Applications were assessed not only for their fun factor but also for their ease of use, customer benefit, degree of innovation and the business potential for operators, portals, content providers or the media and entertainment industry.

Twelve finalists were pre-selected from over 180 application developers from 21 countries. Each of them then had five minutes to present their applications live on stage before the awards jury: an audience of more than 500 people and an expert panel with representatives from leading mobile operators in the German-speaking markets and the Mobile Applications Awards’ partners: Sun Microsystems, Sony Ericsson, the University of St Gallen and Swiss International Airlines. The audience followed the demonstrations on a large screen and even took part in trying out some of the services presented.

Rolf Weiss, Vice President Communications at Ericsson Switzerland, Germany and Austria, says he was pleased with the way the competition went, especially with the matchmaking session held the day after the contest.

He says: "We were overwhelmed by the feedback from the operators. They were delighted to get the opportunity to see the applications and to talk to the developers during the VIP party we held after the event. But even more interesting for them was the fact that they could do business during the matchmaking session."

The matchmaking was new for this year's event. The aim was to give the invited companies an opportunity to meet the developers and do business. All 12 finalists and two associate partners were invited to the matchmaking party, with operators from Sunrise, T-mobile, Vodafone D2, Connect and Mobilkom Austria. Two venture capital companies were also present. A mix-and-match format allowed every operator a chance to talk to each developer.

"The matchmaking session was an important part of the event," says Weis. "We are convinced that the contest would have been a waste of resources if the developers and operators, from many different countries, had left Zurich without having had the opportunity to talk business."

Best Corporate Solution
Mtaxi, by CellVision of Norway, transforms the taxi dispatch into a location-based service. This allows a user to automatically reach and direct the nearest cab to his or her position. This saves time for the customer and money for the taxi company.

Best Entertainment Application
With Tag the Tune, by Shazam! of the UK, your mobile phone can identify a song you hear and tell you the title and the name of the performer. Just let your mobile phone listen for 15 seconds and you will get the answer via SMS. A variety of m-commerce solutions may be packaged to this service that makes use of a huge database of songs and latest voice recognition software. And it works with every mobile phone.

Best Mobile Game
The 3rd Generation, by Xidris of Austria, is one of the first and most advanced interactive mobile adventure games, combining streaming media with SMS so that users can influence the development of the storyline. The game gives quite a nice outlook on what to expect from mobile broadband services such as 3G in the near future.

Best Information Application
I-box, by Telemonex GmbH of Switzerland, is a portable, mobile, multifunctional surveillance camera and messaging solution. As soon as the i-box records movements it shoots a photograph and sends it automatically as en e-mail, SMS or MMS to the recipient, including the corresponding sound. It is a flexible, inexpensive surveillance solution that helps to reduce the amount of false alarms, since it allows the recipient to check on what is going on.