Vodafone 360 to receive 1m euro boost with app competition

Having only been launched four months ago, Vodafone has decided that its 360 service is already in need of more apps and has launched the Vodafone App Star competition with a €1 million total prize pool.

The competition, which is primarily aimed at European app developers, will see first round winners taking €25,000, whilst second place will score €15,000 and third, €10,000. The first round competitions will take place in the UK, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. First place finishers then progress to a second round in which they are pitted head-to-head in a public vote for a first prize of €75,000 and a second place award of €25,000.

Vodafone will pay out an additional €500,000 during a second competition run in the latter half of 2010.

According to Vodafone, there are more than two million handsets out in the world that can run 360 apps. At the moment there are around 7,000 apps in the App Star and around 90,000 active users who have downloaded a little over a million apps. The company claims that around 50 handsets currently support 360, with 30 more expected to be added to the list by the end of the year.

For more on this story:
The Inquirer

Related stories:
Vodafone pushes for iPhone to carry 360 service
Rivals gear up to compete with Vodafone 360
Vodafone launches mobile widget competition
Check out the Vodafone 360 H1 and M1 from Samsung