Mobile World Congress breaks attendance record

As Mobile World Congress drew to a close, organiser GSMA described it as the most successful year of the exhibition as it set

records for attendance.

With more than 85,000 exhibitors, delegates and media from more than 200 countries descending on Barcelona for the four-day event, the Fira Gran Via and Fira Montjuïc played host to everyone from small Irish companies to tech billionaires.

GSMA chief executive John Hoffman described the event as “a stunning success”.

“Beyond the number of attendees and participating companies, the continued expansion of the event to address key adjacent industry sectors demonstrates just how pervasive mobile is in our everyday lives and how integrated it is becoming in everything that we do,” he said. “It’s gratifying to be part of such a dynamic, exciting industry.”

Over the four days, more than 1,800 companies showcased their latest products and services, with big names such as Facebook, IBM, Sony and Samsung sending top level executives to the event.

Artificial intelligence
On Wednesday, IBM chief executive Ginni Rometty kicked off a competition to encourage software developers to build applications on its artificial-intelligence system Watson, as the tech firm seeks to stall its falling revenue.

Delivering a keynote address to the conference, Ms Rometty outlined the challenge to those interested in working with the system, whose claim to fame was beating two human contestants on the TV show Jeopardy .

The challenge will see IBM choose three prototypes to support development into commercial apps.

Watson, which analyses data and can answer questions in conversational language, is intended to be the focus of a new division that IBM is spending $1 billion to create. The company is seeking new directions as slowing hardware sales hit its quarterly figures.

The three winners of IBM’s challenge will be able to work with Watson developers to help them create marketable mobile applications.

Charging developers
IBM will start charging developers after applications that use the tool become publicly available, Stephen Gold, vice president of IBM Watson Group, said in an interview. "We all want them to be very successful," he said. "We only win if they win." – Additional reporting: Bloomberg