Following on from our recent announcement of the Vodafone Foundation Smart Accessibility Awards winners we are also delighted to announce the winners of the inaugural Vodafone App Star Challenge! The international challenge included top winners from six countries across the Middle East and Africa, who were unveiled at Vodacom World in Midrand earlier this month.

Participating countries included Egypt, Kenya, Lesotho, Qatar, Tanzania and South Africa who competed in the finals held in South Africa. While the App Star challenge has been held independently in some of these countries in the past, this is the first international challenge that brings ...

Last night we were delighted to announce the winners of the 2012 Vodafone Foundation Smart Accessibility Awards. A €200,000 prize fund for the best Android apps to assist those with disabilities and the elderly has been shared between four winners. At the awards ceremony in Brussels last night, a keynote speech was delivered by Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship.

The competition opened in May and after a number of judging rounds the final four winners were decided by a panel consisting of representatives from Vodafone Foundation, Vodafone Group Services Limited ...

You might have heard us talking recently about Rich Communications Suite / joyn and hopefully you’re as excited as we are about this innovative technology! And the fantastic news is that our friends at GSMA are running the joyn Innovation Challenge which is an initiative to encourage innovation based on joyn. Here’s what the GSMA have to say about the challenge,

The challenge will stimulate mobile and web app developers and technology innovators to build on the core capabilities of joyn (Contact management, Chat and File Share) and explore ideas for new and attractive services.

Developers are invited to ...

This year we’ve been delighted by the amount of competition entries, and impressed by the quality and innovation of them.

Our specialist first round Judges from AGE and EDF have now completed the first round of judging and we have our final 12 entrants that will be competing in the finals.

To view the 12 Apps that will be in the finals, please click here: http://developer.vodafone.com/smartaccess2012/saa-2012-finalist/

Thank you again to all the entrants for all their submissions and be sure to keep an eye on the site for updates and to see who the ...

On 25-26 October Nicholas Herriot and Ashley Mills from Vodafone Group R&D joined forces with developer.vodafone.com to showcase some of the demos from their collaboration with ARM's mbed platform for rapid prototyping. The picture below shows the demo part of their stand:

This comprised of:

A) An SMS driven, websockets triggered live tile guessing game.
B) "The Question Mark" - an adhoc feedback point for anywhere gatherings (prints out SMSs sent to it).
C) The color changing light (changes color according to remote instructions).
D) The Dwarf Door (remote access enabled).

In addition to these four interactive ...

Update (16th October 2012) - AppSelect will close on 21st November 2012.

In light of the number and variety of application stores already available to our customers, Vodafone has been reviewing its own AppSelect service. The review has now concluded and Vodafone has decided to phase out AppSelect by 31 January 2013 at the latest, as its customers are already well-served by existing application stores. Other Vodafone content services will not be affected and our Emerging Market Apps Store is still accepting applications.

Vodafone will continue to offer opportunities to developers to monetise their applications through services like charge to bill ...

There is just a month left to enter the Vodafone Foundation Smart Accessibility Awards and be in with a chance to win a share of a €200,000 prize fund for the best smartphone app to help older people and people with disabilities.

The competition, now in its second year, will close to new entries on Monday, 15 October 2012 and culminate in an award ceremony in early December at which four winners will each be presented with a cheque for €50,000. The four award categories include: social participation; independent living; mobility and wellbeing. Entries should be submitted to ...

11:00 CET - Maintenance successfully completed

We are planning scheduled maintenance to our Apps Publishing Platform (http://developer.vodafone.com/upload)
and as a result the platform will be taken offline from 10:00 (CET) 30th August 2012.
Expected time offline will be a couple of hours. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Thank you for looking to distribute your apps with Vodafone, and for your continued support!

Over the coming weeks we’ll be making a number of changes to the Vodafone Apps Publication Platform. These changes will be related to the following:

• A new improved, streamlined publication platform including a new front-end for developers, updates to your reporting, device configuration and front-end user management.
• The introduction of charge to bill in-app billing which introduces new opportunities for you to monetise your apps, including micro transactions and demo versions.

To operationally manage these changes the Publication Platform will be taken offline from 3rd September 2012 until late October 2012. During this period you will be able to ...

Following on from the recent series regarding Machine 2 Machine, Nicholas Herriot, Solutions Architect, Vodafone Group R&D gives us an overview of how you can apply M2M to everyday applications.

