We begin at the conference grounds, where we check in and pick up our badge

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

The lonely life of a MWC pamphlet hander-outer

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Once we pick up our badge, security is tight -- you need to show ID every time you enter the Congress

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Everyone has to touch their ID to an RFID reader to check in (why doesn't it automatically check us into Foursquare?)

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Hey, it's HTC CEO Peter Chou, holding the new... paper tablet from HTC

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

The MWC costume: Dark suit, white shirt, badge

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Hey, where is she going with all that toilet paper?

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Probably to one of these fancy porta-potties, which represent a significant portion of the bathrooms at the show

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

The MWC grounds go on FOREVER -- this place is massive

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Companies have fancy booths set up along the main walkway

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Inside one of the conference halls

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Foursquare's Dennis Crowley gave a talk, announcing new localization features for Foursquare

Then we caught the end of a panel about mobile apps -- someone mentioned a cool type of pill with a wireless sensor inside that can alert a computer when it has been digested

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

INQ, one of the companies making Facebook-integrated phones, had one of the nicer trailers set up

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Facebook IN the phone

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

It's cool seeing phone brands we don't normally see in the States, like Alcatel

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

This guy is really happy about his fast phone!

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

And the "best costume" award goes to... Peter Vesterbacka of Angry Birds!

Around 3, we get in line to see Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's keynote. It is a zoo.

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

This is the stampede waiting to go up the tiny staircase to see Steve Ballmer speak. Frankly, the MWC people should be embarrassed by their crowd control techniques. Someone could have gotten seriously hurt.

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Ballmer takes the stage and begins his traditional hand-motion routine

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

He announces an impressive customer satisfaction number for Windows Phone 7

MacRumors' Arnold Kim makes a joke

The many faces and hand motions of Steve Ballmer continue

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

If you even THINK about putting Android on all those Nokia phones, you're entering a world of pain

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Where's the beef?

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Do the chicken dance!

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Microsoft's Joe Belfiore comes out to show some cool new features coming soon for Windows Phone 7

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

But like everyone else in the room, Belfiore has to deal with the fact that the wi-fi is COMPLETELY garbage -- his demo fails twice

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Here's a demo where Windows Phone 7 running IE9 kicks the iPhone's butt at a performance test (this would be much more convincing in video format!)

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

And here's a cool demo of some kids using Windows Phone 7 phones as Xbox/Kinect remote controls

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

High five!

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Ballmer comes back and welcomes Nokia CEO Stephen Elop (a former Microsoft exec) to the stage

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Elop says he's excited about Nokia's new partnership with Microsoft and that their goal is to make WP7 the most operator friendly platform on the market. The carrier execs in the audience must be happy.

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Wait a sec, why is this guy taking up my keynote?

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Thanks for coming, everybody

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Happy Valentine's Day

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

In between keynotes, we realize WHY the wi-fi doesn't work -- EVERYONE is using a device of some sort, probably two or three each

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Next up was the Twitter keynote, and it kicked off with a video of famous people talking about who they follow on Twitter and why

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Snoop Dogg says he follows Martha Stewart -- something about waking and baking

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo starts off with a joke, saying how he was originally going to come out in an egg, but Lady Gaga ruined it for him

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Costolo gave a great speech, we thought, about what Twitter is actually all about, and where it's going -- an attempt to get the mobile execs in the room more excited about working with Twitter?

Why mobile matters to Twitter: 40% of all tweets sent from mobile. Important for Twitter to make deals to extend its mobile ecosystem.

Costolo also gave some stats, like this one

And in closing, please buy my ads!

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

And that's about it for the night! After that, we crashed a couple of parties, talked to sources familiar with the situation, and will tell you more about that later!

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Did we mention that this is a gorgeous place to hold a conference?

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Missed yesterday's wrapup?

Dan Frommer, Business Insider

Click here for everything you missed at Mobile World Congress, Day 1 →