Straight from the Horse's Mouth!

This is what Axel Meyer, Head, Nokia's design team, has to say about the almost perfect mobile computer: the Nokia N97. He clearly mentions how quality was a big parameter, and how the focus was not on Nokia connecting people, which it does nevertheless, but was on People Connecting People. The sharing of applications made by people themselves, the sharing of multimedia, is of course brilliantly facilitated by Ovi as an interface and a platform. The focus also is on 'Your' phone, 'Your' web as he emphasizes. And the widgets are definitely going to go a long way in Nokia's futuristic outlook in the next few years!

Whats your Widget..!!

At a glance what you will notice on the N97’s huge screen is something new to S60,the feeling is more like when you’ve shifted from XP to Vista,you will see Onscreen widgets.Now unlike the old (almost same on each and every s60 3rd Edition device)home(Standby) screen,the new screen is customizable on the N97,you can decide what to see and what to avoid,the new OS will allow the user to customise the home screen widgets as you wish with easy interactive touch movements.

What is a Widget?

A widget is a time-saving element of the device’s user interface, a visual building block that provides an easily accessible single interaction point with an application, which holds and processes data. There are thousands of types of widget.

The team behind the Nokia N97 have launched a competition to find the most creative, innovative and useful widget to stick on the new device’s home screen. The winner will receive a production-mode N97 ahead of public release. The widget will also be fully produced so you can spot your handiwork on N97s world wide! Luring enough?

How to Participate?

Download the design package, design your widget and upload it for others to rate. Keep visiting the site to log your opinions on others' offerings as the ten highest-rated designs will go in front of a panel of judges selected from the Nokia N-series team. The panel will choose the best home screen widget based on creativity, usability and quality of design. And programming skills are not required, even a novice like me can do it!

Prize: The winning designer will receive a Nokia N97 pre-loaded with a working version of the winning widget
Deadline: The closing date for the competition is February 27, 2009. The winner will be announced on this site on March 13, 2009.

Here are some real nice ones submitted by amateurs like you and me, and you can find more at the competition website. Inspiring enough?

Submit yours for a chance to win the Nokia N97 and good luck! Of course, I am making mine right now!