A success! Nokia’s Developer Day at MWC
Porting, tech sessions, space selfies, a bus and games. This year’s event had it all!
The figures are incredible; more than 102-billion app downloads and $26 billion in revenue. That’s what the app economy looks like today. In the next three years, the takings are expected to grow to $77 billion.
It’s no wonder then, that hundreds flocked to this year’s Nokia Developer Day at MWC 2014 to see how they could be part of one of technology’s biggest growth areas, summed up by Nokia’s Seppo Aaltonen, VP Mobile Phones Business Management who said: “Our affordable smartphones are about connecting the next billion.”
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Welcomed by an excited and upbeat crowd, Stephen Elop kicked off the event with a keynote where he recapped Nokia’s product announcements and how the Nokia X software platform opens up new opportunities for existing and new developers. He also emphasized that Windows Phone is the fastest growing ecosystem today and that between Nokia X and Lumia families, Nokia is further increasing the market opportunity for developers.
Timo Toikkanen, EVP Mobile Phones, cemented the news: “The Nokia X is the ultimate affordable smartphone in growth markets. Now that we’ve re-mapped the software platforms as well as the hardware. It will introduce new apps to millions of new people.”
Many of our partners agree. Richard Hazenberg, CEO Lunagames, told the crowd that he is excited about the market potential Nokia X has to offer his company as it combines high volume, ease of porting and seamless billing. He announced “Our game HighWay Hei$t, is now available in the Nokia Store and we are going all in and shipping 20 more games for Nokia X platform”.
Bryan Biniak, VP & GM of Developer Experience, Amit Patel, VP of Developer Relations, Neil Broadley, Director of Product Marketing for Nokia X, Sam Browne, Managing Partner from Carat, and David Proulx, from Blackberry, also took the stage.
Besides Nokia X, developers also heard more details about some of the other news of this week, including, the availability of the Blackberry messaging service BBM on Nokia X and Lumia, as well as the latest release of the Nokia Imaging SDK and the Imagin8 Mission competition for Windows Phone.
The agenda was packed, with technical sessions about Nokia X and Windows Phone, as well as a number of fun activities for developers to engage and learn about Nokia Developer offerings.
Hundreds of Android apps were ported to Nokia X on the spot, with all participants walking home with a brand new Nokia X. Porting continues at the Nokia X bus, which is parked in Hall 8, so if you are a developer make sure you stop by.
Attendees also went to space. Really.
They experienced the capabilities of the Nokia Imaging SDK at a special photo booth where they took a very cool #spaceselfie, and learned about the Imagin8 Mission, the new imaging contest which will earn the winner a trip to experience zero gravity.
The day ended with a cocktail reception where the winners of Nokia Create, who flew in from all over the world, were congratulated and received their prizes from Patrick Stanton, Director of Lumia Developer Offering.
The day was a huge success, inspiring hundreds of developers to learn, do and have fun.