3GSM World Congress: Day one roundup
The 3GSM World Congress began in Barcelona on Monday with Microsoft making an early bid for the limelight with its new PlayReady DRM system.
PlayReady aims to make digital rights management (DRM) more attractive to users, by allowing them to easily share protected files between multiple devices. Microsoft says it will even work on mobile devices that aren't running Windows, and onboard already are several companies including Verizon and O2.
Earlier in the day, Nokia and Siemens announced their new joint network division, called Nokia Siemens. Its chief executive admitted that the mobile industry had overhyped technologies such as 3G, and claimed that HSDPA and WiMax will help operators deliver a much better experience.
New hardware is always an important part of 3GSM. This year, Toshiba announced two new devices — a "slider" smartphone and a PDA, which incorporate fingerprint-scanning and can even be used to unlock a laptop.
And for developers, Access (controller of the PalmOS, as was) launched a new drive to increase use of its Linux Platform.
Tomorrow, we'll bring you pictures of RIM's new BlackBerry smartphone, more details of PlayReady, and plenty more breaking news from the world of mobile.