14 DAY TRIAL // Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia recently announced the launch of a fresh competition, one that calls for all US tweekers and modders to come up with ideas on how the newly launched Nokia N900 can be modified into something completely new. The Nokia “PUSH N900 MOD IN THE USA” has just kicked off, and those interested in the competition can come up with ideas until February 15, 2010, the company notes.
“Nokia invites US tweekers and modders to submit their ideas for morphing the Nokia N900 into something entirely new. Whether it’s turning the Nokia N900 into a TV remote control or the brain of a fully functioning robot, the only limit is the contestants’ imagination. The Nokia N900, which became available in the US this past November, is a powerful mobile computer that uses the open source, Linux-based Maemo Software to deliver a PC-like experience on a handset-sized device,” a recent post on Nokia Press Bulletin Board states.
There will be three ideas chosen from the total entries into the competition, something that a panel of judges will do, and the finalists will receive a new Nokia N900, as well as support for turning their ideas into reality. Moreover, the company also plans on bringing representatives (and guests) from each of the three PUSH N900 MOD IN THE USA finalists to CTIA in Las Vegas, where each of them will showcase their creativity, and where they will have the chance to win a cash prize ranging from USD 3,000 to USD 10,000. Additional details on the competition can be found here. The company also noted that a global PUSH N900 competition held in October 2009 brought together hundreds of entries, and resulted in the development of five widely varying mods. Among them, the handset vendor includes: “a skateboard that tracks your tricks and lets you compete against friends with their own Nokia N900s, an N900-equipped kite that lets you control the camera from the ground, a spray can that brings light graffiti to the N900, a Nokia N900-outfitted belt that vibrates to navigate you in the right direction, and a Nokia N900 with arms that will draw what you photograph on an Etch-a-Sketch.”