And here is the release regarding HTC's all new "Facebook" phones. Again, I won't be able to write much on them today hence this post. But I will aim to pop by shortly to their stand and do a video later on.

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CONTACT: HTC Media Relations, +1-425-638-7000, htcpr@waggeneredstrom.com

Web Site: http://www.htc.com

I won't get a chance to write this up until much later so here's the full tablet release from HTC. I will go and take a look later on today.

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CONTACT: HTC Media Relations, +1-425-638-7000, htcpr@waggeneredstrom.com

Web Site: http://www.htc.com

I saw a re-tweet of the Nokia Plan B open letter to Nokia shareholders and investors. It makes for interesting reading and I do like and appreciate the broad thrust of their arguments. (The Plan B summary: Don't do the Microsoft deal, get rid of Elop, fire some people, hire some people and the like).

The letter, written by '9 young Nokia shareholders', makes some very credible points.

My response is: Where were you last year? Where were you when the company was spunking it's market reputation up the wall and moving slowly, inexorably to last week's position of utter weakness?

The Microsoft strategy is galling for many die-hard Nokia fans. However I think the company had absolutely no alternative. I don't think many fans and stakeholders truly appreciated the gravity of the situation. The company was in such a dire position that the credit ratings agencies were considering reducing Nokia's phenomenally good A1 status. The world's largest handset maker? Downgraded? Shocking. Just because the market has/had lost faith. Nothing but bold steps would placate the industry and Elop knew this. The bold step comprised of two choices: Android or Windows Phone.

The steps had to be bold. Massive and bold. Dumping a one-off toe-in-the-water Windows Phone into the US market (as the Plan B's suggest) would have done absolutely nothing for Nokia. It's only the fear -- the awesome fear -- of the world's largest handset maker adopting a brave new strategy that is making the market sit up and pay attention. Half a billion handsets a year? All migrating to a Nokia-customised WP7? This has lots of people rather excited. (I know the numbers aren't quite accurate -- but it's not as if we're talking about a marketplace minnow. This is Nokia!)

I don't think people had any clue just how bad things were for the company prior to last week's announcements. And taking the market temperature here at Mobile World Congress, I'm content to say that the new strategy is absolutely brilliant. For the first time in what feels like decades, Nokia is being treated as a player again. Developers, suppliers, operators, manufacturers, industry executives -- I've spoken to many already and the overwhelming response is hugely positive.

Oh for sure there is a question over transition and execution, but finally Nokia has a seat at the table. (Remember, just a few weeks ago, Nokia was a total and complete irrelevance to the majority of the industry).

Finally Nokia has influence. Finally people are looking at the company and beginning to evaluate it based on an awesome future position. The world's biggest manufacturer? With a logistical capability second to none? Now back at the table? Yes please.

What's fascinating is the sea change I'm perceiving. All of a sudden people are talking about three major players: Apple, Android and Nokia/Microsoft. (RIM is in there too -- although many people don't quite know how to place them -- underestimate RIM at your peril). The key is that -- goodness me -- Nokia is now 'a big three'. Nokia is now a player. Of course this perspective is heavily based upon an assumption of proper execution over the next year. But Nokia is back in the game.

It's far too late for what-ifs or maybes. The time for that was last year.

Nokia will fall apart if it's employees fail to get behind the specified strategy 110%. The company needs to 'right' itself very, very fast. If you're a diehard passionate Nokia fan, your first priority should be to help fix the company's position using WP7. The industry will not wear any other option. A decision needed to be made. It could have been Android or maybe even WebOS (bit of a stretch, I know) but it could not centre around the company's existing operating systems -- they're perceived by the market to have failed. I know to many this seems like ridiculous logic. Alas, it's the game of perception vs delivery vs execution. Apple are masters, Google are obsessive and there was no further room for Nokia to deliver. There was no scope to allow Nokia to spend 12 months trying to fix Symbian/MeeGo to the market's satisfaction. Nokia now has at least 9 months grace to get things right with WP7.

If you'd like to see Symbian, MeeGo and so on continue as is, great -- me too -- I simply adore my N86. I'd love to have seen another revision. But first, right the ship, get the strategy working and demonstrate it to the market. Make Nokia great again. Then by all means bring Symbian and MeeGo to the fore.

However I think Nokia can do much better than what we've seen hitherto. I think the company can take the existing 'iPhone' app interface paradigm and completely change it. I think Nokia could deliver us the next generation of mobile interface based around always-on, uber-connected network-aware seamless mobile computing. I don't mean WP7 with bells, I mean a totally new interaction layer that will blow our minds. I am hoping for and expecting a lot.

But none of that will arrive if Nokia can't fix its current position and execute Elop's plan. If you want to see how bad it really was for Nokia, just wait. The real position was hidden for many. But just wait. If we get 9 months of in-fighting and emotional toys-out-the-pram behaviour from an obstinate employee base, we'll see the true reality -- and that will be an awful sight. If you think things changed dramatically on Friday, give a bit of thought to (for example) HP or Qualcomm buying a financially stressed, downgraded paralysed Nokia handset business for a paltry $5 billion this time next year. And doing so primarily for the patent library and a much diminished 10% market global handset position.

The game has changed. Nokia missed the boat this time around. The Phoenix is rising from the ashes right now -- come on Nokia! Let's see what you've got to show us. I think it could be simply brilliant.

