Who Will Win The Mobile OS Wars?

March 26, 2008
5:00PM-7:30PM
Qualcomm Headquarters, Building N

As the mobile phone evolves into a handheld computing device the question of openness in the operating system is raised. In the traditional computing world Linux rose up as an open alternative which challenged (and in some cases won) against closed or semi-closed incumbents. Will the same battle for your desktop be fought for your pocket? What are the pros and cons of open vs. closed handheld operating systems? Will different strategies apply because the handset use model differs from desktops, or will history repeat itself? Third-party handset application developers; are you planning or prognosticating?

Want to known more? Then you want to be at this event. Our panel of mobile operating system vendors (moderated by industry expert Andy Seybold) will debate the wisdom and practicality of open vs closed platforms, and their place in the handset value chain.


PANELISTS:
	Gerardo Dada Microsoft Corp., Director of Mobile Operators & OEMs Gerardo Dada is a director of marketing in the Windows Mobile team responsible for working with North American mobile operators on business marketing strategy. Gerardo has over 7 years of experience in the wireless industry across every smart phone platform. For the last 15 years he has marketed various enterprise software technologies including application servers, databases, development platforms and tools.
	Eric Chu Google, Mobile Platforms Program Manager Eric Chu is responsible for ecosystem strategy and marketing for the Android platform. Eric is also responsible for the Open Handset Alliance at Google. Prior to joining Google, Eric was the CMO for Aplix, a leading supplier of mobile middleware in handsets. Eric also spent 10 years at Sun driving Java ME business and marketing as one of the key contributors that grew the Java mobile ecosystem to over 1 billion devices.
	Victor Brilon Nokia Inc., Convergence Product Manager Victor Brilon is a Senior Product Manager in the Convergence Product organization in Nokia. He is responsible for strategic collaborative efforts on the Linux platform with external partners. Victor has over 15 years of experience in working with emerging technologies, including wireless applications and Open Source software. Previous to Nokia, he was an entrepreneur and the co-founder of the largest wireless developer Web property. Earlier, Victor was a Senior Consultant Systems Engineer at EDS, where he led an engineering team in developing innovative Internet-based technologies and practices.
	Jerry Panagrossi Symbian Ltd., Vice President & General Manager, North American Operations As Vice President and General Manager of the Symbian operations in North America, Jerry Panagrossi is responsible for strategic planning, market development and communications. For the past nine years, Jerry has been a leading contributor to the growth of the Symbian ecosystem, having launched the Symbian partner program in North America and co-created the Symbian venture capital forum in which he advises startup companies on best practices for obtaining funding and for engaging with handset manufacturers and operators. Jerry also serves as executive director and officer of Symbian, Inc., and represented Symbian on the board of directors of the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) from 2004 to 2007. Jerry joined Symbian in 1999 from Motorola where, as senior engineer and project manager, he developed and patented natural input technologies and designed user interfaces for advanced concept mobile devices, including two-way pagers, communication PDAs and mobile phones. He was a member of the Motorola engineering team that developed the prototype for the company’s first touchscreen-based smartphone. Specializing in pattern recognition and usability engineering, Jerry previously held contracting and software engineering positions at Apple Computer, Eastman Kodak Company, and Ciencia y Tecnología Aplicada (trans. “Science and Technology Applied”).
	Nedim Fresko Blackberry, Technical Director Platform Strategic Initiatives Nedim Fresko is director of strategic platform initiatives at Research In Motion. Nedim is responsible for research initiatives and competitive analysis around the BlackBerry developer experience, concentrating on future platform directions. Formerly he was a Distinguished Engineer at Sun Microsystems, working on various technology aspects of the Java ME platform, from JVM internals up to developer facing APIs and their evolution to handle rich consumer content across multiple device types.
	Sayeed Choudhury Qualcomm, Staff Product Manager for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies Sayeed Choudhury, staff product manager at QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies, is responsible for third-party application platforms as they pertain to the company’s chipset system solutions. With more than fourteen years in the wireless and content industries, Sy was instrumental in brokering a recent collaboration between QUALCOMM and Microsoft to enable integrated support for Windows Mobile on CDMA2000 and UMTS Mobile Station Modem chipsets, and will continue to oversee support for other platforms. Choudhury launched his career at Creative Labs, and built his significant experience with a role as an embedded software and hardware engineer at Abbott Laboratories, and in hardware, imaging, marketing and business development roles at Wind River Systems. His talent and efforts led to measurable significant revenue increases, more efficient customer communication, and enhanced company visibility. He also proved instrumental in building and maintaining relationships with key partners, a valuable skill that has proved essential to his current role at QUALCOMM. Choudhury holds a BSEE from the State University of New York at Buffalo in Buffalo, New York.
	Naser Partovi President & CEO, SKY MobileMedia Prior to joining SKY, Naser was managing director at Enterprise Partners Venture Capital, where he managed a portfolio of companies in the communications industry — including Ascendant Systems, DragonWave, Inc., Quorum Systems, and ReliOn, Inc. He also served on the boards of GoBeam, WIDCOMM, and Gigabit Optics while at Enterprise. Before joining Enterprise, Naser was Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for Nortel’s optical networks business. At Nortel, he was also instrumental in building the company’s Broadband Networks Professional Services team. After earning a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from McGill University, Naser began his career at Bell-Northern Research. There he helped develop the first large-scale object-oriented program for outside plant planning technology. This technology has been successfully deployed by several large carriers.
MODERATOR:
	Andy Seybold Andrew Seybold, Inc., Founder and Principal Andrew M. Seybold, founder and principal of Andrew Seybold, Inc., is one of the most respected and influential champions of mobile wireless innovation. Since 1983, he has served his clients and the industry as an analyst, consultant, commentator and author, as well as an active participant in industry trade organizations. Mr. Seybold has and does serve on a number of advisory boards including Motorola’s prestigious Visionary Research Council. He is widely known throughout the wireless communications industry for his keen perspective as well as his track record for accurately predicting trends in mobile wireless technology and convergence. Mr. Seybold is a frequent speaker at leading industry events such as CES and CTIA Wireless, and at corporate events for Fortune 1000 companies. He has a keen sense of what customers want, need and are willing to pay for. He was elected a Fellow in the Radio Club of America (2000) for his contributions to the wireless data industry.

