GENBAND Launches GENFuzion Developer Community

GENBAND (News - Alert) is bursting with news this month, including its latest announcement that it will be introducing the GENFuzion Developer Community, which will be hosted by Coral CEA, a not-for-profit community organization that leverages technologies and expertise in the Web Collaboration and Communications Enabled Applications (CEAs) domain.

In celebration of this news, GENBAND, a global leader of IP infrastructure and service solutions, will be hosting the GENFuzion Developers Challenge, which will recognize the top three app developers from across six strategic categories with $15,000 for first place, $10,000 for second place and $5,000 for third place.

“We’re launching this challenge to promote the fusing of innovation and collaboration, thus the name ‘GENFuzion’,” Sara Hughes (News - Alert), senior director of product marketing of GENBAND, told TMCnet. “By creating an open, collaborative eco-system and providing the necessary resources, we’re excited to see the compelling solutions that developers of all types are able to deliver.  Our Developer Community will be another resource for carriers to leverage, while at the same time providing developers a new vehicle for reaching new customers.”

Joe McGarvey, principal analyst with Current Analysis (News - Alert), noted that GENBAND’s announcements demonstrate GENBAND’s commitment to the applications market and the developer community.

“GENBAND is making it clear that application development and the A2 platform figure prominently in the company’s overall IP transformation vision and strategy, as well as its efforts to provide operators a pragmatic pathway to IP and IMS,” he said.

“These investments demonstrate GENBAND’s commitment to the applications market and the developer community,” said Joe McGarvey, principal analyst with Current Analysis, in a statement. “GENBAND is making it clear that application development and the A2 platform figure prominently in the company’s overall IP transformation vision and strategy, as well as its efforts to provide operators a pragmatic pathway to IP and IMS.”

The GENFuzion Developer Community creates an “open, collaborative eco-system with all the required support resources for fostering innovation,” according to Micaela Giuhat (News - Alert), vice president of product marketing at GENBAND.

“We are pleased to offer Coral CEA members this ideal platform and collaborate with this outstanding organization, which is dedicated to supporting knowledge-based job creation,” Giuhat added. “Through our GENFuzion Developers Challenge, we are providing financial incentive to reward and recognize the best developers of apps that offer telecom service providers and their customers compelling solutions.”

Developers can begin to register for the challenge on April 15, with concepts submitted by

May 20 and applications submitted by July 15. Winners will be announced August 19. The GENFuzion Developers Challenge categories include lifestyle, productivity, mobility and unified communications.

“We’re looking to participants to take advantage of the A2 Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to communications-enable their unique applications across a broad range of categories, including lifestyle, productivity, mobility, unified communications and video,” said Hughes.

Designed to expand third party applications powered by the GENBAND A2 Converged Application Server, GENFuzion opens GENBAND APIs to developers, provides “Sandbox” testing for applications and creates a collaborative discussion forum, according to the company.

Both developers and carriers can benefit from the GENFuzion Developer Community as it can serve as another development resource for carriers to leverage and provide developers a new vehicle for reaching new customers. All GENFuzion developed applications will be promoted through the GENApps Showcase.

“Supporting, operating and maintaining the GENBAND A2 developer platform is a perfect fit with CORAL CEA's commercialization mission for Communications Enabled Applications,” said Brian Forbes, executive director at Coral CEA. “Developers who commit to the GENBAND A2 can also take advantage of CORAL CEA's extensive commercialization services for Communications Enabled Applications to increase market velocity and profitability.”

Those developers who are selected as winners will receive promotion through the GENBAND GENApps showcase. In addition to taking home a cash prize, an honorable mention from each category will be awarded an Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect.