It looks like the race for local apps is hotting up. Following Nokia's recent "Calling All Innovators SA" apps development competition, comes Vodacom's 'Dawn of the Living Widgets'.

With a first prize of R50 000, this widget workshop and competition takes place on 5 September 2009 at Vodaworld.

Developers are facing the task of developing a mobile app or widget in one grueling marathon session. Their creations will be judged on the following:

.    Usability: How easy is the widget to use?
.    Innovation: How creative is the widget?
.    Value to users: What does it enable users to do?

Up for grabs is the R50 000 main prize, as well as second-, third- and spot prizes. All developers submitting widgets will also have an opportunity to make their entries available through the Vodafone Apps Manager to Vodafone customers across the globe.

The apps are to be built using Vodacom's Betavine, which will enable South African mobile application developers to develop widgets and applications with the full tool kit provided on the Betavine website. Betavine was launched in 2007 through the Vodafone R&D lab as a dedicated widget zone to encourage developers to experiment with widget technology.