CommNexus' Entrepreneur of the Night:
	Franz Birkner Co-Founder & CEO, Rayspan Corporation Building on 20 years of success as a San Diego telecommunications entrepreneur and venture capital investor, Franz Birkner today is co-founder and CEO of his most exciting and important venture: Rayspan Corporation, the world’s leading innovator of metamaterial air interface solutions for wireless communications. Rayspan’s mission is global leadership in pioneering breakthrough improvements in antenna and RF component performance, miniaturization and cost reduction – for the world’s largest wireless markets, including 3G/4G cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and WiMAX. Before launching Rayspan, Franz was co-founder and Managing Director of early-stage VC fund Express Ventures. He also was an active investor and board member at Dot Wireless (acquired by Texas Instruments) and Cognet Microsystems (acquired by Intel), and he was a founding board member of the San Diego Telecommunications Council. Franz was co-founder and chairman/CEO of ComStream Corporation, an industry-leading digital satellite communications equipment company that spawned many successful follow-on ventures in San Diego. For his accomplishments at ComStream, he was elected San Diego High Tech Entrepreneur of the Year. Prior to ComStream, he was Vice President - Strategy Development for the Linkabit and the Digital Communications units of M/A-COM. Franz began his career as a microwave communications engineer at Watkins-Johnson and subsequently was a director at the Boston Consulting Group. He earned dual B.S. degrees with honors from MIT's School of Electrical Engineering and its Sloan School of Management.