Mobile Monday Barcelona

The next MobileMonday Barcelona event on November 5 covers Mobile Web Applications. The last 2 months the action and debate on web & mobile convergence has been intenser than ever. Rudy De Waele from mTrends will do an introduction on this topic. We’ll have a closer look on popular mobile web applications such as WidSets and the recentlly launched Mippin. Raquel Navarro from Barcelona Media - Innovation Centre will talk about the challenges of innovative interfaces for mobile applications.

Speakers:

Tuomo Sihvola - Head of Communities and Inventor, WidSets - Nokia Emerging Business Unit

Tuomo Sihvola is one of the inventors of WidSets, and currently leading WidSets’ user and developer community activies. Tuomo joined Nokia in 1992 and since then, he has been working in various positions in Research and Development, Sales & Marketing and Corporate innovations globally. WidSets - mobile widgets that enable anyone to create, publish and share internet content to be accessed on their mobile phones. www.widsets.com and for developers www.developer.widsets.com

Prashant Agarwal - VP of Product Management at Refresh Mobile.

Prashant will introduce their new service called Mippin. Mippin is the exciting new way to get your favourite internet content on your mobile phone from Refresh Mobile. Mippin delivers the latest news, blogs, and other web content in the perfect format for your phone - giving you the control to discover and share what you want. Prior to joining Refresh Mobile, Prashant held a number of senior positions with Yahoo! including European Product Manager for Mail and Messenger. He also launched Yahoo!’s first official Series 60 IM application and its official FIFA World Cup 2006 mobile application.

Rudy De Waele - mTrends / co-founder of MobileMonday Barcelona and MobileMonday Madrid
Besides organizing MobileMondays in Barcelona and Madrid, Rudy consults start-ups and established brands on next generation mobile services strategies with dotopen. Rudy has been very active in researching and reporting on web & mobile convergence on his blog mTrends. His Understanding Mobile 2.0 article he wrote for Read/WriteWeb is a reference in capturing the essence of this convergence. mTrends was selected in 2006 among the TOP 20 Fierce Wireless Industry blogs and won the Host of the Year 2006 Award from the Carnival of the Mobilists community. He is also part of the Mobile 2.0 Conference in San Francisco.

Raquel Navarro - Director of the User Centered Interaction Lab at Barcelona Media - Innovation Centre.
Raquel has over 12 years of experience in user studies for ICT design, especially for multi-platform multimedia applications. She has participated in numerous research and knowledge transfer projects at an international scale as an expert in usability and experience optimization methodologies. In the past, Raquel has worked at Apple, HP and Motorola Labs. She has a PhD. in Experimental Psychology. The mission of the Fundació Barcelona Media UPF is to contribute to the improvement in competitiveness on the communication companies, including both technology and content. To this end, Barcelona Media performs research, innovation and training for the industry.

Networking
As usual, a networking party will follow the conference where participants will enjoy a glass of cava while sharing experiences about life and work. Attendance is free; all you need to do is register and/or confirm your presence for this event at www.mobilemondaybarcelona.com/subscribe/ to reserve one of the 150 seats available. Book now to avoid being left out!

• 19h00 Registration and Pre-Networking
• 19h30 Mobile Web Applications speaker sessions & discussion
• 21h00 Cocktail and Networking Party
• 22h00 End

Venue: Auditorium University of Pompeu Fabra - França Building (Edifici França), Passeig de Circumval·lació, 8 - Barcelona 08003

Location and Directions here at Google Maps.

MobileMonday is a community of mobile professionals organised around local networking events in almost 40 cities around the world. This open community promotes the mobile industry and fosters cooperation and networking among industry people and their companies by providing opportunities for personal and virtual contacts.

MobileMonday Barcelona is organised by Rudy De Waele, Carles Ferreiro and Barcelona Media.

Our Partners
Our thanks to our partners Telefónica Movistar, Vodafone, Alcatel-Lucent, MyStrands and Agora 22@ for their invaluable support.

The next MobileMonday Barcelona event, on July 2, we are celebrating our first MoMoBCN anniversary at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB). For this occasion we chose one of our favorite topics at the moment: Mobile Web 2.0 and invited some of the most interesting players in this field.

