Nokia to Offer Free Nokia E7 and Windows Phone Handsets to Devs

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia is reportedly set to do whatever it takes to keep developers focused on the Symbian platform, and the delivery of free Nokia E7 devices seems to be part of the plan.

Apparently, the handset vendor would offer the said device to Launchpad members (Launchpad is Nokia’s mobile applications development program), which includes Symbian / MeeGo developers using the Qt development framework.

Moreover, the company is expected to provide developers with free Windows Phone devices as soon as its first such handset is made available on the market.

Complemented by a series of other offers for those interested in coming up with applications for its devices, this offering seems quite appealing, especially since the hardware should have a total value of $1,000.

Launchpad members would also benefit from free access to the next Nokia World / Nokia Developer Summit, or from free User Experience evaluation for one app.

Among the other benefits that Nokia has in store for developers, we can count three months free tech support for all Nokia technologies (limited to 10 tickets), business development assistance, and help when it comes to making apps available via the Ovi Store.

All these were detailed in an email that Nokia reportedly sent to developers:

We are also excited to offer you one free admission to the next Nokia World/Nokia Developer Summit later this year. We will take care of the registration costs.

To assist you with your development activities in the near-term, we will ship one free Nokia E7 device to all program members. Additionally, we will send to you one free Nokia WP7 device, as soon as it becomes available.

To accelerate your mobile app development, we will provide free tech support on all Nokia technologies for the next three months (up to 10 tickets). Equally, if you would like to take advantage of a free User Experience evaluation of one of your apps, please let us know and we will work with you to make those arrangements.

The email also explains that, even if Nokia announced last week that it would adopt Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system, I remains committed to providing developers with the environment they need to come up with appealing applications for Nokia devices.