Nokia hires Polar Mobile to develop 300 apps for its platforms over the next year

Nokia has walked more than half of the long and hard road to adopting Windows Phone, but it’s not yet clear how will the Finnish company differentiate in an increasingly crowded space of WP makers. This deal with Canadian developers Polar Mobile might help achieve exactly that with new WP applications, but it will also bring Symbian and MeeGo apps in the near future. The apps will be content-based and extent the Nokia's global appeal as they will include popular global sources like the Wired UK, NY-based Advertizing Age, Canadian newspapers Globe and Mail and Indonesian newspaper Kompas.

The first 50 applications will be for Symbian and are expected to arrive on Nokia’s Ovi Store next month. But that's not the company's only software effort - back in June, Nokia announced its Calling All Innovators contest in order to attract developers and their ideas, and today the it has announced the winners, who fought for a total prize pool of $10 million. This along with the Polar Mobile deal will help the Finns widen their reach to customers.

Nokia didn’t share any details on when the main chunk of apps running under Windows Phone 7 is coming out, though. Previously, Stephen Elop, chief executive of the company, has stressed that Nokia is well on track on delivering its first WP7 devices by the end of the year.

Polar Mobile on its part has 1,200 mobile applications in its portfolio. The company is focusing on media apps covering 300 brands across 10 countries.

source: Polar Mobile, Nokia Conversations