Here’s what you missed at MobileBeat 2011

We just wrapped our MobileBeat 2011 conference yesterday, which featured many notable speakers including Square’s Keith Rabois, Yelp’s Jeremy Stoppelman, and PayPal’s Laura Chambers.

We initially intended to focus the show on “4G Nirvana,” although, as VentureBeat editor-in-chief Matt Marshall mentioned at the event, it became an exploration into the future of mobile payments as well. A group of 18 mobile startups also competed at the show for two of our coveted Tesla Awards.

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If you missed out on attending, or if you’d just like to revisit what happened at MobileBeat 2011, you can find a collection of our stories below. This year, MobileBeat was also co-located with GamesBeat 2011, and we’ll be getting a roundup of stories from that event up soon as well.

Onavo, Roar Engine dominate MobileBeat startup contest — We chose 16 mobile startups to take part in our MobileBeat 2011 startup competition, but only two could win our coveted Tesla prize.

Sony Network Entertainment president Tim Schaaf calls PSN hacking “a great experience” — Despite the fact that tens of millions of customers’ personal information was stolen and Sony had to shut down the network for six weeks, Schaaf called the hack a “really good time.”

Square COO Keith Rabois on creating an affinity brand for payments — How can a mere mobile payments startup like Square become a beloved brand like Apple or Porsche? According to COO Keith Rabois, it’s by making payments far less frustrating for both consumers and merchants.

Popular Android task manager Astrid lands seed funding, coming to iPhone, Web — Astrid, an Android app that aims to reshape task management, announced that it received seed funding from Google Ventures and Nexus Partners.

Google Ventures’ Rich Miner talks about the mobile revolution — Miner answered the question on everyone’s mind: Where’s the Android fund? Kleiner Perkins has its Apple-focused iFund, but neither Google nor venture firms have anything similar for Android startups.

App-support platform Crittercism launches with funding from Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins — Crittercism, a platform that allows developers to track support issues in their mobile apps, announced it’s launching to the public.

Wait, AOL has a mobile strategy? AOL’s head of mobile explains — David Temkin, head of mobile at AOL, hit the stage to clarify the company’s mobile vision.

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Sequoia & Kleiner VCs: Past year first for meaningful mobile momentum — Who doesn’t love to entertain venture capitalists? They have insight, they have an innovative eye, they have lots of money … So we grabbed two of the best dressed (plaid blazers anyone?) to join us on stage to discuss why VCs are going long on mobile.

Google’s plan for mobile and online payments includes Google+ — Google’s mobile payment strategy is just getting started, but that doesn’t faze Stephanie Tilenius, the company’s vice president of commerce.

MobileBeat Sponsor: What Qualcomm is doing for consumer — Qualcomm vice president of product management Raj Talluri discusses the chip maker’s focus on benefiting the end consumer.

PayPal brings NFC money transfers to Android, starting with Nexus S — Online payments enabler PayPal unveiled its first NFC (near-field communication) solution for Android devices.

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Tapjoy CEO lashes out at Apple for restricting choice, revenue — Tapjoy CEO Mihir Shah is upset at Apple, and he’s not afraid to let his anger show.

Verizon Wireless wants to enable the NFC market — Verizon Wireless has plans to help developers, startups and other companies make the most of Near Field Communications to enable mobile payments as well as other applications.

Pay on the go with a picture of your credit card — Anyone who has ever typed their credit card information on a mobile keypad will appreciate Card.io. The company offers a software-based credit card payment solution for smartphone developers.

Roar Engine shows how to build a game in four minutes — Roar Engine got up on stage to demonstrate its simple game building platform.

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Yelp plans more local deals, IPO to come — For Yelp, the present — and future — are all about mobile.

“The wallet is dead”, and Kopo Kopo is digging its grave — Kopo Kopo, with offices in Seattle and Kenya, allows small-to-medium sized businesses in emerging markets to leverage mobile money with a low-cost subscription software.

With Bagtrakka, you’ll never lose your luggage again — Shudder at the thought of checking in your luggage at the airport? Bagtrakka may be the solution for you.

LiveDibs wants to give you deals you actually care about — LiveDibs calls itself a geo-location oriented social deals marketplace.

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App.net provides intelligent app landing pages — Why didn’t you think of this? — With App.net, developers can sign up for a platform of tools to refer to their apps in different contexts including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, email and SMS.

With Twilio, SMS short codes aren’t just for big companies any more — SMS service enabler, Twilio, brought its new short code SMS product out of testing today.

Top photos by VentureBeat’s Chris Peri

VentureBeat would like to thank the companies that supported MobileBeat 2011, including Verizon Wireless, Qualcomm, Flurry, Greystripe, Box, Moolah, Tapjoy, AT&T Interactive, YuMe, Pontiflex, Zong, Kontagent, Papaya, Alcatel-Lucent, Spilgames, BluePoint Security, PayPal, Adoe, Tandem, and Haptify.

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