Mobile Ecosystem & TheBestAvise – Interviews, News and more …
Posts by admin
An agreement to promote the creation of new sport-related apps and contents
2 months ago
Fútbol Club Barcelona joins the Mobile World Capital team
The sports world is connecting to the mobile communications industry. The Mobile World Capital and Fútbol Club Barcelona have signed an agreement to promote initiatives of ICT entrepreneurs and companies that develop innovative mobile services in sports. They will also both promote the creation of applications to enhance the experience of watching or following a football match.
This agreement was signed within the framework of the Mobile World Capital. Sandro Rosell, President of FC Barcelona; John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA; Agustín Cordón, Managing Director of Fira Barcelona; and Dídac Lee, Director Responsible for New Technologies at FC Barcelona attended the signing.
This agreement involves joint actions in the Mobile World Capital’s “Mobile Entrepreneurship Competition” programme, which is in charge of promoting mobile start-up creation and relocation in Barcelona, the mobile world capital for the 2012-2018 period, with the required business, technology and financial support.
Futbol Club Barcelona will integrate their FCB APPS programme in this Mobile World Capital initiative, with the aim of promoting the sports-related mobile sector. Mobile World Capital Barcelona offers the best setting for promoting this programme”, said Dídac Lee. “FC Barcelona calls all entrepreneurs and developers to present their mobile application proposals designed for football or sport in general”, he added, emphasising that this agreement with the MW Capital “is a big opportunity to give the programme international coverage”.
To enrich the experience of users
Both entities will launch an international campaign to capture the best applications that transmit the values and spirit of Barça. The chosen proposals will be eligible for financial aid and advice in order to develop and position themselves on the market.
“FC Barcelona wishes to help transform Barcelona into a global mobile reference”, said the President of FC Barcelona, Sandro Rosell, who added “the Club’s satisfaction with collaborating in all the projects that help to promote and strengthen the image of the city and of the country”. According to Rosell, “Barça’s commitment to new technologies in recent times has been clear but we believe there is still a long way to go. This agreement will allow us to offer our members and fans better services through mobile applications”.
John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Ltd., said: “We are very satisfied that Fútbol Club Barcelona is joining Mobile World Capital. The two entities will not only work together to offer football fans in Barcelona and all of Spain new experiences, but will also help to promote new business opportunities for mobile companies. We are very excited and looking forward to working together to promote Mobile World Capital Barcelona”.
The Managing Director of Fira Barcelona, Agustín Cordón, said “the involvement of FC Barcelona in the Mobile World Capital project is a valuable contribution because of the club’s prestige worldwide, where it is admired for its sporting spirit and the values it embodies and transmits”. Cordón added that the collaboration with the azulgrana team “undoubtedly will contribute to generating more interest in the wide-ranging possibilities of mobile applications in leisure and sport”.
The agreement also includes the participation of Fútbol Club Barcelona in the Mobile World Capital “M-Content” programme, aimed at promoting new mobile services that enrich the leisure and entertainment experience of users. Specifically, the agreement will focus on the “Enhanced Football Experience” project, which will promote new applications and services to improve the experience of watching or following a football match at or away from the pitch.
Over 1.4 million downloads every day
Five million Spaniards currently use mobile applications and, every day, 1.4 million apps are downloaded Spain, over 16 per second. This year, global sales of apps could reach 11 billion euros, according to sector sources.
The apps sector is a fast growing market, partly due to the increase in smartphone sales: in 2011, 472 million units were sold, 58% more than in 2010. In Spain, there are 34.8 million app-ready devices, including 19 million computers, 14.8 million smartphones, 1.1 million televisions with internet access and 900,000 tablets.
Barcelona, 29th February 2012
Montse García Duque
93 233 3546
mgarciad@firabcn.es
Ketty Calatayud
FC Barcelona
93 496 75 85
ketty.calatayud@fcbarcelona.cat
Spain: Smartphones and tablets heat up Telecommunication and IT industries
2 months ago
In contrast, feature phones (-28%), netbooks (-18%) and broadband sticks (-7) witnessed decreases over the same period. Laptops maintained a stable performance, although still witnessed a slight drop of 1%.
Constantly changing market
Today, innovation is moving at a rapid rate and as a consequence, new products are reaching even bigger heights in less time. For example, in Spain the penetration of smartphones currently stands at 25% for the total population, while tablets are present in 6% of all Spanish households.
More and more consumers are focusing on mobility when purchasing devices and this is a major factor which is stimulating the success of smartphones and tablets in Spain.
Accessories will be important in 2012
In line with the positive trends for smartphones and tablets, the accessories segment is expected to experience strong growth throughout 2012. As subsidized contracts from operators become longer, consumers are looking to protect their devices. Therefore, cases, covers and screen protected are expected to grow.
–
About GfK
GfK is one of the world’s largest research companies, with 11,000 experts working to discover new insights into the way people live, think and shop, in over 100 markets, every day. GfK is constantly innovating and using the latest technologies and the smartest methodologies to give its clients the clearest understanding of the most important people in the world: their customers. In 2010, GfK’s sales amounted to EUR 1.29 billion.
4 days about NFC & Mobile Money Summit in Milan Next October
During the conference today in Barcellona on the seat it was possible to find advertisement about the event. Based on the rapid growth of NFC services and devices, GSMA expanded the focus of the Summit initially planned to be just one day.
It is another occasion for Italy and for Europe to demonstrate what we can be realized … I invite all Italians or not, ecosystem interested to join the LinkedIn and Facebook group where wi will discuss about what we can arrange together.
The GSMA today announced that it will hold the new GSMA NFC & mobile money Summit October 22-25, 2012 at the Milano Congressi in Milan. With the growing industry momentum behind Near Field Communications (NFC) and the increased adoption of this technology by ecosystem players around the world, the GSMA has expanded the scope of its established Mobile Money Summit event to more prominently showcase NFC and its many applications. In 2012 and beyond, the event will be known as the GSMA NFC & Mobile Money Summit.
“NFC is an important innovation for consumers around the world, and while it is perhaps best known for enabling secure mobile payments, it will go far beyond to facilitate a wide range of innovative and exciting new services and applications, such as mobile ticketing, entertainment services, secure access to hotels, offices and cars, loyalty schemes and couponing, among others,” said Michael O’Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. “The NFC & Mobile Money Summit will bring together key players from every sector of the ecosystem, providing an environment to forge relationships, expand ideas and foster the growth of NFC and mobile money.”
The market potential for SIM-based NFC is significant, according to forecasts from industry research firm Strategy Analytics. Nearly 1.5 billion SIM-based handsets will have been sold worldwide between 2010 and 2016, supporting transactions of more than $50 billion globally over the same period. Further, ABI Research indicates that 85 per cent of all new point of sale terminals shipped in 2016 will be NFC-enabled. Last month, more than 45 of the world’s leading operators committed to support and implement SIM-based NFC solutions and services, and the GSMA announced that it has published a new set of industry specifications, which will serve as an important catalyst in accelerating the adoption of NFC services.
The NFC & Mobile Money Summit will feature two days of exhibition showcase and conference sessions, augmented by two days of invitation-only industry meetings designed to create dialogue around the opportunities and progress for the NFC and mobile money ecosystem. The conference and exhibition will be held on Tuesday, October 23rd and Wednesday, October 24th, with additional meetings and workshops being held on Monday, October 22nd and Thursday, October 25th.
For more information on the NFC & Mobile Money Summit 2012, including details on how to attend, exhibit or sponsor, please contact mmssales@gsm.org.
