Who is Paddy Cullivan?!

MEF continues to demonstrate its commitment to innovation and start-up talent by getting a completely unknown Irish Musical Comedian to host this year's Meffys awards.

Though relatively popular in his home country, Paddy Cullivan was spotted by the Meffys talent scouts at the London Web Summit and they hired him on the spot to present the 9th Annual Meffys awards, along with his own start-up business, the Camembert Quartet.

Paddy assures us he is very committed to the Mobile phone industry, citing the loss of at least four phones a year in nightclubs since the smartphone was invented. He has extensively tested many types of alcoholic beverage on the phone, and finds that white wine is the most effective for rendering it completely useless.

Further asserting his mobile credentials, he tells us he has one crack on his iPhone screen, tweets and shazam's constantly, loves being able to tune his guitar using an app, and becomes agitated when away from his phone for more than twenty minutes. He is extremely excited to be hosting the Meffy's and is composing an opening number that will "put Billy Crystal to shame". The band are even rumoured to be rehearsing ringtones - so expect a wild night of satirical, musical fun.

Don't miss out on what promises to be an unforgettable evening - To get your tickets for the 9th Annual Meffys, head over to the website now!

Interview: Rafael Pellon, MEF LatAm GM

Mobiletime.com - the Brazilian mobile news digest site has posted an extensive interview with MEF LatAm Geneal Manager, Rafael Pellon. In the far ranging discussion Pellon speaks on MEF, the Code of conduct for subscription services in Brazil and the challenges in implementing it, as well as the future of m-commerce in the region and globally. He also talks about the topic of privacy for mobile devices, a key issue for MEF, and discusses the unique perspective facing the South American market.  

Checkout the full interview (in Portuguese) on MobileTime.com.

Record level of entrants for 2012 Meffys as finalists announced

This week, the finalists for the 2012 Meffys were revealed, with MEF noting that that entries were from 35 countries with 25% of them coming from start up companies.

Amongst the lucky finalists, shortlisted by an international panel of over 30 journalists, academics, analysts and VCs, are entrants in six new categories including Consumer Trust and Social Responsibility & Development Awards. Other new categories this year include Publisher on Mobile, Life Tools App, Discovery and Engagement and Social Entertainment App.

The winners of the 2012 Meffys are set to be announced on 12th September 2012 at the Park Lane Hotel in Mayfair at the annual Meffys Gala Awards Dinner, which last year boasted sell out attendance and was hosted by international comedienne Ruby Wax. This year's presenter remains a closely guarded secret, but with tickets selling fast be sure to book yours now.

Rimma Perelmuter, Executive Director at MEF said: “Congratulations to all the companies that have made the shortlist and thank you to everyone participated in Meffys 2012. This year it’s really exciting to see the democratisation of the mobile ecosystem with companies from start-ups, digital agencies, brands and established mobile giants sharing the limelight. We are also delighted to celebrate the pioneering services committed to building consumer transparency as well as sustainability in growth markets with the introduction of new award categories that mark key focus areas for MEF initiatives in 2012.”

For the first time this year, nominees in the four Innovation categories will be given the opportunity to pitch to the C-level executives at the MEF CEO Summit to be held at City Hall, on the day before the Meffys. Guest speakers include executives from companies including Mozilla and Kaspersky as well as the EU Commission. The assembled international CEOs will then vote to determine the most innovative mobile product or service and reward the winner with the CEO Summit Award for Innovation.

Hit the break for the full list of 2012 finalists in the 13 categories, congratulation to all of them, we're looking forward to seeing you in London!

MEF Announces Star line-up for 2012 CEO Summit

MEF has announced the VIP speaker line-up for its 3rd annual MEF CEO Summit, a key event lining up next to the 2012 Global AGM & Board Elections and the Meffys gala awards ceremony this September as part of two days of industry insights, networking and celebration.

Date: 2.30pm, September 11, 2012
Location: London, City Hall

On September 11 City Hall will welcome leading visionaries from across the mobile landscape and beyond to share their unique industry insights around the summit's central theme Navigating Complexity in Times of Change.

The MEF CEO Summit is a free to attend member-only event, strictly limited to one C-level participant per member and uniquely offers attendees the rare chance to meet with fellow industry peers behind closed doors for completely open, non-attributable debate. The guest speakers provide stimulus presentations to kick-off round-table discussions on:

• Disruption to the mobile "old world" 
• Consumer Trust: the biggest game changer?

The Summit will end with a confidential report on the Future of the Mobile Landscape, given by Richard Kramer from equity specialists Arete Research and is followed by a pitching session from the shortlisted winners of the Meffys innovation categories.

MEF member company CEO's have received personal, exclusive invitations to attend. Please ensure your chosen representative has RSVP’d to ceosummit@mefmobile.org.

To see the full line up of speakers, continue reading below.