Happy New Year 2012, the year of the Dragon!

In less than 9 months IdeasProject community has grown to almost 15.000 members! We have run 15 challenges so far and half-of-a dozen ideas have ended up to Nokia Store and Windows Phone Marketplace! Ideas have been inspiring developers in several hackathlons and the great launch of IdeasProject took in place at Nokia World in October:Nokia World 2011 Hackathon Turns App Ideas Into Reality

Have an energetic year 2012!

Current Challenges

m2Work – Mobile Microwork Challenge - with $40.000 prize money in total – open!

From millions of tasks to thousands of jobs– m2Work is a worldwide challenge and a joint project of infoDev and Nokia’s IdeasProject, supported by UKaid with $40.000 prize money in total. m2Work is your chance to shape the future of microwork and to make a difference for hundreds of thousands of potential microworkers in the developing growth economies. Microwork refers to small digital tasks people can perform anywhere to supplement their income.

Opera by You - Join to create the first community opera in the world

Put your personal stamp on a full scale opera! Join Opera by You community and try how a real and live opera will be produced online. We are creating opera called Free Will in the Internet. Join and win a trip + tickets to the premier in July 21, 2012!

Designing Privacy - ends February 15, 2012

With an increasing number of technologies dependent on the sharing of personal information, privacy is a consideration that often gets compromised. That’s why IdeasProject’s “Privacy Challenge” invites users to share their inspirations for new ways to incorporate privacy protection in mobile phones, services, and technologies. The best 3 ideas will receive a new Lumia 800.

Education for All Series: Youth & Adult Learning Needs – goal on focus ends Feb 10, 2012

Viewed as a lifelong process, education offers the unique potential to transform individuals’ lives and enrich societies. Share your ideas for how mobile communication can help young people and adults gain life skills and access tools to ensure their continued learning. The best monthly idea receives a new Lumia 800. See also new EFA Crowdsourcing Challenge Overview –video:

Education for All Series: Universal Primary Education - ends May 31, 2012

To address the elusive goal of universal access to primary education, IdeasProject is challenging you how mobile communication can improve Universal Primary Education. This monthly sub-challenge in the EFA series was won by Swaroop John with three others being honored

Education for All Series: Literacy - ends May 31, 2012

This initial monthly sub-challenge in the EFA series, inviting ideas for how mobile communication can improve literacy, was won by Sanjith Yeruva, with three others being honored. See also new video on Literacy-challenge!

Imagine Cup – brainstorming face ends March 13, 2012

As a greater proportion of the world’s population gains access to mobile devices, developers are finding new ways to use the platform to tackle previously insurmountable problems. This Nokia-sponsored Windows Phone challenge invites students to create apps to address global needs.

Idea Space - always open

And, as always, Idea Space offers a venue for ideas not related to any specific challenge. No need to limit your creative talents. Have fun! Be innovative!

Coming soon

Amazing Everyday – Challenge – Starting Feb 3, 2012

Ever noticed how amazingness inspires more amazingness? Take a look at the Nokia Lumia 800, the super social smartphone that makes the everyday amazing by helping you take life easy, stay connected to friends and share the magic of the moment. Over the next 3 weeks, we’ll be launching three weekly challenges with the chance to win a Nokia Lumia 800 handsets and Nokia Purity Stereo HD headphones..All you need to do is tell us how you’d make the everyday more amazing with a gadget or idea that makes life simpler, makes moments with friends even better or gives us what we want in an instant.

