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“Hi. I’m on the SpringBox(?) stand in Hawcu(?) and it’s absolutely wicked and a amazing speech mobsters and come and see it. It’s fantastic. Bye.”

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We’re halfway through the show and if you feel anything like team telecoms.com, it’s going to be a long two days.

The big news at the show on Tuesday was Arun Sarin’s call for less fragmentation among mobile handset operating systems. Sarin said that just a handful of device OSes need to emerge from the 30 to 40 presently available, although other commentators speaking on the same issue before have identified between 300 and 400 different platforms out there.

Vodafone has already attempted to standardise its own handset portfolio across three mobile operating system platforms. In 2006 it made a move to standardise on Microsoft Windows Mobile, Symbian/S60 and Linux. But at the time it was noted that the Big V had not factored in Research In Motion’s BlackBerry platform and the many different flavours that Linux itself is split into - which is where this 300-400 number comes from.

We also checked out a version of the Open Handset Alliance’s Android platform, running on an ARM9 processor on the ARM stand. Although the demo didn’t show us anything we haven’t seen before it still gives a feel of what Android can accomplish when deployed across older or lower tier hardware platforms.

Yahoo had an interesting announcement as well, coming out with oneConnect, a social networking interface which plugs into all the social networks available and allows users to carry out their communications through the one service. It’s a kind of obvious development but I guess the strategy is that every subscriber to a social network is also a potential subscriber to oneConnect and another set of eyes to advertise too.

Yahoo also scored a coup by replacing Google as T-Mobile’s preferred on device search partner. The company also formally rejected Microsoft’s $45bn bid, suggesting that the company still thinks it’s in god enough shape to go up against Google on its own.

Phew. Bar one or two scrapes we managed to make it to World Congress, crumpled passport in hand, just as the Fira de Barcelona threw open its doors to the heaving masses.

As ever, attendee numbers are probably up - the queue to get a badge was massive anyway, photo below. Wondering around to get a feel of the place, the air is thick with talk of femtocells, WiMAX, and of course, gadgets.

The introduction of a new moniker for the show this year, changing to Mobile World Congress from GSM World Congress, allows the trade body to adopt a more neutral and inclusive approach to its work. With an eye on the evolution to LTE, the GSMA is aware that the technology for which it was founded will not be around for ever. Some members of the CDMA community, with which the GSMA has historically been at loggerheads, are likely to move towards LTE along with the GSM camp. US carrier Verizon Wireless, part owned by Vodafone, has already pledged allegiance to LTE.

Meanwhile, mBlox has been conducting SMS polls and has revealed that 40 per cent of MWC respondents want to ban booth babes. Naturally, another 40 per cent want to keep them and the remaining 20 per cent couldn’t care either way.

Check the news section of the site for more updates throughout the World Congress experience, and don’t forget you can drop us a line either on the blog or through our voicemail box on +44 151 266 6531.

It’s that time of year again. The telecoms.com team is packing its suitcases and preparing to head off to Spain for the annual mega-industry-shindig that is Mobile World Congress. The editors have dusted off the travel Scrabble to keep the team occupied and prevent any squabbling over who gets the window seat, and the Informer has ensured a ready supply of Paracetamol and Alka Seltzer in anticipation of a full party-diary.

The weather forecast says the temperature in Barcelona is about the same as in England - pretty chilly - so don’t forget your coat. Telecoms.com would also like to remind you that while we’re out there, we’ll be publishing as normal, but for those of you with a diary full of meetings you can also get news and announcements straight to your mobile phone by signing up for the telecoms.com Mobile service here.

We’re also running a voicemail box, which will publish your comments on Barcelona staight to our blog, so dial +44 151 266 6531 and leave a shout out.

Have a safe trip, we’ll see you there.