May 16, 2011
By Donovan Jackson

So last time, we looked at the introduction of a super-awesome competition in which you can win R25-k of advertising and a trip to SXSW. That should float your boat big time; even better, for any blogger, is opening up your blog to a much wider audience (did I hear someone say ‘that should be reward enough’? If so, well done…already). But how, that is the eternal, or infernal, question, is it not?

So. Let’s break this down and make it super easy to enter:

Essentially it’s a 5 step programme, with an extra step thrown in for good measure. And here it is:

1. Go to http://appwizard.ovi.com Here you will find a big START button. Hit it.

2. Complete the app wizard. As the name implies, the wizard will guide you through the whole process. Let’s go into some detail on this point (which should serve to show how straightforward it is):

A) Organise a logo (make one in Paint, if you have to ) measuring 360×60 pixels and an icon image (PNG, GIF or JPEG format) to be used on the Ovi Store measuring 256×256 pixels.

B) Use the color palette to pick colours for your logo and icon.

C) Follow some easy steps to customise your app. These are:

Enter the app name;

Upload the icon image (the icon will be seen on phone menu and on the Ovi Store. Make it a good one! But watch out for copyright);

Enter channel names in the Channel 1-4 boxes;

Click the indicated area to upload your logo;

Select the frame background and text colours (make sure the text stands out from the frame colour);

Select the colour of the links that appear in stories AND select your application language. That’s it for the app! You can make changes later if it isn’t immediately perfect.

3. With all that sorted (it should take perhaps 10 minutes if you’ve got a logo and icon handy) you will receive a publisher ID number.

4. Once you have received confirmation that your app successfully passed QA and has been published on Store. Ovi, Come back to this post and complete the competition entry form.

5. From 1 July promote your downloads.

6. Win the prize by being an awesome writer!

That’s right; it really is as simple as that!

What’s in it for you?

The winner gets to go to South by Southwest, in Austin, Texas, USA which is regarded as the ultimate hang-out for the hip, hot and geeky. That’s right, win this one and that’s where you are going. There is also that R25 000 Nokia advertising contract for your blog if you are the winner. Hell, Nokia’s got a good feeling about this, even the runner-up gets that R25 000 contract. And as we made clear before, there are two categories; business and personal.

So do it! Do it NOW!

This competition is now closed

Nokia Ovi App Wizard Competition terms and conditions:

Competition: Nokia invites bloggers to create an application with the Ovi App Wizard for their blog or any content with an rss feed. The application, once approved, will be loaded onto the Nokia Ovi Store and thereby made available to a larger audience of Nokia device users. All submissions to the Ovi Store are guided by the Terms of Use of the Ovi App Wizard.

The owner of the application that receives the most downloads, between 01-29 July 2011 on Nokia’s Ovi Store, will be announced as the overall competition winner during the first two weeks of August.

The competition is open to anyone living in South Africa with a valid South Africa ID document or a business registered in South Africa.

Eligibility: The competition is open to two categories of blogs:

1. Private blogs (blogs that currently don’t sell banner space to generate an income)

2. Business blogs (those blogs that generate an income from advertising)

Competition logistics:

Binding nature of these terms and conditions: By participating in this competition you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions and Nokia’s decisions relating to the competition, which are final and binding on all matters in relation to the competition. If you do not agree to be bound by these terms and conditions, you must not participate in the competition.

Date of Competition: While App Wizard is available immediately for download the entry form to the competition will be available on Ringaz from Monday 16^th May 2011 till Thursday 30^th June 2011.

Submissions for the app’s will be open from Friday 6^th May 2011 and will close on Thursday 30^th June 2011.

The competition for the largest number of downloads on Ovi Store will open to submitted entries from 1^st July 2011 and will close on 29^th July 2011.

Judging will commence on 1^st August 2011 and the winner will be announced on 5^th August 2011.

Promoter: This competition is organised by Nokia Corporation. Any reference in these terms and conditions to Nokia includes Nokia Corporation and any agent or contractor acting on Nokia’s behalf.

Governing law: This competition is governed by the laws of South Africa.

Limitations:

1. Entrants will have to supply their Publisher ID number when they enter the competition via the entry form on Ringaz Blog.
2. Entrants will have to select which type of blog they operate i.e. Private or Business. They will be judged based on these criteria determined by Nokia. Nokia reserves the right to reallocate the category the application is entered under.

Support: For any support queries entrants need to use the following channels:

1. Forum Nokia
2. Should there be no response from Forum Nokia within 48 working hours please direct all queries to ringaz@ovi.com

Conditions of participating in this Promotion: NOKIA ITS AFFILIATES, PROMOTIONAL AND ADVERTISING AGENCIES AND ALL RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE (LIABLE) FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE SUFFERED OR COSTS OR EXPENSES INCURRED BY ANY PERSON ARISING OUT OF THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THIS PROMOTION, PARTICIPATION IN ANY ACTIVITY RELATED TO THE PROMOTION OR USE OR ACCEPTANCE OF ANYTHING GIVEN OR SUPPLIED IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS PROMOTION, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PERSONAL INJURY, DEATH, OR DAMAGE TO OR LOSS OF PROPERTY. ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, JUDGMENTS AND AWARDS SHALL BE LIMITED TO ACTUAL OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS INCURRED, INCLUDING COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH ENTERING THIS PROMOTION, BUT IN NO EVENT LEGAL FEES. Nokia reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Promotion, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical or logistical failures or any other factor beyond Nokia’s reasonable control negatively affects the functioning of the Promotion. This will be determined by Nokia in its sole discretion. Nokia reserves the right to disqualify or take legal action against any person who is found not to have complied with these terms and conditions or whose actions negatively affect the operation of this Promotion from participating in this Promotion. If Nokia does not enforce any of the terms as set out in these terms and conditions, Nokia does not waive (give up) its right to enforce those terms.

Privacy and use of information: Nokia may require you to provide some personal information (such as your name and contact details) in order to participate in this Promotion. This information will be retained in accordance with Nokia’s Privacy Policy, which can be accessed at http://mea.nokia.com/about-nokia-en/privacy/privacy-policy. You agree that Nokia may take photographs during the Promotion and that your name, image , likeness and voice may be used for advertising and promotional purposes without further compensation.

Tags: App Wizard, App you blog, entry form, mobilize, Ovi Store, steps to follow, SXSW, Win