Vodacom Telecom Company has invited developers from four African countries namely Egypt, Lesotho, South Africa and Tanzania to its app challenge dubbed the AppStar.
The AppStar challenges mobile app developers to come up with out of the box ideas and apply for the competition.
Vodacom aims to influence mobile app developments in emerging markets in Africa and Middle East. Qatar has been included in the competition.
The competition aims to get apps for J2ME, Symbian, Andriod and Blackberry platforms. Vodacom launched its app store in September 2011, being the first operator to launch its own store in South Africa.
The app store reached one million downloads of its apps in six months of operation.
“But the real challenge has been to realise the ambition of kick-starting an entirely new industry in South Africa. We had to find a way to support and nurture talent and also celebrate the success stories,” Prins Mhlanga, Managing Executive of Digital Media at Vodacom said.
“We’re truly delighted with the success of the App Star Challenge. We have seen great local talent come to the fore and we’re excited about the income opportunities that lie ahead for the developers,” Mhlanga said.
The winners of last year’s challenge had their applications published on the Vodacom app store. They include, Kishyr Ramdial who developed Radiopod an Android app which offers radio podcast for local radio stations.
Dr David Vanucci came in second with Mobiraba, a translation for an African board game named Morabaraba. PhraZapp is a Java app developed by Glenn Stein who won the third place. The app translates South African languages.
Applications are open until September 7. The apps have to be published by September 21.
