The usual script is getting here on the first EasyJet and going home on the last, the aforementioned 10:00.

The way security works now means that you can have up to two hours to kill before the flight. Combine doing this with work, a perfect way of keeping up the mobile pro at airport image.

That said, it’s because of all the enterprise mobility and comms stuff that |I can do that. Maybe I am living the dream and not realising it. Work mailbox still hideously full to bursting so I have to concentrate on writing work that gets sent on Virgin media mail.

Truth i is that the days spent here have really made me aware of just how possible it is to do virtually everything from everywhere (full mailboxes notwithstanding) even using really basic laptops lie what I have. Next move really is to start making voice calls over IP via the laptop -okay that’s been possible for a bout three or four years now and you can go to any ‘business people’s’ chain hotel and see the one-man bands and the SMEs doing voice class via a headset but v soon we’ll all be doing this over our mobiles and at a quality that is truly acceptable and secure. It’s just a case really of getting the handsets down in price. Year’s time? The Tosh devices that I saw on Day three were very much headed in this direction – they get it.

16:40
Flight time. Early arrival means that I bag from seat by the door for that added legroom. Gives grandstand view of plane filling up. EasyJet is a curious airline – they don’t come across as cheap any more but they experience certainly is. You pays your money. Virtually everyone ion a suit arrives to view the plane and the sense of deflation if having to rush for a seat is almost palpable. You just know that they wish they’d spent the extra £30 on BA and stride to their assigned seat in a manner that befits their status. Rest are juts clubbers who are too tired to bother about status and just want to crash out and wake up in blighty. Two hour flight so a coffee may go down well but I’m not paying £3 for one.

Sunny all the way up to north France. Wonderful views of Pyrenees, Bordeaux and La Rochelle. Arrive on time. Gatwick chocker as ever and 30 min wait for bags. Bump into PR who has been given orders to attend a ball tonight. Sounds good but we’ve all just had enough.

Out with mates tonight and looking forward to stepping off train and into restaurant/bar for some sea bass and wine. Put a bit of latter away; still got going out head on. Friend who I don’t see much there and we have a talk about ‘real’ things. Bit of blessed relief compared to tech-fest of the lat week. She’s ex-comms mags and knows the score. Wants to live in Barca and think of upping sticks with family as well. Why bother buying a house in Hove when we could have a bit of Barca. We’d all love it and be really good for girls. That sure is the Rioja talking I guess.

Call time around 10 and drag officially designated heavy case to taxi rank. Cabbie has hernia and can’t put it in boot. Fair play, weighs a ton. Sit back and enjoy stream of chat from driver to home. Just want to unpack prezzies, shower and go to bed. Perform such perfunctory task with a sense of achievement for some reason. The tour is now well and truly over.

Adios y hasta el ano que viene. Bienvenidios al Home Tourist otra vez.

that is normal blog service at http://thehometourist.blog.co.uk/ now resumed

15:00
Qualcomm again. This time the chip sets. Well media-trained Veep of chips. V slick but uses the ‘great question’ line a bit too much. Would be better for all if they told you when you were talking shite or asked a dumb question. This bloke in fairness is nice and human – wonder how many times he’s had to do this to people like me? V interesting points about what they are putting into phone chips and enabling VoIP (sorry, dull but that’s’ what I make a living writing about)

16:00
Go Hello. V interesting company doing affordable VoIP including the mobile termination, that’s the expensive but that the VoIP vendors never mention. These people are based in Copenhagen and Danish influence makes fro good interview. They are all tall, V bright and good sense of humour. Generalisation time again but I’ve never met a Dane I didn’t like.

17:00
Meet the ever wonderful Cathy B to try to get interview with Sony Ericsson. Can do but will be at airport. shame. SE has a great stand and they have some superb products especially on the lifestyle/business mobility angle. ‘coffee’ turns out better when colleague arrives with a great story about Cisco kit enabling Volvo fleet. Spot on for column. Hotwire PR arrives. Another story about client winning ent mob award. Luckily interviewed them before I left for here. Also tip to get FMC stuff from Thomson. Column writing itself a\s I sit here. Maybe that’s what I should do. Daily staff turns up having just closed final issue. I’ve done that job at IBC and it’s hard work – well as hard as it gets in this job. Long hours chained to desk then rush out every 10 mins to file, file and file again. Thankless. Good lads all of them. Tell me about Blackberry do tonight. Possible. Options are Liberty liquid lunch in Sitges – great place and will be good but it’s 40 mins away – Real in town as is Blackberry. Two others unworthy of mention.

18:00
Decide on shopping in Place de Catalunya- miss bus to Sitges - so then Real then Blackberry. Real venue stunning in gothic district. Run in to Axicom PR, good people like Liberty crew. Total pros and have interesting range of clients but most importantly good company. Run into other fave PRs. Mucho vino tinto. Onto Blackberry. Trouble getting in to do so expecting something good. Venue is outstanding in what seems like Catalan trade association but comes across like a museum or art gallery. Could spend whole night wandering through buildings as party not exactly swinging. Quite a few of the tour party here

Buena Vista Social club playing. Well one of the originals plus band that is about 30 younger than him. Excellent but reminds me of Havana and Cuba and that all is certainly not about smiling musicians playing for the gringo’s corporate dollar. Think of waiting staff to whom we gave girls’ old toys and who had tears in their eyes. We are so fucking lucky. Mohitos served up remind me of Cuba too. 5-year Havana club. Superb. Think again of holiday in gated community and the basic apartheid that goes on keeping the ‘darker’ Cubans away from the gringos. Totally out of order and not very socialist to me. If I’ve not turned into a champagne socialist then I’m more likely to be a Ron Collins red. It’ll kick off there when Castro goes; hope the new government doesn’t fuck it up by acting like an East European state capitalist dictatorship.

Night a bit funny. Finish up in burger king on Ramblas at 1:00 as had no food what so ever.
Home tomorrow.

14:00
Get 20 mins to write up things and check email that is now blocked by press releases relating to this show.

Not as bust today but still really full. Lack of crowds gives opportunity to see something that I thought had died out with shoulder pads and check suits – stand girls.
In my first events in the late 80s no exhibition was complete without the sight of scantily clad girls draping themselves around machine tools in order to entice middle aged male prospective buyer. Sad really but must have worked as everyone seemed to do it especially at computer aided manufacturing shows.

