GSMA Announces Mobile World Live Keynote Speakers

-- Mobile Operating System Players Mozilla, Tizen and Ubuntu to Take the Stage Tuesday Night at Mobile World Congress 2013

BARCELONA, Feb. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The GSMA today announced the details of the Mobile World Live keynote taking place next week at the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2013, along with other keynote speakers in the conference programme. The GSMA also provided further updates across other programmes at the event, including the NFC Experience, App Planet and Partner Events. Mobile World Congress will take place 25-28 February at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona.

"Mobile World Congress 2013 is shaping up to be our biggest and most exciting event ever," said Michael O'Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. "From the exhibition to the conference programme to targeted programmes such as App Planet and mPowered Brands, along with many educational seminars and meetings, there's something for every attendee. We are looking forward to welcoming the mobile industry to Barcelona and to our new home at Fira Gran Via."

Mobile World Live Keynote: Focus on Mobile OS
The GSMA announced the speakers for its Mobile World Live keynote taking place at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, 26th February in Auditorium 1, Hall 4 at Fira Gran Via. This Mobile World Live keynote will feature a panel of CEOs who will explore today's mobile OS market and the innovations shaping the future of smartphones and other connected devices. Speakers for this exciting session include:

• Mitchell Baker, Chairman, Mozilla Foundation
• Imad Sousou, Co-Chair, Tizen
• Mark Shuttleworth, Founder, Ubuntu 

The Mobile World Live keynote is open to all Mobile World Congress attendees holding Gold, Silver, Platinum or Press/Industry Analyst passes. Mobile World Live TV will also broadcast the session live on screens throughout Fira Gran Via, on a dedicated channel reaching 21,000 rooms in nearly 160 hotels across Catalonia and on local channels to households throughout the region. Further, the keynote will be streamed live to the Mobile World Live app, which is available as part of the official Mobile World Congress event app, and to the Mobile World Live website. Mobile World Live TV is sponsored by Platinum Sponsor Windows Phone; Gold Sponsor Acer; and Silver Sponsor Mobily.  

In addition to the Mobile World Live keynote, the GSMA announced further keynote speakers in the Mobile World Congress conference programme, including:

• Nancy Brown, CEO, American Heart Association
• Chet Kapoor, CEO, Apigee
• Peter Bale, GM, CNN International Digital

For more information on the Mobile World Congress conference programme, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/conference.

New Updates for the NFC Experience at Mobile World Congress
As part of the new NFC Experience at Mobile World Congress, the GSMA, in partnership with Accenture, Ajuntament de Barcelona, Assa Abloy, CaixaBank, Connecthings, Gemalto, Hotel Santos Porta Fira, Mobile World Capital, Open Trends, Sony, Telefonica and Visa, will showcase an integrated range of mobile NFC services. Attendees with NFC-enabled handsets will be able to take advantage of NFC technology at locations throughout Fira Gran Via and in the city. As a reminder, attendees with NFC-enabled handsets (Android 4 and above, BlackBerry 7.1 and Windows Phone 8 operating system) can opt into the NFC Experience and the NFC Badge. Attendees then have full show entry with the NFC Badge and their physical badge, but without the need to repeatedly present a physical photo ID to gain access to the venue. 

CaixaBank, Gemalto, Telefonica and Visa, together with the Mobile World Capital, are delivering a payments application as part of the NFC Experience. The application, which was developed using wallet technology developed by Telefonica Digital, will be offered on Xperia™ T smartphones provided by Sony Mobile Communications to 3,500 Mobile World Congress attendees. The app will come pre-loaded with €15, allowing attendees to make payments at contactless payment terminals across Fira Gran Via. In addition, the app will allow payments in all "contactless" point of sale terminals (POS) rolled out by CaixaBank around Barcelona, including more than 16,000 POS in stores, commercial centres and city markets, as well as 1,000 taxis.

Another element of the NFC Experience is the NFC Challenge, a competition open to exhibitors with commercialised NFC-related apps, products, services or solutions. Submissions will be secretly evaluated at the exhibitors' stands by a team of judges during the first two days of Mobile World Congress. The winning company and their submission will be announced Wednesday, 27th February during the App Planet Open Forum, taking place in the Hall 8.0 Theatre District, Theatre A. More information on the NFC Experience is available at: http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/nfc-at-mwc/.

Updates on Mobile World Congress Featured Programmes
The GSMA announced new app developer conferences (ADCs) as part of App Planet, as well as two new Partner Events. In App Planet, Supporting Sponsor developerprogram.com will be holding an ADC on Thursday, 28th February. On Wednesday, 27th February, the App Planet Open Forum presented by APPNATION will feature executive roundtables and presentations from companies including Amazon, AT&T, Ericsson, Google AdMob, Twitter and Windows Phone. The GSMA also announced two new Partner Events: "Innovations in Enterprise Mobility" presented by AirWatch on Monday, 25th February and "Bringing the Community Together @MWC!" presented by MobileMonday on Thursday, 28th February. For more information on Featured Programmes at Mobile World Congress, please visit http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/featured-programmes/.

Media Welcome Reception Sponsor and Demonstration Showcases
HTC is sponsoring the first official Mobile World Congress Media Welcome Reception taking place on Sunday, 24th February from 17:00 to 19:00 at Fira Gran Via. This networking cocktail reception will offer accredited press and industry analysts the opportunity to meet with leading players from across the mobile ecosystem and preview the week's activities in relaxed social environment. The reception will feature demonstration showcases from AirWatch, Gigamon, MicroStrategy, Mobeam, Neonode, Rubicon Project, Sandvine, Symphony Teleca and Trend Micro. For more information, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/press/.

The Mobile World Congress is the cornerstone of the Mobile World Capital, which will be hosted in Barcelona from 2013 to 2018. The Mobile World Capital also includes the Mobile World Centre, the Mobile World Festival and the Mobile World Hub, programmes and activities that will span the entire year and will benefit not only the citizens of Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain, but also the worldwide mobile industry. For more information on the Mobile World Capital, visit www.mobileworldcapital.com. 

About the GSMA 
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo. 

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

SOURCE GSMA