We will host Ajit Jaokar, co-author of the Mobile Web 2.0 book; together with Lucia Garate from Vodafone Group Research and Development - to talk about the recently launched Betavine platform; Patrick Lord from Mobiluck, and Carlos Domingo, General Director of Telefonica I+D to present and discuss their ideas on this topic. Rudy De Waele from m-trends.org and co-Founder of MobileMonday Barcelona will moderate the panel.

The session will be held in the CCCB Auditorium and we invite you to join us for a celebration drink at the wonderful “Pati de les Dones” inside the CCCB complex.

TOPIC: Mobile Web 2.0

Date: July 2

Speakers:

Ajit Jaokar (London) is the author of the book ‘Mobile web 2.0′ and is also a member of the web2.0 workgroup. Currently, he plays an advisory role to a number of mobile start-ups in the UK and Scandinavia. He also works with the government and trade missions of a number of countries including South Korea and Ireland. He is a regular speaker at technology events including Real-World AJAX (June 2006 - New York) and AJAXWorld Conference & Expo (Oct 2006 Santa Clara). He spoke recently at the Stanford University’s Digital Vision program. He also featured recently on CNN money. Ajit chairs Oxford University’s Next generation mobile applications panel. He is the founder and CEO of a publishing company - Futuretext.

Lucia Garate (Madrid), works as Researcher in Vodafone Group Research and Development team in Madrid, where she moved in 2005 after working since 2002 in Vodafone Germany. Vodafone Betavine is the demonstration of Vodafone’s commitment with Web 2.0 and with its principles of collaboration, openess and collective intelligence. In fact the site is implemented using an Open Source portal framework. This is the only operator sponsored open community mainly aimed to encourage mobile applications development. For further information, please visit www.vodafonebetavine.net.

Patrick Lord (Paris), Marketing and Communications, Mobiluck.
MobiLuck puts a radar in your phone and luck in your pocket, so you can keep in touch with friends, meet new people and find places nearby - or on the other side of the world. MobiLuck’s vision is to facilitate social interaction where it really matters: in real life, when meeting friends and new people and going out places, not when you’re sitting in front of your computer. Created in 2003, MobiLuck is a software company specialising in location-based mobile services. It has over 500 000 registered users and is best known for its proximity Bluetooth messaging application that works on over 180 models of mobile phone in over 200 countries around the world.

Carlos Domingo (Barcelona) is the general director of Telefonica R+D labs in Barcelona where he manages a team of more than 200 professionals that do research and development for the Telefónica group on the areas of Multimedia, Internet and speech technologies. Carlos holds a master in computer science from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, a PhD in computer science from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and postgraduate studies in business administration from Stanford University. Originally from Barcelona, Carlos has developed his career in Japan and the US, first as a researcher and engineering manager and then as the CEO of several software start-ups, LizardTech, Extensis and Celartem Tecnnologies, before returning recently to his hometown to join Telefónica.

Networking
A special networking party will follow the conference where participants will enjoy a celebration drink. Attendance is free; all you need to do is register and/or confirm your presence for this event at www.mobilemondaybarcelona.com/subscribe/ to reserve one of the 180 seats available. Book now to avoid being left out!

• 19h30 Registration and Pre-Networking
• 20h00 Mobile Web 2.0 speaker sessions & discussion
• 21h15 Cocktail and Networking Party
• 22h30 End

Venue: The auditorium of the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB). C/ Montalegre 5, 08001 Barcelona - Tel. 93 306 41 00

CCCB General Information:

Metro: lines 1, 2 and 3 (Catalunya and Universitat) FGC and RENFE
Bus routes: 7, 9, 14, 16, 17, 24, 38, 41, 50, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 64, 66, 67, 68, 91, 120, 141, L94, L95, Tombús, Aerobús
Car parks: Plaça Castella, Carrer dels Àngels, Plaça Catalunya

MobileMonday is a community of mobile professionals organised around local networking events in almost 40 cities around the world. This open community promotes the mobile industry and fosters cooperation and networking among industry people and their companies by providing opportunities for personal and virtual contacts.

