A couple of days ago I received an email from Nokia Calling All Innovators that the submission period for Calling All Innovators contest  has now started and will remain open till 18th May 2010 .

This is the third year of the program and last yeat some 1700 submissions were made from 85 countries , the main objective behind the contest is

“ Developing change in the ways we continue to think about how we use our mobile devices today, and how we may be using them in the future.”

For 2010 , The Categories of submission are

  ECO /  Being Green covers applications which may help people reduce their carbon foot print and even think about Earth and Gaya

  Entertainment covers applications which shows the fun side of Nokia phones , something like the next Dance Dance Revolution

Productivity covers applications which makes everyday tasks easier with the use of the mobile like calendar Sync , Voice Recognition etc

Life Improvements covers applications enhances the quality of life , teaches, something like a new word a day etc

and the prizes for top three in each category are

• Grand Prize: $30,000 USD in cash.
• 2nd Prize: $15,000 USD in cash.
• 3rd Prize: $5,000 USD in cash.

so Nokia will be giving out USD 200,000 in prizes for the 12 winning ideas and that’s in addition to the USD 1 Million Growth Venture initiative in Which the winning idea will receive an investment of USD 1 Million for Nokia  .

These idea could be one which

• may change how people use their phone ,
• improve the lives of people in emerging markets and
• bring a dramatic change in developing nations people’s  lives and also be sound in business

Don’t worry if you are not a winner , your idea /  software may get entered in OVI Store , a one-year membership in Forum Nokia Launchpad, and an in-depth User Experience Evaluation by professional consultants working with Nokia .

Submitted applications are also eligible for additional prizes too based on technology used to create the app and the categories are as follows

Last Year’s winner include Tech Buzz Homescreen Widget; Pixelpipe for Share Online; and Florin Finance Tracker.

The applications are open for Symbian S 40 , S60 V3 – V5 and also Memo

So you think you have the experience and the idea , don’t wait and Submit your Applications at  Calling All Innovators Contest

Many a times I get queries from my friends and readers about Nokia phones made in China .  My answer to them is Nokia made in China is as good as Nokia made in any European country . China is not the same since past decade , it’s now the manufacturing hub for big trusted brands like Sony , Panasonic , HP , Dell and even Apple   and is single handedly responsible of providing low cost quality electronics to the world . With it’s cheap and technological advanced labor and low operating costs China is able to drastically bring down the cost of production which would have been impossible given the exorbitant labor costs in the west resulting in an inexpensive quality product for the masses

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Nokia has also launched their largest manufacturing hub in Beijing China , environmental friendly built with 10 % recyclable material , 95 % areas accessible o sunlight Nokia China building is the Greenest building the world and has even won Large Office Category at Contract magazine’s 2009 Interiors Awards  along with the acclaimed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) Gold Certificate by the United States Green Building Council      ,  We have already disucssed the building in detail at Nokia Proudly Made in China

Recently Nokia introduced a series of 4 Videos highlighting their Chinese operations , it’s Diversity , the quality of manufacturing , the design and creativity aspects and also the tests being conducted on mobile phones .  In many aspects the Nokia China facilities if not exceed are equivalent to their european counterparts and now is responsible for the Nokia’s mains smart phone portfolio including N97 ,  N97 Mini and  E72 to name a few .

The Videos are named

• Diversity
• Responsibility
• Innovation
• Reliability

and covers total Nokia operations in China in less than 3 min episodes

Diversity gives a brief glimpse of Nokia’s operations in China including their manufacturing and testing and shows different teams with different backgrounds working within the factory , people from FInland to India are all here making Nokia the no 1 Mobile company in the world

Responsibility -  shows Nokia’s commitment to the environment where ever they operate from environmental friendliness processes and designs to pooling their 20 major suppliers around their manufacturing plant to reduce carbon emission associated with long distance trucking and hauling,  even the parts are moved between plant to plant in a gas powered train vehicle and the waste is recycled .  It’s not only the plant where Nokia is going environmental friendliness , Nokia has recycle boxes at every Nokia Care center where consumers can drop off their unwanted accessories like outdated chargers and also phones and they are recycled .  The extent of this project –  Nokia collects about 30 Tons of phones and accessories to be recycled every year and with an average phone and accessory weighing a little more than a 100 gms that’s a lot of phones

Innovation ,  shows the latest in technology Nokia is employing to design their phones  from top of the line designers who are working round the clock to come up with innovative ideas to their Doodle Wall where designers can draw their designs to a 3D molding machine which could manufacture a dummy phone with exact specifications straight from the drawing board giving a physical outlook to what’s being seen on the screen .