Never fancied them really which is funny sine they are there for my delectation. Experience was that sight of stand girls gave tossers a green light o abuse your female staff. Outrage by proxy but at least made you look good as you gentlemanly protected them. And shagged them later in some cases. Note to daughters: men are full of shit really.

Surprised at stand girls here given that it’s oh so late noughties and we don’t do that thing any more. Just look firms’ HR policies (fair play) and advertising with smiling business woman at airport with laptop. Bollocks I know but at least it’s better than the old days.

Stand out stand girls are from one Ad software cos - girls just looked bored in their t-shirt and distressed denim mini combo – and one Swedish phone company whose ladies are in doctors’ white uniforms with high hem line affording view of long Swedish leg. Visited this lot 2 years ago I their state of the art designer offices for their designer phone. Didn’t quiet see them as engineering firm in Birmingham circa 1988 but there you go about generalisations…

Day 3
Coming where I come from I generally bridle badly at the generalisations that are foisted upon people from my home town, especially by those from my adopted home who should know better. If I’m a congenital criminal then they are cock-suckers. Know worra mean like?

However being a journo means that the normal rules of hypocrisy do not apply so let’s start with some great generalisation s of my own regarding corporate Americans.

Just in case the CIA, NSA or whoever is monitoring this (please I need the affirmation.. ) let me state for the record that I like America; I’ve always liked working there and trips there even to weird places in Alabama; I fact I’ve had a great time so far this week meeting and drinking with Americans who I think are really cool. What I’ve never like are the alumni of the school that they send corporate spokespeople to. They churn out media Borg who o things like organising power breakfast

08:00
Breakfast meeting with MobiTV. Yes power brekies. Why? Why?

Here’s’ what tends to happen at power brekkies
1. They are generally the good idea of a US media Borg as it offers them an early chance to show off to their senior execs. This works in the US where journos are more respectful, indeed not contemptuous, to the vendors. IN Europe the first reaction is that the bastards have got me out of bed early so it had better be good. It invariably isn’t.
2. The breakfast is full of the greedy and the conceited – journos in short. If it’s not nailed down it’s devoured and there’s always that wonderful moment when a prize wanker complains about the toast not being brown enough or the eggs not being over easy enough.
3. Huge amount of time is spent by the client talking about itself. That’s not why we’re here.

Today’s event is run by MobiTV and ends up being good in spite of following the three steps above. Loads of US press at eh event – why are they here??? What can Europe tell them that they don’t know in the US? Who’s bothered if they’re here or not? This is a bad sign – means loads of questions mainly used to tell people how clever they are. (Generalisations see?). Event held in restaurant up Montjuic away from site – taxi driver gets lost and complains. At least I get to talk some Spanish. Stunning views of city early in morning. I could live here (again…)

First guy speaking nearly kills event stone dead with excruciatingly unfunny anecdote about Europe and London (we’re in Barcelona mate…) before sickening sycophantic description of CEO who turns out to be great value and says some great things about the industry and where he thinks things are headed. Knows his stuff and doesn’t come across like a game show host or geek. Leave at beginning of Q&A.

Interestingly room is revolving so people get see the view of city from windows. Does not make for easy viewing of presentation from static point

10:00
First meeting on site with Israeli chipset firm Siano. Generalisation 2: I like Israeli start ups – well 2 years in its case. They are usually run by hyper intelligent ex-pilots who have a real smart idea and make a shit load by selling the tech to a tier 1 company. These may be no exception. Chipset really clever piece of work and getting in end products for DVB H channels in Italy. Biggest competitor is my sponsor but that doesn’t bother me. This is good stuff and some time real soon a Samsung or LG will take them on an dace them mega bucks

11:00
Toshiba meeting. Don’t tell them about what laptop I have but low keyish demo of new actually impressive mobile business products which will be out in the UK in March. They grasp the nettle of security as well. And they have a channel for both IT and comms products. One to watch

11:30
UDcast. Payroll meting on mtv enabling tech supplier. Good interview with CTO.
12:00
Segue straight into meeting and lunch (hurrah!) with Danish start up Zyb who let you back up contacts and mail nos on the road. Good bloke with a great simple idea that the ops didn’t see or didn’t bother to execute. SMEs will love this whence it comes to UK. Fair play to him for making it work and hope second wave of VC works out. Danish as well so great sense of humour and rounded human being. Nice lunch as well. Same PR as UDCast – smart cookie. And, may I say American. See? You can employ good people who are not Borg

1:00
Catch IDC debate eon future of industry. This is a roundtable but being an analyst one rather than a tech vendors’ one (see yesterdays post) this one of better organised and has people with something to say and things you’d want to hear. Such as? Well basically there’s going to be a huge bun fight between the 3G ops and those offering WiMAX. Nightmare scenario for former is if latter price the services too low so that no one bothers with 3G data services. Been apparent for some years that one and panellist advocate regulators pricing up for parity. Businesses in UK won’t stand for that. Not my problem that the ops were silly enough to bid billions based on bollocks. WiMAX products will be out some time next year and I believe that businesses will take to it.

Day 3
Coming where I come from I generally bridle badly at the generalisations that are foisted upon people from my home town, especially by those from my adopted home who should know better. If I’m a congenital criminal then they are cock-suckers. Know worra mean like?

However being a journo means that the normal rules of hypocrisy do not apply so let’s start with some great generalisation s of my own regarding corporate Americans.

Just in case the CIA, NSA or whoever is monitoring this (please I need the affirmation.. ) let me state for the record that I like America; I’ve always liked working there and trips there even to weird places in Alabama; I fact I’ve had a great time so far this week meeting and drinking with Americans who I think are really cool. What I’ve never like are the alumni of the school that they send corporate spokespeople to. They churn out media Borg who o things like organising power breakfast

08:00
Breakfast meeting with MobiTV. Yes power brekies. Why? Why?

Here’s’ what tends to happen at power brekkies
1. They are generally the good idea of a US media Borg as it offers them an early chance to show off to their senior execs. This works in the US where journos are more respectful, indeed not contemptuous, to the vendors. IN Europe the first reaction is that the bastards have got me out of bed early so it had better be good. It invariably isn’t.
2. The breakfast is full of the greedy and the conceited – journos in short. If it’s not nailed down it’s devoured and there’s always that wonderful moment when a prize wanker complains about the toast not being brown enough or the eggs not being over easy enough.
3. Huge amount of time is spent by the client talking about itself. That’s not why we’re here.