MobileMonday Barcelona is organised by Rudy De Waele, Carles Ferreiro and Barcelona Media.

Our Partners
Our thanks to our partners Telefónica Movistar, 22@Barcelona, Alcatel-Lucent, Ajuntament de Barcelona, CIDEM (Centre d’Innovació i Desenvolupament Empresarial of the Generalitat de Catalunya) and Agora 22@ for their invaluable support.

June is here and the flocks of tourists announce the coming of summer, the perfect time to present our own local entrepreneurial talent. Next MobileMonday on June 11 is about Barcelona Mobile Startups!

In the last months we have had previous presentations by local startups such as MyStrands, Lemonquest, Mobile Dreams Factory, Mobuzz, Futurlink and Daem Interactive. This time we have a dedicated event: it’s time to present our next wave of talented, young and ambitious companies active in the different fields in Mobile.

Speakers:

* Vadim Tarasov, Founder & CEO of bmat - http://bmat.com

BMAT enables computers and devices to understand music like humans do to provide musical search services, enhances the experience by selecting music that suits the user’s mood, can remove the vocal track from your favorite tune so that you sing along, even change your own voice so you can sound like your favorite artist. BMAT’s solutions convert a mobile phone from just a communication device into a full-blown multimedia entertainment center.

* Lluís Carreras, General Manager of Mobifriends - http://mobifriends.com

Founded in October 2005, Mobifirends aims to develop a new concept in dating and social networking. Being mobile focused, without forgetting the web, Mobifriends users can look for people to share hobbies, interests, make friends, flirt, or find a new love. They can contact each other through an integrated anonymous communication system (SMS, Chat and videochat). Still in testing the Alpha version, this is a unique chance to get to know Mobifriends before their launch later this year.

* Ghatim Kabbara, CEO of Safira Solutions - http://www.safirasolutions.com

Safira Solutions is a key player in the development of the Mobile Internet and is a leading provider of Mobile Commerce solutions worldwide. Founded in 2003 and with headquarters in Barcelona (Spain), Safira Solutions has helped individuals, organizations and brands in over 15 countries to effectively position themselves on the Mobile Internet and to monetize their presence. Safira Solutions lowers the barriers of entry and facilitates the process of getting on the Mobile Internet by providing turnkey technology solutions to help build mobile sites, generate mobile user traffic and bill consumers directly on their mobile device.

* Eve Goldman, Business Development Manager of Acquamedia Technologies - http://www.acquamedia.com

Founded in 2003 in Barcelona, Acquamedia is a world-leading retailer of digital content with traffic to conversion rates 3 times higher than its closest competitor anywhere in the world. The company specializes in the management of WAP portals and selling music and entertainment focused content through mobile platforms. Acquamedia has recently expanded and signed deals in over 10 countries in Europe and Latin America. The upcoming entrance into the US market will position the company to become the world’s largest mobile digital content provider.

Please join us to find out more about this homegrown initiatives. However, in Barcelona at this time of year we all want some entertainment:

Alberto Tognazzi will present the winning “mobile movie clips” of the MovilFilmFest, also “Made in Barcelona” - http://www.movilfilmfest.es/

Networking
As usual, a networking party will follow the conference where participants will enjoy a glass of cava while sharing experiences about life and work. Attendance is free; all you need to do is register and/or confirm your presence for this event at www.mobilemondaybarcelona.com/subscribe/ to reserve one of the 150 seats available. Book now to avoid being left out!

• 19h00 Registration and Pre-Networking
• 19h30 Barcelona Mobile Startups speaker sessions & discussion
• 20h30 Cocktail and Networking Party
• 21h30 End

Venue: Auditorium University of Pompeu Fabra - França Building (Edifici França), Passeig de Circumval·lació, 8 - Barcelona 08003

Location and Directions here at Google Maps.

MobileMonday is a community of mobile professionals organised around local networking events in almost 40 cities around the world. This open community promotes the mobile industry and fosters cooperation and networking among industry people and their companies by providing opportunities for personal and virtual contacts.

MobileMonday Barcelona is organised by Rudy De Waele, Carles Ferreiro and Barcelona Media.

