Rocking with Windows Phone 7 Series

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Microsoft News: Last week at the MIX10 Conference Microsoft announced the availability of a preview of the Windows Phone 7 Series developer tools. The buzz around Windows Phone 7 Series has been so great that Microsoft is encouraging students to be among the first to get cracking with their Microsoft Windows Mobile platform. Thursday Microsoft announced a new Windows Phone 7 Series “Rockstar” Award for Imagine Cup 2010.

The Imagine Cup 2010 is open to students around the world. The Imagine Cup is a serious challenge that draws serious talent, and the competition is intense. The contest spans a year, beginning with local, regional and online contests whose winners go on to attend the Worldwide Finals held in a different location every year. The intensity of the work brings students together, and motivates the competitors to give it their all. The bonds formed here often last well beyond the competition itself.

The Imagine Cup 2010 contest will require students or student teams to build applications written in Silverlight or XNA for Windows Phone 7 Series, using the tools that have been made available. Microsoft is encouraging participants to think about the following criteria as they build their Windows Mobile applications:

• Appealing “look and feel” (like the User Experience of the Windows Phone Series 7 shell itself)
  
• Originality of the application (Microsoft is looking for Windows Mobile applications that people may not have seen before)
  
• The “consumer appeal” that this Windows Mobile applications might possess
  
• Leveraging Windows Phone Series 7 specific functionality (like Accelerometer, Location etc.)

Of the this Windows Mobile applications submitted, there will be three winning teams. Winners will be announced on June 1, 2010 on the Imagine Cup 2010 website. This is what the teams can win:

1. First place winner – Each team member (up to 4 members) of the top overall winning team is invited to Poland. The winning team will be awarded USD8000. And each member of the winning team will be awarded a new Windows Phone.
   
2. Second place winner – The runner up team will be awarded USD4000. Each member of the winning team will also be awarded a new Windows Phone.
   
3. Third place winner– The second runner up team will be awarded USD3000. Each member of the winning team will also be awarded a new Windows Phone.

Be among the elite first to be recognized as a Windows Phone 7 Series “Rockstar”!

1. Download the tools
   
2. Build your application (you have till May 24, 2010).
   
3. Register and Submit your ‘XAP’ application package
   
   Good luck!