Qt Innovation Challenge winners announced

Winners of the most popular N9 apps have walked away with $10,000 and, in the case of PhoneTorch, $50,000 as part of Nokia's "Qt Innovation Challenge". Participants were invited to enter the competition with: We are looking for new and innovative content for use on this high-end, Qt-powered smartphone, and in particular we are looking for apps that match the sophisticated style and capabilities of the Nokia N9. This can include apps for entertainment, luxury and fashion, technology, travel and sport – to name a few. At the same time, maybe you will submit an app that makes innovative use of the front-facing camera on the Nokia N9, or takes advantage of features like NFC that are built-in to the phone.

Not wanting to begrude the winners but the competition failed in its aim: to make innovative, mainstream apps for the Qt platform and Nokia N9. The judging was done on number of downloads, rather than any subjective view of "innovativeness". Your editor didn't enter the competition as his in-train apps didn't meet his own definition of "innovation". However, very few of the winners do either.

This is the biggest problem with Harmattan: not the lack of apps (there are plenty), but the lack of innovative, distinctive apps which make you go "oooh".