Mobile World Congress 2012 is wrapping up, four days of intense business, amazing technology, innovation and celebration in equal measure. We crowned Datawind the UK’s most innovative company, but there were another 150 UK based companies exhibiting and more than willing to give chase. We hope to see them in the line up for next year’s SmartUKProject award.

For this year though we bid a fond farewell to Barcelona and the Mobile World Congress 2012

Ciao!

Smart UK Project finalist blippar has already touched on the how it is trying to monetise mobile through its AR-ads at the UKTI’s seminar programme at Mobile World Congress. The company has added an m-commerce dimension to its mobile AR and image recognitions technology called Blipp to Buy enabling users to buy items featured in their blip-supported advertisements.

Blipp to Buy has already been trialled in the UK with Tesco, ASOS, IPC Media, Domino’s Pizza and Aer Lingus and according to blippar the click-through rate has been higher compared to that of traditional internet banner ads and paid search ads. The service is being rolled out with other well-known brands.

Ambarish Mitra of blippar says: “Brands and media owners have begun to appreciate the potential of our technology to bring their products to life and get immediate engagement from consumers. This is a major step forward in m-commerce and we believe it’s got the potential to become a significant new sales channel for brands across the spectrum, while also creating a new revenue stream for publishers.

“We expect Blipp to Buy to become one of the key services we offer to brands as the benefit to them and their customers is so clear. The results we’ve had in the trials so far have been very encouraging and we think the response rate can only improve as this consumer behaviour spreads.”

blippar has been exhibiting at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the  UKTI Stand, AV35

Outside of the fanfare surrounding the launch of quad-core smartphones (see part one), other major handset manufacturers unveiled some eye-catching smart and features phones at MWC, including a 41-megapixel camera phone from Nokia.

Nokia’s recent focus has been its Windows Phone smartphone range but it produced a surprise announcement at the show with the unveiling of the 808 PureView (pictured). This Symbian-powered smartphone features a 41-megapixel camera sensor that can capture banner-sized photos, but Nokia was keen to stress that people won’t use the maximum setting every single time (the phone has 5 and 8-megapixel modes). Although not a true 41-megapixel sensor – its use proprietary pixel oversampling technology – the Finnish company shows the level of advanced camera technology possible on a smartphone.

Samsung also weighed in an imaging-centric smartphone in the form of the Samsung Beam projector phone. The concept has been around since 2010 and but now user can now beam videos and photos at 15 lumens with pictures reaching a size of up to 50-inches on the diagonal.

After a lengthy absence, Panasonic is hoping to break back into Europe with two Android smartphones the Eluga and Eluga Power. As the name suggests, the more powerful of two, the Eluga Power is water and dust proof, features a large 5-inch screen, 8-megapixel camera and is powered by 1.5GHz dual-core processor. It also runs Google latest flavour of Android OS, 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Sony’s first handsets under its new stewardship saw the company expand its Xperia range of Android smartphone with the Xperia P and Xperia U. Sitting just under its flagship Xperia S model, the Xperia P boasts the same design flourishes including a transparent control bar. According to Sony its WhiteMagic screen technology adds white sub-pixels to improve brightness and power efficiency.

Elsewhere, Austrian-based emporia, a manufacturer of mobile handsets for senior people, launched the emporiaCONNECT – an easy-to-use feature phone that boasts smartphone app functionality. The new suite of apps for sharing photo, finding nearby amenities, synching calendars and reminders and voice-to-text /text-to-voice email lets the older generation communicate simply with a younger smartphone wielding generation.

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DataWind has won the Smart UK Project award for the UK’s Most Innovative Mobile Company, beating off stiff competition from the other three finalists blippar, P2i and QRpedia.

The competition, run in association with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), began its search for UK’s most innovative mobile company in November 2011.

All four finalists pitched before an expert judging panel – consisting of Mike Short (Vice President of Telefonica Europe), Sean Kane (startups mentor and Springboard founder), Russell Buckley (ex-AdMob executive) and Geoff McCormick (director of leading design consultancy, TheAlloy) – before the winner was announced today at Mobile World Congress.

DataWind has developed and manufactured the UbiSlate – a 7-inch Android powered tablet that retails for just $35. The company is aiming to ‘break the price barrier for computing and internet access’ and make digital connectivity affordable, especially in emerging markets around the world. Its onboard proprietary UbiSurfer web browser also increases data speeds by up to 30 times by compressing the data.

Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of DataWind says “The global reach of technology is truly only possible because of the significant support we receive from UKTI offices around the world. We are honoured to be recognised; it is a great validation of our vision and I hope this will help create greater impetus for UK innovation.”

Russell Buckley, one of the Smart UK Project judges, says “We were very impressed by the quality of all the finalists, it was a tough decision but we are very pleased that DataWind has won the Smart UK Project 2012. There is a global potential and the will to transform lives and society, all using the resources of a British company.”

UKTI is exhibiting at Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona. It can found at stand AV35.

Quad-core smartphone and tablets appear to be the main focus for the world’s leading handset manufacturers at MWC with many of the major companies unveiling its new generation of power–mad handsets. Here is part one of our round up of the hardware launched at the show.

Chinese manufacturer Huawei is hoping to make a big splash in Europe this year, starting with its Ascend D quad-core Android-run smartphone. The company has snubbed the popular Nvidia Tegra 3 and fitted each processor with its own 1.5GHz K3V2 chip. According to Huawei its own processor technology saves up to 30% on power. Also featured inside its slim 8.9mm frame is an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video, Dolby Surround Sound, a sizeable 4.5-inch 720p resolution screen and an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS.

Like Chinese rivals Huawei, ZTE is looking to break into Europe in a big way with eight new handsets, including its flagship model, the Era. Measuring just 7.8mm thick, this Android smartphone could well be the thinnest of the quad-core smartphones launched at MWC. Along with its 1.3Ghz Tegra 3 chips, the Era runs off an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS, boasts an 8-megapixel snapper, 1080p HD video, Dolby sound technology and Near Field Communications (NFC) capabilities.

Taiwanese company HTC unveiled its new One Series of smartphones, led by the flagship quad-core powered One X (pictured). Running the latest Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS and carved from robust but lightweight polycarbonate materials, the 9.3mm thin One X also features an 8-megapixel camera, Dr.Dre’s Beats Audio technology and a 720p HD Gorilla Glass protected screen.

Korean manufacturer LG also weighed in with a quad-core smartphone in the shape of the 4X HD. Similar to its its quad-core rivals its harbours an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich software, an 8-megapixel snapper, 1GB worth of RAM, a 4.7-inch 720p hi-definition screen, NFC technology while each core is powered by a 1.5GHz chip.