Today’s event is run by MobiTV and ends up being good in spite of following the three steps above. Loads of US press at eh event – why are they here??? What can Europe tell them that they don’t know in the US? Who’s bothered if they’re here or not? This is a bad sign – means loads of questions mainly used to tell people how clever they are. (Generalisations see?). Event held in restaurant up Montjuic away from site – taxi driver gets lost and complains. At least I get to talk some Spanish. Stunning views of city early in morning. I could live here (again…)

First guy speaking nearly kills event stone dead with excruciatingly unfunny anecdote about Europe and London (we’re in Barcelona mate…) before sickening sycophantic description of CEO who turns out to be great value and says some great things about the industry and where he thinks things are headed. Knows his stuff and doesn’t come across like a game show host or geek. Leave at beginning of Q&A.

Interestingly room is revolving so people get see the view of city from windows. Does not make for easy viewing of presentation from static point

10:00
First meeting on site with Israeli chipset firm Siano. Generalisation 2: I like Israeli start ups – well 2 years in its case. They are usually run by hyper intelligent ex-pilots who have a real smart idea and make a shit load by selling the tech to a tier 1 company. These may be no exception. Chipset really clever piece of work and getting in end products for DVB H channels in Italy. Biggest competitor is my sponsor but that doesn’t bother me. This is good stuff and some time real soon a Samsung or LG will take them on an dace them mega bucks

11:00
Toshiba meeting. Don’t tell them about what laptop I have but low keyish demo of new actually impressive mobile business products which will be out in the UK in March. They grasp the nettle of security as well. And they have a channel for both IT and comms products. One to watch

11:30
UDcast. Payroll meting on mtv enabling tech supplier. Good interview with CTO.
12:00
Segue straight into meeting and lunch (hurrah!) with Danish start up Zyb who let you back up contacts and mail nos on the road. Good bloke with a great simple idea that the ops didn’t see or didn’t bother to execute. SMEs will love this whence it comes to UK. Fair play to him for making it work and hope second wave of VC works out. Danish as well so great sense of humour and rounded human being. Nice lunch as well. Same PR as UDCast – smart cookie. And, may I say American. See? You can employ good people who are not Borg

1:00
Catch IDC debate eon future of industry. This is a roundtable but being an analyst one rather than a tech vendors’ one (see yesterdays post) this one of better organised and has people with something to say and things you’d want to hear. Such as? Well basically there’s going to be a huge bun fight between the 3G ops and those offering WiMAX. Nightmare scenario for former is if latter price the services too low so that no one bothers with 3G data services. Been apparent for some years that one and panellist advocate regulators pricing up for parity. Businesses in UK won’t stand for that. Not my problem that the ops were silly enough to bid billions based on bollocks. WiMAX products will be out some time next year and I believe that businesses will take to it.

Day 3
Coming where I come from I generally bridle badly at the generalisations that are foisted upon people from my home town, especially by those from my adopted home who should know better. If I’m a congenital criminal then they are cock-suckers. Know worra mean like?

However being a journo means that the normal rules of hypocrisy do not apply so let’s start with some great generalisation s of my own regarding corporate Americans.

Just in case the CIA, NSA or whoever is monitoring this (please I need the affirmation.. ) let me state for the record that I like America; I’ve always liked working there and trips there even to weird places in Alabama; I fact I’ve had a great time so far this week meeting and drinking with Americans who I think are really cool. What I’ve never like are the alumni of the school that they send corporate spokespeople to. They churn out media Borg who o things like organising power breakfast

08:00
Breakfast meeting with MobiTV. Yes power brekies. Why? Why?

Here’s’ what tends to happen at power brekkies
1. They are generally the good idea of a US media Borg as it offers them an early chance to show off to their senior execs. This works in the US where journos are more respectful, indeed not contemptuous, to the vendors. IN Europe the first reaction is that the bastards have got me out of bed early so it had better be good. It invariably isn’t.
2. The breakfast is full of the greedy and the conceited – journos in short. If it’s not nailed down it’s devoured and there’s always that wonderful moment when a prize wanker complains about the toast not being brown enough or the eggs not being over easy enough.
3. Huge amount of time is spent by the client talking about itself. That’s not why we’re here.

Today’s event is run by MobiTV and ends up being good in spite of following the three steps above. Loads of US press at eh event – why are they here??? What can Europe tell them that they don’t know in the US? Who’s bothered if they’re here or not? This is a bad sign – means loads of questions mainly used to tell people how clever they are. (Generalisations see?). Event held in restaurant up Montjuic away from site – taxi driver gets lost and complains. At least I get to talk some Spanish. Stunning views of city early in morning. I could live here (again…)

First guy speaking nearly kills event stone dead with excruciatingly unfunny anecdote about Europe and London (we’re in Barcelona mate…) before sickening sycophantic description of CEO who turns out to be great value and says some great things about the industry and where he thinks things are headed. Knows his stuff and doesn’t come across like a game show host or geek. Leave at beginning of Q&A.

Interestingly room is revolving so people get see the view of city from windows. Does not make for easy viewing of presentation from static point

10:00
First meeting on site with Israeli chipset firm Siano. Generalisation 2: I like Israeli start ups – well 2 years in its case. They are usually run by hyper intelligent ex-pilots who have a real smart idea and make a shit load by selling the tech to a tier 1 company. These may be no exception. Chipset really clever piece of work and getting in end products for DVB H channels in Italy. Biggest competitor is my sponsor but that doesn’t bother me. This is good stuff and some time real soon a Samsung or LG will take them on an dace them mega bucks

11:00
Toshiba meeting. Don’t tell them about what laptop I have but low keyish demo of new actually impressive mobile business products which will be out in the UK in March. They grasp the nettle of security as well. And they have a channel for both IT and comms products. One to watch

11:30
UDcast. Payroll meting on mtv enabling tech supplier. Good interview with CTO.
12:00
Segue straight into meeting and lunch (hurrah!) with Danish start up Zyb who let you back up contacts and mail nos on the road. Good bloke with a great simple idea that the ops didn’t see or didn’t bother to execute. SMEs will love this whence it comes to UK. Fair play to him for making it work and hope second wave of VC works out. Danish as well so great sense of humour and rounded human being. Nice lunch as well. Same PR as UDCast – smart cookie. And, may I say American. See? You can employ good people who are not Borg

1:00
Catch IDC debate eon future of industry. This is a roundtable but being an analyst one rather than a tech vendors’ one (see yesterdays post) this one of better organised and has people with something to say and things you’d want to hear. Such as? Well basically there’s going to be a huge bun fight between the 3G ops and those offering WiMAX. Nightmare scenario for former is if latter price the services too low so that no one bothers with 3G data services. Been apparent for some years that one and panellist advocate regulators pricing up for parity. Businesses in UK won’t stand for that. Not my problem that the ops were silly enough to bid billions based on bollocks. WiMAX products will be out some time next year and I believe that businesses will take to it.

