To encourage S60 software development, Forum Nokia (the Finnish phone-maker's developer site and support program), in association with Adobe, launched the S60 3rd Edition Challenge last December. S60 is the most popular smartphone interface in the world; it runs on top of the Symbian operating system (OS). The goal of the competition, which is comprised of four categories - Enterprise, Music, Adobe Flash Lite and Location-based applications - is to drive the development of new software for the latest version of the S60 platform, according to Nokia.

Nokia announced winners of the long-running contest today, 10 months after it began. Winners include Quickoffice Premier 4 for Enterprise, Foreca - Flash Weather for Flash , InfoTalk Music Finder for Mobile Music, and Augmentra - ViewRanger for Location-Aware Service.

Each company receives 25,000 Euros (about 32,085 dollars), in addition to a free year-long membership (worth 4,000 Euros - around 5,133 dollars) to Forum Nokia PRO, a demo spot at a Nokia event, free on-site technical support and consultancy, some mobile devices and additional marketing support from Handango.

Runner ups, two in each category (click here to see a full list ), receive just the free year-long membership in Forum Nokia Pro portion.

There over 5,300 third party Symbian applications commercially available today, an increase of 29 percent from the same period a year ago. Although Symbian still isn't that well known in the U.S., it has shipped on over 100 handsets to more than 82.8 million people worldwide; 12.3 million in Q2 2006 alone.

The exellent reception Nokia's E62, offered now by Cingular Wireless, has received here, along with a number of new smartphone models coming from the Finnish phone giant. could help Symbian gain a better foothold in this country.

As it is, most available third-party Symbian applications are built for Nokia's S60 interface. Unlike Windows Mobile or Palm OS smartphones, for example, the Symbian OS requires a second layer to provide some functionality, but also the look, and feel of a device.

To use a housing metaphor, Symbian is the foundation, plumbing, and electrical system, while the interface is the furnishings and appliances, and the hardware is the frame upon which the smartphone is built. Another popular interface is the UIQ platform used mostly by Sony Ericsson, in its new P990 model and some Walkman phone models, for example.

In related news, Nokia said today it has completed its $60 million acquisition of music distributor Loudeye, first announced in August. Loudeye powers the MSN and MTV music stores, along with more than 60 other audio services.

A few weeks ago, Nokia revealed the first fruits of its purchase; a new music recommendation site built on the Loudeye platform. The Finnish phone maker is working with forty independent music stores from around the world on what’s to be called Music Recommenders.

Each of the 40 stores will offer a personalized selection of new music across 12 genres each month. Users can browse, search and listen to samples of the music, and then (of course) purchase it. David Bowie will serve as the roll of 'godfather' to the whole enterprise, contributing his own recommendations as well as features and podcasts.

The service is supposed to launch later this fall, in the U.K. and Australia first.

Nokia S60 3rd Edition Challenge Runner Ups

Enterprise Applications:
1st Runner-Up: Thinprint - Content Beamer
2nd Runner-Up: HansaWorld - HansaWorld Enterprise

Flash Applications:
1st Runner-Up: Gideon - 06 World Cup
2nd Runner-Up: Refresh Mobile - Mobizines

Mobile Music Applications:
1st Runner-Up: N2N Consulting - M-Bit
2nd Runner-Up: inTouch Wireless Services - AirAlbum

Location-Aware Services & Applications:
1st Runner-Up: Aspicore - GSM tracker
2nd Runner-Up: Navicore - Navicore Personal