1read2.org recieved this press release a few weeks ago. We thought it might be interesting to a number of developers.
Nokia will be holding an application development contest this 2010. Submission will be accepted from Feb 1, 2010 until May 18, 2010. The contest has four categories – (i) Eco/Being Green; (ii) Productivity; (iii) Life Improvements; and (iv) Entertainment. More information can be found at www.callingallinnovators.com. Specifically: Welcome to the Forum Nokia Calling All Innovators 2010 contest! and Contest Categories.
Another interesting tidbit about the contest this year Nokia partnered with Sesame Workshop for an education subcategory under the life improvement category for application that will teach early literacy. Furthermore, Sesame will provide guidance during the judging process and will go further by working with select developers to enhance potentially important projects.
Forum Nokia’s Calling All Innovators – Overview
THE PRESS RELEASE
Nokia’s Global “Calling All Innovators” Challenges Developers to Make a Difference
Announces Collaboration with Sesame Street
January 7, 2010 –Save the environment, lift spirits, improve productivity, educate and contribute to a healthy lifestyle: Nokia wants 2010 to be a year of good ideas that make a difference in peoples’ lives. Forum Nokia today announced Calling All Innovators 2010, an international application development contest designed to inspire creativity and change.
Calling All Innovators 2010 features four categories for submissions that enhance the use of Nokia mobile devices in real-world scenarios:
· Eco/Being Green: apps that help to save the planet with innovative, eco-friendly uses.
· Productivity: apps that make your life easier, and help you to be more efficient, such as utilities, business, or personal finance applications.
· Life Improvement: apps that positively affect the daily lives of people living in developing countries by using the prevalence of mobile devices to teach children and illiterate adults critical skills, and agriculture health.
· Entertainment: apps that bring out your inner rock star, and show off the coolest multimedia features, including music, multimedia and games – because mobile also has to be about having fun!
Additionally, Forum Nokia has teamed up with Sesame Workshop, the producers behind Sesame Street, for the education subcategory of the life improvement category to encourage developers to create and offer applications to teach early literacy on Nokia devices to communities around the world. Sesame Workshop will offer guidance during the judging process and work with select developers to further enhance relevant projects.
“Today’s announcement is brought to you by the letter S,” said Purnima Kochikar, vice president Forum Nokia. “Teaming up with Sesame Street allows us to inspire the imagination of developers to help educate children worldwide through advances in mobile technology with quality, branded content.”
The collaboration will encourage developers to create educational applications, and possibly utilize the Sesame Street characters, for consumers around the world. As Sesame Street celebrates its 40th anniversary, this partnership helps to extend its “longest street in the world” into the digital one. With an expertise in using media to reach children, the nonprofit is looking to mobile as the newest distribution channel of literacy-based content through accessible mass media.
“With Forum Nokia’s community – over four and a half million developers strong – we’re challenging those particularly in emerging markets to create educational tools that make a positive impact,” said Jeffrey Fleishman, assistant vice president for Media Distribution Business Development, Sesame Workshop. “We’re looking for creators who can bring a fresh perspective and local knowledge to the growing field of educational mobile applications. Our goal is to find some partners with which we can work to extend the power of Sesame Street to new platforms and places.”
“We encourage Asian developers to submit locally relevant and innovative applications that can be made available as the Ovi Store expands to every corner of the world,” said Kenny Mathers, Head of Developer Relations and Marketing, Forum Nokia, APAC.
More details about all the categories for Calling All Innovators, special prizes and judges can be found on the contest web site at: www.callingallinnovators.com.
Submissions from developers for the 2010 Calling All Innovators contest will be accepted starting on 1 February 2010. The submission deadline will be 18 May 2010.
About Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization that revolutionized children’s television programming with the landmark Sesame Street. The Workshop produces local Sesame Street programs, seen in over 140 countries, and other acclaimed shows to help bridge the literacy gap including The Electric Company and Pinky Dinky Doo. Beyond television, the Workshop produces content for multiple media platforms on a wide range of issues including literacy, health and military deployment. Initiatives meet specific needs to help young children and families develop critical skills, acquire healthy habits and build emotional strength to prepare them for lifelong learning. Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org.
About Forum Nokia
Nokia’s global developer program, Forum Nokia connects developers to tools, technical information, support, and distribution channels they can use to build and market applications around the globe. From offices in the U.S., Europe, India, Japan, China, and Singapore, Forum Nokia provides technical and business development support to developers and operators to assist them in achieving their goal of successfully launching applications and services to consumers and enterprises. More information is available at www.forum.nokia.com.
About Nokia
Nokia is a pioneer in mobile telecommunications and the world’s leading maker of mobile devices. Today, we are connecting people in new and different ways – fusing advanced mobile technology with personalized services to enable people to stay close to what matters to them. We also provide comprehensive digital map information through NAVTEQ; and equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through Nokia Siemens Networks.
