Calling all Pinoy developers! Join the 1st PinoyBBDev App Challenge 2011!!!

Inspired by the objective of promoting and showcasing Filipino talents in developing BlackBerry Applications, expanding BlackBerry presence in the local settings and increasing Filipino presence in BlackBerry AppWorld, we are excited to bring you the 1st PinoyBBDev App Challenge 2011!

PinoyBBDev App Challenge 2011 was officially launched last Nov 5 during the BlackBerry WebWorks HTML5 Workshop and will end on Dec 31, 2011 Jan 31, 2012. Judging will start on Jan 1 up to Jan 14, 2012 Feb 1 up to Feb 15, 2012 and awarding will be on Jan 15, 2012 Feb 17, 2012.

Mechanics of the Contest

Eligibility:
1) The competition is open to all Filipino developers, teams or organizations.
2) Individual developers must be a member of the Philippine BlackBerry Developer Group (PinoyBBDev). In case of teams or organizations, at least one (1) member of its development team should be a PinoyBBDev member.
*To be a member in PinoyBBDev, register here
3) Participants must have a BlackBerry AppWorld Account.
*To upload in AppWorld, you need an AppWorld Vendor Account. You can create one here. It’s free.

Application Requirements:
1) The app must be submitted in BlackBerry AppWorld(on or before Dec 31, 2011 Jan 31, 2012).
2) Both existing and new apps can be submitted as entries.
3) It doesn’t matter if you publish it as free or paid apps.
4) You can use any of supported platforms for BlackBerry smartphones (Java or WebWorks+HTML5) and BlackBerry PlayBook (Native SDK C/C++, Adobe AIR or WebWorks+HTML5)

Criteria for Judging:
1) Uniqueness – there are lot’s of applications in the AppWorld so there’s a chance that there’s already an application in AppWorld similar to yours. Try to make it unique as possible.
2) Excellent user experience and appropriate UI – try to make your application user friendly.
3) Stickiness – try to come up with an application that will make the users/subscribers use it more often.
4) Exhibits SOLOMO (SOcial, LOcal and MObile) is a plus! – Try to include a social component and make the content local. This is not required but will give you a bonus point for this.
5) Use of BBM SDK and Location API is a plus! – Try to integrate messaging and location functionality in your application to get bonus points as well.

Prizes:

1st Prize:  1 - BlackBerry Bold 9900 + Cash + Carousel at AppWorld for a month

2nd Prize: 1 - BlackBerry Playbook 32GB + Cash + Carousel at AppWorld for a month

3rd Prize:  1 - BlackBerry Bold 9780 + Cash + Carousel at AppWorld for a month

To help you through your development, we will be conducting a “Hackathon type” of event in between Nov 5 and Dec 31, to assist you with your application. During the said event, we will also provide test devices so you can test it in an actual handset. Let us know what is your preferred date.

If you have questions, feel free to send us an email at johnbiibs@pinoybbdev.com / papdoligosa@pinoybbdev.com

So start working on your application and let your creative juices ooze out! Join now!