Nokia said that it is “opening up its APIs in imaging, location and music to encourage developers to build unique and innovative experiences for Lumia”.

At its press conference yesterday morning, the company revealed that more than 130,000 applications are now available for the Windows Phone platform.

The recovering handset giant is also continuing its efforts to build the ecosystem for its Asha Touch mass-market devices, launching its Asha Developer Competition, which is designed to encourage developers to create high-quality apps targeting these handsets.

It is open to developers worldwide in categories across music and entertainment; games; utilities and productivity; and news and information, with apps judged on “creativity, user experience and market potential”.

Nokia also announced a new set of applications for Lumia and Asha users, “many using unique platform and device enablers to deliver better quality application experiences”.

“Quality, tailor-made apps translate into increased consumer engagement, which is the key for ecosystem success,” said Marco Argenti, senior VP of developer experience for Nokia.

Companies working with Nokia include Foursquare, which has created two “app variants” for Windows Phone. First to market, and available for all Windows Phone devices, will be a version with voice support, NFC and Nokia maps integration, while a Lumia-exclusive version includes augmented reality.

A “modernised” Foursquare app for Nokia’s Asha devices is also in the pipeline.

In addition, WhatsApp will soon offer support for Asha devices with dual SIMs, and “unveil new features that deep link to the platform”. WhatsApp will also continue its development for WP8, with “new features and a new user experience”.

Nokia also announced an alliance with entertainment company Dreamworks Animations, which will use Nokia’s APIs to deliver “rich, interactive entertainment experiences” exclusively for Nokia devices, starting from the second half of 2013.