09 Augusty 2009

Widget Design Competition
Nokia Mobile Widget Wizard Contest '09

As the part of the Nokia N97 launch in Malaysia, the mobile industry market leader is collaborating with Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) to hold the first Nokia Mobile Widget Wizard Contest 2009 that aims at bringing out the innovative ideas of the creative young minds for new widgets that will be featured on the touch-enabled Nokia N97 device.

This Limkokwing – Nokia collaboration is in line with the university’s Indusity concept – merging the Industry to the University. This way, students will benefit from firsthand experience prior to joining an industry.

LUCT is the first Malaysian university in the creative education sector to pioneer the concept of partnering with major industry companies to allow LUCT students to spend at least one semester of their course in an attachment program with industry partners.

LUCT is currently affiliated with more than 30 firms, and with Nokia as the University’s most recent addition, the students will be able to learn from the best. “The LUCT-Nokia collaboration fits well into the University’s Indusity concept,” said Dr. Jayles Yeoh, the Vice President of the International Development. “This collaboration shows the stature of the University as being one of the world’s leading industry-driven University.”

Held in conjunction with the launch of the new Nokia N97 multimedia device in Malaysia, the Nokia Mobile Widget Wizard Contest 2009 has three primary themes.The themes are: Entertainment, Personal Information Management, and Social Networking. 30 teams have been shortlisted and will showcase their works in a final exhibition from where judges will select the winners.

“Based on feedback from millions of customers, Nokia believes that consumers now don’t just want a mobile Internet, they want their own and personal customised user experience where they can choose what matters to them. Widgets are part of that experience and we see the mobile app development space as a key driver to the growth and evolution of the mobile Internet space”, said Vlasta Berka, General Manager, Nokia Singapore/Malaysia & Brunei.

The objective of this contest is to showcase the skills of students of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in developing locally-relevant and commercially-viable mobile widgets for the new Nokia N97 multimedia device in Malaysia, within any of the following themes:

Students stand a chance to win the following prizes:

Students may also get the chance to see their work showcased at Nokia publicity events, advertorials, and their application(s) may be offered for download via Nokia's new OVI Application Store.

A widget is a time-saving element of the device’s user interface, a visual building block that provides an easily accessible single interaction point with an application, which holds and processes data. There are thousands of types of widget.