Nokia, Sprint Nextel goose developer market

Forum Nokia is teaming with Mobile Complete Inc. to help developers to test and deploy applications across Series 40 and S60 handsets.
Nokia Corp.’s developer program launched a Virtual Developer Lab that uses Mobile Complete’s DeviceAnywhere service, allowing developers to access real handsets over the Internet. The VDL is available to all Forum Nokia members and supports more than 40 of Nokia’s devices from Europe and the United States, Nokia said; new phones are “continuously added” to the service.
Mobile Complete also offers a consumer-facing application that allows users to tinker with phones online before making purchases.
“Increasing availability of high-bandwidth networks and improvements in mobile device functionalities are fueling consumer expectations for increasingly sophisticated applications and services,” IDC’s Shiv Bakhshi said in a statement from Nokia. “But creation of innovative mobile apps and services requires that developers have easy, and fast, access to mobile devices so that they can test and optimize their offerings. Unfortunately, given the ever-burgeoning portfolio of mobile devices from handset vendors, this can be very expensive both in terms of time and money. The situation seems to beg for a solution that allows developers, distributed in time and space, prompt and continued access to new devices without imposing nay serious financial burden.”
Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel Corp. announced its first application developer contest, outlining a program to boost development for the new Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Instinct. Registration opens July 16 for the Java developer contest, which will award a $20,000 grand prize as well as two $5,000 prizes for runners-up.