GSM Association Announces Mobile Innovation Award Shortlist For 2007

17th January 2007 - London: The GSM Association (GSMA) today announces the finalists of the 2007 Mobile Innovation Awards, one of the fastest growing categories in the GSMA Global Mobile Awards programme.

Now in their second year, the Mobile Innovation Awards attract interest from innovators worldwide. Designed to encourage and showcase innovation in all aspects of mobile communications, these Awards provide the opportunity for small, young and start-up companies to present their ideas to leading industry investors and mobile operators at the world’s largest mobile communications event.

The Mobile Innovation Awards, sponsored by Ericsson, are judged in two stages. The 2007 shortlist has been chosen by a panel of expert judges with unrivalled expertise and experience in the factors that can make, or break, the success of a truly innovative idea.The shortlist will present to the judges at the Mobile Innovation Forum on Monday 12 February at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. Winners will be announced at the end of the day. Delegates will see the 12 finalists present their innovations, and hear keynotes from Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Director of the World Wide Web Consortium and inventor of the world wide web, and Dipchand Nishar, Director of Product Management for Google.

The Forum is a high profile session open to all Congress delegates and attended by representatives of the investment, vendor and operator communities. 2006 Mobile Innovation Award winner Spinvox will also present on the effect the Award has had on their business over the last 12 months.

The popularity of the inaugural Mobile Innovation Award led to the introduction of two separate categories for 2007. The shortlisted companies are as follows:

Most Innovative Mobile Application or Content
Admob Inc. – United States
Medio Systems – United States
Microimage (winner of 2006 Asian Mobile Innovation Award) – Sri Lanka
Promptu – United States
Screen Tonic - France
ShoZu Inc. - United States

Most Innovative Technology Development
G-Xchange Inc. – The Philippines
International EFT Systems, Hani Samuel & Co - Egypt
In View AB - Sweden
Open-Plug (winner of 2006 Asian Mobile Innovation Award) - Taiwan
Polymer Vision – The Netherlands
Ubiquisys Ltd. – United Kingdom

GSMA CEO Rob Conway said: “There is tremendous and growing interest in the Mobile Innovation Forum and the award from all corners of the industry. It is a programme that is designed to give a platform for small companies with big ideas, at the world’s biggest mobile event. The bigger the mobile world becomes, the more difficult it is for small and young companies to shine, so the aim of this programme is to provide an opportunity for young, small and start-up innovators to reach the key decision makers in one place, from that perspective it is a rare and immensely valuable opportunity, from which all in the mobile value chain can benefit.�

The Mobile Innovation Award, supported by media partners the Financial Times and Red Herring magazine, is part of the established global GSM Association Global Mobile Awards programme, now in its 12th year. The full 2007 Awards shortlist can be found here .

About the GSM Association

The GSM Association (GSMA) is the global trade association representing 700 GSM mobile phone operators across 215 countries of the world. In addition, more than 180 manufacturers and suppliers support the Association's initiatives as key partners.

The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wireless services work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value to individual customers and national economies, while creating new business opportunities for operators and their suppliers. The Association's members serve more than two billion customers - 82% of the world's mobile phone users.

Source: GSM Association