Category 4: Apps of the Year

4e. Smartphone Application Challenge

Consumer demand for innovative smartphone applications has grown dramatically over the past few years and this high demand and heavy use of mobile applications has resulted in a greatly increased signalling load at the network level, compared with a relatively low amount of data traffic. A driver behind this increased signalling load is the proliferation of “network-unfriendly” applications that are not optimised for mobile networks; mobile networks have their own specific requirements and constraints, and applications written for wired networks may not necessarily perform well in the mobile world. This can lead to an unsatisfactory user experience.

The GSMA has released a set of recommendations (http://www.gsma.com/technicalprojects/smarter-apps-for-smarter-phones/) for application developers that enable improvements across a number of areas including application connectivity, power consumption, network reliability and security. By following the guidelines, developers will be better equipped to create fit-for-purpose apps; mobile operators will see a reduced strain on their networks; and users will experience more responsive and reliable apps and improved battery life.

This award category aims to promote the development of efficient Smartphone Applications. Entry is open to any Application that is written using the GSMA Guidelines and available via any publicly accessible Application Store (e.g. iTunes, Google Play etc.). Judging will be based on demonstrated adherence to the guidelines, measured efficiency and novel approaches to improve efficiency. Applications will be ‘baselined’ against like categories to ensure valid comparisons are made.

One winner in this category will announced at the Mobile World Congress www.mobileworldcongress.com in Barcelona on Tuesday 26^th February 2013.

Eligibility:

Entry is open to any application where that application is publicly accessible via a public Application Store on or before the awards entry deadline of Friday 30^th November 2012.

Judging criteria:

The judges will be looking at how well entries meet the key criteria, as follows:

• Adherence to GSMA Guidelines (Smarter Apps for Smarter Phones) (http://www.gsma.com/technicalprojects/smarter-apps-for-smarter-phones/)
• Application Usability
• Mandatory use of Push Server to minimise background signalling
• Innovation in achieving application efficiency

Entry forms, supporting materials & formats:

For this category, the submission of video to support your entry/entries is mandatory. You may provide one URL to a video link demonstrating your entry and importantly what you have done to make it usable and efficient. This should be either privately or publicly posted to YouTube (if a private post, please provide a user name and password for judges to access). The video should be between 3 and 5 minutes in length, but no more.

If pointing judges to a website within your entry, please include one website URL, where specific information relating to your product, device, application, initiative or service entered can be found (judges will not surf websites looking for the information). Please note you should also point to the Application Store where your application is available.

The on-line entry form includes an upload facility for you to provide multimedia. You will have the ability to upload 5 additional files to accompany your entry up to a maximum file size of 5MB each. These can be illustration pdfs for customer testimonials etc, Jpeg for photos or Powerpoint for technical diagrams or statistics, but please keep these relevant to your entry and keep the pages to a maximum of two.

Specific Entry Form Questions for this category:

On the entry form, in addition to submitting contact and company information, you will be asked to answer the following questions.Please note the maximum text/character length for your answers including spaces are shown in brackets below)

Preview of entry form questions:

1. What is the name of your application? Please note the name given here will be used in all awards publicity. (150 characters = approx. 25 words)
2. If this a joint entry? If so, who are the partnering organisations? (150 characters = approx 25 words)
3. Please describe as simply as possible, the nature of the application and the user proposition i.e. how does it work, what need is it intended to fulfil? Please describe it as accurately as possible (500 characters = approx 85 words)
4. When was the application launched, and on which application stores is it currently available? (500 characters = approx 85 words)
5. Each entry requires a description of the techniques employed in the application to make it User Friendly. This should cover:
   a. User Interface Responsiveness;
   b. Network efficiency – optimal use of network resources. (1500 characters = approx. 250 words
6. How has this application minimised unnecessary signalling overheads between device and network? (1500 characters = approx. 250 words)
7. How has this application used the mobile network to enhance the features and functionality of the product (1500 characters = approx. 250 words)
8. How will the end user benefit from the efficiencies contained in the application? (1500 characters = approx. 250 words)

Please note: Use one URL that is specific and relevant to the category and will help judges further understand your entry, but due to the number of entries received, judges will not have time to surf company websites looking for further information on the entered product/service or initiative.