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Nokia puts on a show of enthusiasm - a competition!

Nokia doesn't have to whip up enthusiasm for developers for its Series 60 phone! Of course it doesn't. Didn't Sendo switch from Microsoft to Symbian - and specifically, Series 60, only last week? So the competition is just for show ... right?

"Can you meet the Series 60 challenge?" asks Nokia, as it seeks for software developers "to build the next hot mobile applications" for the Symbian - by announcing a competition.

Yes, it's the Nokia Series 60 Challenge, "a contest for mobile application developers in the Europe, Africa and Middle East regions, as well as in Asia Pacific. Following the success of previous contests, Nokia wanted to encourage developers to create Symbian OS, MIDP JavaTM and MMS based applications for the Nokia 7650 and Nokia 3650 imaging phones, both of which are based on the Series 60 platform. The three application categories for the competition are messaging, entertainment and productivity."

The trouble with these publicity-generating stunts is, they can backfire so badly. Of course, if Symbian was the biggest-selling mobile operating system in the world, really, rather than just on paper, there would be no shortage of people rushing to develop software for Symbian phones and PDAs.

In reality, say rivals, there are over 15,000 applications for the Palm platform, over 4,000 for the Pocket PC, and 167 for the Symbian. So it's time to "prime the pump" as they say.

"A contest is a creative way to activate developers to explore both the technical capabilities of the Series 60 mobile devices and the ways of distributing the applications," said Jouko Hayrynen, VP of Forum Nokia, and one of the lesser-known senior executives in the mobile industry as a result.

"Nokia invites all developers based in the European, African and Middle East countries, as well as Asia Pacific, to compete with their Series 60 applications. The Series 60 platform is a compelling platform for mobile applications given the number of companies that have licensed the platform. There is an extensive, rapidly growing market for quality applications that will engage consumers," he said.

Entry and evaluation criteria together with contest rules and registration information are available at the official site where you'll discover that the rewards for winning are ... well, hard to quantify: "As well as Nokia 3650 imaging phones and either free application testing or technical support services, winners will also be able to showcase their winning application at an industry trade event during 2003."

Newswireless Net might have a small competition too. How about: you send us your vote? Either, "In my opinion, this represents a frantic attempt to gain publicity and persuade developers to look again at a relatively unsuccessful system" or " In my view, someone important at Nokia found they had a few thousand Euros left over from their 2002 publicity budget and thought this would soak some of them up." We'll count them, and award to winning pint (litre?) of beer at whichever "industry trade event" Nokia announces its winners.

"In addition, the top three developers from Europe, Africa and Middle East will be offered an invitation to a Series 60 VIP event in 3GSM World Congress, 2003, in Cannes, France where they have the chance to meet several Series 60 licensees" Nokia concludes. Well! - if that doesn't stop people wasting time on Palm apps ...