Recent News:

Mobile Monday – IdeasProject present at Alliance Platform

While MoMo has traditionally meant face-to-face encounters, the need for digital interaction between stakeholders is increasingly clear. This new alliance platform is another step towards addressing the demand for members to connect with developments in the community, spanning over 100 locations worldwide. IdeasProject sees Mobile Monday cooperation as an excellent means to inspire MoMo community members to develop the ideas into concrete apps, products and services. Both Mobile Monday and IdeasProject are based on open innovation, and ideas from IdeasProject seek execution whereas IdeasProject can provide inspiration to MoMo members’ business development. [Click here to read more]

Let's participate in a Community Member Study

Community Member Study – let’s give a hand to our researchers. Have a 10 min break and join in the community member study by our academic partner ESADE from Barcelona! You may win a Lumia 800 phone! [Click here to participate]

Winners announced - Future Applications for Development - challenge

We are happy to announce the two winners Maria Langat from Kenya for her idea Twende: An app for first time mobile internet users  & Manuel Acevedo from Argentina for his idea Mobile Online Volunteering Experience (MOVE) and one special mention which goes to Rashmi Dravid from UK for his idea iSurvive- Mobile application for disaster management, Congratulations!:Two Winning ideas will be awarded with a trip to the 3rd International Conference on Mobile Communication on Development in New Delhi, Feb 27-29, 2012.

作者：汪海天

　　有人说：电视是二十世纪上半叶诞生的奇迹，手机是二十世纪下半叶诞生的奇迹，手机电视将是二十一世纪的奇迹。

　　我赞同这句话，但是对其中的“手机电视”的定义有一些不同于目前业界流行的注解。我认为手机与电视目前的关系应是情人，而不能是夫妻，更不能是它俩结合生下的孩子。

【电视的困境】

　　回想十多年前，上世纪90年代是中国电视业辉煌的年代，电视是老百姓最重要的文化娱乐来源，而看电视这一需求则创造了中国发行量最大的报纸——《中国电视报》。那个年代，电视节目单及电视节目的导视、点评内容也是各地《晚报》在吸引百姓购买的一个重要卖点。那时，电视节目内容是朋友聊天的最重要谈资。

　　前些日子在微博上与朋友们探讨Social TV（社交电视），我说：“问：看电视的目的是什么？答：为了聊天时有共同话题。问：在哪聊？答：在手机和网络上。”时代在发展，形式在变化，但是人们的本质需求并没有变。人们看电视的时间少了，实质上是使用电视机看电视的时间少了，网上下载数据量最大的内容就是电影、电视节目。不在电视机上看电视不等于不看电视！

　　致力于为长虹和TCL两家国内最大的彩电厂商提供互联网电视机技术服务的欢网科技公司CEO吴胜刚先生近日撰文：以互联网化的思路来改造电视。他说，电视机的屏幕优势和广电机构既有的内容优势是勿庸置疑的，然而当今年轻用户群的消费习惯已经变得非常主动和个性化，他们“只看我爱看的”，PC能够给他们提供的就是这种个性消费和即点即播的满足，致使他们宁可放弃了沙发和大屏幕的舒适。所以说，对年轻用户的流失，广电机构其实是输在了用户体验上，换句话说，如果电视能够提供PC类似的用户体验，他们还将重新回到电视面前。

　　电视业目前的最大困境并不是节目内容，而是服务模式。人们需要在自己合适的时间看自己喜欢的电视，线性播出的频道模式已经不能满足快节奏都市人的需求，电视业界的品牌已纷纷从“频道品牌”向“栏目品牌”转移，人们不关心他们看得是哪个频道，不就是遥控器上的换个台嘛，人们关心的是：我要看的节目在哪里。那么我们如何去知道我们要看的节目在哪呢？现在的答案就是：在手机和网络上，在社交网络中（据悉：全球社交网络鼻祖——Facebook于去年第三季度超越雅虎，成为全球第二大向媒体网站提供视频内容的流量源）。

【电视的误区】

互联网电视是近年的热门，网络电视台建设这两年也如火如荼（上个月南方传媒继央视、文广、华数后正式成为全国第四家互联网电视业务运营商），然而，电视节目的播放上网了，问题就解决了吗？当然，问题没解决目前还可以怪一怪政策不好。但这真的就是完全就只剩下政策的问题了吗？

