At the Mobile World Congress 2012, the prizes for the best gadgets were awarded last night and the Apple iPad 2 tablet was, as was natural, named the best tablet of 2011. In the smartphone category, there could not be another winner than the Samsung Galaxy S II because no other manufacturer, including Apple, managed to generate so much attention for a smartphone in 2011. The iPhone 4S came out late, it sold much better than the Galaxy S II but in only for two months he failed to impress as well.
From my point of view, the choices are as fair as possible and maybe Apple learns something from here and returns to the old release format because its iPhones have little chance of being called devices of the year in the current conditions. At the Mobile World Congress, prizes were also offered for the best applications or for the best marketing strategies, and below you have the entire list:
- Best Mobile App for Consumers – Winner: Rovio Entertainment Ltd. – Angry Birds Rio
- Best Mobile App for Enterprise – Winner: Citrix Systems – Citrix Receiver
- Judges Choice – Best Overall Mobile App – Winner: WhatsApp Inc. – WhatsApp
- Most Innovative Mobile App – Winner: SwiftKey
- Best Mobile Advertising & Marketing Campaign – Winner: Brandtone – Carling Black Label “Be the Coach”
- Innovation in Mobile Advertising – Winner: Poken, the Leading CMS for NFC
- Mobile Marketing & Advertising Agency of the Year – Winner: [am.o.bee]
- Best Enterprise Mobile Service – Winner: Fiberlink – MaaS360
- Best Consumer Mobile Service – Winner: Google – Google Maps for Android
- Best Network Product or Solution for Serving Customers – Winner: Turkcell – Turkcell TiklaKonus
- Best Product, Initiative or Service for Underserved Segments – Winner: Safaricom – Grundfos
- mWomen Best Mobile Product or Service for Women in Emerging Markets – Winner: Etisalat, Qualcomm, D-Tree International and Great Connection Inc. – Etisalat Mobile Baby
- Best Use of Mobile in Emergency or Humanitarian Situations – Winner: UBL Omni – transparent and efficient Cash Disbursement service after the 2009 IDPs Crisis and the 2010 Flood Crisis
- The Green Mobile Award – Winner: Flexenclosure – E-site
- Best Mobile Health Innovation – Winner: Etisalat, Qualcomm, D-Tree International and Great Connection Inc. – Etisalat Mobile Baby
- Best Mobile Innovation for Education or Learning – Winner: OnPoint Digital – CellCast Solution
- Best Mobile Innovation for Automotive, Transport or Utilities – Winner: Ford Motor Company Ltd. – Ford SYNC with Emergency Assistance
- Best Mobile Money Innovation – Winner: Etisalat, MasterCard and Oberthur Technologies – Etisalat Commerce
- Best Mobile Innovation for Publishing – Winner: Financial Times and Assanka – The Financial Times Web App
- Best Smartphone – Winner: Samsung – Samsung Galaxy S II
- Best Feature Phone or Entry Level Phone – Winner: Nokia – Nokia C3-00
- Device Manufacturer of the Year – Winner: Samsung
- Best Mobile Tablet – Winner: Apple – Apple iPad 2
- Best Embedded Mobile Device (Non-Handsets) – Winner: AT&T – Garmin GTU 10
- Best Mobile Broadband Technology – Winner: KT – KT's Premium WiFi Solution
- Best Infrastructure Technology – Winner: Alcatel-Lucent – lightRadio Network
- Best Technology Breakthrough – Winner: Vodafone Group PLC – Quad Rate Technology: an evolved path doubling the efficiency of mobile voice
- Best Cloud Based Technology – Winner: Appcelerator – Titanium Integrated Development Platform
- Best Technology Product or Solution for Safeguarding and Empowering Customers – Winner: Cloudmark – Cloudmark Mobile Messaging Security Suite
- GSMA Chairman's Award – Joint winners: KDDI, NTT DOCOMO, INC. and SOFTBANK MOBILE
- Government Leadership Award – Winner: Government of the Republic of Colombia
