There has been a lot of progress in mobile technology over the last 12 months, with all manner of hot new handsets hitting the market.

But the real progress in the mobile industry has been through the proliferation of application stores, which have unified and revolutionised the way in which developers and publishers gain access to the mobile-equipped public.

Samsung has been forging ahead with its own Application Store since its European launch at the beginning of September, providing its huge install base with simple access to applications and games across a variety of supported handsets and platforms.

The manufacturer is now set to further bolster its success with the inaugural Samsung Application Store Developer Challenge.

The Developer Challenge opened its doors to submissions from the UK and Italy on November 16th, and is offering a whopping grand prize to each territory of $100,000 USD. The contest is looking for developers able to offer games and applications that buck the current trends and deliver a unique entertainment experience.

The contest is divided up into eight categories encompassing the full range of entertainment and functionality of software currently on the Samsung Application Store: Games, Entertainment, Health/Life, E-Book, Productivity, Reference, Social networking and Utilities.

For the launch contest, the target handset has been chosen as the hot new Samsung Omnia II (GT-1800), so all submissions will need to be native Windows Mobile applications and must be in English or Italian.

In total, Samsung has stumped a whopping $330,000 in prize money, to be divided up between the two territories eligible for entry. This includes the $100,000 grand Platinum prize, followed by two $10,000 Gold prizes, five Silver awards of $5000 and a further ten $2000 Bronze prizes.

It's also worth noting that, besides the money, landing a top spot in the Samsung Application Store Developer Challenge will make a name for developers within the entire mobile industry, which is immensely valuable in itself.

Judges will be selecting the winners for the cash prizes from December 11th to the 17th, with the closing deadline for entires set at December 10th. More details can be found over on the official Developer Challenge website, where you can also register for the Samsung Application Store Seller Office.

Head on over to the Samsung Application Store Developer Challenge website to get your applications submitted, and keep an eye on Pocket Gamer for full coverage of the competition and its winners.

Best of luck!