Day 2
Another splendid morning with perhaps one of the best dawns I’ve witnessed for a while as the sun peeks over the Med horizon and drifts up though the towers of churches. Very inspiring. I do love this city. The streets around hotel and event venue remind me of the smarter arrondisements of Paris only a little wider and marginally less traffic. Clean and efficient tube system as well. Could get used to this.

09:00

First interview after 30 mins of attempting to delete spam PR messages from work inbox. Dull I know but…time leavened by amusing face off between PR girls setting out agenda for day and giving each other that mirthless grin that means my ‘arse is smaller than yours bitch’ or ‘that dress is too short for you dear’. Blokes just look scruffy; they stand out a mile. Even the more notoriously lax dressers of the fourth estate have scrubbed up and are suited and booted. Even the free paper distributors look good. You gotta be smart here.

First interview with BT Movio. They took a bit of a pasting last month from the nationals over the first subscriber numbers for the DAB mobile IP system that that launched in late summer last year. Service offering is pretty much what you’d expect - sort of Freeview minus the arty stuff - plus goodish handset apart from it’s not a name brand and I think that matters.

Figures are on the low side but to be honest would anyone have expected anything different? It’s all v early days for mobile TV and at least they have something out there to buy. Good one to one with BT guy who’s’ not trying to bullshit. Comes up with gem of spin line that he says he wanted to use – they have sold more in the same initial phase than Apple did with the iPod of RIM with the BlackBerry – but perhaps wisely says he won’t just in case people think he’s taking the piss. Could have a point. Answers honestly and friendly and gives god pointers to article.

10:00
Second interview about internet services on mobile. Drifts off into games territory rather than MTV or business aps per se. good pints about the opportunity to improve games on phones; my girls would second that one for my E900. Demo looks good; hope they sell to Vodafone in UK sometime soon.

10:45
McAfee releases survey about mobile security. V clear business implications on this as nobody is caring what comes over ‘normal’ phones as they are all concerned with protecting firewalls and smart phones which McA guys helpfully points out comprise only 5% of market. Good points we’ll made; this type of stuff writes itself. McA can count on a few bob in this arena.

11:30-12:30

Back to press office to write up. Literally waded through the crowds from McA stand to get here. The place is heaving and I’ve heard a final total of 57,000 delegates in all. Even more press than ever and there’s people who look like they haven’t moved since 8 30 – go do some work on the floor. Noticeably none of that applies to UK chums, aren’t we so hard working? Things have changed since the days when exhibitions meant a glass of wine on every stand and the trick was to have legible handwriting suppose thing have changed for the better- the dot com crash saw off a lot of the old guard as the publishers who survived took charge. As Lionel Bart said things ain't what they used to be

12:30-13:00

LG arrives with more details on yesterdays’ launch of the Shine range of phones and the deal with Prada. They’ve done such a good job in making phone s look good and the technology is al there (Shine locks better than Prada one but don’t mention it); cast envious glances at the new range and go for a blag with no positive outcome sadly. Hope they make a real go of it ; the technology going forward will support HSPA so business apps will fly and you won’t be embarrassed getting it out of your pocket at a meeting which, let’s face it, is what it’s all about when it comes to mobiles. Note to self: may need to introduce ‘reviews’.

13::30
Interview with market analyst. In place of real food for dinner, he blags the fruit in media centre; I do can of Red Bull. Wise? Good bloke who knows the score on his mobility, as you may expect. Fact that he’s Dutch means he is human rather than of the ‘I’m so clever aren’t I’ world weariness thing that some analysts have. We actually chat. His company is a good one and responsible for a great expo last year in Portugal. For some strange reason they have chosen Scotland this year. They have good PR as well and arrange to meet later between interviews to catch up on industry gossip which to be honest is the real story.

14:00-15:00
A round table. I love round tables just for the wonderful discomfort factor of those who have to organise them and those who participate in them. Show me a round table and I’ll show you a US tech company who thinks it’s a great way of looking clever in front of his or her peers to a crowd of journos. Well welcome to Europe mis amigos and here’s’ what happens., one: hardly anyone turns up because if there’s a real story the panellists are not going to say it in front of a would be rival so you’re left with juniors or even better perma-bored local press plus US journos who can’t resist the chance to look smart by asking a ‘really great question’. Two: within five minutes panellist realise the boredom and would rather be stapling eyelids disposition of who’s in the audience; disappoint almost palpable but they should know better. Three: old local journo (wherever to be honest…) who has come on the promise of free drink and maybe food will fall asleep at the back. Four: by the time the interminable panel intros are done there’s about 5 mis to say something, only serves to increase discomfort of panellist who now look they are there under duress: Five: anyone with a laptop is not writing down what you are saying; he or she is almost certainly surfing/doing real work that should have been done day earlier/or anything but note down the lesson in uncomfortable self-aggrandisement that is unfolding. Six: half way through a really important point someone is going to walk out. See you later.

3:30
Meet up with analyst’s PR to get low down on what’s really going on. Great to see her. Known here for years since she was a cadet basically, she’s on the up deservedly and knows the score here. A pleasurable 30 minutes providing some interesting things that I didn’t know.

16:00
Oh oh. Waste of time. Shoe horned this meeting with traditional IT player trying to break comms into schedule. Mistake. The two men I speak to are basically talking press releases. Hope they’ve convinced themselves coz they’ve not convinced me. They have that bizarre thing that middle class middle aged English men have of wanting to come across as knowledgeable despite lack of knowledge: done too manta of these gigs to buy it. Hope boredom isn’t coming across so obviously.

16:30
Do not operate heavy machinery or drive a car following an interview with a billing company. Main man arrives late thankfully. Red Bull or insanity kicking in as I’m hit by a wave of energy that is surely not connected to what hey are showing. Think of pending feature that hasn’t been written yet. Anything else to be honest

17:00-18:00
Last official gig of the day with Nokia. Always a pleasure to see what they have up their clever Finnish sleeves. New multimedia devices look great but sadly beyond my pocket. Don’t need the Red Bull to stay awake for this and again story writes itself. Hour flies by.

