Applications for Samsung Smart App Challenge 2013, a global app competition aimed at finding new applications utilising group communication function, are open giving chance to Android app developers in Kenya to win over Ksh 68 million.
According to Samsung Electronics East Africa Chief Operating Officer Robert Ngeru the second Samsung Smart App Challenge 2013 will seek to pick ten entries, which will be selected as winners.
The winners will subsequently receive a record total of $800,000 in prize money along with a variety of marketing benefits. As part of a corporate talent development programme, Ngeru pointed it out that executives drawn from Samsung Group Venture investment arm – Samsung Venture Investment- will review the final winners for financial investment.
The challenge, Ngeru said, is open to all mobile application developers across the globe. Local developers who wish to participate should sign up directly on the App Challenge website: http://www.smartappchallenge.com and register their apps on Samsung Apps from 20th June to 31st August 2013.
“With Samsung Smart App Challenge 2013, Samsung is setting the stage for an elaborate initiative to discover practical, demand driven Apps as we seek to boost the global mobile ecosystem,” said Ngeru.
And added: “At Samsung, we will continue to encourage local mobile developers to develop new and innovative applications for a global audience. In Kenya, just as in many parts of the world, Samsung will continue to encourage mobile developers to create innovative applications integrating some of the new features on our GALAXY range of devices. The Samsung Smart App Challenge will greatly enhance application choices for GALAXY S4 so users can enjoy a valuable experience.”
Contest entrants will be one category. “Smart Chord Apps,” which can be used for development of ‘Group Play’ service on GALAXY S4, a panel of judges will decide the winning entries, which will consist of 10 innovative applications, which use group management functionality in interesting and experiential ways. The applicants have to use “Samsung Chord SDK” which helps developers create a group with multi-devices in real-time, automatically, requiring no manual processing of devices, which join or leave the group.
Winning entrants will be, rewarded with prize money and a variety of promotional benefits through Samsung’s global channels. They will be given a chance also to be pitched their app to Samsung Venture Investment just after the ceremony for the winners.
Samsung Electronics East Africa has continually supported young upcoming techies at the iHub Nairobi; by sponsoring the annual Mobile garage Exhibition for programmers, computer scientists, software engineers, and web developers drawn from universities and colleges across the country develop mobile app for listing on the Samsung Apps store. However, such Apps would need to meet a global audience threshold.
The Samsung App store, is accessed by millions of mobile phone subscribers’ globally seeking to download quality android applications in diverse categories such as Entertainment, Education, Games, Lifestyle, Travel and Productivity among others. Kenyan Application developers on the Android platform therefore, have equal access to other global developers to showcase their solutions on the Samsung Apps store which is a gateway to global tech-preneurship