Our Partners
Our thanks to our partners Telefónica Movistar, 22@Barcelona, Alcatel-Lucent, Ajuntament de Barcelona, CIDEM (Centre d’Innovació i Desenvolupament Empresarial of the Generalitat de Catalunya) and Agora 22@ for their invaluable support.

For our next MobileMonday Barcelona event on Monday, May 7, we invited some of the most important international players in Mobile Search to present and discuss the opportunities and challenges that lay ahead, this event promises to be one of our best editions so far.

Since Google introduced it’s easy to use Search Engine in 1998, a lot of things have changed in the internet business, very few people could imagine the impact of simple search as we know it now. With even more mobile devices connected to the internet than there are computers globally, Mobile Search is one of the key area’s in mobile development to satisfy the demands of the consumer… A mobile search request has to be easy and relevant and needs to be available in the right context. Organising all existing online data to be displayed correctly on a small screen is one of the biggest challenges laying ahead for the industry the coming years. Search news, locations, people, products, tourist and travel information, music and video files, all that data is already accessible on the last generation of mobile phone, a lot of companies are positioning in this interesting and lucrative market space.

Since 2005, a lot of new companies have been starting to position their service. Projects like Wapedia, Mobilicio.us, 4INFO, Technorati Mobile, mInfo in China, and more recently mowser are some of the interesting projects here. This year seems to be a breakthrough year in Mobile Search now that the more established internet brands are starting to position in mobile and are doing major deals with operators, we invited some of the most important players for this event:

Speakers Program:

Jeff Pedigo, Director, Business Development at Yahoo! Inc. (UK)
Steve Ives, Founder & CEO Taptu.com (UK)
Philip Gontier, Sales Director EMEA, JumpTap, Inc. (USA)
Anat S. Amir, Senior Mobile Marketing Manager, EMEA, Google (UK)

Bio Speakers:

Jeff Pedigo, Director, Business Development at Yahoo! Inc. (UK)
Jeff Pedigo will attend Mobile Monday in Barcelona on May 7, to take you through the latest developments within Yahoo!’s Connected Life mobile division. Jeff is a Solutions Architect in Yahoo!’s Connected Life division, which focuses on delivering Yahoo! services in the mobile, broadband, and digital home arenas. In this role, he interfaces closely with Yahoo!’s partners to design and deliver solutions that leverage Yahoo!’s assets in content, technology, audience, and search and advertising expertise. Jeff plays an instrumental role in delivering mobile search, advertising, and client solutions across Europe.

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo!’s mission is to connect people to their passions, their communities, and the world’s knowledge.

Earlier this year, Yahoo! introduced oneSearch, an entirely new search service designed to give consumers exactly what they want on their mobile device — instant answers. oneSearch leverages Yahoo!’s deep experience, investment and expertise in search on the desktop as well as relationships with leading content providers to deliver an unmatched mobile search experience for consumers. oneSearch is live in the US both on the mobile web and through Yahoo!’s revolutionary mobile product, Yahoo! Go for Mobile 2.0

Steve Ives, Founder & CEO Taptu.com (UK)
Steve is a UK serial entrepreneur with extensive business growth and technical experience. Previously, Steve was the founder and CEO of Trigenix, a 3i-backed business which was acquired by Qualcomm Inc in 2004. He worked for Qualcomm Europe as VP Business Development and then VP Strategic Marketing until mid- 2005.

Steve graduated in Biochemistry from Cambridge University, holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvannia, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London. He also serves as non-executive Chairman and director of Teamstudio Inc, a software tools company with operations in the USA, UK and Japan.

During his period as CEO, Trigenix won the 2003 3GSM Award for Best Wireless Application Developer, and the 2003 Sunday Times Fasttrack 100 Award for Best Management Team. Steve has presented at several major industry events, including 3GSM in Cannes and the GSMA General Plenary. Past media coverage includes Britain’s Financial Times and the Sunday Times.

Steve is married with four children and enjoys tennis, skiing and cycling. During a summer sabbatical in 2000, he raised $100,000 for UNICEF by cycling 7000 miles from San Francisco to Istanbul, crossing 2 deserts, 4 mountain ranges & 10 countries.