Only 4 weeks ago I made a short presentation about how easy it was to create a door controller using prototyping embedded controllers.
Within the R&D department our bunch of cables and controllers did not quite galvanise and enthuse with the possibilities of such a system. We decided to create a real miniature door complete with Yale lock, controller, solenoid, modem and software. Our crazy door has gone ...

In support of the Vodafone Smart Accessibility Awards, Vodafone, Mobile Monday, in conjunction with NDRC Inventorium have partnered with the NCBI Centre for Inclusive Technology and the Irish Internet Association (IIA) to run a two-day workshop 21-22 August from 12:00 - 18:00h to stimulate the generation of smartphone app ideas to submit to the competition for a share of €200k worth of prize money.

The two-day workshop will explore the challenges, problems and commercial opportunities that exist for developers and entrepreneurs when building smartphone applications that consider the needs of this significant demographic.

For more information about the Dublin ...

Vodafone India has signed up with Vserv.mobi to provide App Monetization to its developer partners.

Vserv.mobi is a leading Global Mobile Ad Network with strong presence in emerging markets. Vserv's pioneering technology AppWrapper powers One Click App Monetisation for 10000+ Apps across Android, WP7 & J2ME platforms. The AppWrapper is the World’s Simplest App Monetization - it enables premium advertising & innovative pricing models on any app, without coding, in just one click.

Dippak Khurana, Co-Founder and CEO, Vserv.mobi said “AppWrapper is a first-of-its-kind platform that enables both - free and paid App Monetisation models in One Click, without ...

Update 12:45 (CET) 17th July 2012 : Service is up and running again.  

We are planning scheduled maintenance to our Apps Publishing Platform (http://developer.vodafone.com/upload) and as a result the platform will be taken offline from 10:00 (CET) 17th July 2012. Expected time offline will be a couple of hours. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Thank you for looking to distribute your apps with Vodafone, and for your continued support!

Hopefully you will already have heard about the Vodafone Foundation Smart Accessibility Awards 2012, the competition that calls for developers across Europe to design smartphone applications which take into consideration the needs of older people and people with disabilities. In support of the competition we wanted to let you know about a series of Smart Accessibility workshops being run in conjunction with Mobile Mondays. At the first workshop, which will take place in London on 19th July, you will be able to learn about user perspective and personal experience, follow a technical session with demonstrations of tools and applications, simulate ...

On the evening of 27th June Vodafone developer in collaboration with Group R&D had the pleasure of hosting a recurring Meetup called The Internet of Things.

Are you bursting with ideas for the latest and greatest mobile app? Do you just need an opportunity to build & showcase your idea to the world's leading operator and reach out to millions of customers across several countries!

Then don’t delay, here is just that opportunity! An opportunity for all technology professionals – Software Developers, Software Architects or students - working and residing in Egypt, Lesotho, South Africa, Qatar & Tanzania to put forth your ideas, build that wonderful app and prove your mettle.

"AppStar" is a unique mobile app contest where you get to showcase your talent by building, uploading ...

On 14th June 2012, Vodafone xone™, the incubation center of Vodafone R&D and Expertmaker, a leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) software company, announced the winners of the first AI Hackathon held by the two companies over the weekend. A total of ten AI-integrated apps were created and three winners were chosen by the panel of judges which included Fay Arjomandi, Head of Vodafone xone; Lars Hård, CTO and Founder of Expertmaker; Ben Parker, Verizon Wireless Director of Network Planning and Design; and Michel Burger, Vodafone Head of Product Architecture.

See the event video and interviews here - http://youtu.be/-0XDg1isjqE ...

If you’re keen to take a look at what Rich Comms can do for your app and would like to see just how easy it is then our new guide and video will certainly help.  The guide and video provide a heads-up view to help you start exploring the potential of Rich Comms in your own apps, covering topics such as,

• joyn on Vodafone
• Jibe Mobile App-to-App APIs
• Rich Comms under the hood
• Jibe Mobile SDK overview
• How to get started
• Sign up for the Vodafone developer Jibe Mobile SDK trial
• Download the Jibe SDK
• Register your test devices ...

June 1^st to 2^nd saw OverTheAir taking place at Bletchley Park. Representing Vodafone at the event were Nicholas Herriot and Ashley Mills from Vodafone Group R&D. Below is Nicholas’s trip write-up from the event.

