The Tizen Association has launched a $4 million Tizen App Challenge to encourage developers to make apps for the new platform. The move follows in the footsteps of BlackBerry’s successful Android Port-A-Thon, which increased the number of apps available to BlackBerry 10 users by over 15,0000. The competition launches just a day after Intel spoke out in defense of the platform rejecting a claim by Russian blogger Eldar Murtazin that the Tizen OS was dead.
The Tizen App Challenge is offering 54 prizes to developers in nine categories with the best entries selected by a panel of unspecified judges. To encourage HTML5 coders to develop for the platform, the top 10 ranked HTML5 apps will will eligible for an additional $50,000 prize. The Grand Prize winner of each of the gaming categories will win a $200,000 prize with the two runners up in each category winning $100,000 each. Three ‘Honourable Mention’ winners in each category will also be in line for $40,000.
Developers in the non-games categories can also look forward to a decent pay day if they are among the winners. The Grand Prize winner will pick up $120,000 with the two runners up in each category will score $60,000. Three ‘Honourable Mention’ winners in each category will also receive a $30,000 prize.
The Tizen OS is backed by Intel and Samsung, two heavy-weights of the tech industry. One Samsung exec has been quoted as saying that a high-end Tizen OS device will be on the market sometime around August or September. However, it seems as though the device launch may be pushed back into 2014, leading Murtazin to claim that the delay signals Samsung’s intention to abandon Tizen OS altogether. Regardless, the money on offer will certainly attract significant attention among app developers.
