Update: The final round of this competition has been extended by two weeks to ensure you get your application into marketplace in time to enter the competition!
Update: In the initial post there was an error in the final paragraph that said round 1 would be open until 9th February. This is NOT the case. Round 1 will close at 6pm EST on the 9th January 2011.
Dev V’s Dev
Late last year Microsoft Australia announced the Windows Phone 7 App Challengewith the grand prize being a trip to Las Vegas for MIX11. To enter all you need to do is build an application, submit it to marketplace and then complete the entry form. Don’t forget to read the Terms and Conditionswhich outlines the relevant dates and the specifics for the competition.
LG App Starter
As I mentioned in my post Windows Phone 7 Competition time with LG. I’m running a small competition in parallel with the Windows Phone 7 App Challenge. Thanks to LG, Microsoft and Built to RoamI have a number of prizes to give away over the next 4-6 weeks:
– LG: The major prize is an LG Optimus 7 device. I reviewed this device late last year in my post LG Optimus 7- Up and running in 5 minutesand it is truly a wonderful device to use.
– Microsoft: Marketplace tokens. Microsoft has been kind enough to donate a number of marketplace tokens. These cover the initial cost of signing up for a Marketplace account.
– Built to Roam: Books. We have three copies of Professional Windows Phone 7 Application Development and two copies of Professional Visual Studio 2010 to give away.
Competition Playbook
In Short: This competition will run for six weeks. For the first four weeks I will be selecting a topic and you’ll have that week to come up with an idea for an app. To enter all you have to do is email me your idea before 6pm EST on Sunday. The weekly winner will be announced later that same evening. Each week we’ll be giving a way marketplace tokens and a book. The final two weeks are where you get to actually build your application, submit it to marketplace and email me a link to your application. The competition will close at 6pm EST Sunday February 27th and I’ll select the winning entry who will win the LG Optimus 7 device.
In Full:
Schedule
Competition Start : Right Now! (10am EST 3/1/2011)
Competition End : 6pm EST Sunday 13/2/2011
Round 1:
– Topic: Sports, Health and Fitness
– Deadline for ideas: 6pm EST Sunday 9/1/2011
Round 2:
– Topic: Business, Tools and Productivity
– Deadline for ideas: 6pm EST Sunday 16/1/2011
Round 3:
– Topic: Travel, Navigation and Social
– Deadline for ideas: 6pm EST Sunday 23/1/2011
Round 4:
– Topic: Finance, News and Weather
– Deadline for ideas: 6pm EST Sunday 30/1/2011
Final Round:
– Submit your application and send through link to your Windows Phone 7 application
– Deadline for submission: 6pm EST Sunday 27/2/2011
Eligibility
In order to enter this competition you need to meet the following requirements:
– You, or your company, must be Australian
– You can’t submit an application you already have in marketplace prior to the beginning of this competition.
– To be eligible for the final round your application must have been submitted, certified and made available for download/purchase via marketplace (ie published).
– You are encouraged to enter your idea into one or more of the rounds but this is not a requirement. If your application doesn’t fall into any of the topics selected for rounds 1-4 you can simply put forward the application in the final round.
– My decision is final. I will publish the names of the round winners (and links to their blog/website if available) but not their application ideas. I will list all entries into the final round (unless you specifically indicate that you don’t want to be included in this list) along with the winning entry.
What to include
Rounds 1-4: You’re pitching an idea. You can submit as much or as little as you like. If you have a working prototype that helps convey what the idea is but you may decide that you just want to mock up some wireframes and send through in an email describing what your idea is.
Final Round: I only need a link to your application. Please do NOT include any further description of what your application is/does as it will be ignored. To make this a fair competition I will be judging this based on what is available via Zune/Marketplace (ie make sure you think about your application logo, description, keywords etc when submitting it).
Minimum Requirements: When you send me your submission for either stage, please include the following:
– Full name
– Contact phone number (ideally mobile number)
– Postal address (just in case you win!)
– Twitter/Facebook/Blog/Website (so I can link to you in the case that you win)
Please send all entries to competition @ builttoroam.com
What I’m looking for
You can think of this competition as a warm up for the Windows Phone 7 App Challenge. I will be judging the entries and will be looking for the applications that best make use of the Windows Phone 7 features. To get you started, here is a list of features that you could consider using:
– Push notifications (Tile, Toast or even Raw)
– Accelerometer
– Audio (playback or recording)
– Video (using MediaElement or IIS Smooth Streaming)
– Location
– Mapping
– Panorama and/or Pivot
– Animations
…… (the list goes on) …..
Time to get started
This post launches the competition and the first topic for round 1 is “Sports, Health and Fitness”. You have until 6pm EST Sunday 9th January to send through your application ideas. Email all entries to competition @ builttoroam.com