I had a note in from Jason Black of Forum Nokia this morning. He’s got $250k to give away — as well as a heck of a lot of useful opportunities for anyone in the mobile development space — for their upcoming innovation competition.
Don’t discount this as a ‘whatever’.
These kind of events and opportunities really can take you from relative obscurity to sitting in front of one of Nokia’s Board Members at one of the events. And with that in mind, it’s not all about winning. Even though the grand prize winner will walk away with a useful $30k. It’s about getting in the door. It’s about turning up, being seen and shaking as many hands as possible and seeing where that takes you.
As the phrase goes, ‘sitting at home in the dark ain’t a brilliant business development technique’…
There’s a ton of people reading this right now who’ve come up with a good idea. And about 99% of them are, sadly, going to think I’m talking bollocks when I say, it really is worth trying these sort of things out.
Let’s talk turkey.
* Grand Prize winner: $30,000 USD in cash; “Spotlight” placement featuring the winning application for 4 weeks on the top page of Nokia’s newly announced Ovi Store, where consumers will find the best mobile applications and content for their Nokia devices; and paid travel to demo the winning application at a Nokia-specified event in the Fall 2009.
* 2nd Place: $15,000 USD in cash; “Spotlight” placement featuring the winning application for 3 weeks on a relevant category page in Nokia’s newly announced Ovi Store, where consumers will find the best mobile applications and content for their Nokia devices.
* 3rd Place: $10,000 USD in cash; “Spotlight” placement featuring the winning application for 2 weeks on a relevant category page in Nokia’s newly announced Ovi Store, where consumers will find the best mobile applications and content for their Nokia devices.
So that’s what the winners can get, right?
Now, let’s look at the categories they’re looking for:
Internet Innovation – Individuals can submit either web applications known as Web Runtime widgets, or websites which are optimised for mobile browsing with Nokia devices.
Flash – Send us your best applications that expand the capabilities of Flash Lite on Nokia devices.
Emerging Markets and Mobile Necessities – Submit your most innovative application using Nokia platforms, ranging from SMS through Series 40 and S60 device platforms. All applications will be evaluated, including those developed using Java, Python, or open source.
Apps on Maps – This category seeks new ideas (Yes, just the ideas – completed Apps are not necessary at this stage) that harness the power of location-aware services using Ovi Maps on Nokia devices.
You can find a lot more details at the dedicated microsite Calling All Innovators.
You’ve got until the end of the month to submit.
And if you’re thinking of doing so and you’d like a bit of support, I’ll make this undertaking to anyone who participates — send me a 5 paragraph overview with screenshots (if appropriate) and any relevant web links and I’ll publish it as a post here for the few hundred thousand readers to peruse.