Nokia campaign urges Filipinos to innovate mobile applications

CEBU, Philippines - Nokia Philippines is intensifying its Forum Nokia campaign to encourage high skilled Filipino developers to create mobile phone applications that will be of commercial value for the mobile devices and solutions provider.

“A lot of Filipino developers are trying to get more applications [programs]. We are looking for good applications through Forum Nokia,” said Nikka Abes, corporate communications manager of Nokia Philippines.

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, India, 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 and enterprises.

According to Abes, Forum Nokia is expanding its campaign in the Philippines, recognizing a huge pool of brilliant software and application developers in the country.

Currently, there are no Filipino-developed program in the mobile applications services.

From being just a mobile phone developer, Nokia is now leveraging in introducing top-notch mobile applications, such as OVI technology, producing OVI maps, OVI stores, Nokia messaging portal, among others.

For Nokia messaging, the company has recently signed up in partnership with eight telecommunication operators in South East Asia and the Pacific. In the Philippines, Nokia is initially partnering with Smart Communications.

Through the Nokia Forum, Abes said the company hopes to get good mobile applications program from Filipino developers.

Abes, was in Cebu recently to formally introduce Nokia’s new mobile phone release the Nokia X6 and N900 models.

She said Nokia is beefing up its mobile application service offerings that will differentiate them from other mobile brands.

With OVI technology, Abes said all new release Nokia phones are pre-installed with OviMaps, which can also be used off-line, even in areas with no signals, and those bringing cellular phones abroad with no roaming service.

Earlier, the University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) announced that the school’s College of Information, Computer and Communications Technology (CICCT) is ready to hone next generations’ famous innovators in mobile technology applications.

USJ-R CICCT dean Gregg Gabison bared that the school has identified three platforms that will be utilized by the school to develop high-value mobile technology applications--these are through open-source’s Android mobile platform, Nokia OVI (symbian platform) and iPhone Applications.

In the next two years, Gabison said the school will introduce mobile applications technology developed by the young students of BS Computer Science, BS IT and BS IS (Information System).— Ehda M. Dagooc