18:00-18:45
Meeting with PR that I’d promised last week. Good lad just moved over to new company and hope he does well. Knows the score and knows how to talk to people so chat useful as to what his targets will be doing.

18:45-19:30
Travelling and shopping for daughters’ prezzies. Well you have to …why else do I go abroad? Apartr from work I suppose

20:00 – 00:30
Sponsor’s dinner. 20 minute walk through Barca to get to venue. Cool. Wonderfully up its arse venue and a fine selection of Catalan nueva cocina. Great company and night flies past. Lack of earlier food makes it all taste better. Again well done to Liberty PR, they have excelled this year. I could live here.

No gifts though. Jouralistic greediness attemptst to hijack good vibe. Nothing today so far even a promise of a teddy bear in a security company t-shirt doesn’t happen.

In my star studded careers as a techie journalist I’ve always loved exhibitions. Honestly. I can remember my first, ‘Design Engineering 88’ at the unlovely NEC in Birmingham. At the time CAD/CAM was a big thing and the show was in the gigantic for then Hall 5. Head done in trying to cover the show. That said always loved the fact hat you get a day out the office and the fact that there’s an almost touring party esprit de corps with other journos.

The best thing that the 3GSM show ever did was to move here from the nuclear fallout shelter of the palais des exhibition in Cannes to the magnificent Fira de Barca. Took some pics to try to explain how it is. Last year was great and the place was heaving with stands in courtyards and butting up against fountains. This year is mad; they’ve extended things across the access road and creeping towards the lovely Royal Palace. I’m here for four days; could be gruelling. Like being down a coalmine or car factory for sure 

Let’s start the day

- - - -- - -
12 Feb, 7:15
Without sounding like some Cam-boy blog the working day begins at 7:15 when shower interrupted by knock on door. Porter hands first free gifts of the day: two bottles of Catalan wine; mouse for laptop; 1 GB memory stick. Hope this is a portent for the week ahead.

8:50
Arrive early by tube – makes you realise that you’re in a city with real people- to find well organised registration desk and entry takes staggeringly short two minutes. Well done Liberty PR.

9:15
Also well done for fully functioning wirless network. Do outstanding ‘day job’ stuff an hour before they get their arses into office. Always helps this one just in case we have to send that ‘vital’ document or read web sites in dull press conf.

9’20
First press conference cancelled – result. Second gift of day to make up: another 1 GB memory stick. Getting a good feeling on this. Use time to watch innovations presentation by Tim Berners-Lee. Room surprisingly sparse for one of the very few people who can claim to have done something groundbreaking. Some good visions of the future including standards etc.

10:00
First proper interview. All arrive on time. Finish on time. No panics. Not typical for this show
Good interview getting low down on developments for mobile TV in the UK. New tech player testing system in Manchester with most importantly, a content partner offering content that people may want o pay for – otherwise known as Sky sports.

Mobile TV has been the next big thing to happen for around two years now; get a feeling that the banks want to see results so there is a huge push from all people in the industry. This company has jest supplied the technology for a US wireless operator to offer mobile TV so there's more than just intentions. The weight of hype could drag this market down so refreshing realism from Qualcomm. The fact is that they were third to market with their platform but glacial pace of development and lack of spectrum in UK has made this not an issue. They’ve caught up and the Sky deal could give them the prize if they get the network up and running. They seem to have a good grounding to why the other networks aren’t going as fast as planned – that is people don’t yet have what they want to watch. Still have doubts as to ‘real’ end user demand for mobile TV. Have a whole mag for those who want read more though.
No freebie; well it was this firm’s that arrived this morning.

11:15
Third gift of day. Wireless/blue tooth laptop mouse. Just happened to be in queue to leave press room but like jobbing hack that I am never say no to things. You never know when you need it what ever it is. This actually looks like it could be useful but last one of its type didn’t work

11:30
Second interview like first. Fourth gist – 128 Mb memory stick. How two years ago; how spoilt and ungrateful. More mobile TV stuff tinged with less realism than first interview. You can take a horse to water but there are loads to do before mobile TV becomes compelling. Worst phrase of day so far: “ride the tiger”. Grim.

12:30.
Big press conf in off site hotel. Only notable thing is time to upload blogs and write. Sadly par for the course. No freebies. Bastards. Bloody network people.

13:30
The devil may or may not wear Prada; what he’s’ doing his calls on a wonderfully designed LG phone. It’s standing room only as Prada and LG unveil what they are calling a real phone as opposed to a special or limited edition. Got o say it looked great but would look better without the big Prada branding to be honest. Or is that just me?

LG also tool the wraps of the more mainstream Shine range of phone -bio g screen, looks great also – and a range of other devices including a new mobile TV handset. This is significant. I can’t help thinking that most of the present travails of the DAB IP network in the UK is based on the fact the handset is from HTC. It has all the tech needed for a goodish experience and doesn’t look bad but it isn’t a Nokia, Samsung, Moto or LG or any of the other dominant brands. When that happens maybe it will take off. The new LG would be perfect; screen revolves and viewing experience is good.

Best though is freebie count; another 1 GB memory stick but this one of chrome plated and comes on a v tasteful chrome plated chain. All in keeping with the Milam stylists I guess. Comes in a v tasteful box as well. The PR has done its homework. A design triumph –well I’m easily impressed

15:00

The 800-lb Gorilla launches Windows mobile 6. Standing room only again. More Alainis irony: took 3 minutes for XP to boot up on laptop at start of conference. MS playing Red Hot chilli peppers, Kaiser Chiefs and Strokes before the off. Bit disturbing when a company like this tries to be trendy – good tracks though.

Grabbed a glass of wine on way in – mistake? Could make me sleepy or angry or inspire prose. Grab banana and biccies for dinner. Welcome to 3GSM.

Crowded room but must be lot of MS PR staff or US journos as MS staff are clapped on stage. Sorry, it’s not bad manners that are making me uneasy about applause for vendors; I’m just old school on this one. First witnessed this at my first US press conference with Compaq in Houston in 89. Still seems wrong rankles.

Demo is slick as you’d expect. It’s this type of thing that intimidates the opposition. Steve Ballmer presented here last year and basically said ‘just watch us’. Developers obviously heard; then again he gives the impression that he expects to be listened to and would like to know what not.

Some good features on Mobile 6 especially for reading Word attachments etc and HTML email. Good shortcuts by clicking one button to do reply or reply to all. Then again should have been there last year to be honest. Clapping after demo. Not good.

