14 DAY TRIAL // Taiwan-based mobile phone maker HTC announced on its website that it was providing sponsorship for the 2010 NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge, a competition that is focused on the development of widgets. Interestingly enough, the move from HTC comes shortly after the company has had some issues with developers of widgets, and some of you might already know that back in December it asked some developers to pull their solutions from the Android market.
One way or the other, the company now announced its official support for the competition, and also said that it would provide HTC Touch Diamond2 and HTC Hero handsets for this year's competition, and that it offered HTC Hero's Development Tool for the challenge as well. “Also, to celebrate the inaugural year of our sponsorship, we will award a special recognition prize for the 'Best Home Screen Widget Design',” the company further mentions.
Those interested in winning the Best Home Screen Widget Design prize can register for the competition here. Moreover, they might also want to learn that HTC is set to give the prize to “a top notch location based services solution for an HTC Hero widget.” The widget will have to be capable of delivering valuable information to users in no time, and to also offer them at-a-glance view on the home screen.
“Specifically, the winning solution will be in line with the our guiding design philosophy - HTC Sense. HTC Sense is a customer experience focused on three core principles: Make It Mine - create solutions that are tailor-made to the individual, Stay Close - empower users to connect with key people in their lives, and Discover the Unexpected - deliver a surprisingly simple and intuitive user experience. The location-based solution which captures the essence of HTC Sense will bring users instantaneous and relevant knowledge that helps them get the most out of the world around them, and helps them stay in touch with people they care about,” the handset vendor notes.
Additional details on HTC's implication in the competition can be found here. Those interested in the 2010 NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge can register and find more info on it here.