上个月，新浪网络盛典活动在线直播（如上图），豆腐块的视频窗口两边配着是节目信息和微博互动。当天的微博互动十分给力，一晚上有数万条相关的此话题的发言。我也是在线关注了全程并参与了互动，不过换了一个方式（如下图）。我把视频框全屏并拉远距离，效仿看电视的模式（不太清晰的视频站远些看反倒感觉清楚了），再用手机登录微博参与到互动当中。把一个屏幕上的内容分在两个屏幕上显示，不知道这是不是也算三屏融合的一种应用呢？

随着iPhone为代表的智能手机的普及，用户上网的操作习惯也在被改变。在智能手机上，打开浏览器输入网址这个电脑让最标准的上网模式已经被边缘化，人们更多是从App Store里下载一个常用网站的服务软件来安装，之后需要上这个网站获取信息就直接去点开它的Widget。就像电话号码，似乎你手机里的联系人越来越多，但是你能记得号码的却越来越少，因为，有了通讯录你已经用不着记了。

　　忘掉网站吧，互联网就是一种服务，一种不拘拟于形式的便捷服务。方便、快捷、舒适是它的追求。

　　回想五年前我们在IPTVClub的沙龙上畅聊电视的三重境界：

电视就是电视，互联网就是互联网。 -- 是传统

电视也是互联网，互联网也是电视。 -- 是融合

电视还是电视，互联网还是互联网。 -- 是回归

　　现在电视机的互联网化、智能化已经成为家电产业发展的方向，彩电行业正在步入智能时代，也许可以考虑让电视回归电视了。让你的手机成为电视的伴侣，帮你完成在电视上并不方便操作的信息互动问题吧。

【电视和手机】

　　在手机上看电视节目目前的体验并不好，移动数据网的门槛不算太低，长视频的观看价格不菲，而且手机的电池容量也不够大，即使是广播式的CMMB目前的室内覆盖也还不太稳定。所以，以前定义的手机电视在目前的环境下并不合适。手机和电视还是别着急着结婚、生孩子完全合到一块儿，而是作为一对热恋的情侣各自担当自己擅长的一面，并深入的合作协同更适合当前的生态环境。

　　让手机成为电视的EPG。最近有什么好节目？我的朋友们在看什么节目？你可以去搜索，也可以听推荐，手机是最便捷的信息沟通平台。

　　让手机成为电视的遥控器。从手机上选择电视节目，手机上一点电视就播（目前iPhone上的Remote已经可以如此控制Apple TV了）

　　让手机成为电视的小钱包。不论是对电视内容本身收费还是对电视的衍生服务或产品收费，通过手机上的在线银行通道都是较为便捷的途径（与中移动的手机钱包业务无关）。

　　这里要重点提及一下是，对于目前有线电视网上的开展的互动电视，甚至还没有双向化的电视服务，以上的手机应用也都是适用的。只要里的信息库放到互联网上，手机通过互联网与信息库相连，进行EPG的定制，甚至全媒体节目搜索。而内容源依然可以在有线网内，包括直播、点播、已播（通过时移来看）、以及本地（如果可录制或推送下载）。

【电视与微博】　　

2010年是微博年。在海量的被微博人群中，我关注到一个特殊的群体——传统媒体从业者。在新浪微博广场的名人堂里有一个独立分类：媒体汇（如下图）

      中广互联也在今年的元宵节前推出了“广电行业微博导航（http://t.sarft.net/index.php?m=pub.nav）”。目前该“导航”已收录了全国广播、电影、电视行业内相关机构、频道、栏目组、影视公司、院线、有线网、新媒体、网络台等的上千家官方微博，之后还将收录行业内的数万名主播、记者、编导、制片、以及行业相关研究者。