Bloke next to me falls asleep; should have grabbed some wine like me. Then again they are making something that is quite interesting quite dull. BT is here to announce that mobile 6 is supporting VoiP calls. Makes rugby reference – error. Most of room don’t know rugby; a lot of those that do know it hate the game and the smug middle class boys’ club associations. BT looks like it has a useful tool here – mention of HTC again. That all? What about Samsung?

US journo asks question that makes sure we all know he’s clever. Trick is to ask multi-part question and then answering first half for himself. Oh dear. Why do they do it? That’s all folks. No gift??

16:00
To the Fira Palace hotel for Qualcomm press conference. Brings back great memories of last year when I dined here after day 1 the same time as the mighty Reds were beating Arsenal thanks to a goal, appropriately, from currently crocked Catalan Luis Garcia.

Good press conference hitting all of my focus areas. Load so fetch for mobile business devices especially those based on HSDPA and HSPA in general. Nice quote from CEO that rate of development of latter will mean that typical data rates outstrip by far WiFi. Cost issue skated over. Key though is that multiple radio technologies will need to be integrated into devices. To Q 4G mean heterogeneous networks with attendant links. Could well be right; do business know now what they want from mobile solutions? Other than fast downloads on the road would be v nice thank you very much.

Also announced MediaFLO mobile TV deal with Cingular – wireless div of AT&T in US – and more on Manchester trial and the fact they supplied the etch for LG to make its winning entry for ‘3G for all’ phone.

Nice also to see that Q has invested in MIMO technology. Did a lot on this in the past with series of mobility supplements for Toshiba about two years ago. Inspired one of the best headlines I’ve ever done: ‘Finding MIMO’. You snatch at whatever laughs you can get in this business.

Someone from a mag called disruptive analysis. Great title, must read. Reminds me of pre-crash dot.com; hope not for their sake.

CEO reveals that AT&T deal has revenue model based on wholesale – cf Virgin/BT Movio? - with premium services negotiated individually. Will this be applied to say Sky Sports 1 when they launch mobile TV service in UK? Some agreements as to how adv revs are shared.

All in all, event is a bit of a statement of intent. They are keen to talk about the applications these techs are being used for rather than hide behind the stats. Get the impression that Nokia are not on their Xmas card list but the universal mobile TV chipset supports DVB-H so they may all kiss and make up some time. Someone asks this on Q&A – no update since earnings call ‘we’re fairly far apart’, says CEO. Reveals that there is even talk of injunctions and possible future suits etc. Not what the market needs. At all.

Gifts: deliverd this morning. End event by playing Coldplay from ‘music for bedwetters’ phase. Reminds me of being editor of design mag C3. must leave.

In my star studded careers as a techie journalist I’ve always loved exhibitions. Honestly. I can remember my first, ‘Design Engineering 88’ at the unlovely NEC in Birmingham. At the time CAD/CAM was a big thing and the show was in the gigantic for then Hall 5. Head done in trying to cover the show. That said always loved the fact hat you get a day out the office and the fact that there’s an almost touring party esprit de corps with other journos.

The best thing that the 3GSM show ever did was to move here from the nuclear fallout shelter of the palais des exhibition in Cannes to the magnificent Fira de Barca. Took some pics to try to explain how it is. Last year was great and the place was heaving with stands in courtyards and butting up against fountains. This year is mad; they’ve extended things across the access road and creeping towards the lovely Royal Palace. I’m here for four days; could be gruelling. Like being down a coalmine or car factory for sure 

Let’s start the day

- - - -- - -
12 Feb, 7:15
Without sounding like some Cam-boy blog the working day begins at 7:15 when shower interrupted by knock on door. Porter hands first free gifts of the day: two bottles of Catalan wine; mouse for laptop; 1 GB memory stick. Hope this is a portent for the week ahead.

8:50
Arrive early by tube – makes you realise that you’re in a city with real people- to find well organised registration desk and entry takes staggeringly short two minutes. Well done Liberty PR.

9:15
Also well done for fully functioning wirless network. Do outstanding ‘day job’ stuff an hour before they get their arses into office. Always helps this one just in case we have to send that ‘vital’ document or read web sites in dull press conf.

9’20
First press conference cancelled – result. Second gift of day to make up: another 1 GB memory stick. Getting a good feeling on this. Use time to watch innovations presentation by Tim Berners-Lee. Room surprisingly sparse for one of the very few people who can claim to have done something groundbreaking. Some good visions of the future including standards etc.

10:00
First proper interview. All arrive on time. Finish on time. No panics. Not typical for this show
Good interview getting low down on developments for mobile TV in the UK. New tech player testing system in Manchester with most importantly, a content partner offering content that people may want o pay for – otherwise known as Sky sports.

Mobile TV has been the next big thing to happen for around two years now; get a feeling that the banks want to see results so there is a huge push from all people in the industry. This company has jest supplied the technology for a US wireless operator to offer mobile TV so there's more than just intentions. The weight of hype could drag this market down so refreshing realism from Qualcomm. The fact is that they were third to market with their platform but glacial pace of development and lack of spectrum in UK has made this not an issue. They’ve caught up and the Sky deal could give them the prize if they get the network up and running. They seem to have a good grounding to why the other networks aren’t going as fast as planned – that is people don’t yet have what they want to watch. Still have doubts as to ‘real’ end user demand for mobile TV. Have a whole mag for those who want read more though.
No freebie; well it was this firm’s that arrived this morning.

11:15
Third gift of day. Wireless/blue tooth laptop mouse. Just happened to be in queue to leave press room but like jobbing hack that I am never say no to things. You never know when you need it what ever it is. This actually looks like it could be useful but last one of its type didn’t work

11:30
Second interview like first. Fourth gist – 128 Mb memory stick. How two years ago; how spoilt and ungrateful. More mobile TV stuff tinged with less realism than first interview. You can take a horse to water but there are loads to do before mobile TV becomes compelling. Worst phrase of day so far: “ride the tiger”. Grim.

12:30.
Big press conf in off site hotel. Only notable thing is time to upload blogs and write. Sadly par for the course. No freebies. Bastards. Bloody network people.

13:30
The devil may or may not wear Prada; what he’s’ doing his calls on a wonderfully designed LG phone. It’s standing room only as Prada and LG unveil what they are calling a real phone as opposed to a special or limited edition. Got o say it looked great but would look better without the big Prada branding to be honest. Or is that just me?

