Digital department insights from MWC 2013, the worlds biggest mobile event- coverage of the latest mobile devices and operating systems as well as trends in mobile retail, mobile payments and enterprise mobility.

1. Mobile World Congress 2013
Review
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2. Mobile World Congress 2013
A report from the floor
Insights from MWC 2013, the worlds biggest mobile event-
coverage of the latest mobile devices and operating systems
as well as trends in mobile retail, mobile payments and
enterprise mobility.

3. Introduction
This years Mobile World Congress was the first to take place in the
events new home, Fira Gran Via, still in Barcelona. The event had to
move to a new home as a result of the demand for space from both
exhibitors and attendees.
MWC 2013 featured 1,700 exhibitors spread across 8 halls, and
attracted over 72,000 attendees from 200 countries.
Safe to say this years event was huge!

4. Introduction
This years show featured an exciting array of speakers from mobile
operators, consumer brands, and industries touched by the mobile
market, but for me the most exciting part of MWC is seeing the latest
technology unveilings and hearing the latest announcements.

5. Introduction
MWC provided further evidence of how mobile is exploding, with the
effect on retail being a recurring theme.
For those of you that were unable to attend, OMD Digital have putted
together a selection of some of the most interesting things we saw at
this year at MWC.

6. DEVICES: NOKIA
Nokia made head-line news by
announcing the Nokia Lumia 520, 720,
the Nokia 301, and the 105. The new
devices are Nokia’s cheapest windows8
smartphones, with prices ranging from
€15 upto €345.
I’m used to seeing companies
introducing high-end devices at MWC, it
was a bit surprising but also refreshing
to see Nokia unveil a series of low-end
phones. This is a clear indication that
their strategy is very much focussed
upon increasing their share and
maintaining their dominant position in
developing markets.

7. DEVICES: SAMSUNG
Samsung had a large presence at this
year’s event, and although had no new
announcements, were making lots of
noise about the new Samsung Galaxy
Note 8.0, and we can see why! This
new ‘phablet’ is a perfect example of
the blurring of the lines between tablets
and smartphones.
Some of the features are quite breath-
taking, all controlled by their new ‘S-
pen’ which makes operating the device
much easier.
We feel Samsung’s dominance of the
smart device market is set to continue.

8. DEVICES: SONY
Sony unveiled two ‘next generation’
smartphones at MWC, the Experia P
and the Experia U.
The handset designs are distinctly
different compared to their HTC, Apple
and Samsung rivals. The Sony focus is
on providing premium content
experiences to consumers through the
Sony entertainment network.
Consumers can watch films or access
millions of music tracks via unlimited
services.
Best of all, their new handsets are
completely waterproof, making
dropping your smartphone down the
toilet a less traumatic experience!

9. OS: MOZILLA
Mozilla unveiled their new firefox
operating system which is designed to
solve their mobile issues. Their new
system is entirely based on HTML5
which means it should be able to run
across any device type. Mozilla’s
mobile foray is being supported by the
launch of a new low cost device from
ZTE (shown opposite), which is going
to be sold by 18 mobile operators.
Up until now the mobile operating
system landscape has been dominated
by Apple and Android. The emergence
of new operating systems from
Window, Mozilla and the imminent
launch of Samsung’s own OS, show the
race is far from over.

10. OS: WINDOWS 8
There was lots of focus on Windows
phone 8 thanks to a combination of
Microsoft being a platinum congress
sponsor, Nokia launching their new
W8 devices, and HTC pushing
windows handsets. The HTC stand
hosted talks about the competition
between windows phone, Mozilla,
and Blackberry as the third major OS.
We feel that Windows 8 is best
positioned in this new battle for the
third operating system, although the
new Blackberry 10 has been a
welcome boost to that flagging
company!

11. RETAIL: NFC
The GSMA, Samsung, Mastercard, Visa,
and Paypal were all pushing the powers
of NFC. Paypal and Visa launched their
point of sale services, which presents
an interesting opportunity for retailers.
The technology allows consumers to
make payment wherever they are in the
store as opposed to needing to go to
the check-out.
The complexity surrounding
standardization and simplification of
consumer focussed services still exists.
Unfortunately NFC is not yet ready to
live upto the hype, but the industry will
continue to develop as consumers are
increasingly demanding these services.

12. RETAIL: STORE MAPPING
There was a huge focus on in-store
mapping technology at this years
MWC. The various demonstrations
highlight the possibilities for retailers
to communicate with consumers
throughout their in-store stay, and
improve their experience.
In the future we are going to see
retailers having the ability to combine
individual customer in-store movement
data with purchase history to influence
the communication with that consumer
when in store. We predict when this
technology is combined with NFC
payment, will change the face of retail.

13. ADVERTISING: DATA
Hall 8 was the home of the advertising
solutions section of MWC, and it was
bigger than ever. This area was
populated by global mobile ad-networks
and data collection companies. The
recurring theme was ‘super-targeted
advertising’, and the various data-points
mobile offers to advertisers in the quest
to maximize relevance and impact of
message.
We were very excited by the growth of
advertising solutions on offer, and
inspired by the promise of success
delivered by the combination of reach,
engagement and relevance. Mobile
advertising sophistication means it is
here to stay!

14. ADVERTISING: CREATIVITY
The advertising hall was characterised by a
range of companies offering mobile rich
media ad building capabilities. As mobile
usage increases hand in hand with handset
technical capabilities, so does the creative
opportunity.
Companies such as JustAd, Celtra, InMobi
all showcased their self-serve mobile
platforms. This trend highlights that the
creative opportunity offered by mobile to
deliver content in a way that allows
consumers to touch, play and interact.
We are very excited by the opportunities
offered by HTML5, check out some of our
examples at OMD.IO on your smartphone.

15. COOL STUFF
Ford unveiled the new B Max at MWC
this year. This is the first time an
automotive manufacturer has unveiled
a new model at MWC, and
demonstrates Ford’s vision for the
connected car.
The car is loaded with blue-tooth
pairing, voice activation from
smartphones, mp3 player connectivity
and live emergency assistance.
Ford are working on a pilot to bring
voice activated smartphone app
technology directly into the cockpit of
its vehicles. We can’t wait to see how
auto-manufacturers incorporate smart
technology into future vehicles.

16. COOL STUFF
A new theme this year was the
connected city. The idea was to turn a
stand into a technical demonstration of
a futuristic city. This showcased
technology and future trends that we
will see in smart homes, robots, cars,
scooters, public transport, eco food
bins, energy efficiency amongst many
more.
The smartphone will be the controller
of all the above, and will be the one
device you cannot live without!
The vision for the future is pretty mind-
blowing! Click below to see a video tour
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21581347

17. Conclusion
OMD Digital trip to the Mobile World Congress has reinforced our view
that mobile technology is having an increasingly important impact
upon the world.
This document has not mentioned the interesting work we saw in the
areas of health, education, industry, but suffice to say mobile is having
a real impact in all of these areas.
We were also blown away by the focus upon the ways in which today’s
children are already making use of new technology in their every day
lives.

18. Conclusion
Our view is that the mobile technological explosion is hugely exciting
and important for all facets of society. At OMD we concentrate upon
the impact technology is having upon consumer behaviour and in
particular the ways in which content is being consumed.
MWC has shown us that our ambition of joining up content
creation/consumption with advertising and product purchase can be
achieved by technology.
We think this has huge ramifications for the future. If you would like
to discuss this further, please do get in touch.

19. INSIGHTS • IDEAS • RESULTS
Zaiga Lazdina
PHD Digital strategist
+371 67282815 | +371 28857187 |
zaiga.lazdina@omnicommediagroup.lv