14 DAY TRIAL // Nokia's yearly “Calling All Innovators” global competition is coming to an end and the Finnish handset manufacturer has started to announce the winners.
The Nokia Calling All Innovators global competition encourages app and game developers all over the world to submit mobile apps in 17 categories for the chance to share in a total of $10 million in cash and prizes.
One of the first winners that has just been announced, Poynt Corporation competed against more than 800 entrants in the Productivity & Tools category. Poynt Corporation is a well-known company focused on mobile local search and advertising.
The winner received a $150,000 cash prize, but is also running to win additional grand prizes, including major marketing campaigns.
According to Nokia, one game and one application will be chosen as grand prize winners, which will be announced, along with the runners-up, at an award event later this month to be held at Nokia's U.S. flagship office in Sunnyvale, California.
“Nokia phones continue to provide great, rich user experiences and Ovi Store continues to grow in popularity. We are honored to be selected as first place category winners and are happy that Nokia users and the expert judges feel our app is worth highlighting,” said Andrew Osis, president and CEO of Poynt Corp.
All Nokia's “Calling All Innovators 2011” contest prizes are awarded by a mix of consumer and expert judges.
Although, the initial judging was based on total app downloads by consumers and sales totals in Nokia's Ovi Store, the top 10 apps in each category (five paid apps and five free apps) advanced as category finalists and were then judged by an expert panel of judges from AT&T and Nokia.
As Nokia suggests, its decision is meant to help ensure that the best apps were not only the most popular apps but they also provide the best user experience.