　　如此繁荣的场面说明了一个问题：传统媒体正在被社会化传播。而且，在这次微博的运动中，一线的传统广播电视媒体人们都纷纷被拉进了网络中，并开始了网络生活。电台、电视台的台里建设了那么多年的网站，也没让这些一线的媒体工作者真正融合到网里，而微博办到了。很多的名主持、主播都是在微博上完成了与他们粉丝的第一次亲密接触。

【电视的机会】

　　互联网时代，电视的机会在哪？让电视节目上网，让电视机上网，让电视人上网……

　　上网只是手段不是目的。上网之后能干什么？不重要，因为网络无所不能。上网之后要干什么？很重要！因为那才是成功的方向。

　　上周约了几位业界高人开了一个新年茶话会，杨景老师的一席话让我茅塞顿开。他说：电视在互联网上的机会足够诞生另一个阿里巴巴。电视上网之后，有很多配套的服务需要去做，而这些貌似边角的事务，却都是互联网上不小的生意。

　　举一个例子，中国的电影经历涅磐之后，现在已完美新生，不仅国产片票房上去了，院线也都完全变了样。电影的拍摄、发行目前还都是受管控的，盗版问题也同样还在困扰着电影，但是2010年中国电影票房收入突破了100亿。

展望电视的明天，今天的电影已经给电视做了一个榜样。

作者：汪海天
中国标准化协会技术委员会委员，IPTV俱乐部秘书长，中广互联副总经理

One of the most visible forms of mobile innovation is the growing demand for mobile applications. Mobile innovations are becoming everyday reality as mobiles are one of the only types of devices reaching nearly all the people on the planet. Being connected is more and more important each and every day. However, being connected doesn’t bring the value alone -- it comes from different mobile applications and services available. Out of these services and applications the emergences of mobile entrepreneur communities have taken shape. For example, according to Ovum’s research the mobile telephony industry created about 3.6 million jobs in India, directly and indirectly. This figure is expected to increase by 30% per year.

According to Pyramid Research* mobile innovations appear as a combination of simple solutions for basic handsets and more sophisticated for smarter devices. This will help to ensure that mobile users of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds benefit from the products of Mobile Innovation (mInnovation). Still, a profound understanding of the value proposition to people as well as their distinctive needs is essential. An example of mInnovation from the device perspective tailored for the special needs of people in the developing countries are a dustproof phone cover and a flash light embedded in mobile phones.

Mobile entrepreneurs leading the show

In order to flourish, mInnovation requires virtual (e.g. Developer communities) as well as physical places (MobileLabs) for offering entrepreneurs technical and financial support and also a community for sharing ideas and connections. Pyramid Research mentions e.g. infoDev, Mobile Monday and our own "Create for Millions" competition as standout places for mInnovation to flourish at the moment. infoDev's mobile applications laboratories (mLabs) provide physical place for incubation, training, and testing to local entrepreneurs, developers and SMEs in Armenia, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa, and Vietnam. The mLabs are part of the larger Creating Sustainable Businesses in the Knowledge Economy programme, which foster the adoption of ICT technologies and innovative, technology-driven business models in developing countries. The programme is a joint effort of Finland, infoDev and Nokia

How do people use or how would they like to use their mobile phones?

Mobile phones have had an impact on how we live, work, communicate and socialise locally and globally. Benefits of mobility can be very intangible such as access to information or very tangible such as receiving warnings by SMS in emergency situations or using mobile money.

Could the mobile communications within a society already be considered as important as for example railways and postal service in terms of infrastructure or services? Is being connected through mobile devices considered as much of an important public benefit as being able to move physically? Building roads and railways versus information highways.

The reality is that mInnovation, and the need for mInnovations, is here to stay. Its evolution is growing stronger and stronger with each passing day.

Old school teahouse entrepreneur goes mobile –shop open 24/7 via mobile &
Fun with purpose - Chinese kids learning English while playing.

Photo © Heli Haapkylä 2011.

Read more about Benefits of mobile technology

*Africa & Middle East Telecom Insider (Vol. 3, No. 7, August 2011).

