CTIA show wrap-up – Android, Galaxy Tab and Sprint ID

Monday, October 11th, 2010 Karen Ambrose Hickey, Editor

The CTIA exhibition in San Francisco last week, while anemic, was a good show for iPass to visit. If I was an exhibitor, I probably would not feel the same way as foot traffic on the show floor was pretty weak. However, on the flip side a lot of people seemed to attend surrounding events last minute – perhaps driven by other people’s last minute plan to visit. While iPass did spend time meeting with reporters and analysts, it was evident CTIA was paring back their efforts – with no press room for interviews.

Perhaps indicative of the trend in trade shows there were a significant number of smaller, more concentrated events outside of the CTIA venue. These events included two, local Mobile Monday group events, enterprise mobility boot camp, developer day events, IDC breakfast briefings, application and Android events, along with plentiful corporate-sponsored events and exclusive dinners.

Motorola launched seven new Android-based phones and let attendees play with their new (T-Mobile) DEFY phone for the first time. The booth was busy with attendees wanting to know more about the Droid Pro – a Blackberry, dare I say it, “killer,” hyping it as “the first Android-based smartphone optimized for business use.” That’s great news for mobile workers who use iPass to connect to the internet using iPass Open Mobile for Android.

T-Mobile announced last week that Wi-Fi calling would be available for a wide selection of their Android phones especially important as T-Mobile hosts approximately 40 million Wi-Fi calls per month, a number that has grown steadily since the company launched Wi-Fi Calling in June 2007. As many enterprises have deployed softphone applications coupled to their office phones, this offers a great way to remain connected to your deskphone without having to remain in the office.

The Samsung booth was abuzz too with their Galaxy S and new 7” Galaxy Tab(let) with its rear and front facing camera enabling (Wi-Fi) video chat with a variety of applications. For those gadget seekers, the new Galaxy Tab will be available in the US sometime before shopping season begins.

Now for those of you who don’t wish to shop for applications, Sprint unveiled Sprint ID, a smartphone that bundles apps (packs) around a theme. Sprint has partnered with a number of companies such as the Home Shopping Network (HSN), ESPN, Disney, Electronic Arts and eBay. It should be interesting to see how Sprint’s business model fares as they plan to generate revenue from both an advertising revenue split, as well as data plans.

Tags: Android, carriers, mobile apps, mobile device, Motorola, Samsung