Apple's iPhone 4 wins Best Mobile Device award at Mobile World Congress
Apple didn't attend Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but it took the event's top award for a mobile device.
The event, a major confab of the mobile industry, has been virtually ignored by Apple in much the same way as the more general Consumer Electronics Show held in January. Apple not only fails to show at both events, but also appears to leak news or hold press events of its own that tend to overshadow the announcements of competing firms.
Judges didn't hold that against the company however, calling iPhone 4 "Best Mobile Device," saying that it has a "great screen, sharp design, fantastic materials, and phenomenal ecosystem for app developers. In a tight race, the iPhone 4 built on the success of its predecessors to set the pace for smartphones."
A separate award for Device Manufacturer of the Year went to Taiwan's HTC, of which judges said, "this company has built its market presence from nowhere, with fresh branding and marketing and a strong portfolio of devices across many platforms. In particular, it has proven an exceptionally popular and enduring phone manufacturer. With great communication and good customer service, this is a well-deserved award."
Also cited was a "Highly Commended" note for the HTC Desire, which judges said "set the bar for Android phones across much of the world in 2010. Packed with great features, this is an enduring product that has performed consistently well."
App awards
Awards for "Best Mobile App" and "App of the Year on the Apple Platform" went to Rovio/Clickgamer/Chillingo for Angry Birds, with judges saying "this is the 50 million plus-selling app that catapulted the benchmark for mobile gaming higher than ever, it is innovative too in terms of in-application monetisation."
Other platforms were awarded a specific App of the Year award. For RIM BlackBerry, it was RIM's own BlackBerry Messenger, of which was said, "the benchmark for real-time, mobile instant messaging application that offers deep integration with the phone?s address book and media gallery."
Similarly, Google took the app award for the Android platform with Google Maps, with judges noting, "this has been one of the most frequently updated applications on the market, and the latest iteration has made it simply one of the best mobile apps out there today."
For Nokia's platform, Herocraft & InnerActive's Zum Zum was awarded, with the citation ?boasting captivating game-play, attractive graphics and simple rules. Ranked the number one game in Ovi Store in 2010, generating over six million game plays per month at its height.?
Previous winners
Last year, the event awarded Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs "Mobile Personality of the Year," but gave the Best Mobile Device award to the HTC Hero, the first Android model to incorporate the company's Sense UI.
HTC subsequently released an update for the award winning Hero to Android 2.1, but indicated that it would not offer an upgrade to Android 2.2. A variety of carriers worldwide have refused to distribute the Android 2.1 update despite HTC making it available. In the US, Sprint announced a 2.2 update for the phone but then reneged, saying it would only offer the update to its HTC EVO users.
The event, a major confab of the mobile industry, has been virtually ignored by Apple in much the same way as the more general Consumer Electronics Show held in January. Apple not only fails to show at both events, but also appears to leak news or hold press events of its own that tend to overshadow the announcements of competing firms.
Judges didn't hold that against the company however, calling iPhone 4 "Best Mobile Device," saying that it has a "great screen, sharp design, fantastic materials, and phenomenal ecosystem for app developers. In a tight race, the iPhone 4 built on the success of its predecessors to set the pace for smartphones."
A separate award for Device Manufacturer of the Year went to Taiwan's HTC, of which judges said, "this company has built its market presence from nowhere, with fresh branding and marketing and a strong portfolio of devices across many platforms. In particular, it has proven an exceptionally popular and enduring phone manufacturer. With great communication and good customer service, this is a well-deserved award."
Also cited was a "Highly Commended" note for the HTC Desire, which judges said "set the bar for Android phones across much of the world in 2010. Packed with great features, this is an enduring product that has performed consistently well."
App awards
Awards for "Best Mobile App" and "App of the Year on the Apple Platform" went to Rovio/Clickgamer/Chillingo for Angry Birds, with judges saying "this is the 50 million plus-selling app that catapulted the benchmark for mobile gaming higher than ever, it is innovative too in terms of in-application monetisation."
Other platforms were awarded a specific App of the Year award. For RIM BlackBerry, it was RIM's own BlackBerry Messenger, of which was said, "the benchmark for real-time, mobile instant messaging application that offers deep integration with the phone?s address book and media gallery."
Similarly, Google took the app award for the Android platform with Google Maps, with judges noting, "this has been one of the most frequently updated applications on the market, and the latest iteration has made it simply one of the best mobile apps out there today."
For Nokia's platform, Herocraft & InnerActive's Zum Zum was awarded, with the citation ?boasting captivating game-play, attractive graphics and simple rules. Ranked the number one game in Ovi Store in 2010, generating over six million game plays per month at its height.?
Previous winners
Last year, the event awarded Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs "Mobile Personality of the Year," but gave the Best Mobile Device award to the HTC Hero, the first Android model to incorporate the company's Sense UI.
