Nokia Opens Up its Developer Competition for Arabic Content to Small Developers and Individuals
October 05, 2009


Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 5 October 2009: – Nokia today announced that is allowing additional submissions for its Arabic-language mobile applications competition, Calling All Innovators - Bil3arabi, by welcoming individuals as well as companies, and accepting direct submissions from those developers whose apps cannot currently be uploaded to Ovi Store. Nokia is also giving developers more time, by extending the deadline to 15 November 2009.

“Since announcing the competition in June, we have received a lot of feedback from developers, many of them small developers and individuals, including university students, who requested that we accept their participation. Therefore, the Calling All Innovators - Bil3arabi developer competition is now open to all developers and individuals with bold ideas and tremendous talent, including professional and independent developers and university students,” said Wendy Weckstrom, Services Marketing Manager for Ovi Store, MEA.

She added, “Furthermore, we can assist registered developers, especially through our Forum Nokia developer program, during the development process by giving them the opportunity to share with us the application and content in progress and we will do our best to support them. The competition also now accepts direct submissions of applications that are ready but not yet Symbian signed or Java verified.”

The competition challenges mobile and web application developers to submit entries for Arabic content in any category within Ovi Store (Applications and Widgets, Video, Personalization, Games, Audio, Flash & Active idle widgets) with a focus on Internet Innovation, Flash, Mobile Games, and social location.

The entries can be submitted to Ovi Store and registered on www.callingallinnovators.com/Bil3arabi until November 15th 2009 and winners will be announced by December 7th 2009. Criteria for choosing the winner include quality and functionality; uniqueness and innovativeness; usability and creativity; and local relevancy.

Grand prize winner will receive $100,000 USD in cash; “spotlight” placement featuring the winning application for 4 weeks on the top page of Nokia’s Ovi Store; and paid travel to demo the winning application at a Nokia specified event. The winning application will also be reviewed by Nokia for possible preload on future Nokia devices.

Second place will receive $25,000 USD in cash; and “spotlight” placement featuring the winning application for 3 weeks on a relevant category page on Nokia’s Ovi Store.

The remaining top ten submissions will be given the “Judge’s Choice Award,” which will give them a one-year membership in Forum Nokia Launchpad, and enables members to receive access to exclusive resources and support to accelerate mobile application development and elevate developer’s business visibility in the mobile world.

More information about Nokia’s Calling All Innovators Bil3arabi, including how to submit an application and complete contest rules and requirements can be found online at www.callingallinnovators.com/Bil3arabi

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.

For more information please contact:

Tala Toukan
Communications Manager, Lower Gulf
Nokia Middle East and Africa
Tel: +971 4 369 7600
Email: Tala.Toukan@nokia.com
www.nokia.com

Sam Mohtady
Consultant for Nokia
Impact Porter Novelli
Tel. : +9714 330 4030
Email: s.mohtady@ipn.ae