Heads up: Sony Ericsson Content Awards 2008

The Sony Ericsson Content Awards are back for 2008. Taking 2007's awards a step further, this year's awards are open to all third-party development and content creation companies. Submission opens mid-September 2008 and so you can prepare, below is a list what you will need to supply. And as inspiration, you'll also find a summary of what has happened to last year's winners.

Submission opens mid-September 2008
The Sony Ericsson Content Awards 2008 are open to all market-ready applications, games, graphics and services created for Sony Ericsson mobile phones by any third-party development company. All content for Sony Ericsson Java™ Platform 7 (JP-7), JP-8, UIQ 3 and Window® Mobile phones will be considered – which includes phones such as the W890 Walkman™, C902 Cyber-shot™, G900 UIQ-3-based phone and the Sony Ericsson XPERIA™ X1.

The categories are broader this year, giving greater scope for innovation:

•Entertainment
•Green application
•In-car experience
•Lifestyle applications
•Panels for XPERIA
•Productivity
•Themes & Graphics
Submission on the new Sony Ericsson Content Awards 2008 website opens mid-September 2008. To complete the submission form, you will need to include the following:


•Company description (max 50 words) and a picture that describes the company – this could be of the building or a landmark that is associated to the town/country where you are located (remember that this is a global competition)
•Content description (max 50 words)
•Developer team description (max 50 words) and team photo
•Content file – upload a zip file containing a working example of the submitted content (don't forget to include readme txt for instructions) and application full code
•One descriptive screenshot in a zip file
•Specify which Sony Ericsson phone the content is designed for
Once submission is closed on November 30, 2008, nominees for each category will be selected by Sony Ericsson and published on the website. The nominations will be assessed by the judges, revealed on December 10, 2008 and the winners announced in the first week of February 2009.

The information submitted must be in English and be the participant's own work. This information will be used for judging purposes and may be published on the upcoming Sony Ericsson Content Awards website.

Prizes
In addition to receiving the 2008 winner's symbol and any associated media exposure, the winner of each category will get an exclusive "behind the scenes" two day workshop at Sony Ericsson's development site in Lund, Sweden. The winners' will be able to present their company and winning content to Sony Ericsson managers and decision makers as well as meet key members of Sony Ericsson's Research & Development teams.

What has happened to the 2007 winners?
As last year's winners matched the value proposition for some phones, were innovative enough to have global appeal and have a brand that fits the Sony Ericsson image, they have gone on to have their content preloaded on some Sony Ericsson phones and made available on Sony Ericsson's Fun & Downloads website or the PlayNow™ over-the-air download service. Here's a summary:

Gaming: RealNetworks' Mobile Games' Studio Mr.Goodliving – "Playman Extreme Running"

•Will be preloaded on three phones from the upcoming 2009 portfolio
Imaging: BitCycle – "Pull Face Image Manipulator"

•Will be preloaded on imaging phones from the 2009 portfolio
•Available for download from Fun & Downloads
•Special offer to Sony Ericsson employees for free download during a limited period of time
Productive Mobility: Opera – "Opera Mini 4.0"

•Available for download from PlayNow and Fun & Downloads
•Will be preloaded on some phones in the 2009 portfolio
Music & Audio: Gracenote – "Track ID" service

•Included in many 2008 and 2009 Sony Ericsson phones, primarily Walkman phones
•High usage and track identification numbers, for example 220,000–270,000 per day with weekends the most popular
•Please note: since winning this award, Gracenote has been acquired by Sony
Themes & Graphics: Metronize/Clavitones – "The Geeks themes and graphics"

•Video, graphics and themes available for download from PlayNow and Fun & Downloads
Special Recognition Award, making best use of the functionality in Sony Ericsson's mobile phones: Vringo - "Video ring signals"

•Active link in the offline web page featured in all Walkman phones as of Q1 2009