OverTheAir is a neutral space where hackers, academics and commercial organisations can get together and be creative! There were a number of big players at the event including Google promoting their new Google + API, Facebook doing much of the same, Blackberry with their new QNX operating system and it's platform, Lego Mindstorm, Blue Via, AppsFuel, Marmalade and many more new kids ...

Following on from the great success of last year's competition the Vodafone Foundation has today launched the Smart Accessibility Awards, 2012. The competition calls for developers across Europe to design smartphone applications which take into consideration the needs of older people and people with disabilities.

The Smart Accessibility Awards are part of the Vodafone Foundation’s ‘Mobile for Good’ programme which supports initiatives around the world which use mobile technology to drive positive social change.  This year, the Vodafone Spain Foundation is running the pan-European competition, and will host the final in early December. 

The awards are supported and ...

On a recent visit to Vodafone UK HQ in Newbury Vodafone developer took the chance to catch up with Nicholas Herriot, Solutions Architect, Vodafone Group R&D. During the last year Nicholas has focused his work on embedded devices, energy and the 'Internet of Things' (IoT).

 

See what Nicholas had to say below and checkout the short video interview I shot where Nicholas took the opportunity to demo some of his recent work here.

“It's been a real eye opener to see advancements in micro controllers - and I believe the time is right in two areas for a new ...

It’s been a while since a quality “developer focused” event happened in Bangalore, India’s Silicon Valley. Developers were looking for a platform to showcase their latest innovative Mobile Apps and Appnomy proved to be the right place.

Vodafone developer programme were proud sponsors of Appnomy and were also delighted to have the opportunity to support young developers with such bright ideas. Jonathan Bill – SVP Business development and Innovation at Vodafone India was one of the Key speakers for the event. He spoke about localizing the global ecosystem and various measures by Vodafone developer and Vodafone India towards that ...

Earlier this month Vodafone developer participated in the API Hackathon (London) along with Apigee and a number of API providers, including Pearson, European Directories, InMobi and Soundcloud.

The event attracted a broad range of developers including a mix of freelance and enterprise developers, with a range of experience, coding skills and interests.

The event program, which ran from 10:00-22:00, included,

• Lightening talks - wherein each API team presented their API, use case and tips to encourage development on their APIs
• Skills and concept pitches by attendees
• Coding Session
• Final presentations and app demos
• Judging and prizes awarded to the ...

We're in the middle of a number of upgrades to our App publishing system and as a result we are currently unable to display information about your app downloads / sales at our publishing system.

We will be releasing a new reporting system in the coming weeks.
In the interim you can continue to see the download statistics for your apps (within app details in My Content).
You will also be able to see your reports via email for chargeable apps.

Reports are sent to the email address you indicated when you submitted your finance registration form.
If any of ...

The GSMA Smarter App Challenge, launched at Mobile World Congress 2012, encourages developers to create mobile applications that are more user and network friendly. The Smarter App Challenge as a vehicle to drive readership and acceptance of the new GSMA Developer Guidelines aimed at optimizing battery life and reducing judicious use of mobile network resources. Backed by mobile operators including Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, KT Corporation, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Rogers Communications, Telecom Italia, TeliaSonera, Verizon Wireless and VimpelCom, this initiative is open to all GSMA members to support.

The Challenge Grand Prize is $10,000 and the overall winner will be ...

We're excited to invite you to join other developers, designers, and entrepreneurs at the Hub King's Cross in London for a day of brainstorming, coding, and hacking APIs to bring your next best app idea to life. Learn about and build apps using APIs from Vodafone, Apigee, SoundCloud, InMobi, Pearson, DataSift, and DeTelefoongids Gouden Gids. API providers will demo their APIs and help developers use them. There will be some cool prizes too.

Find out more and register at http://apihackathonlondon.eventbrite.com/

At the last London hackathon, 80+ developers built 22 apps and had a ton of ...

We are planning scheduled maintenance to our Apps Publishing Platform (http://developer.vodafone.com/upload) and as a result the platform will be taken offline from 10:00 (CET) 27th March 2012. Expected time offline will be a couple of hours. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Thank you for looking to distribute your apps with Vodafone, and for your continued support!

Vodafone R&D is engaged in several W3C working groups, amongst them Geolocation, with the aim of advancing web technologies and make the web a first-class development platform.

