The RCS DevChallenge

Mobile and PC client developers and technology innovators have responded positively to the GSMA’s RCS DevChallenge – 29 companies have accepted the contest challenge and will be at the invitation-only, live judging event hosted by Telefónica in Madrid, January 27th and 28th, 2010.

Contest entrants will be demonstrating their new ideas to deliver the most useable and attractive RCS client that can be embedded in a device or used on PCs as well as demonstrating new and innovative ideas for future RCS services.

This GSMA competition is sponsored by Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, Orange and Telefónica. It is the opportunity for entrants to excel in front of an audience of the world’s leading operators and telecommunication companies. Entering the competition will give you a unique opportunity to showcase your product or ideas that could take the industry’s most exciting and significant new telecommunication service platform – the GSMA’s Rich Communication Suite (RCS) – to its next level of customer attraction. The RCS DevChallenge will have prizes for:

  • Best RCS Client (with separate categories for mobile and PC solutions)
  • Best RCS Innovation

What is RCS?

RCS is a new and innovative service package that fits the lifestyle communication needs of the ‘always-on’ users and is the starting point for their social interaction. Its feature-rich portfolio of services unleashes the communities hidden in the user’s phonebook and will make multimedia social networking simpler.

The core offering for RCS enriches the user experience with:

  • Enhances your device phonebook with contact presence and status
  • Voice calls are enriched with multimedia content
  • Messaging enhanced through a conversational experience

More information about RCS is available on the GSMA’s RCS website.

Why enter the RCS DevChallenge?

Visibility, status and possible commercialisation – the RCS DevChallenge is your opportunity to achieve the highest industry status and win exposure of your ideas to the world’s leading operators and telecommunication equipment vendors.

Quite simply, RCS is recognised as one of the most significant opportunities for operators to grow their business – in a market that serves over 4 billion users. The RCS DevChallenge is your chance to fast-track your new product ideas to the key influencers, culminating with a public showcase at the world’s largest telecommunication event – the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, 2010 – an event that attracted over 47,000 visitors in 2009.

The category winners will be able to leverage their success in advertising and promotion – participating as a category winner at the GSMA’s Mobile World Congress DevChallenge Showcase at this highly visible and significant industry event. In addition to the unique award plaque, the winning client application (for mobile and PC) will be actively evaluated by the sponsoring Operators and RCS Vendors for commercial use.