LG also tool the wraps of the more mainstream Shine range of phone -bio g screen, looks great also – and a range of other devices including a new mobile TV handset. This is significant. I can’t help thinking that most of the present travails of the DAB IP network in the UK is based on the fact the handset is from HTC. It has all the tech needed for a goodish experience and doesn’t look bad but it isn’t a Nokia, Samsung, Moto or LG or any of the other dominant brands. When that happens maybe it will take off. The new LG would be perfect; screen revolves and viewing experience is good.

Best though is freebie count; another 1 GB memory stick but this one of chrome plated and comes on a v tasteful chrome plated chain. All in keeping with the Milam stylists I guess. Comes in a v tasteful box as well. The PR has done its homework. A design triumph –well I’m easily impressed

15:00

The 800-lb Gorilla launches Windows mobile 6. Standing room only again. More Alainis irony: took 3 minutes for XP to boot up on laptop at start of conference. MS playing Red Hot chilli peppers, Kaiser Chiefs and Strokes before the off. Bit disturbing when a company like this tries to be trendy – good tracks though.

Grabbed a glass of wine on way in – mistake? Could make me sleepy or angry or inspire prose. Grab banana and biccies for dinner. Welcome to 3GSM.

Crowded room but must be lot of MS PR staff or US journos as MS staff are clapped on stage. Sorry, it’s not bad manners that are making me uneasy about applause for vendors; I’m just old school on this one. First witnessed this at my first US press conference with Compaq in Houston in 89. Still seems wrong rankles.

Demo is slick as you’d expect. It’s this type of thing that intimidates the opposition. Steve Ballmer presented here last year and basically said ‘just watch us’. Developers obviously heard; then again he gives the impression that he expects to be listened to and would like to know what not.

Some good features on Mobile 6 especially for reading Word attachments etc and HTML email. Good shortcuts by clicking one button to do reply or reply to all. Then again should have been there last year to be honest. Clapping after demo. Not good.

Bloke next to me falls asleep; should have grabbed some wine like me. Then again they are making something that is quite interesting quite dull. BT is here to announce that mobile 6 is supporting VoiP calls. Makes rugby reference – error. Most of room don’t know rugby; a lot of those that do know it hate the game and the smug middle class boys’ club associations. BT looks like it has a useful tool here – mention of HTC again. That all? What about Samsung?

US journo asks question that makes sure we all know he’s clever. Trick is to ask multi-part question and then answering first half for himself. Oh dear. Why do they do it? That’s all folks. No gift??

16:00
To the Fira Palace hotel for Qualcomm press conference. Brings back great memories of last year when I dined here after day 1 the same time as the mighty Reds were beating Arsenal thanks to a goal, appropriately, from currently crocked Catalan Luis Garcia.

Good press conference hitting all of my focus areas. Load so fetch for mobile business devices especially those based on HSDPA and HSPA in general. Nice quote from CEO that rate of development of latter will mean that typical data rates outstrip by far WiFi. Cost issue skated over. Key though is that multiple radio technologies will need to be integrated into devices. To Q 4G mean heterogeneous networks with attendant links. Could well be right; do business know now what they want from mobile solutions? Other than fast downloads on the road would be v nice thank you very much.

Also announced MediaFLO mobile TV deal with Cingular – wireless div of AT&T in US – and more on Manchester trial and the fact they supplied the etch for LG to make its winning entry for ‘3G for all’ phone.

Nice also to see that Q has invested in MIMO technology. Did a lot on this in the past with series of mobility supplements for Toshiba about two years ago. Inspired one of the best headlines I’ve ever done: ‘Finding MIMO’. You snatch at whatever laughs you can get in this business.

Someone from a mag called disruptive analysis. Great title, must read. Reminds me of pre-crash dot.com; hope not for their sake.

CEO reveals that AT&T deal has revenue model based on wholesale – cf Virgin/BT Movio? - with premium services negotiated individually. Will this be applied to say Sky Sports 1 when they launch mobile TV service in UK? Some agreements as to how adv revs are shared.

All in all, event is a bit of a statement of intent. They are keen to talk about the applications these techs are being used for rather than hide behind the stats. Get the impression that Nokia are not on their Xmas card list but the universal mobile TV chipset supports DVB-H so they may all kiss and make up some time. Someone asks this on Q&A – no update since earnings call ‘we’re fairly far apart’, says CEO. Reveals that there is even talk of injunctions and possible future suits etc. Not what the market needs. At all.

Gifts: deliverd this morning. End event by playing Coldplay from ‘music for bedwetters’ phase. Reminds me of being editor of design mag C3. must leave.

In my star studded careers as a techie journalist I’ve always loved exhibitions. Honestly. I can remember my first, ‘Design Engineering 88’ at the unlovely NEC in Birmingham. At the time CAD/CAM was a big thing and the show was in the gigantic for then Hall 5. Head done in trying to cover the show. That said always loved the fact hat you get a day out the office and the fact that there’s an almost touring party esprit de corps with other journos.

The best thing that the 3GSM show ever did was to move here from the nuclear fallout shelter of the palais des exhibition in Cannes to the magnificent Fira de Barca. Took some pics to try to explain how it is. Last year was great and the place was heaving with stands in courtyards and butting up against fountains. This year is mad; they’ve extended things across the access road and creeping towards the lovely Royal Palace. I’m here for four days; could be gruelling. Like being down a coalmine or car factory for sure 

Let’s start the day

- - - -- - -
12 Feb, 7:15
Without sounding like some Cam-boy blog the working day begins at 7:15 when shower interrupted by knock on door. Porter hands first free gifts of the day: two bottles of Catalan wine; mouse for laptop; 1 GB memory stick. Hope this is a portent for the week ahead.

8:50
Arrive early by tube – makes you realise that you’re in a city with real people- to find well organised registration desk and entry takes staggeringly short two minutes. Well done Liberty PR.

9:15
Also well done for fully functioning wirless network. Do outstanding ‘day job’ stuff an hour before they get their arses into office. Always helps this one just in case we have to send that ‘vital’ document or read web sites in dull press conf.

9’20
First press conference cancelled – result. Second gift of day to make up: another 1 GB memory stick. Getting a good feeling on this. Use time to watch innovations presentation by Tim Berners-Lee. Room surprisingly sparse for one of the very few people who can claim to have done something groundbreaking. Some good visions of the future including standards etc.