Just a quick post about the MIR jacket sponsors for Mobile World Congress as a few people have been asking. That's right! The jacket is sponsored!

There was a lot of competition but I'm pleased to say MailSuite, the global mobile email experts, nabbed the spot on both arms of the jacket.

I will be publishing an overview of MailSuite in the next day or so.

I'm always surprised when I find an operator that doesn't do PAYG data. The very nice yet very firm lady in the Orange store -- to whom I was trying to give my business -- explained that this was absolutely impossible.

Those Americans I'd bumped into with their bags? Turns out they'd obviously bought PAYG handsets. That "don't do" (the ladys words) data.

Triple arse. The only reason I'm looking for a solution in the first place is because I will use more than 25mb a day in data while in Barcelona. Right now I'm charged a very equitable £2/day for 25mb of roaming data by Vodafone UK. After 25mb, I get screwed to the tune of £1 per megabyte. So uploading 50 photos each at 1 meg gets a bit annoying.

At some point one of the operators will wake up to the total arse that is data roaming -- along with the crazy situation that I, as a France Telecom (Orange UK) customer am charged stupid rates for roaming by.. France Telecom's Orange ES business. Given the cash ends up in the same bank account, one would imagine at some point one of these large operator groups will do some kind of fair international roaming deal. Vodafone is almost there with it's £2/day deal. If only they blocked that -- so I am charged £2 every 25mb -- I'd be perfectly delighted. 100mb would cost me £8. 200mb, £16. That's entirely reasonable for roaming.

Anyway thanks for almost helping Orange and France Telecom.

With tens of thousands of international delegates due to arrive into Barcelona today and tomorrow for Mobile World Congress, the Orange and Movistar shops I've walked into are doing brisk data sim business. I just bumped into three MWC chaps from Chicago at the Orange shop just off one of the main squares. They were all clutching Orange bags and smiling.

Me? Well. I thought I'd keep it Big Red. You know, primary operator loyalty. So I typed 'Vodafone' into Google Maps and walked by both competing operators. To find the Vodafone store was closed. Arse. So I'm off to Orange. I can't be bothered to do another five blocks to the other Vodafone shop in case it is closed too.

You do have to wonder why there wasn't a pop-up sim shop at the airport setup by an enterprising bright spark. I'd have paid well over the odds there-and-then.

(Apologies to the native Spanish speakers for butchering the post title.)

Continuing my look at the local MWC marketing efforts of the global mobile giants, on the way out from the airport baggage claim, a nice lady from Etisalat handed me this fancy show guide. For a moment, I thought it was a SIM card -- that would have been very cool -- but the guide is still useful.

Getting the media and the MWC crowds arriving at the airport is very smart. I wonder what I will find outside beyond baggage claim?

And just in case you're wondering, Etisalat is -- as this little pamphlet explains -- one of the world's fastest-growing telecoms groups rapidly expanding across Asia and Africa. The company services 118 million customers across 18 countries. Woot!

So that's me arrived in Barcelona and I'm now waiting for my baggage at carousel 14. A few minutes ago, a bunch of Samsung ladies dressed in branded blouses and blue skirts arrived with a ton of marketing boxes as illustrated.
They've placed them on the baggage carousel so everyone from the flight (mostly mobile people) can't help but notice them.

And what's going to be unpacked tomorrow? Rumour has it, the next generation Samsung Tab is arriving tomorrow.

Very good marketing, Samsung.

I'm already seeing tweet after tweet of people seriously criticising the Nokia-Microsoft news this morning. Phrases like 'jumping off a burning platform into a sinking ship', or, 'Nokia is dead', for example.

Nokia was dead as far as the market was concerned. The market demanded immediate moves to address this -- and, frankly speaking, the only option for Nokia was to jump aboard one of the ecosystems. Let's be clear: The *only* option. The company had left it too late to do anything else. There was *no* time left to develop or build. This is a critical point. The sabres were slowly being banged on the table.

Google was an option for Nokia. A serious option. However rumour has it (well, a good source) that the two companies could not agree on terms. This is not to close the door on a Google-Nokia option in future. Right now though, the company needed a response for the market that included the phrase 'deal with Microsoft/Google/webOs' (delete as appropriate -- and yes, webOS would have been an unusual option).

So Nokia was already dead. Ergo talk of surrendering their end-to-end independence and so on: Irrelevant. There was no way the market would let Nokia get through today without the statements they've already made. Deal with it.

The next big issue is: Can it be done? It sounds pretty compelling on paper. How will Elop get on with the thousands of die hard Symbian/MeeGo employees resistant to any change whatsoever? Well, memo should have reset a lot of brains this week. But I think the question of execution is a really big one.

As for Microsoft? Well, they've snared the big fish -- a deal of a lifetime -- with the world's largest operator. I think they will be pretty happy. They now have a response for all those doubting their strategy.

It remains to be seen just how HTC, LG and the other WP7 manufacturers will react. Samsung, already hot on Nokia's tail will most probably be ambivalent.

Nokia now has at least three quarters of leeway from the market to sort itself out. This is very useful. A good time to get razor focused on execution.

In the meantime, Nokia, set your handset designers alight. (In, er, a positive manner). Set them free and get them really, really innovating. You now need to talk devices -- and the story needs to be market leading, inspiring and compelling.

6-9 months from now though, if we are not seeing promising results from the union, those sabres will be rattling again.