Idea Mexicana gana el Hackathon de Nokia en la Cumbre de Desarrolladores de Nokia 2009

CellCity

The team from CellCity, overseen by company CEO Danny Francis, will be working on a location-based public transportation widget during the Hackathon. No stranger to Nokia contests, CellCity was a finalist in the Navteq LBS Challenge in 2008, and the company has been a Forum Nokia PRO member since 2006. “Nokia has the best developer programme in the world, and a runtime platform that is great for launching new apps,” said Francis. He says that building the location-based widget will allow his team to showcase what they do. “We have not won a Nokia competition before – but there’s a first time for everything!”

Digia

Tapio Laitinen, a software engineer at Helsinki-based Digia,
will be working with a team on the shopping list widget during the Hackathon. While he has not competed in a Nokia
developer contest previously, he has developed widgets for about a year and a half, and has developed on Nokia platforms for three years. Tapio chose the shopping list widget because it offers a great way for his team to show what it can do. “My team and I will win this competition because we have rock-solid expertise in developing for Nokia widgets, and great enthusiasm for it,” he said.

EarthComber

The EarthComber team, led by CEO Jim Brady, will be creating a widget that focuses on location-based siteseeing and events. “EarthComber is a small team of six people wailing away, making mobile technology do something that it is doesn’t commonly do – find things around you, all the time,” said Brady. The company was the winner in the Infotainment category in Nokia’s 2008 Mobile Rules contest. Brady notes that his company likes to work with Nokia because, unlike working on some other platforms, “there are no hindrances to our work,” adding that “it is really open, the scripting is open, the platform and the distribution – that is what you need as a developer.”

Fleasome

Pekka Niskanen, a Technology Manager at Finland-based Fleasome Ltd., has expertise in Symbian S60 projects, including designing, coding, testing, consulting and training. During the Hackathon, Pekka will be working on the “Now on TV” widget for the Nokia N97. Although Pekka has not created any widgets prior to this Hackathon competition, he has worked as a Nokia subcontractor since 1999. “This will be a new experience for me, but I am confident that our team will win this competition because of the ease of using our own library, FleaC, for developing mobile applications.”

Futurice

Henri Holopainen from Futurice is 21 years old, but don’t let his youth fool you. He has been working with Nokia for the past six years, and has already participated in a few widget projects for the S60 platform. Henri is a fourth year physics major from Helsinki University of Technology, and he has chosen to work on a price-comparison widget that was submitted by Andrew Clarke from the U.K. He likes this widget idea because it presents “a real use case and end-user need for informed decision making that is not easily available when you are on the move.”

i2 Technologies

Brazilian-based i2 Technologies, a Nokia official supplier company in Brazil, works on web and mobile development, including Nokia Web Runtime widgets, Flash Lite, Symbian C++ and maemo. The company was a finalist in the 2008 Nokia Mobile Rules contest, and CEO & cofounder of the company, Felipe Andrade, has been a Forum Nokia Champion for the past two years. During the Hackathon, Felipe will prepare the Fuel-Up widget.

Inova

The team from Slovenia-based Inova does not have any prior contest experience with Nokia, but they are not concerned
about the competition from other developers. “We started doing widget development a few months ago for Nokia devices, and we are ready to shine,” said Miha Lesjak, Inova CEO. “This just happens to be our first contest that we will win,” he adds. As a web development company, Inova plans to apply what they already know to the Shopping List widget they prepare during the Hackathon. The Inova team sees this widget as an opportunity to work on a real-life problem.

Mo’Blast

With a team of dedicated developers from around the world, Mo’Blast is in the business of creating cool mobile apps. The company won the 2008 Nokia WRT competition for the Americas
. For the Hackathon, the team plans to work on the “World Around Me” social-location widget, integrating many of the features available on the Nokia N97 in the final product.
“Our approach is simplicity, speed and user experience,” notes Renee, one of the developers on the Mo’Blast team. “This widget for the Hackathon is just the first in a series of services we intend to release to let businesses get personal with their customers.”

PavingWays

Rocco Georgi, co-founder and Lead Developer at Frankfurt-based PavingWays, will be working on the Travel Planner
widget during the Hackathon. His company has a strong background in developing web applications for mobile devices, including the use of Web Runtime technology. Rocco says that the Travel Planner widget is “perfectly matched to the service we’re working on,” noting that it will be a “travel diary” service that consumers can use on the Nokia devices. “While traveling, you can collect your impressions and adventures in a travel diary.” Rocco expects that this widget will be useful and fun, too.

Plusmo

The Hackathon is the first Nokia contest for the Plusmo team, but they are no strangers to the world of mobile widgets. The company has been creating widgets for the S60 platform for almost three years now, and has a series of popular sports-focused widgets. Plusmo will be working on a social-location widget for use on the Nokia N97.

Kelvin Chong, a co-founder and Chief Architect at Plusmo is excited about the prospects for this 24-hour event. When asked about the contest, Chong notes: “We are the best Hackers! We hope to execute well.”

Teleca

The duo representing Teleca – Markus Gausling and Felix Mueller – have both been working in the mobile device industry for more than eight years. “We have been doing a lot of UI prototypes using Nokia Web Runtime technology,” said Felix. Over the past three years, Felix and Markus have been working on a mobile gaming solution for Nokia. The Hackathon is their first developer contest, and they will be working on the “What is your favourite food” widget. “The device-specific aspects of this widget are not too obvious. We would like to put some device-specific features into it,” said Felix.

Yalla Ya!

Mexican-based Yalla Ya! also plans to work on a social-location widget for the Hackathon. CEO Ido Kobelkowsky, who is a Forum Nokia Champion, loves a challenge – everything from sky diving to Nokia competitions! The company won the first Nokia-sponsored contest that they participated in – a widgets “Code Camp” last year for the Americas region. “Our experience with social networks is perfect for the Hackathon,” said Kobelkowsky. “Nokia widgets fit perfectly in our area of expertise – we know we are going to do it right!”