On January 25th, we put out a developer Survey in order to gather your feedback as a developer and user to make the Geolocation API better for you. We basically wanted to gather requirements we could bring in to version 2 of the API. The survey was open for over a month and 47 developers took part. Out of these, 41 of them also expressed their opinion from a user's point ...

After two days of intense coding the four winners of the mobile app developer competition Indie Fikra: Appathon 2012 were announced yesterday by Vodafone Qatar and QITCOM. First place was grabbed by team “Stalkers” with their mHealth app called Onigiri. Onigiri is designed to teach children with or at risk for diabetes how to live a healthy lifestyle through their caring for a diabetic digital pet.  

Second place was awarded to team “Noble” for their interactive magazine and comic called Abtal 22 which is aimed at exciting kids about football and the coming 2022 world cup.  Third place went to ...

Indie Fikra: Appathon 2012 is a 48 hour coding competition to create the best new mobile apps in Qatar. And, it’s taking place right now during the ICT conference and exhibition QITCOM!

In partnership with QITCOM, Vodafone Qatar brought together mobile developer talent from all over the country to compete for cash and prizes in their quest to be named among the best new apps in Qatar created during this unique event. Teams have until noon on Wednesday to create a working demo of a new mobile app. They will then present their apps to our panel of judges-- ...

This week the GSMA announced a new set of Mobile Application Privacy Guidelines to help developers design privacy into their apps. Vodafone helped create these and we have committed to implementing them for all new own-branded apps in the next 6 months. A number of other major mobile operators have committed to implementing them – see the press release with supporting statements from the companies.

We know our customers care about their privacy. Take a quick look at this infographic. And we hear from many developers who are looking for help in navigating this difficult area. These guidelines are an important ...

Looking for the next wave in personal mobile communications? Then look no further, Rich Communication Suite - Enhanced (RCS-e) is a set of new communication services to improve traditional communication. joyn™ is the commercial name for RCS-e, which is an industry standard that will eventually be adopted by mobile operators across the world including Vodafone, where we are currently running trials.

For consumers joyn™ will deliver an experience beyond voice and SMS by providing them with instant messaging or chat, live video sharing and file transfer across any device, on any network, with anyone in their mobile address book.

For developers ...

The GSMA today announced the first in a series of activities designed to help users and operators manage the growing traffic and signalling demands generated by smartphones and mobile applications. The GSMA has created a developer’s guide which will help application developers ensure their applications are more user- and network-friendly. Along with this guide, the GSMA is launching the “Smarter Apps Challenge” competition to drive the development of efficient mobile applications.

The guidelines consist of a set of recommendations for application developers that will enable improvements across a number of areas including application connectivity, power consumption, network reliability and ...

UPDATE: 19th February - The Vodafone Private handset Cloud Service is back up and online now.

We are planning scheduled maintenance to the Vodafone Private handset Cloud Service (http://developer.vodafone.com/develop-apps/test/) and as a result the platform will be taken offline from 10:00 (GMT) Saturday 18^th February 2012. Expected time offline will be approximately 24 hours, we will post an update as soon as the platform is back online. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Thank you for looking to test your apps with Vodafone, and for your continued support!

UPDATE: 31st January (09:30 GMT) - The Vodafone Apps Publishing Platform is back up and online now.

We are planning scheduled maintenance to our Apps Publishing Platform (http://developer.vodafone.com/upload) and as a result the platform will be taken offline from 08:00 (CET) 31st January 2012. Expected time offline will be a couple of hours and we will post an update as soon as the platform is back online. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Thank you for looking to distribute your apps with Vodafone, and for your continued support!

The Vodafone R&D group is engaged in several W3C working groups in order to standardize different web related technologies so as to make the web a first-class platform for developing rich applications, with access to device capabilities, amongst other things and in a way which is interoperable amongst browsers and devices. One of the APIs being worked on is the Geolocation API (http://dev.w3.org/geo/api/spec-source.html), and with this survey, we would like to gather your feedback as a developer and user in order to make this API better for you.

It’ll only take ...

Creating an app that looks good, works for the most possible customers and is easy to find, can seem like a challenge. When in fact it really doesn’t need to be, especially as sometimes the best recipes for success are surprisingly simple.

And to make it life easier for you we’re here to help with some straightforward tips and advice in the following articles:

The look of your app is important

For users, it's the first quality indicator they see. Attractive design, clear and effective layouts that feel optimal on the user's device, and high quality ...