WinMo 6.5 SDK DVD giveaway

I’ve got 15 copies of the Windows Mobile Developer Tools, which contains everything (minus Visual Studio) you need to get started on enter the Student APPrentice competition.

These DVDs include

• Windows Mobile 6 Standard and Professional SDK Refresh
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard and Professional Images
• Windows Mobile 6.5 Standard and Professional Developer Toolkit (which includes the 6.5 Images)
• Codemason’s Guild Live Meeting videos

It totals up to 1.76gb of SDK goodness, which can be a pain to download.

If you want one of these 15 DVDs, use the contact form on our about page to give me your name and postal address, and I’ll get these out as soon as possible! First come first served basis.

Oh nuts, you don’t have Visual Studio? As a student you can get it for free via MSDNAA from your University or from Dreamspark.

Windows Mobile Competition: Student APPrentice

I’ve been very slack in posting this, sorry Karo!

Microsoft AU are running a competition for students to celebrate the upcoming launch of the Windows Mobile Marketplace.

Don’t worry, if you don’t have a Windows Mobile phone you can still create apps for it, thanks to the device emulators in Visual Studio. Remember students can get Visual Studio 2008 Professional for free directly from Microsoft at www.dreamspark.com

If you’ve never thought about developing for Windows Mobile, it just uses the .NET Compact Framework – so the chances are if you’ve used Visual Studio before, you can write a mobile app.

However, if you want to learn a bit more, there are some excellent videos up on MSDN entitled “How Do I? Videos For Devices”.

The competition closes AUGUST 17th! Details about the competition are below, or the full details can be found at the Codemasons Guild.

What’s up for grabs?

The two successful applicants will win:

• A full pass to attend Microsoft Tech.Ed on the Gold Coast, from September 8–11, 2009 (which includes a complimentary HP Mini 2140 Notebook PC, worth $990 (recommended retail price))
• A return adult economy airfare to the Gold Coast from your nearest capital city
• 3 nights accommodation at The Crown Plaza Gold Towers on the Gold Coast in a standard room
• A session with a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) mentor during Tech.Ed
• Tickets to Smackdown on September 11, 2009, where the best Windows Mobile app will be awarded to the overall winner!

Who can enter?

To be eligible to enter the APPrentice competition, you must be an Australian resident aged over 18 years or over, who is currently enrolled in a part time or full time undergraduate or postgraduate course at an Australian University or TAFE institution.

How do I enter?

Entry is via email only. To enter, provide the required information and attachments below and send to codemgld@microsoft.com before 11:59pm (AEDST) on August 17, 2009.

Your entry needs to include the following information:

• Full name, contact email address and a contact phone number
• Your Mobile application name
• The genre that your Mobile application fits into: Game/Entertainment/Utilities/Communications/Music & Video/Lifestyle/Finance/Business/Health, Sport or Fitness/Productivity/Travel/Education
• A 300 word or less description of the application you are developing. Your response should include the operation of the application, the type of device it would target, if it would be a free app or paid app, and why you think someone would want to buy and download your application.

Your entry must include the following attachments:

• Visual Studio Project file containing code for application prototype.
• Video or Slideshow of application prototype in Windows Mobile 6.5 emulator, or on a WM6.5 device.

via Codemasons Guild (MSFT AU)

Tag Slaps Design Contest

What is the Tag Slaps Design Contest?

The Tag Slaps Design Contest challenges you to create an original customized Tag and creative concept for an accompanying mobile experience. Your entry should include a working customized Tag that leads to a mobile web site, as well as a creative concept for a mobile site. The mobile site experience concept should engage your customer and encourage them to take an action such as signing up for a service, getting more information about your product, downloading a special offer or an application, and more.

Semi-finalists are chosen by a panel of Tag enthusiasts comprised of business leaders, online and offline marketers, and designers. The winner is voted on by you-the Tag community!

What kind of Tag will you slap?

Submissions start on May 4th, make sure you view the full terms and conditions before entering!

What are the prizes?

There will be one winner. The winner will receive recognition in the following outlets:

• Microsoft Tag website
• Media Article(s) in select advertising, marketing, and design publications that feature the contest, Microsoft Tag, and custom Tags
• Facebook fan page
• Twitter posts
• Use as a scenario in various presentations, demos, and other print and online internal/external communications

via Student Partners Global blog

Win up to $10,000 coding ‘green’ with Live Search

The Live Search team have just launched a cool competition in partnership with the Gnomedex conference where developers can win $10,000 and other cash prizes that have in impact on the economy or earth’s ecology. 

The only caveat is that submitted applications must use Live Search APIs! You can create apps on whatever platform or language you prefer and you can also use any other APIs that you want from other service providers.

Why not take this opportunity to check out the other APIs provided by Live Services so you can build them in too! http://dev.live.com

IDEA: An app that incorporates search and Messenger would be pretty cool for sharing interesting search results with your friends.

via James Senior (MSFT)

The actual prizes are:

• $10,000 and a $100 Bizspark membership for each winner in the two categories
• $3,000 and a $100 Bizspark membership for three finalists

Which is not too shabby at all. You can find out the rest of the details via the Windows Live Search team blog or at WillCodeForGreen on Gnomedex

Microsoft Future Pro Photographer Contest – US$20,000 prize!

Microsoft Pro Photo have an interesting competition for aspiring photographers.

For student photographers, this is an opportunity to Kick Start Your Career as a future professional photographer. The exciting prize packages include a Grand Prize of US$20,000 cash and a digital workflow prize package. There will also be three First Place winners in the following categories: Nature & Landscape; People & Portraits; and Sports & Photojournalism who will each win US$3000 cash and a digital workflow prize package as well.

The submission period is March 1st through April 30th, 2009.

From the FAQ

Is this contest open to college students in other countries?
Yes, except where prohibited by law, the Microsoft Future Pro Photographer Contest is open to all students worldwide who are 18 years and older and currently enrolled in a two or four year degree granting college or university.

Does Microsoft own the rights to images submitted to the contest?
As an entrant, you retain the copyright ownership of the images you submit. Submitting an entry does not assign or transfer any ownership or copyrights to Microsoft; those rights remain with the creator of the original work. However as a condition of accepting a prize, you agree to grant Microsoft the right to reproduce and display the image, credited with your first and last name, in print and on the web, for the purposes of promoting this contest.

Can I submit more than one entry in a category?
Sure… the only limitation is three TOTAL entries in the contest. So, for example, you can enter one in each category, or two in Nature & Landscape and one in People & Portraits, or all three in Sports & Photojournalism.

People & Portraits? I think it might be time to break out the remote flash triggers and create a DIY shoot through umbrella!

Those terms and conditions are pretty photographer friendly (in my opinion) too.

Sorry about the late notice guys and gals, I meant to post this a little while ago, but I’ve been rather distracted with the return of Uni! At least there is still a month to submit entries!