A event-tracking application for young people, a game based on the morning greetings of Johnny Barnes and a tool for booking a restaurant were the winning entries in competition to design new applications for BlackBerry smartphones.

The Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and E-Commerce in partnership with BlackBerry manufacturers Research in Motion (RIM), and local carriers CellularOne, Digicel and M3 Wireless, announced the winners of the "App-ti-tude" competition yesterday.

The competition was designed for software developers and entrepreneurs to create innovative applications for a BlackBerry phone. Bermuda is the first country to sponsor such an event with Research in Motion (RIM).

Energy, Telecommunications and E-Commerce Minister Michael Scott said: "While we are slowly seeing local mobile applications in the Bermuda marketplace they are few and far between and so this competition, we hope, will jump-start significant development in our community of local-based applications for smartphones."

Entrants to the competition were asked to develop and submit applications that are Bermuda-focused in one of the following categories, Government and Business or Consumer Applications and Games.

Developers under the age of 25 entered the Youth category. The Ministry also hosted a free BlackBerry Developers Boot Camp in June, in partnership with RIM.

"The BlackBerry platform is common to all three cellular phone carriers in Bermuda and provides a truly unparalleled mobile experience for millions of people. We are thrilled to learn that this competition enhanced that experience for customers in Bermuda", said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO, Research In Motion.

The winners were:

• Youth: "Know One's Onions", submitted by Michael Sinclair. An application that allows events to be searched by various methods, such as cost, time of day, and parish. If you plan to attend an event, you can add the event to your Blackberry Calendar, text and e-mail event details to friends and have automatic reminders as the event approaches.

• Government and Business: Gateway Systems Ltd. with their mobile restaurant reservation system called table.bm. This application allows individuals to browse and select a restaurant via their BlackBerry, review special menus or offers and request a reservation on a particular day and time. This is then transmitted to the establishment and confirmation is then given by the restaurant. The application goes live in November 2009.

• Consumer Applications & Games: Team Loquat, with the application called "Be Johnny". This game is based on the uplifting work done by Johnny Barnes every day of the week. Can you spread the joy? Can you work your way from Rockaway Road to Hamilton roundabout? Can you wave at each vehicle coming into town? Can you Be Johnny?

The "Be Johnny" application also chosen as best overall and has won a free trip to the 2009 BlackBerry Developer Conference, which runs November 9-11 in San Francisco, California.

"We at CellularOne were impressed with the level of creativity and practical applicability of the apps entered in the contest," said Cellular One's Jim Dimitropoulos. "Many of the entries offered a high-tech solution to simple, everyday wants and needs, including booking a table at a restaurant or finding out what events are taking place in Bermuda."

M3 Wireless CEO Lloyd Fray said: "The submissions were creative and relevant to the Bermuda market. I hope the applicants continue their development work and I look forward to seeing the applications running on BlackBerry smartphones in the future."

Digicel CEO Wayne Caines said: "The ideas submitted demonstrate the depth of talent available locally and allow us to envision a quality of life in Bermuda that is further enhanced by technology."

The judges were: John Narraway (Argo Group), Fanon Kahldon (Digicel), Jim Dimitropoulos (CellularOne), Karen Pyo (M3 Wireless), Nancy Volesky (Department of E-Commerce), Bryan Sklar (RIM) and Coral Wells (Wells and Wells).