HTC subsequently released an update for the award winning Hero to Android 2.1, but indicated that it would not offer an upgrade to Android 2.2. A variety of carriers worldwide have refused to distribute the Android 2.1 update despite HTC making it available. In the US, Sprint announced a 2.2 update for the phone but then reneged, saying it would only offer the update to its HTC EVO users.
Comments
Surprise! (not)
What else do you need to know. Oh, and Apple wants to keep the profit no lower either.
All these are proof that you can't keep a good thing down, no matter what a few idiots say at Consumer Reports.
I definitely agree with HTC's award. They well-deserve it. With solid hardware, good support and longer-term update distribution, as well as being on most of the carriers, they really did come out of nowhere to become one of the top phone developers.
See, I tend to disagree with that, if only because the reasons they gave made no sense. Why does being an upstart in the industry and quickly gaining popularity make them the BEST phone developer necessarily? I don't necesarily think apple should have gotten it (esp. b/c they didnt show up) but I think the criterion were incorrect for the award.
No trees were harmed in sending this message, though a large number of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.
No trees were harmed in sending this message, though a large number of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.
You take that back! I was reading this out in my backyard and I laughed so hard that I somehow managed to beat up a poor maple sapling that was minding its own business next to my chair.
I definitely agree with HTC's award. They well-deserve it. With solid hardware, good support and longer-term update distribution, as well as being on most of the carriers, they really did come out of nowhere to become one of the top phone developers.
They've been making WinMo based phones under various brands for years.
HTC subsequently released an update for the award winning Hero to Android 2.1, but indicated that it would not offer an upgrade to Android 2.2. A variety of carriers worldwide have refused to distribute the Android 2.1 update despite HTC making it available. In the US, Sprint announced a 2.2 update for the phone but then reneged, saying it would only offer the update to its HTC EVO users.
Thank goodness iOS updates are not in the hands of the carriers!
They've been making WinMo based phones under various brands for years.
Yes, but when did they (1) become a recognizable name to consumers and (2) become known for good hardware with a thoughtful execution of the whole including software customization? Pretty much all the really good phones I can think of (I don't like the Motorola Droids) are HTC: Incredible, EVO, Hero, Desire, HD2, etc. That's all happened mostly in the past 1 and 1/2 years. If I were to buy any smartphone other than an iPhone today, without a doubt it'd be HTC. They're pretty good to their customers and think about their products at least a bit. I applaud them for standing out from the rest of the market (sans Apple).
"Apple didn't attend Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but it took the event's top award for a mobile device."
Surprise! (not)
I dunno. Consumer Reports seems surprised.
Did anyone tell Consumer Reports this???
Strangely, I regard any Consumer Reports, report with a cynical smile. ...I got my father to stop subscribing. Also got him to get the new Verizon iPone...
RIM did not get the "App of the Year award", they got the SUPER App of the Year award.
Your regular apps are our SUPER apps, nah, nah, na na, nah! - Dingleberry.
Yes, but when did they (1) become a recognizable name to consumers and (2) become known for good hardware with a thoughtful execution of the whole including software customization? Pretty much all the really good phones I can think of (I don't like the Motorola Droids) are HTC: Incredible, EVO, Hero, Desire, HD2, etc. That's all happened mostly in the past 1 and 1/2 years. If I were to buy any smartphone other than an iPhone today, without a doubt it'd be HTC. They're pretty good to their customers and think about their products at least a bit. I applaud them for standing out from the rest of the market (sans Apple).
But it wasn't like they started from scratch, which I think was the original respondent's point. They were WinMo's go-to guys. They were the #1 WinMo OEM. Android used the exact same hardware specs as WinMo, in order to make the transition for OEMs like HTC as easy as possible. That's why they originally had that crazy ram limitation. HTC deserves alot of credit for making a successful transition from WinMo to Android, along with Samsung, but they didn't come out of nowhere. Perhaps, many people didn't know who was making all of those branded WinMo phones.
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MWC is like the Grammy's... Nothing more than a popularity contest among the "commercial" artists and nothing to do with the people making the best music.
I gave up on Apple after multiple POS ipods bit the dust for: bad mainboards, batteries and any excuse Apple could use not to repair under warranty. Two iphone 4's later I say enough of this Cupertino junk.
I now am a proud Android platform owner with the actaul ability to use my phone to make phone calls and not drop them 50% of the time. Bumper making no difference...
Go ahead and flame, 'cause after all the money and time with "Go screw yourself, we have no problems" Apple support and products I have wasted, I do hope they learn a lesson and Android is teaching them. LOL!!
Ouch. That must sting.
Why? I'm a Nexus One user and I have no issues with the award. The iPhone 4 was the best phone of 2010. I am glad though, that Android continues to close the gap on many fronts each day. That kind of competition benefits all of us. I wonder where the iPhone would be without Android breathing down its neck.
And I do wonder how much fragmentation played into it. As in vote fragmentation. If 30% of the judges vote for the iPhone 4 and 70% of the rest for a variety of handsets from Android, Blackberry, WP7, Symbian, etc., there's really no way for any other brand/device to win.