Philip Gontier, Sales Director EMEA, JumpTap, Inc. (USA)
Philip has over 12+ years of sales, sales management & business development experience for telecom / wireless/ enterprise solutions across EMEA. Philip’s primary focus is on Mobile Search & Advertising solutions for mobile operators.

Founded in 2004, JumpTap, Inc. provides wireless carriers with an end-to-end, carrier-branded mobile search solution that drives third-party revenue for mobile operators while providing a quick, easy and fun mobile search experience for subscribers. JumpTap’s comprehensive solution couples an intuitive user interface and mobile-specific search engine with a search marketing model that pays carriers for search success. JumpTap provides carriers, advertisers and subscribers with the industry’s most complete, easy-to-use and rewarding mobile search environment. For more information on JumpTap, please visit:

Anat S. Amir, Senior Mobile Marketing Manager, EMEA, Google (UK)
Anat heads the mobile marketing and mobile product launch activities for Google in Europe, Africa and the Middle East . She has many years’ experience in the mobile space recently joining from O2 where she was Head of Product Experience and Research, contributing to the company’s leadership in data services. Anat led the user experience stream at OMTP an operator-sponsored forum that serves the needs of each and every link in the mobile phone value chain by gathering and driving mobile terminal requirements.

Anat has an MBA from the Ben Gurion University in Israel and began her career as a financial analyst before moving on to usability consultancy and product design. A native of Israel, Anat has for the past 4 years lived in the UK.

Networking
As usual, a networking party will follow the conference where participants will enjoy a glass of cava while sharing experiences about life and work. Attendance is free; all you need to do is register and/or confirm your presence for this event at www.mobilemondaybarcelona.com/subscribe/ to reserve one of the 150 seats available. Book now to avoid being left out!

* 19h00 Registration and Pre-Networking
* 19h30 Mobile Search speaker sessions & discussion
* 21h30 Cocktail and Networking Party
* 22h30 End

Venue: Auditorium University of Pompeu Fabra - França Building (Edifici França), Passeig de Circumval·lació, 8 - Barcelona 08003

Location and Directions here at Google Maps.

MobileMonday is a community of mobile professionals organised around local networking events in almost 40 cities around the world. This open community promotes the mobile industry and fosters cooperation and networking among industry people and their companies by providing opportunities for personal and virtual contacts.

MobileMonday Barcelona is organised by Rudy De Waele, Carles Ferreiro and Barcelona Media.

Our Partners
Our thanks to our partners Telefónica Movistar, 22@Barcelona, Alcatel-Lucent, Ajuntament de Barcelona, CIDEM (Centre d’Innovació i Desenvolupament Empresarial of the Generalitat de Catalunya) and Agora 22@ for their invaluable support.

In our next MobileMonday Barcelona event on Monday, April 2, we will discuss the current state of the mobile gaming industry and present the new opportunties and challenges that lay ahead.

Currently, the mobile game market is highly dominated by games that have an easy gameplay, few simple rules and do not require special skills to enjoy. These games are mostly clones of successful casual games such as Minesweeper or Tetris.

However, the future of mobile gaming seems to rely on new types of gameplays that embed the new capabilities of mobile phones to sense their context. Like the newly released and successful Wiimote, mobile devices become sensitive to movements (e.g. Nokia N5500), engaging players to physically move as part of the gameplay. In addition, the emergence near-field communication (RFID, Bluetooth, QR codes) and location-aware technologies enable new types of scenarios that link virtual worlds with the players’ physical surroundings. For example, multi-player location-based games played out on city streets and built up urban environments.

The increasing contextual and proximity awareness of mobile devices provide new opportunities for players to engage in collaborative or competitive game settings. In contrast to this pretty picture, many issues such as the operators walled gardens, the size of the screens, network quality and coverage as well as the processing power of the mobile phone challenge the development and deployment of these new types of games. Finally, the Economic future: who is going to pick up the fragmentation and the distribution challenge? Where is the 8 bn mobile gaming market?

