Designed to stimulate creativity and breakthrough ideas from Brazil's growing software community, the J2ME Competition accepted submissions ranging from conceptual ideas to finished applications. The contest was open to all Brazilian software designers wishing to submit any type of mobile application, including games, personal productivity software, messaging applications or any other types of software. J2ME stands for Java 2 Micro Edition, the newest version of Java designed for mobile phones and other small devices.
"SouJava is very proud of the results submitted by the Brazilian developer community to the Nokia-SouJava competition," said Bruno Souza, the leader of SouJava. "They not only show the creativity of the Brazilian developer, but also that developers are really using Java as a way to participate in the huge mobile market. Congratulations to all that participated and made this contest such a phenomenal success."
J2ME Competition winners were chosen for each of the three following Nokia device platforms: Series 30, Series 40 and Series 60. Nokia device platforms provide a standardized development environment across many Nokia handsets, greatly improving the speed and simplicity of bringing mobile applications to market.
The winners in each of these categories were:
-Series 30: Leonardo Cole Neto, Minesweeper: In the mobile adaptation of this popular game included for several years with PCs, players have to figure out where the mines are hidden within a minefield.
-Series 40: SEA Tecnologia, Mobile Financial Manager: Allows users to manage daily expenses, checking and savings accounts and credit cards, control expenses by category, and even schedule checks and payments for a future time, through a simple and intuitive user interface. Future versions will include the ability to share this information with other devices using SyncML, and to manage investments and profits.
-Series 60 - Productivity: SEA Tecnologia, Mobile Broker - Buy and sell shares on your cell phone, complete with transaction confirmation. Frequent traders no longer need to worry if they aren't connected to the Internet - they can now conduct equity transactions on major markets and exchanges around the world from their mobile phones.
-Series 60 - Games: C.E.S.A.R., Space Runner - Based on the classic Lode Runner game, your mission is to traverse space, collecting a fortune in diamonds. But beware, these diamonds are guarded by aliens and you will need to fight, solve puzzles, run, dig and climb to get them. Create your own levels with the Level Editor, submit them to a website, and others players can download and play them.
Analysts estimate there are over 1,000 companies and individuals in Brazil today developing mobile Java applications alone. These applications are being created in response to rapid growth in the number of mobile phone users: Brazil's mobile phone market more than doubled, from 14.8 million to 34.6 million subscribers, between 1999 and 2002, and is expected to grow to 51.4 million by 2005, making it one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world, according to analyst Dennis Burke at Pyramid Research.
"The momentum building throughout our region right now is very exciting," said Cesar Castro, Business Development Manager, Nokia-Latin America. "Brazil and many other parts of Latin America are emerging as some of the fastest-growing areas for wireless development anywhere in the world, and the quality of the submissions for this contest are simply one more sign of that."
Winners will receive support from Nokia in developing, marketing and commercializing their applications, including visibility in Nokia's booth at trade shows, exposure to potential business partners, and consideration for inclusion in Tradepoint, Nokia's business-to-business software channel designed to help developers show and sell their software to wireless carriers. In addition, winners were awarded free Nokia equipment. By registering for Forum Nokia at www.forum.nokia.com all entrants in the contest gained access to the free developer tools, documentation and support available to developers globally.
"Nokia's Tradepoint service already offers carriers over 100 applications localized specifically for the Brazilian market," said Castro. "Some of the ideas and applications reviewed for this competition will certainly join that list shortly. We saw wonderfully creative ideas in every category that really take advantage of each platform's unique strengths."
Nokia's Series 30 platform fulfills basic feature requirements, such as a phone book, Java application support and short messaging service (SMS). Series 40 upgrades users to a high-resolution color screen, photo viewing ability and support for Java games, and Series 60 introduces many additional improvements: a more powerful operating system, a larger, sharper screen, increased memory, an applications menu, greater connectivity via Bluetooth, multi-tasking capabilities, and many others.
Additional mobile developer competitions will take place in several nations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, with dates and additional details to be announced in the near future.
Prize-winning runners-up included Rogerio de Paula Aguilar, Ulisses Telemaco, and Connect Software.
About SouJava
"SouJava" ("I'm a Java Advocate" in Portuguese), the Brazilian Java Users Society, is Brazil's largest Java user group. Activities range from monthly meetings and hosting the most active Java discussion e-mail lists to organizing the largest Java technology events in the country. SouJava was recently nominated one of the most active Java user groups in the world. SouJava can be reached on the web at: http://www.soujava.org.br.
Forum Nokia
Nokia's global developer program, Forum Nokia, connects developers to tools, technical information, support, and distribution channels they can use to build and market applications around the globe. From offices in the U.S., Europe, Japan, China, and Singapore, Forum Nokia provides technical and business development support to developers and operators to assist them in achieving their goal of successfully launching applications and services to consumers, professionals and enterprises. More information is available at www.forum.nokia.com.
About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions, the company has become the leading supplier of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks. By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on six major exchanges.
Nokia's global developer program, Forum Nokia, connects developers to tools, technical information, support, and distribution channels they can use to build and market applications around the globe. From offices in the U.S., Europe, Japan, China, and Singapore, Forum Nokia provides technical and business development support to developers and operators to assist them in achieving their goal of successfully launching applications and services to consumers, professionals and enterprises. More information is available at www.forum.nokia.com.
About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions, the company has become the leading supplier of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks. By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on six major exchanges.
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