Nokia has launched Create for Millions, a competition that gives consumers and developers a chance to share in €1 million in prize money by coming together to create apps for the Series 40 operating system.
More than half a billion Series 40 phones are currently in duty around the world – a simply staggering figure that makes it by far the world's most popular mobile platform.
It truly is a mobile community second to none, and the Create for Millions project taps into that community spirit with the aim of spreading Series 40's appeal still wider as part of Nokia's Next Billion strategy.
In an extension of Nokia's IdeasProject, Nokia wants everyday Series 40 users to submit their best ideas for the applications they'd like to see on Series 40 mobile phones in the future. And for a select few, those ideas will come to life thanks to an all-expenses paid trip to Nokia World later this year, where they'll be given a Nokia Series 40 phone running their new app, and meet the developers who made it a reality.
Submissions can be made in one of three categories: health & education, social networking & location and games & infotainment. Consumers will be ablet to vote on entries too, and comment or offer to collaborate on existing ideas.
For developers, meanwhile, Nokia is offering up to €50,000 in cash for the best ideas in each of four categories:
In the Know: News and locally relevant information apps
Fun & Games: Games and entertainment apps.
Emotional Closeness: Social networking apps
Access to Knowledge: Life-improvement apps, such as education or health.
In addition to the grand prize in each category, there will be a further nine cash prizes and a variety of non-cash prizes such as user experience reviews and app marketing assistance.
“With Nokia's newest Series 40 dual-SIM mobile phones such as the recently announced Nokia C2-03 equipped with Nokia Browser, consumers are enjoying third party web applications with a fast, rich user experience and significantly lower data costs” said Marco Argenti, Nokia senior vice president, developer experience.
“This competition connects ideas generated by consumers with the creativity and skills from developers, aiming to create great, locally relevant applications together.”
Consumers looking to get involved can get further details from the Create for Millions home page, while developers can find out more from the Nokia Developer site.
Both competitions close on September 20.