Reliability -  The last of the series covers the quality aspects of Nokia phones , from Blue Jean test , where a phone is kept between Levis Dark Blue Denim and constantly moved in it to see the color rub out on phones to a machine whose job is to press every key on the phone thousands of times to check the keypad life .  Some tests are sadistic for a phone aficionado like me  like the heat test where phones are kept in high heat and cold conditions to check their operability in different environments to humid and saline conditions and the worst of all the high drop test , where a phone is dropped from a height to check it’s durability. The video gives me nightmares as they torture the phones but does enhances  the trust I have on all my Nokia phones

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Do watch the videos as they open up one of the finest , greenest and quality conscious plants in the world and if still in doubt just think the country which is now manufacturing Air Bus  , for them a quality phone is such a small feat

At CES 2010 Keynote Address , Olli Pekka – CEO Nokia announced the Nokia Growth Economy Challenge in which the winner will be able to secure $ 1,000,000 from Nokia to make the idea viable .

Getting jumpy at the idea , just wait , Nokia is not going to give the million bucks to anyone whose application can make Nokia some money but keeping up with their commitment to the emerging economies and also develop a billion loyal Nokia  customers from the slums of India , Grasslands of Africa and Brazil and the like , Nokia wants the idea to meet the following criteria

The winning proposal in the Growth Economy Venture Challenge will meet the following criteria:

• It must include a clear mission statement; and provide a product or service plan that will undeniably raise the standard of living, and/or enhance the lives of people living in emerging market countries today.
• The initial target market must be located in a region with per capita income significantly lower than what is found in industrialized nations today (e.g., sub-$5 per day).
• It must include a viable business model that has a high likelihood of providing a strong return on investment for the venture funding provided.

It has to be for the betterment of the people in low income economies which will increase their livelihood and be also viable business investment with concrete ROI,  the idea is not limited to software alone but hardware or a new service could also be entered .

As Olli Pekka Said in his Keynote address

"We are challenging developers and innovators around the world to take action. We want you to come up with new and innovative ways to help people and promote upward mobility around the world."

Nokia has one shrewd business opportunity ,  first One Million bucks will ensure plenty of ideas to be submitted as the contest is open all over the world and last year alone some 1700 applications were submitted from 85 countries in Calling All Innovators , these entries will not be discarded but many will be made part of OVI Store so OVI Store content will increase

The ideas will generate the hype and although the runner ups may not get the million bucks as investment , Nokia can also use the ideas to run parallel programs

The selected idea will be for the low income families /  economies where in some places like India , Nokia is synonymous to a cellphone , using the idea and investing upon it , Nokia is developing a loyal customer base on whose well being Nokia is working and when they upgrade , the share of mind will be Nokia .

So Nokia is thinking 10 years ahead and how to maintain it’s dominance till 2020 by than some more ideas will come to then but till than WHERE IS YOUR IDEA ??

If you think you can make Nokia invest in you go to  http://www.callingallinnovators.com/venture_challenge.aspx for entry form and other details

Nokia has filed for patenting a Multi Fold Communication Device

It closes up like a bill fold and opens up like a Origami Phone with Ergomatic Keyboard and a folding screen . The connecter between the screen shows a two screen display .

Now My question is will the screen show one page  divided on two screens or It can be used as multiple display i.e running web on one and QucikOffice on other  I hope it will be a multi display will help a multitasker like me a lot.

My only reservation I’ve got to upfold the whole origami to have access can it have a Swivel Touch screen in front for easy access to the basic function i.e. telephony