Last year, I participated in three different App development competitions. I Unlock Joy phase II, Quality App Quest, and App Innovation Contest. Results for each of them are now announced and I'm a winner in each of them. So, this is the best time to share.
I Unlock Joy
Microsoft India's I Unlock Joy was a great hit last year. Develop 3 Apps and you get a phone, as simple as that. I didn't make it that time when the official results were announced. I had to tweet and write emails to some Microsoft employees for my case, but I finally did
unlock some Joy.
IUJ phase 2 was announced in August 2012 with two categories for the competition. Top Quality & Early Bid. The Early Bid category was the same old way, a phone for 3 Apps, but with a small twist: Only the first 100 developers with 3 Apps gets the phone. Top Quality category was new: enter the competition with only 1 App, and developers of the Top 50 App selected on the basis of Quality gets a phone.
I went for the Top Quality category with
Time Sync, the
Results were announced on 1st February. My App was selected in Top 50 Quality Apps and I'll soon be getting a new Windows Phone! :)
Quality App Quest
Microsoft launched Windows 8 last year with a new Interface, lots of improvements, and a Windows Store. Microsoft and their partners are coming up with a series of different types of Benefits and Competitions to attract App developers to their new eco-system. Microsoft India announced
Quality App Quest in November 2012.
If you have made the next blockbuster Windows Store app that's outstanding in terms of quality & popularity, it could get you a chance to win a Windows 8 device and meet Inspector Shekhawat (Aamir Khan) from Talaash!
I entered this competition with
Ludo, the
Results were announced on 1st February (on the same day as IUJ-2!). Their
"Talaash" (Quest) for quality App ended at Ludo, I won the contest and I'll be meeting
Aamir Khan! :D
App Innovation Contest
Intel and CodeProject announced their
App Innovation Contest in September 2012.
Get your Ultrabook enabled, Windows 8 Desktop app in the Intel AppUp® store for your chance at one of 300 Ultrabooks, fifty $1,000 cash prizes, seven $10,000 cash prizes and a grand prize of $20,000.
The Contest had two rounds and a big amount of Prizes. 1st round was about the idea of an App that can use the new Ultrabook capabilities like sensors, touch screen, portability etc. and post it as an article on CodeProject.com. 2nd round was about completing the App and getting it verified on Intel's AppUp store. Judges would then select the category prizes and grand prize winner.
In Round 1, 300 App idea articles were selected and were given a prototype Ultrabook SDP (Software Development Platform). I wrote an article about my idea of
Dashboard+ on CodeProject.com and I was sent an Ultrabook to develop and test my App. I completed the development in November, submitted my App in the AppUp store, it got verified and was available for
download. I was also one of the first 50 to put the App on AppUp store and won $1,000 in Round 2.
The main challenge was to get an Ultrabook enabled Windows 8 application into the Intel AppUp online store by December 1, 2012 and enter for the Grand Prizes. The
Results were announced on December 14. My App Dashboard+ won the category prize as Productivity App and I got $10,000! =D
All in All
I developed a Windows Phone App for IUJ2, Windows 8 Metro App for QAQ, and a Windows 8 Desktop App for AIC and won some Windows devices, a chance to meet Aamir Khan, and a big amount of Money.
