Nokia has just announced the start of its ‘Calling All Innovators’ competition, which encourages developers to create applications to enhance the use of mobile devices in real-world scenarios.

The competition is now in its third year and aims to inspire creativity and develop positive change through education, entertainment, innovation and productivity.

There are four categories in the 2010 Calling All Innovators competition, these include:

– Eco/being green: apps that help to save the planet with innovative, eco-friendly uses.

– Productivity: apps that make people’s lives easier by helping them to be more efficient such as utilities, business or personal finance applications.

– Life improvement: apps that have a positive effect on people living in developing countries. For example, applications that teach children and illiterate adults critical skills and agriculture.

– Entertainment: apps that show off the coolest multimedia features including music and games.

Nokia has also announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop, the producers of Sesame Street, to create a special sub-category. This sub-category will be under the life improvement section and is aimed at encouraging developers to create and offer applications that teach early literacy on Nokia devices to communities around the world.

According to Nokia, Sesame Worksop will be on hand throughout the judging process to offer guidance and work with selected developers to enhance their projects.

Over 1,700 submissions were received from developers and publishers last year from 85 countries around the world. Several of the winning applications from 2009 are currently available to download from the Ovi Store including: Tech Buzz Homescreen Widget, Pixelpipe for Share Online and Florin Finance Tracker.

Submissions will be accepted from 1 February 2010 until 18 May 2010. For more information on the competition visit www.callingallinnovators.com.