MWC: Samsung, Google, Qualcomm (and Angry Birds) big winners

Samsung, Google and Qualcomm were among the multiple award winners at the annual Global Mobile Awards announced yesterday at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. But Angry Birds and WhatsApp also scored.

GSMA yesterday announced the winners of the 17th Annual Global Mobile awards, held at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The winners were honoured in an afternoon ceremony hosted by comedian and songwriter Tim Minchin.

The multiple award winners included Samsung, for both best Smartphone (Samsung Galaxy S II) and Device manufacturer of the year: Google, for Innovation in Mobile Advertising (Google Wallet) and Best Consumer Mobile Service (Google Maps for Android): and Qualcomm, who shared both Best Mobile Product or Service for Women in Emerging Markets and Best Mobile Health Innovation with Etisalsat, D-Tree International and Great Connection. Etisalsat also won the award for Best Mobile Money Innovation, shared with MasterCard and Oberthur Technologies.

Winners that reflected popular taste included Rovio’s Angry birds, the Best Mobile App for Consumers, WhatsApp, the Judges Choice for Best Overall Mobile App, and the Nokia C3-00 for Best Feature Phone or Entry Level Phone.

Cherie Blair, champion of the GSMA’s mWomen programme, joined Minchin on stage to co-present four awards within the ‚Social and Economic Development’ category.

‚The 2012 Global Mobile Awards continue to showcase the greatest, most creative and innovative products and services driving the mobile ecosystem today and into the future. With a record number of high calibre entries this year, it is a significant achievement to have been honoured in today’s ceremony,‚ said Michael O’Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. ‚The GSMA congratulates winners and commends all those taking part for raising the benchmark of contributions to mobile communications across the entire industry.‚

The winners of the 2012 Global Mobile Awards are:

Best Mobile App for Consumers

Winner: Rovio Entertainment Ltd. – Angry Birds Rio

Best Mobile App for Enterprise

Winner: Citrix Systems – Citrix Receiver

Judges Choice – Best Overall Mobile App

Winner: WhatsApp Inc. – WhatsApp

Most Innovative Mobile App

Winner: SwiftKey

Best Mobile Advertising & Marketing Campaign

Winner: Brandtone – Carling Black Label “Be the Coach””

Innovation in Mobile Advertising

Winner: Google – Google Wallet

Mobile Marketing & Advertising Agency of the Year

Winner: [am.o.bee]

Best Enterprise Mobile Service

Winner: Fiberlink – MaaS360

Best Consumer Mobile Service

Winner: Google – Google Maps for Android

Best Network Product or Solution for Serving Customers

Winner: Turkcell – Turkcell TiklaKonus

Best Product, Initiative or Service for Underserved Segments

Winner: Safaricom – Grundfos

mWomen Best Mobile Product or Service for Women in Emerging Markets

Winner: Etisalat, Qualcomm, D-Tree International and Great Connection Inc. – Etisalat Mobile Baby

Best Use of Mobile in Emergency or Humanitarian Situations

Winner: UBL Omni – transparent and efficient Cash Disbursement service after the 2009 IDPs Crisis and the 2010 Flood Crisis

The Green Mobile Award

Winner: Flexenclosure – E-site

Best Mobile Health Innovation

Winner: Etisalat, Qualcomm, D-Tree International and Great Connection Inc. – Etisalat Mobile Baby

Best Mobile Innovation for Education or Learning

Winner: OnPoint Digital – CellCast Solution

Best Mobile Innovation for Automotive, Transport or Utilities

Winner: Ford Motor Company Ltd. – Ford SYNC with Emergency Assistance

Best Mobile Money Innovation

Winner: Etisalat, MasterCard and Oberthur Technologies – Etisalat Commerce

Best Mobile Innovation for Publishing

Winner: Financial Times and Assanka – The Financial Times Web App

Best Smartphone

Winner: Samsung – Samsung Galaxy S II

Best Feature Phone or Entry Level Phone

Winner: Nokia – Nokia C3-00

Device Manufacturer of the Year

Winner: Samsung

Best Mobile Tablet

Winner: Apple – Apple iPad 2

Best Embedded Mobile Device (Non-Handsets)

Winner: AT&T – Garmin GTU 10

Best Mobile Broadband Technology

Winner: KT – KT’s Premium WiFi Solution

Best Infrastructure Technology

Winner: Alcatel-Lucent – lightRadio Network

Best Technology Breakthrough

Winner: Vodafone Group PLC – Quad Rate Technology: an evolved path doubling the efficiency of mobile voice

Best Cloud Based Technology

Winner: Appcelerator – Titanium Integrated Development Platform

Best Technology Product or Solution for Safeguarding and Empowering Customers

Winner: Cloudmark – Cloudmark Mobile Messaging Security Suite

GSMA Chairman’s Award

Joint winners: KDDI, NTT DOCOMO, INC. and SOFTBANK MOBILE

Government Leadership Award

Winner: Government of the Republic of Colombia

A panel of judges searching for the most promising ‚Best New Mobile Handset, Device or Tablet at Mobile World Congress 2012′ will select a shortlist of nominees, and a winner that will be announced on the morning of Thursday 1st March, 2012 at Mobile World Congress. Both the shortlisted nominees and the winner will be announced via Mobile World Live TV and on the Global Mobile Awards website.

The full list of winners and finalist for the 2012 Global Mobile Awards is available at: http://www.globalmobileawards.com/winners2012.php

In total, more than 170 independent analysts, journalists, academics and subject matter experts and 16 representatives from mobile operators throughout the world participated in the judging of the 2012 awards.

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