10:00
First proper interview. All arrive on time. Finish on time. No panics. Not typical for this show
Good interview getting low down on developments for mobile TV in the UK. New tech player testing system in Manchester with most importantly, a content partner offering content that people may want o pay for – otherwise known as Sky sports.

Mobile TV has been the next big thing to happen for around two years now; get a feeling that the banks want to see results so there is a huge push from all people in the industry. This company has jest supplied the technology for a US wireless operator to offer mobile TV so there's more than just intentions. The weight of hype could drag this market down so refreshing realism from Qualcomm. The fact is that they were third to market with their platform but glacial pace of development and lack of spectrum in UK has made this not an issue. They’ve caught up and the Sky deal could give them the prize if they get the network up and running. They seem to have a good grounding to why the other networks aren’t going as fast as planned – that is people don’t yet have what they want to watch. Still have doubts as to ‘real’ end user demand for mobile TV. Have a whole mag for those who want read more though.
No freebie; well it was this firm’s that arrived this morning.

11:15
Third gift of day. Wireless/blue tooth laptop mouse. Just happened to be in queue to leave press room but like jobbing hack that I am never say no to things. You never know when you need it what ever it is. This actually looks like it could be useful but last one of its type didn’t work

11:30
Second interview like first. Fourth gist – 128 Mb memory stick. How two years ago; how spoilt and ungrateful. More mobile TV stuff tinged with less realism than first interview. You can take a horse to water but there are loads to do before mobile TV becomes compelling. Worst phrase of day so far: “ride the tiger”. Grim.

12:30.
Big press conf in off site hotel. Only notable thing is time to upload blogs and write. Sadly par for the course. No freebies. Bastards. Bloody network people.

13:30
The devil may or may not wear Prada; what he’s’ doing his calls on a wonderfully designed LG phone. It’s standing room only as Prada and LG unveil what they are calling a real phone as opposed to a special or limited edition. Got o say it looked great but would look better without the big Prada branding to be honest. Or is that just me?

LG also tool the wraps of the more mainstream Shine range of phone -bio g screen, looks great also – and a range of other devices including a new mobile TV handset. This is significant. I can’t help thinking that most of the present travails of the DAB IP network in the UK is based on the fact the handset is from HTC. It has all the tech needed for a goodish experience and doesn’t look bad but it isn’t a Nokia, Samsung, Moto or LG or any of the other dominant brands. When that happens maybe it will take off. The new LG would be perfect; screen revolves and viewing experience is good.

Best though is freebie count; another 1 GB memory stick but this one of chrome plated and comes on a v tasteful chrome plated chain. All in keeping with the Milam stylists I guess. Comes in a v tasteful box as well. The PR has done its homework. A design triumph –well I’m easily impressed

15:00

The 800-lb Gorilla launches Windows mobile 6. Standing room only again. More Alainis irony: took 3 minutes for XP to boot up on laptop at start of conference. MS playing Red Hot chilli peppers, Kaiser Chiefs and Strokes before the off. Bit disturbing when a company like this tries to be trendy – good tracks though.

Grabbed a glass of wine on way in – mistake? Could make me sleepy or angry or inspire prose. Grab banana and biccies for dinner. Welcome to 3GSM.

Crowded room but must be lot of MS PR staff or US journos as MS staff are clapped on stage. Sorry, it’s not bad manners that are making me uneasy about applause for vendors; I’m just old school on this one. First witnessed this at my first US press conference with Compaq in Houston in 89. Still seems wrong rankles.

Demo is slick as you’d expect. It’s this type of thing that intimidates the opposition. Steve Ballmer presented here last year and basically said ‘just watch us’. Developers obviously heard; then again he gives the impression that he expects to be listened to and would like to know what not.

Some good features on Mobile 6 especially for reading Word attachments etc and HTML email. Good shortcuts by clicking one button to do reply or reply to all. Then again should have been there last year to be honest. Clapping after demo. Not good.

Bloke next to me falls asleep; should have grabbed some wine like me. Then again they are making something that is quite interesting quite dull. BT is here to announce that mobile 6 is supporting VoiP calls. Makes rugby reference – error. Most of room don’t know rugby; a lot of those that do know it hate the game and the smug middle class boys’ club associations. BT looks like it has a useful tool here – mention of HTC again. That all? What about Samsung?

US journo asks question that makes sure we all know he’s clever. Trick is to ask multi-part question and then answering first half for himself. Oh dear. Why do they do it? That’s all folks. No gift??

16:00
To the Fira Palace hotel for Qualcomm press conference. Brings back great memories of last year when I dined here after day 1 the same time as the mighty Reds were beating Arsenal thanks to a goal, appropriately, from currently crocked Catalan Luis Garcia.

Good press conference hitting all of my focus areas. Load so fetch for mobile business devices especially those based on HSDPA and HSPA in general. Nice quote from CEO that rate of development of latter will mean that typical data rates outstrip by far WiFi. Cost issue skated over. Key though is that multiple radio technologies will need to be integrated into devices. To Q 4G mean heterogeneous networks with attendant links. Could well be right; do business know now what they want from mobile solutions? Other than fast downloads on the road would be v nice thank you very much.

Also announced MediaFLO mobile TV deal with Cingular – wireless div of AT&T in US – and more on Manchester trial and the fact they supplied the etch for LG to make its winning entry for ‘3G for all’ phone.

Nice also to see that Q has invested in MIMO technology. Did a lot on this in the past with series of mobility supplements for Toshiba about two years ago. Inspired one of the best headlines I’ve ever done: ‘Finding MIMO’. You snatch at whatever laughs you can get in this business.

Someone from a mag called disruptive analysis. Great title, must read. Reminds me of pre-crash dot.com; hope not for their sake.

CEO reveals that AT&T deal has revenue model based on wholesale – cf Virgin/BT Movio? - with premium services negotiated individually. Will this be applied to say Sky Sports 1 when they launch mobile TV service in UK? Some agreements as to how adv revs are shared.

All in all, event is a bit of a statement of intent. They are keen to talk about the applications these techs are being used for rather than hide behind the stats. Get the impression that Nokia are not on their Xmas card list but the universal mobile TV chipset supports DVB-H so they may all kiss and make up some time. Someone asks this on Q&A – no update since earnings call ‘we’re fairly far apart’, says CEO. Reveals that there is even talk of injunctions and possible future suits etc. Not what the market needs. At all.

Gifts: deliverd this morning. End event by playing Coldplay from ‘music for bedwetters’ phase. Reminds me of being editor of design mag C3. must leave.