The red carpet was out. The paparazzi were in full force. The limousines pulled up. And who came strolling into the venue? The best mobile devices of 2010! The iPhone 4 looked absolutely radiant in a gold sparkling backless Oscar de la Renta masterpiece!

I’d Like to Thank the Academy!

As awards ceremonies go this one was quite far from Hollywood and had nothing really to do with the motion picture industry. The Mobile World Congress, otherwise known as the meeting place for the leaders in mobile technology and the cell phone market, held its annual grand show and event in Barcelona over the past few days. As well as the splashy exhibitors from the biggest to the smallest in the industry, the event’s GSMA judges (The mobile world’s equivalent to The Academy) also dish out their "Best of 2010" awards. Typically the top awards, and no doubt the most prestigious, are for top device, best manufacturer, and top application!

And the Oscar Goes To

You’ve seen it before! The screen shows four live shots of the anxious nominees and there’s always a fifth nominee who is "unavailable" so they pop in a still photo instead. So there was Motorola, LG, Samsung, and HTC attending live, and this year’s still photo . . . . . Apple’s iPhone 4!! The GSMA awarded the iPhone 4 as "The Best Mobile Device" even though Apple did not attend the show, a practice that apparently is very common for Apple. To quote the judges, the iPhone 4 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."

Best Supporting Role!

This award actually has something to do with customer support! The GSMA judges awarded the "Device Manufacturer of the Year" to Taiwan’s HTC saying "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." Getting an additional nod from the judges was HTC’s Desire which "set the bar" for Android phones across much of the world in 2010.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents . . . .

Now Tippi Hedren may have the latest and greatest in mobile technology but that had nothing to do with the fact that "Angry Birds" made the headlines at the MWC in Barcelona! The GSMA judges awarded this year’s "Best Mobile App" to Rovio/Clickgamer/Chillingo for its 50 million plus-selling Angry Birds app saying that "it is an application that is simple, intuitive, incredibly addictive, and perfect for "snacking" consumption. It has underlined the importance of the applications market, and helped raise the credibility of small independent developers outside the mainstream." For the Android platform the App of the Year went to Google Maps, who by the way looked stunning in a strapless satin Prada!