Kick-start your mobile app by developing on these alternative platforms
As of last April, the number of smartphones
and tablets sold in the Middle East reached 22 million and continues to grow. The largest
population of smatphone users is in the Gulf, especially the UAE
and Saudi Arabia, with 12 million devices in use. These indicators
show a huge and growing regional opportunity for new app developers
to jump in to the market.
Inititally, investment in mobile app startups often doesn’t require
a huge amount of investment, usually only requiring one knowledgable developer with the necessary
technical skills to pull it off.
Locally developed apps, like Egypt’s Instabug, that have made a name for
themselves globally, inspire other developers to push on and
realize their potential to compete both with regional and
international app developers.
To capitalize on this regional talent and attract more loyal users
to their platforms, many smartphone companies have started
organizing their own events and competitions for developers,
incentivizing them to innovate and develop the next mobile hit.
These events represent an important opportunity for developers to
gain new knowledge and expertise in the smartphone programming
field, to connect with other developers and companies looking for
new talent, and to get a chance to compete for financial prizes
that will enable them to further develop their concept and maybe
even start their own companies.
Below is a list of upcoming developer
competitions in the Arab world focused solely on smartphone apps
designed for a specific platform:
Samsung Entaleq Inititiative
This competition specializes in Egyptian
developers creating apps that operate on either Samsung smartphones
or smart televisions. It offers a prize of 250.000 EGP (US $35,688)
for 15 winning developers. The deadline for the next round of the
competition is July 30th.
Nokia Developers Programs
Nokia offers smartphone developers in the Middle East sponsorship
and mentorship to help them develop apps for its Lumia and Asha
phones. Nokia’s program is open to developers in several countries
across the region and welcomes those who are interested in
developing app concepts, even if they do not have the required
programming background to create a prototype. Their Asha
competition deadline is August 2, 2013 with a prize amount of
230,000 Euros (US $302,000) split between the winners.
Blackberry Jam Sessions
Lately, Blackberry has been trying to attract more developers to
its devices, especially through this year’s launch of a series of
events hosted in different countries in the region, in addition to
other events organized online. The latter aim at introducing
developers to the features of Blackberry’s operating system for
smartphones, and the benefits to working with their platform. Their
programs take place regionally, including in Asia, Europe and the
Americas. Check out their upcoming events and Jam Sessions here.
This is not a comprehensive list of developer competitions in the Arab world, but those listed here are still open for submissions this year and focus mainly on mobile apps for specific platforms. Check out Wamda's event page for a list of other upcoming competitions.