Palm Kicks Off the PDK Hot Apps Program

Sunnyvale-based mobile phone maker Palm announced a while ago the launch of a new competition for developers, offering them the possibility to win a great amount of prizes, namely the PDK Hot Apps Program. Starting with July 15, 2010, developers interested in the competition are invited to submit applications to the Palm distribution programs. Both free and paid applications are allowed in the competition, the company announced.

Of course, not all software solutions developers for Palm's webOS operating system are accepted in the competition. Only those applications built based on the Palm webOS Plug-in Development Kit (PDK), which was brought into the wild earlier this year. The competition is set to determine which developer has the most-installed free apps out there, or the highest-revenue paid solutions. The submission of apps would end on September 30, 2010.

The following criteria apply to all apps included in the competition:
- The application must be developed using the Palm webOS Plug-in Development Kit (PDK).
- Downloads and revenue count will begin July 15, 2010.
- Apps must be available for download through an official Palm webOS distribution program (App Catalog Distribution, Web Distribution, or Beta Distribution).
- Apps available for Pre and Pixi that are identical except for package ID will be counted as one app.
- Apps developed by Palm employees or their direct relations are ineligible for awards.

All apps considered for the award would have to be developed with Palm’s webOS PDK and submitted to Palm's app distribution mechanisms. Developers would receive only one prize of $100,000 or $50,000, but their can receive multiple awards for applications in the third and fourth tiers, the handset vendor announced. “Palm will verify that there has been no manipulation of download counts to assure fairness,” the company added. More info on the PDK Hot Apps Program, as well as on the requirements for participating to the competition, are available on Palm's website here.