Roundup: 2010 Mobile World Congress

The 2010 Mobile World Congress kicked off Monday in Barcelona, Spain and features a key note from Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt, a concert from Duran Duran and a number of big announcements from big players in the industry.

Microsoft starts from scratch
In the first public preview, Microsoft (MSFT) unveiled Windows Phone 7 Series Monday at Mobile World Congress. The new mobile OS is a very ambitious re-branding of Windows Mobile and an agreed much overdue release. Gadget sites Engadget and Gizmodo both have glowing reviews and pictures of the new interface and explain how Microsoft threw out everything from the old OS, started over, and produced a game-changing phone operating system that will give the Android phone and iPhone a run for the money.  Gizmodo actually calls the Outlook application on phone "stunning" and continues to elaborate on the big picture, where Microsoft brings together different services like Zune, Xbox and Bing in a way that "actually makes sense and just works." The Windows Phone 7 Series isn't due to be released until the 2010 holidays.

Intel and Nokia merge platforms
In another big announcement at Mobile Congress World, Intel (INTC) and Nokia (NOK) announced they would merge their popular Moblin and Maemo software platforms into an open software platform called MeeGo.  Hosted by the Linux Foundation MeeGo will be Linux-based and run on multiple hardware platforms and across devices such as netbooks, tablets, mediaphones, connected TVs and in-vehicle infotainment systems.  "Our vision for seamlessly communicating between computing devices from the home, auto, office or your pocket is taking a big step forward today with the introduction of MeeGo," said Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini.  People are able to keep their favorite mobile applications when changing devices, since MeeGo runs on multiple device types.  The first release of MeeGo is targeted for the second quarter of this year with MeeGo-based devices from Nokia and other manufacturers expected later this year.  Other resources about MeeGo including the press conference replay from Barcelona can be found here.

Juniper's new framework for mobility solutions
Juniper (JNPR) hit the ground running at Mobile World Congress, unleashing a flurry of press releases regarding new software, solutions and partners to transform the experience and economics of mobility.  The new mobility framework marries partner applications with Juniper MX 3D Series Universal Edge Routers and SRX Series Services Gateways to help mobile operators deploy truly open and secure mobile networks.  At the conference Juniper announced Junos ready software, Junos Pulse for Smartphones, Juniper Mobile Secure, Juniper Traffice Direct, Juniper Media Flow and Juniper Mobile Core Evolution.  "Mobile operators need their networking vendors to stop building new one-off boxes, band-aids and bolt-ons to handle mobile data traffic. They need networking vendors with real innovation that can offer immediate TCO relief, unmatched scale for the future, built-in security and open platforms to monetize new services," said Kim Perdikou, executive vice president, Office of the CEO, Juniper. Juniper also announced that Sprint has selected them to secure their mobile data network infrastructure. Sprint will use Juniper SRX Series Gateways to securely deliver mobile data services.  Juniper also joined the IBM Service Provider Delivery Environment Framework Partner Program and jointly announced security solutions for fixed and mobile networks with Nokia Siemens.

The Mobile World Congress runs through February 18 and mobileworldlive.com has been setup for announcements and live broadcasts.