14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is offering developers a chance to win no less than $15,000 in cash via a new contest with the Windows Embedded CE operating system at the core. The Redmond company is currently accepting participants in the embeddedSPARK 2010 Challenge, that requires developers to put together an embedded project for a chance to win $15,000 and additional prizes. According to the software giant, the contest has already started on September 22nd, 2009, but it’s by no means too late to enter. In fact, the first round is not scheduled to end until January 9th, 2010, so there’s plenty of time to put together the initial stage of your embedded project.
For round one, devs need to “submit a 1-3-page paper that outlines an embedded project that catches the eye and brings a smile to your face. Perhaps it is a game you designed for an embedded device. Perhaps it is a magic button that turns your house into a disco, or an interactive toy for children. As long as it catches people’s attention and brings a smile to their faces, you are on the right track. Be creative, have fun but remember this is an embedded challenge,” Microsoft revealed.
But once the first round is finished, participants in the embeddedSpark 2010 challenge will need to get their hands dirty. Fortunately enough, Microsoft will be there to make sure that contest participants will have the necessary tools in order to start building their projects. No less than 75 embeddedSpark 2010 challenge participants will be chosen to graduate to round two, between January 15th and April 2nd, 2010, and all will get an embeddedSPARK platform device (Estimated Retail Value US $400.00).
For the second round, Microsoft requires challengers to “Build a working prototype of your idea and submit a 4-8-page paper that describes your solution. You’ll also need to create a 2-minute video that summarizes your project.”
Only three finalists will be chosen, all of which will be flown to ESC Silicon Valley, for the Microsoft keynote on April 22, 2010. Here, the finalists will be required to perform a live demonstration of their project. “The 1st prize winner will be announced at the end of the keynote, and will receive a cash prize of $15,000. Second prize winner will receive a cash prize of $5,000. Third prize winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000,” Microsoft revealed.