All these people in Barcelona attending the Mobile World Congress, and seemingly so little news coming out of there.
For me, the key headline was the Nokia 105, which, while yawned at by most westerners, has the potential to be the downmarket phone king as Nokia moves more aggressively into emerging markets.
It's a $20 phone that offers the basics, including phone calls, SMS, an FM-radio, and a flashlight. And, 35 days of standby with 12.5 hours of talk time.
If it were a quad band GSM phone, I'd have it on my short list for second phones.
Turbo was caught unawares at the TechTarget Online ROI Summit in downtown Austin yesterday as colleagues took a photo of him in "mobile warrior" mode. Among his electronic devices identified on the table: A Verizon Mi-Fi hotspot, Turbo's Verizon LG feature phone, a 5th gen Apple iPod Touch, a "Blu" phone (quadband, works on GSM networks around the world, serves as the Turbo "bat" phone and FM radio), a Plantronics Pro HD bluetooth headset, an HTC Wildfire Android tablet, and Turbo's newfangled Samsung Chromebook, which is looking like a bargain at the price ($216) compared to the new Google Chromebook Pixel ($1,300!)
The other big news was IBM's MobileFirst strategy, which, while not nearly as sexy as yet another yawnifying tablet device, does provide some grown-up guidance and direction for companies actually trying to pull together something resembling a unified mobile strategy.
Here's what IBM's Robert Leblanc, IBM vice president, middleware, had to say about the IBM MobileFirst initiative:
"To date, mobile computing has been dominated by discussions of new smartphones, operating systems, games and apps. But enterprises have yet to tap into the potential of mobile business. Just as the Internet transformed the way we bank, book vacations and manage our healthcare, mobile computing is also transforming industries. As these devices become ingrained in everything that we do, businesses are now in the palms of their customers' hands. IBM MobileFirst is designed to make the transformation to becoming a mobile enterprise a reality."
Visit here to learn more about IBM's MobileFirst initiative, and go here to watch the IBM Mobile webcast that took place in Barcelona yesterday.
As for me, I'm packing up my mobile devices and taking them on the road.
In fact, I packed them up and took them to the TechTarget Online ROI Summit here in downtown Austin yesterday, and my colleagues thought it was worthy of a Facebook photo.
To which I explained, "I was traveling light!" (See the photo caption for an explanation of what's what.)
Where am I off to, you ask? To Vegas, of course. My second home. IBM Pulse 2013 kicks off on Sunday, and I'm heading out early manana to take in a little golf history lesson.
That is to say, I have a 2:30 tee time at Las Vegas National, the very same course where Tiger Woods won his first PGA Tour event back in 1996, and where Dean and Frank and Sammy and the rest of the Rat Pack used to hang out and swill martinis after a long hard-fought 18 holes.
I'd like to tell you I'm playing there because of all this history and Tiger lore, but the fact is the old Scotsman from GolfNow gave me a very aggressively priced tee time, which no other courses were offering.
After that, however, it's all work, and I'm looking forward to interviewing a number of IBM Tivoli luminaries for the IBM Pulse Livestream channel, including some of our business partners, analysts, and the man himself, Deepak Advani, the general manager of IBM Tivoli.
I want to also remind you of Pulse on Vivastream, where you can go do some preliminary social networking. Also check out the killer feature there in the right hand column of the main page, the "DIY Videos," where you can get some early previews of Pulse session speakers. Kil-ler.
In fact, let me do this: Below is my list of "Everything You Ever Needed To Know About IBM Pulse 2013 But Were Afraid to Ask Turbo."
- Hashtag: #ibmpulse -- all roads lead back to Twitter. Twitter is all-seeing and all-knowing at Pulse 2013.
- Vivastream at Pulse -- How you can maintain your crazy Pulse schedule, find your long, lost systems admin buddy... orrr, that really cute girl whose lip you accidentally bused in that crazy, countrified Carrie Underwood mosh pit.
- IBM Pulse 2013 Conference Site -- If you're lost at IBM Pulse... or even if you're not... this is always a good place to start. You can also use this page to find the video interviews I'll start conducting on Monday.
- IBM Pulse Smart Site (registered attendees only) -- The official keeper of your IBM Pulse calendar.
- IBM Pulse On Facebook -- Because we recognize there are people like me who spend way too much time on Facebook, and if you want to get their attention...
And now I want to pass you on to my good friend Rebecca's Top Things You Shouldn't Miss at Pulse 2013 -- it does not include a round with Turbo at Las Vegas National, but other than that, it's a great list.
Meanwhile, keep an eye for me on Saturday. I'll be the one driving down the Las Vegas Strip looking for errant drives.
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