Celcom Axiata Berhad is giving Malaysian mobile app developers the chance to showcase and commercialise their talent through the launch of its nationwide App Developer Challenge 2012 on Wednesday that will focus on Android apps.
The App Developer Challenge 2012 is is a joint collaboration between Celcom, Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), and MyAppzil – an independent regional app store under principal UbiNuri Inc, South Korea’s biggest content aggregator with more than 6,500 apps and a latent pool of 1,100 developers worldwide.
The App Developer Challenge 2012 is a part of Celcom’s ongoing League of Extraordinary Developers (LEDC) initiative, which was launched in 2008 and has since organised various content application challenges and conducted workshops for platforms including Android, Blackberry, and Symbian. LEDC also works with local tertiary institutions for the LEDC Ambassador Programme to cultivate a new generation of app developers.
The challenge is open to all Malaysian app developers under LEDC and MDeC’s Integrated Content Development Programme (Icon), and the submission deadline is 15 October 2012. All submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by a panel of judges from Celcom, MDeC, and MyAppzil, and will involve criteria such as innovation, appeal factor, usability, technicality, and the total number of user downloads from the MyAppzil app store. Winners will be announced on 15 November 2012.
The challenge’s key incentive is an all-expense paid industrial training trip for the top winner worth RM25,000 to Ubi Nuri Inc’s headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, inclusive of flight tickets and accommodation. All participants can also register for a fully-subsidised, two-day Android Development Workshop by iTrain (M) Sdn Bhd – a Google-certified trainer – from 18 to 19 September, as well as a monetisation programme via the MyAppzil store.
Shortlisted apps will also be uploaded to MyAppzil’s store, where outstanding submissions will also stand a chance to participate in regional AppZil developer challenges with Thailand and Indonesia. Participating submissions will also get a special slot in MyAppzil’s store front banner and will be available on AppZil’s global sites.
Commenting on the launch, Afizulazha Abdullah, Chief Operations, Advanced Data of Celcom Axiata Berhad, said, “The App Developer Challenge 2012 goes beyond a simple competition. It is an opportunity of a lifetime for local app developers to demonstrate that local talent can compete and be commercialised on an international level. Celcom is proud to host this one-of-a-kind challenge for Android app developers in Malaysia together with our partners MDeC and MyAppzil, in line with our goal to nurture a local community of mobile content and application developers who will spearhead Malaysia’s growth in the global digital content economy.”
“The Android platform has seen explosive growth in the past two years with the growing popularity of a new generation of smartphones powered by it. Android’s leadership as the preferred choice of operating system (OS) among the new generation of smartphones opens up countless avenues for local app developers. Through this initiative, we hope that we will motivate more local talent to realise their commercialization potential, ride on first-mover advantage, and position Malaysia as a leading mobile app development producer in a global arena,” added Afizulazha.
Interested participants can visit www.celcom.com.my/developerleague or email [email protected] for more information.