IdeasProject has a priviledge to have a great bunch of active users who spend some time weekly, if not even daily, in IdeasProject sharing their ideas and helping other users. We decided to reward one of them, "f.pokrandt", with a mobile phone of his choice and had a little chat with him. F.pokrandt chose N950 which will be delivered to him as soon as it's available. Read below what f.pokrandt says about IdeasProject and mobile phone industry in general.

You’re by far the most active ideator in IdeasProject, congratulations! I gotta ask, what makes you put hours of work to our service?

My motivation to engage in IdeasProject started when I thought I'd need an application for my N8 to record FM radio broadcasts in order to listen to them later. Whom at Nokia could I tell this? First, I searched and searched through Forum Nokia (now called Nokia Developer) and found nothing to submit my idea to developers. Going to BetaLabs was my next try, but somewhere in their forum guidelines, there was a line or two that users should only discuss the presented beta applications, but they shouldn't make suggestions about useful applications. So, when I discovered IdeasProject, I immediately knew what to do, and that was how my first idea was posted there.

More and more ideas came to my mind, and I've posted (and will continue to do so) them here to find other user's opinions on them and, hopefully, developers who are willing to make them become reality. I have also found some other ideas with a lot of potential that I definitely want to become real (some, not all, of them by joerice50). Since I'd like to have my ideas commented and rated, I comment and rate other ideas which I like. And there are a LOT of ideas coming in every day, so I concentrate on the most promising ones.

Often, I do some brainstorming about the opportunities of existing hardware (mostly, the N8) and think about using their full potential. What can be done now (for example, using the multitude of inbuilt sensors)? What could be done with extended hardware functionality, made possible by added software components (e.g. some drivers for supporting more kinds of USB devices on USB On-the-go)? How could the N8's camera potential be used to the max? Sometimes, however, new ideas appear more or less accidentally. For example, the idea „Easy-to-use music composing application“ appeared when I looked at a sheet of music notes, trying to generate the melody in my mind. I asked myself: „What if my phone could do that with its camera and a little bit of OCR technology?“ Click – the idea was born. This happens more or less often now, so I've got yet another two or three ideas to post on IdeasProject – stay tuned!

What’s your favorite idea in IdeasProject– by yourself and/or somebody else?

Hmmm, that is hard to answer, since there are so many. Here is a list of my favourite ideas (not in any particular order):

FM Radio Recorder ;-)

Coffee Wifi and Charge

Snap the speed app

Remote control for having access to your PC on your TV – wirelessly!

Include Nokia executives and engineers as Ideas Project staff members

Automate tasks on your cell phone

Bluetooth walkie-talkie app

Magnetic add-on lenses for cell phone cameras

Keyboard for DeviceS

Selecting 2G/3G network based on power usage

Re-Launch old Buddies

Ovi Maps - suggestion for this great app

How do you think the telecom industry is going to change in the next few years?

*switching on the crystal ball* I guess there will be some more smartphones with stereoscopic cameras and 3D-capable screens before their manufacturers realize that 3D on phones is a rather useless gimmick and won't be sold very often. CPUs will continue the gigahertz race that began in desktop computers about seven, eight years ago (and the following multi-core race). Screen sizes and resolution will increase. Last but not least: I hope that Meego will be a massive success and we will see some more Meego-based Nokia devices in the future! *crystal ball off*

You won a mobile phone of your choice for your amusing effort in IdeasProject - what’s your favorite mobile phone model and why?

Currently the N8, mainly because of its great and unsurpassed camera, the HDMI and analog TV output, USB-on-the-go, Ovi Maps etc.

However, I still miss the E7's hardware keyboard and ClearBlackDisplay in it, so I'd love to have all these features combined. Hey, wasn't there a device called N950? ;-)

How would you improve IdeasProject if anything was possible?

I would like to see much more developers who comment, rate and realize ideas, whether they may work for Nokia or a third party company that develops applications for the Ovi Store.

