ITU 06 diary - Buzzword bingo, too much text and a one-on-one with Negroponte

At ITU yesterday the action really kicked off, with some of the biggest CEOs in telecoms lining up to speak.

It's a shame, then, that so many of them were saying so very little beyond buzzword bingo. They're "leveraging their experiences", "being user centric" and "providing an end-to-end solution".

Some of them though have been sniffing at the truth serum. The head of NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile operator in Japan, revealed his strategy for launching new services, such as the wallet phone.

Microsoft is releasing a number of 'cheap' smart phones for emerging markets, which will be retailing at about $250. I can't help but wonder how well such phones will go down when laid next to the $100 laptop.

"Consumers are not really sure if they really want them [new services]… we explore new needs with our marketing efforts." In other words, they throw out the new stuff and see what sticks. Bravo.

Have you read silicon.com's Steve Ranger's latest column on telepoint services? I recommend it. He's got a point about how good wi-fi coverage should be and the conference centre housing ITU has really nailed it - the seamless handover the buzzword bingo boys have been punting is here and it's great.

However, the all-pervasive communications at ITU this year are starting to freak me out when it comes to straightforward cellular. As soon as you step through the door to the conference, you're bombarded with text messages about what's going on. Which is bad enough, except whichever Matrix sends the texts knows your number whether you've registered or not and you have to call it to get the bombardment stopped. For a telecoms union, they've still something to learn about how to communicate.

Despite the blanket of technology at ITU, my planned meeting with Nicholas Negroponte, head of the One Laptop Per Child foundation - better known as the makers of the $100 laptop - is beset with communications difficulties. My one-to-one interview is scotched and we agree to meet at the press conference he's giving that afternoon instead.

Luckily for me, someone forgot to tell the press there was a press conference and I'm the only one waiting to interview Negroponte. You can read the whole interview here.

It's not just Negroponte who's got cheap hardware on the brain. I also pop in to another session Microsoft's head of mobile Pieter Knook is giving. He reveals Microsoft is releasing a number of 'cheap' smart phones for emerging markets, which will be retailing at about $250. I can't help but wonder how well such phones will go down when laid next to the $100 laptop.

While the cheapness of such devices may be up for debate, apparently emerging markets have a real appetite for sexy phones. That's what Motorola CEO Ed Zander says, anyway - read all about it here.

Read more of Jo Best's ITU 06 Diary:

• Day 1: Big ideas for developing economies - and a spot of mobile porn