Week in view - a retrospective on the Mobile World Congress 2010

The Mobile World Congress is the most important date in the mobile calendar, and the week-long conference has, since changing its name for the 3GSM World Congress, this event has gone from strength to strength, with most manufacturers treating it as the perfect opportunity to launch their most exciting new mobile phones. This year's Mobile World Congress, however, saw less new mobile phone announcements, although it has been as big an event as ever.

There was one particularly big headlining event of the Mobile World Congress, and that was the launch of the Windows Phone 7 Series operating system.

For a while, a sizable part of the mobile buying public have been saying that Microsoft badly needed to update their mobile operating system, and at the Mobile World Congress, we got our first glimpse of how much they have updated it. It's accurate to say that Windows Phone 7 Series is a complete departure from previous versions of Windows Mobile, which is also why the name has been changed to reflect that. The changes to the OS are more than just cosmetic changes, as well, as Windows Phone 7 Series has been built from the ground up, using a brand new central software kernel, and a completely new ethos behind such crucial factors as the layout of the user interface. This interface borrows heavily from that of the Zune HD, and as such, delivers a user experience which is as different from any other on the market as it is from previous versions of Windows Mobile.

Further details of the new Windows Phone 7 Series operating system have yet to be revealed, but many commentators are already stating that it has the potential to really shake up the world of mobile phones in 2010.

Aside from the Microsoft event, the Mobile World Congress was also used as a platform for launching a selection of exciting new mobile phones, as well, the most notable being the new Samsung Wave. This is notable because it is the first mobile phone to feature Samsung's brand new Bada OS, a new, open source operating system designed by the Korean manufacturer, which is designed to compete against rivals such as Android and Symbian. The Samsung Wave is also notable for being the first phone to feature a Super AMOLED screen, which is specifically designed to improve daylight legibility, making it one of the first phones which is as usable in direct sunlight as it is indoors.

HTC were also present at the Mobile World Congress, and they have now unveiled three new mobile phones which promise to place them even more firmly in the mind of the consumer. The first is the HTC Legend, the successor to the HTC Hero, which features many of the same features as its predecessor, but in a new, ergonomically designed alloy metal body. Secondly, HTC also unveiled the HD Mini, a smaller scale version of their flagship phone, the HTC HD2. Finally, they also launched the HTC Desire, which is notable for being exactly the same phone as the Google-branded Nexus One, but with HD video and the HTC Sense user interface included. That last one in particular promises to be a very high-spec premium phone, so if you plan on buying one, it would be worth looking into getting it covered by mobile phone insurance, as the replacement price seems likely to be high.

However, the most interesting of the mobile phones announced at the Mobile World Congress (the Windows Phone 7 Series event was for an operating system and software platform, not for a particular phone) was the announcement of the Puma Phone, built by French manufacturer Sagem, in conjunction with sporting goods giant, Puma. Whilst it didn't have a list of features as extensive as the other mobile phones launched last week, it does have a lot of personality, with features such as custom images in text messages, and a uniquely quirky interface design. As such, while it may not sell as many units as other mobile phones, it is certainly an interesting little phone.