I would build in a switch on the home page to toggle between new ideas, ideas of a certain competition, my recently liked and/or commented ideas (to keep track of them, I can't have so much good ideas as bookmarks), random ideas and most liked or most commented ideas in general.

I would extend the possibilities for collaborating between users by allowing them to merge similar ideas into one. There is a need for that when different people have – indepently of each other – the same idea (except for inbuilt solar cells, this inflation of the same idea was a bit too much). Examples for multiple good ideas are those for an application for helpful social networking in your community, where you can take a photo of something that needs to be repaired or cleaned up and send it to local authorities to fix it.

I would add an animated tag cloud on the home page so that users who search for ideas can choose keyword of their interests, instead of digging through endless numbers of pages full of text boxes.

And I would like to thank you for this interview.

Sounds good, we'll see what we can do. Thank you!

It’s often said that the Internet connects the entire planet. And considering all the barriers that existed prior to its invention, it’s understandable that people might think that those barriers no longer exist. The ability of hundreds of millions of individuals to exchange information via voice, email, video, text and otherwise is truly amazing. But when we take a step back and look at the larger picture, it’s clear that we still have a long way to go. And where we’ll go is mobile.

While we are certainly connected in numerous new ways, there are still many more in which we are not. According to the International Telecommunications Union, in 2010 just 30 percent of the world’s population had access to the Internet. In the developing world, the figure is a mere 21 percent. The obvious reason for this is that the majority of people in the world do not and never will own a computer; and many do not even have electricity in their homes.

Kampala, Uganda.
Photo © Heli Haapkylä 2010 . This photograph was captured with a Nokia E63.

However, if we are ever to connect the entire planet, it won’t be through computers but mobile devices, specifically smart phones, which are considerably more accessible. With mobile phone usage as high as 50 percent in many developing countries, the dream that a majority of the world will one day access the Internet is certainly realistic, and the transformation that has connected so many of us in developed countries may be truly global one day.

Nokia has taken an active role in delivering compelling and affordable smart phone experiences to users in countries like Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China and Kenya. Nokia has also created tools to make it easier for developers to build applications to enable the average smart phone user to get online. These web tools and the accessibility of Series 40 devices allow users in Mumbai to access Wikipedia on the go, or get info on the latest movies with a specialized Bollywood app. In Jakarta, people can wake up to the latest breaking news on their phone through an application called Kompas. And in China, mobile applications like Kapanlagi and Sina and are making mobile web browsing a reality for millions.

Kampala, Uganda.
Photo © Heli Haapkylä 2010 . This photograph was captured with a Nokia E63.

When we consider the fact that many people in the world never had the possibility of Internet access before, these kinds of developments can play a major role in the dream of a fully-connected planet. Edi Taslim, Business General Manager at PT Kompas Cyber Media, in Jakarta, Indonesia, which delivers news to mobile phones, describes how mobile online access is impacting a generation of users: “Unlike the older generation who knows the Internet from desktops,” he says, “a lot of Indonesians get introduced to the Net by mobile phones.”

That pretty much sums it up: To the “next billion” who will connect, the Internet will be on the computer they carry in their hand, not the one they hold on their lap.

Also check, Vodafone Policy Paper, May 2011: Making Broadband Accessible For all , which broadly discusses the issues of ensuring the maximum number of people irrespective of income being able to benefit from the next generation network services.

According to its organizers, Earth Hour - when people all over the planet turn off their lights to unite in their commitment to a sustainable future - is already the largest voluntary action the world has ever witnessed. Conceived four years ago by Andrew Ridley and the World Wildlife Fund, this year the initiative went beyond its previous accomplishments in a variety of ways. On March 26, 2011, more than 5,000 cities took part, and the event was witnessed by more than 1.3 billion people. 135 countries participated, and municipalities from Nha Trang in Vietnam to Las Vegas in the United States experienced significant reductions in energy consumption, just from the small gesture of turning out the lights for a single hour.

