Talk of late might be focused on the roll out of Nokia's new high-end devices – N9 and 'Sea Ray' stealing plenty of headlines – but the Finnish firm still believes there's life left in its more modest handsets.

Indeed, Nokia claims there are half a billion Series 40 phones out in the wild today, accounting for a third of all app downloads on the Ovi Store.

That's a rate the firm is looking to increase with the launch of its 'Create for Millions campaign'

Meeting of minds

Split into two sections, the venture is designed to bring consumers and developers together, with users submitting ideas for apps that studios then go on to create.

In the first half of the competition, those consumers lucky enough to see their visions realised will then be invited to Nokia World in London this October to see their app in action.

"With Nokia's newest Series 40 dual-SIM mobile phones such as the recently announced Nokia C2-03 equipped with Nokia Browser, consumers are enjoying third party web applications with a fast, rich user experience and significantly lower data costs", said senior VP of Nokia's developer experience, Marco Argenti.

"This competition connects ideas generated by consumers with the creativity and skills from developers, aiming to create great, locally relevant applications together."

Countdown is on

Consumers can submit ideas across three categories: health and education, social networking and location, and games and entertainment.

However, in the second half of Create for Millions, developers are being tasked with coming up with their own ideas.

Studios can work on Java or web apps across four categories of their own - in the know, fun and games, emotional closeness and access to knowledge - with a total prize fund of €1 million on offer.

In addition, special prizes will also be awarded to titles that sport the best touch features, the apps that are most location-aware, and an overall best Series 40 web app.

The entry deadline for both sides of the competition is September 20. Further details can be found on the Create for Millions website.