February 4, 2008 8:52 AM PST

Barcelona or bust: GSMA Mobile World Congress preview

Posted by Bonnie Cha

GSMA Mobile World Congress

(Credit: GSMA)

On February 11, thousands from around the world will converge in Barcelona, Spain, for the annual GSMA Mobile World Congress (formerly known as the 3GSM Mobile World Congress). The four-day show brings together the cell phone industry to discuss and showcase the latest GSM technologies and developments. This year Senior Editor Kent German and I, along with CNET News.com's Maggie Reardon, CNET UK's Andrew Lim, and CNET TV's Ariel Nunez, have the fortune of traveling to Barcelona to cover the show so that we can bring you the latest news through blogs, pictures, and videos.

What do we expect to see? With major handset manufacturers such as Motorola, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson having a presence at the show, we wouldn't be surprised to see some cell phones and smartphones make their debut. To give you an example, last year Motorola unveiled the Motorola Q9 series; Samsung showed off some new designs; and Nokia showed off its new E series. Some blog sites, including Engadget Mobile, are reporting that Nokia will unveil its touch-screen concept. We also hope to get more information on the next version of the Windows Mobile operating system. Details of the OS have already leaked onto the Web. Finally, we expect to see a lot of mobile software and services as cell phones and smartphones become more than just devices that make calls.

Now, this is just a sneak peek of what is to come. The GSMA Mobile World Congress promises to be an action-packed show so check back on February 11 when our live coverage begins. We'll report back on all the sights and sounds. See you then!