DATE: Monday, April 2 2007

SPEAKERS:

Nicolas Nova (Switzerland) - researcher at EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne)

His current research is directed towards the user experience of mobile and ubiquitous computing. He recently completed a PhD in computer sciences, which investigated the usage of location-awareness in a collaborative pervasive game (CatchBob!). He also works as a consultant for video-game companies, focusing on ‘user experience’ analysis, usability testing and foresight research. Read his blog here.

Maarten Noyons (France) - Managing Director, International Mobile Gaming Awards

Maarten Noyons has been a media entrepreneur since 1986 and works in mobile entertainment since 1998. Maarten runs the media consultancy company NCC & Partners and works for clients in the public and private sector. In 2004 he launched the International Mobile Gaming Awards, now the leading award for innovation in mobile entertainment in the world with US$ 40,000 of prizes to win and, in 2006, 400 innovative companies from 42 countries participating. Maarten will bring us an overview of the winning game companies of the International Mobile Gaming Awards and will give us his vision on the creative and economic future of mobile ‘connected’ games.

Ignacio Cavero (Spain) - President and CEO, LemonQuest

LemonQuest is a global publisher of mobile games and personalization products for network operator portals, delivering a vast ray of content in 48 countries worldwide. LemonQuest develops and publishes some of the world most innovative and exciting mobile games and entertainment applications and gives leading mobile operators everything they need — premium and niche brands, a comprehensive catalogue of content, and delivery technology to successfully provide these products to their subscribers. LemonQuest recently announced the acquisition of the Chinese company i4Game, an innovative developer of mobile games. The acquisition gives LemonQuest new territories of operations and a true 3D games portfolio ready to be sold to their mobile carrier customers.

Marta Vieira (Portugal) – Head of Entertaiment Division, YDreams

Marta has been with YDreams since 2005. She currently runs the Entertainment Division where she oversees the development and distribution of mobile games, business strategy, and marketing and product management.

YDreams Entertainment is an innovative developer and publisher of entertainment solutions & games, working with partners worldwide to develop original and licensed titles and interactive experiences for the future. A recognized world leader in location-based gaming, YDreams has brought exciting new experiences to gamers worldwide with titles ranging from location-based Massively Multiplayer On-Line Games (Undercover, Undercover 2: Merc Wars) to online cross-media (MS4 Spooks: Mobile). Their latest location-based game, Wall Street Fighter, was recently a finalist at Mobile Game Innovation Hunt at GDC2007 and is a finalist at the 2007 LBS Challenge.

Location has been described as the next killer app. The interesting question is: what can it do for your gaming experience? Find out why this is an innovative way of using your mobile, and why you can forget location’s boring connotation of navigation. Examples of LBG’s will be provided as quick cases, incorporating YDreams’ experience and, most importantly, what was learned every step of the way.

Thanks to Fabien Girardin from the Interactive Technologies Group, UPF University for his inspiration and energy on this topic.

As usual, a networking party will follow the conference where participants will enjoy a glass of cava while sharing experiences about life and work. Attendance is free; all you need to do is register and/or confirm your presence for this event at www.mobilemondaybarcelona.com/subscribe/ to reserve one of the 150 seats available. Book now to avoid being left out!

• 19h00 Registration and Pre-Networking
• 19h30 Mobile Gaming and Beyond speaker sessions & discussion
• 21h30 Cocktail and Networking Party
• 22h30 End

Venue: Auditorium University of Pompeu Fabra - França Building (Edifici França), Passeig de Circumval·lació, 8 - Barcelona 08003

Location and Directions here at Google Maps.

MobileMonday is a community of mobile professionals organised around local networking events in almost 40 cities around the world. This open community promotes the mobile industry and fosters cooperation and networking among industry people and their companies by providing opportunities for personal and virtual contacts.

MobileMonday Barcelona is organised by Rudy De Waele, Carles Ferreiro and Barcelona Media.

Our Partners
Our thanks to our partners Telefónica Movistar, 22@Barcelona, Alcatel-Lucent, Ajuntament de Barcelona, CIDEM (Centre d’Innovació i Desenvolupament Empresarial of the Generalitat de Catalunya) and Agora 22@ for their invaluable support.