But Earth Hour is now much more than the one-hour event, and this year its founders teamed up with IdeasProject to create the Beyond Earth Hour Challenge, calling upon those of us who’ve been inspired by the event to go “beyond the hour” and take action for sustainability.

IdeasProject Users Rise to the Challenge

Along with the launch of this year’s Earth Hour on March 26, 2011, IdeasProject users were invited to contribute their ideas for how mobile phones and applications can improve our ability to live in a sustainable way. We’re glad to report that our community rose to the challenge with app ideas about recycling, bicycling, dining green, sustainable mobile phones, detecting air pollution, and more - much more.

For example, IdeasProject member Mario Bartolac’s idea, What Goes Into Which Bin?, reminds us that sometimes ideas that seem simple can be the most effective (e.g. turning out the lights). Bartolac proposed an app that would help users figure out how to separate trash correctly for different bins. It sounds simple, but even the most ecology-minded among us can struggle with this. He suggests that this app could accompany users, so they “could have their instructions anywhere they are; in the kitchen,” for example. “The app would not just serve as an instruction sheet,” he concludes, “though in time people would learn how to correctly separate trash and [in this way] it would spread the knowledge of recycling.”

Art Woo, one of our most prolific IdeasProject contributors, proposes Dine Out and Drink Green, a clever app that encourages diners to support establishments with more sustainable practices. “Five apples would easily tell me at a glance that the restaurant has a firm commitment to the environment,” writes Woo, “i.e. they have recycling policies in place, buy locally grown ingredients to lower their carbon footprint, and use organic cleaners that are more earth-friendly.” His app would also let users know where to find public water fountains and avoid having to purchase costly and wasteful bottles of water.

Big Change from Humble Sources

These app ideas demonstrate that while we sometimes see the solutions to our energy consumption woes in grandiose gestures, they are actually about small adjustments we can make in our daily routines. Contributor Musa Mohammed’s Compassion app, for example, which proposes a mobile system to remind us how we can do better by our planet, makes so much sense.  “How about using mobile applications to gain more knowledge about the environment and learn ways of making it sustainable?” he asks. Mohammed follows with ideas for apps to help us track and control our energy consumption, and use less paper and more keypad. He also suggests putting on our earphones and walking or cycling instead of taking our cars, which may or may not be an app, but is certainly a great way to make use our mobile devices.

For Melissa Mogollón, a bicycle is not just a recreational vehicle, or even just a means of transport, but an alternative energy source and the catalyst for change on a global scale. “Cycle culture,” writes Mogollón in her app description, “aims to be an important source of energy, a healthy and sustainable one for all.” Mogollón suggests several ways to achieve her goal to harness the power generated from bikes, including “non static bicycles that convert human movement into electricity to charge mobile devices,” government-sponsored bike-ways, and programs to promote bicycle culture using “apps, social media, video, events, TV, radio.” Thus, from the humble bicycle could arise a way to address at least a portion of our energy needs.

Finding the Big Idea

The IdeasProject Challenge period ended on April 14th, but stay tuned: We’ll be announcing the top choices for our Beyond Earth Hour challenge on May 27th.   And even though Earth Hour itself is over, you can get new ideas and inspiration how to use mobiles for sustainable living by watching Nokia’s environmentally themed videos. 

The Nokia Solar Pump Charging Station @ SXSW 2011 worked by using solar-powered energy, allowing people to get their phones charged while raising awareness about energy usage.

See also a small taste of the experience of Earth Hour itself online by clicking to turn off the lights on a series of breathtaking photos of the world’s most famous monuments. Or make a before-and-after comparison of well-known sites using CNN’s interactive slide photos. You can watch the inspiring Earth Hour video created by the World Wildlife Fund. And what is most important you can still make a concrete commitment on the Beyond Earth Hour platform by naming a concrete action in your daily life to make our world a better place. 

