Top Tweets and Quotes from Mobile World Congress Day 1

Approximately 50,000 members of the mobile industry from 200 countries have descended upon Barcelona, Spain, this week for the 2011 Mobile World Congress. Here are some of the headlines from the event on Monday:

Top Quote: “[Twitter] needs to work the same way in the bathroom as it does in the kitchen”

During his keynote speech, the Mobile Business Briefing blog reports that Twitter CEO Dick Costolo implored executives to make social networking a central aspect of the mobile experience. While sophisticated smartphones to SMS-only devices are all capable of running Twitter, Costolo expressed concern that the user experience varied so greatly amongst platforms. 

“The experience has to be the same; we don’t want users having to relearn Twitter… It needs to work the same way in the bathroom as it does in the kitchen,” said Costolo, according to the blog. “Instantly useful and simple.” Read more

Top Tweet: Microsoft CEO positions WP7 as the choice for operators http://bit.ly/ik6vXm

Windows Phone 7 is “the most operator-friendly platform available,” claimed Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer during his presentation, according to the Mobile Business Briefing blog. He was joined by Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia, as the pair touted the advantages their partnership provides.

Given the growing prominence of Apple and Google in the mobile space, the blog mused that Microsoft appears to be promoting itself as the top alternative by teaming up with the leading global handset manufacturer.

Top Tweet: Nokia admits it rejected Android http://bit.ly/ihEXoh

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop explained that the company chose Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 (WP7) platform as its primary smartphone OS, rather than Android, in order to prevent  a “duopoly” in the mobile industry between Google/Nokia and Apple, according Mobile Business Briefing blog. Elop said Nokia was approached by Google (Android) as well.

“A decision to swing to Android would have tilted the mobile ecosystem in the direction of a duopoly, but we wanted to create a challenger,” the blog reports Elop said.

Elop hopes the first WP7 phone will be available before the end of the year.

Click here for more of the latest headlines from Mobile World Congress.