Vodacom SMS application developer competition

The prize money will be split between a prize of R30 000 to the developer and a further R10 000 to the winner's academic institution. A state-of-the-art cellphone will be awarded to the runner-up.

The winning application will also be promoted free of charge on www.vodazone.co.za, which has a global audience in over 180 countries.

"We aim to inspire developers to create new and exciting mobile data applications, which can be commercially realised," said Gary Cousins, Vodacom Developer Zone Manager.

He added that the Vodacom Developer Zone was developed by Clickatell, a Wireless Application Service Provider (WASP) to Vodacom, and is completely free to anyone wishing to test and deploy their SMS applications, including students, teachers, colleges and universities, allowing our nation's youth to access the influential world of mobile data.

Cousins continued, "Because a lot of the Vodacom Developer Zone's customer base is made up of overseas clientele, all accepted applications into the competition could win themselves worldwide exposure through the Developer Zone's Application Showcase. This represents a chance for us to benchmark our future developers against the rest of the world."

Launched by Clickatell in April this year, the Vodacom Developer Zone's a new web environment providing users with instant connectivity to a carrier-grade, high volume messaging gateway through multiple interfaces. It immediately allows any user to incorporate SMS into their business, application and marketing strategies, and presents entrepreneurs with all the tools, information, guides and technical documentation, enabling them to start up their own wireless application service

The closing date for registration for the competition is 31 January 2005. Additional information, terms and conditions and online entry forms for the competition can be found at http://www.vodazone.co.za, or contact Gary Cousin, Vodacom Developer Zone Manager on +27 21 948 7150 or email marketing@vodazone.co.za.

The winning entry will be awarded at the 2005 First Tuesday / Vodacom Mobile Connect event.