THE NEW mantra of Google should be “mobile first”, the company’s chief executive Eric Schmidt told a mobile industry event yesterday.
Mr Schmidt made the remarks in his keynote speech at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, urging operators to invest in the next generation of networks.
However, he denied Google was trying to turn operators into a “dumb pipe”, saying the company needed to work with good operators.
Although there were no major announcements, the firm demonstrated some future technologies, including text recognition using a phone’s camera for search and using the phone as a translator for voice conversations.
Google also showed off video using Adobe’s Flash platform on its Android operating system, opening it up to online video and gaming, and giving it an advantage over Apple’s iPhone. Mr Schmidt said Google was shipping 60,000 Android handsets a day.
Irish software firm NewBay said German operator Deutsche Telekom would use its platform to provide one-click instant uploads of media from handsets to the operator’s Media Center, where the content can be shared. Paddy Holohan said the deal is important one the firm. “NewBay’s strategy is user-content management and allowing operators to become part of people’s lifestyles. It’s a validation of our strategy,” he said.
Cork-headquartered YouGetItBack.com announced its deal with Ace Insurance, for its CoveredIT programme. Paul Prendergast said the company was also doing deals with large global telcos and consumer electronics retailers, although the details were not yet public.
Both companies were part of Enterprise Ireland’s pavilion. The organisation is hosting 16 companies at its Ireland pavilion. It is also providing support to five others at the show.
Minister for Innovation Conor Lenihan attended the showcase yesterday and met the Irish exhibitors. He said the Government and Enterprise Ireland were looking to push Irish telco companies towards more emerging markets where there is potential for new revenues.
“Clearly telecommunications and, in particular, companies in the software development of applications for the mobile telephone industry, are going to be hugely important in the years ahead,” he said. “Unlike many industries and businesses around the world, it’s a business you expect further growth in, mainly to do with the arrival of the Bric countries.”
Enterprise Ireland’s Jennifer Condon said attendance at the event was viewed as vital, showcasing some of the innovation that the country has to offer: “It’s a hugely valuable event.”
Elsewhere at the event, there were plenty of new announcements and products. HTC, which counts Meteor and Vodafone among its customers in Ireland, unveiled new handsets aiming to knock Apple’s iPhone off its perch.
It said it would bring three new handsets to the market and was embracing Windows for mobile. The HTC Legend and Desire models were unveiled yesterday, both running Google’s Android software, while the HD Mini handset will be powered by Microsoft’s operating system.