The new IdeasProject site, where you are right now, will officially be re-launched today here at SXSW festival, Austin, TX. SXSW is definitely the place to be on 11st-20th of March for anyone in the field of new technology, and it’s a perfect opportunity for IdeasProject to unveil its new direction by kicking off the first global idea crowdsourcing challenge "Apps for Change”. We are inviting people, developers, influencers  and stakeholders to come together to share ideas and co create an app that can have a positive impact on the world.

The street view in Austin

In the becoming days, SXSW brings together industry leaders and the brightest minds in emerging technology. This is a great bunch of people to start innovating with for our first idea challenge. IdeasProject’s events in SXSW include a re-opening party today at Belmond roof top terrace and in VIP lounge at Fogo Chayo on 13th, 15th and 16th. There will be more details to come on these events in the following posts, so stay tuned.

Nokia’s overall objective in SXSW is to socially connect people with our consumer & influencer activities themed around the Nokia N8, our newest flagship device we are really proud of. Random Acts of Kindness is a practical example how we connect people in SXSW. We will encourage people to tweet using the hashtag #NokiaConnects at SXSW. When we see this happen, we will attempt to find the individual who tweeted to present them with a prize. In addition, Nokia Research Center publically demonstrates Nokia Find & Connect for the first time at SXSW. Find & Connect is an experimental application taking social networking to the next level - by recording social ‘encounters’ it automatically recommends people to meet based on physical proximity, shared interests and the number of times you’ve crossed paths.

We are also demonstrating Nokia’s social responsibility with sustainability and recycling activities associated with the Green Zone sponsorship. Green Zone includes several sustainable, useful and fun elements like human hamster wheel & Nokia bike chargers to recharge mobile phones.

In following few days we will keep reporting from SXSW. Remember thought that in IdeasProject we will keep looking for Apps For Change also after SXSW, until April 30th. Even though you’re not attending SXSW, your idea can still be the App For Change, so what’s your big idea? Join. Create. Together.

In linguistics, literature and life, it's common wisdom that being able to speak more than one language contributes greatly to one's ability to understand others more deeply, to appreciate the nuances that exist in a language different from one's native tongue, or the language you're speaking at a given moment. It's especially helpful when one needs to communicate, as they say in French, that certain 'je ne sais quoi'.

Speaking with developers in Bangalore last week, I was struck by the creative context for developers there. In addition to the multiple technical languages and platforms that mobile developers commonly program to, these developers operate in a daily environment that takes multilingual to a whole new level.  In the focus groups we hosted, each of our participants spoke at least five languages, and were painfully aware that their end-user targets operate in many more languages than that.  This is not surprising in a country (India) where 29 languages are spoken by populations of more than a million native speakers, and 122 languages are spoken by populations of more than 10,000.  We had a lively discussion about localization trends and pain-points, which revealed that the mobile industry has a great latent opportunity in connecting application developer creativity to the hundreds of languages in which mobile end-users live their daily lives.

When it comes to the creative people and developers who spend their time making mobile apps, we are also pretty used to talking about the many different languages in which they are fluent: Java, C++, Objective C, Html 5…the list goes on. We know from research that most mobile developers are simultaneously developing on at least 2.5 platforms at any given moment, which makes them a multilingual group indeed! While efficient access to these native layers are critical for many apps; we are also hearing from developers that abstraction layers which simplify cross-platform development are very welcome. Developers look forward to technology solutions -- like Nokia's Qt application development framework --  that get us closer to 'write once, run anywhere'.  As mobile platforms proliferate, often spawning fragmentation and uncertainty,  this cross-platform dream is still the pot of gloss at the end of the rainbow.

We've seen mobile platforms revolutionize everyday life by making apps -- those indispensable information-driven services -- available 24/7. Listening to developers in Bangalore, I'd wager there are more opportunities to revolutionize language-based complexity:  not just for end-users, but also for developers.

- Valerie Buckingham, Nokia