The Mobile World Congress, the cellphone industry's version of the Consumer Electronics Show, kicks off in Barcelona, Spain, today. Thousands of mobile-industry professionals will converge on the city to show off new gear, announce previously secret products and try to convince one another that the sector will weather the economic downturn. Research group Strategy Analytics predicted last month that the global mobile phone market would shrink 9% in 2009.Today, Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer will introduce the company's mobile strategy to the crowd (hopefully his presentation will not contain mosquitoes like Bill Gates' at the TED Conference did). Ballmer is expected to unveil an app store for Microsoft-powered handsets -- the iPhone App Store's success has everyone scrambling to catch up.
Nokia is expected to unveil its own app store at the conference. The Finnish company may also show off a new model of its E75 phone, which has a slide-out full keyboard and will go on sale for 390 pounds (about $565) in Britain next month. Adobe Systems Inc. says it will make announcements about its Flash animation and video software for mobile phones, although the much-anticipated Flash Player for iPhones isn't quite ready.
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