Microsoft Tech Student

Microsoft Announces U.S. Imagine Cup Finals Demo Day Winners

LauraMKim — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:22:00 GMT

Today, Microsoft hosted the 2013 U.S. Imagine Cup Finals Demo Day in Silicon Valley. The top 10 U.S. teams pitched their ideas and solutions to investors, entrepreneurs, and technology professionals for a chance to win cash prizes and support for their businesses.

COMPETITIONS

WORLD CITIZENSHIP: Students had the opportunity to create an app that will help solve global challenges, such as reducing world hunger, providing better treatment for disease, raising awareness around environmental issues or providing better access to education. The top team in this category wins $5000.

The winner of the World Citizenship Competition is: Project SAM from the University of Chicago

INNOVATION: Reinvent social networks, transform online shopping, experience music in a new way or do something amazing with GPS. The top team in this category wins $5000.

The winner of the Innovation Competition is Kinect PT from the University of Virginia

GAMES: Using Microsoft gaming platforms such as Windows PC, Windows Phone, Xbox or Kinect students are tasked with creating a new game, changing a current genre or developing a new visual style of game. The top team in this category wins $5000.

The winner of the Games Competition is Gigaloth from the University of Colorado.

SKYDRIVE BOOST AWARD WINNER:

The following teams have won the SkyDrive Boost award for building SkyDrive support, in a meaningful way, into their projects. Each of the following teams will receive $1,000 to be divided equally among teammates and each team member will receive an additional 30 GB SkyDrive card. The winning teams are:

Team Pitch, from Boston University
Team SwagFace, from Rice University
The Miracle Workers, from Harvard University and Winona State University

ACCELERATOR AWARD WINNERS:

These teams win $2,000 each as the top three online accelerator teams, for the quality of their projects and the improvements they made during the online accelerator program.

Verbatim Signers, from the University of Arkansas
Defenestrate, from California State University, Los Angeles
The Mobile Lab, from Florida State University

DEMO OF THE DAY AWARD WINNER:

This team wins an additional $5000 for the top performance of the day.

The Demo of the Day winner is: Gigaloth, from the University of Colorado

NATIONAL TEAM AWARD:

We are proud to unveil the team that will represent the U.S. at the Worldwide Finals in St. Petersburg, Russia:

The 2013 National Team is Team P’oli Ahu of the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

In the United States this year, Microsoft hosted a set of programs to help student teams create successful businesses, including a virtual accelerator, a Startup Boot Camp in Silicon Valley, and today’s U.S. Imagine Cup Finals Demo Day.

Microsoft would like to thank all the teams for participating in the competition and making the event a huge success. Continue to stay up-to-date on all Imagine Cup news and announcements via the Imagine Cup website.

Microsoft U.S. Imagine Cup 2013 Finals: Virtual Event & Team Presentations Schedule!

LauraMKim — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:41:00 GMT

Don't miss the live stream of the 2013 U.S. Imagine Cup Finals this Monday, May 13 from 8:45 am - 2:15 pm PST! RSVP for the virtual event here. If you're reading this on the day of the event (5/13), you can catch the live stream on Channel 9 and on our Facebook page!

Team Presentations Schedule

World Citizenship
Order	Team	University	City, State	Time Slot (PST)
1	Team DePauwsome	DePauw University	Greencastle, IN	9:30 - 9:43 am
2	Project SAM	University of Chicago	Chicago, IL	9:45 - 9:58 am
3	The Miracle Workers	Harvard University & Winona State University	Cambridge, MA / Winona, MN	10:00 - 10:13 am
Innovation
4	Pitch	Boston University	Boston, MA	10:15 - 10:28 am
5	Team Poli’ahu	University of Hawaii at Hilo	Hilo, HI	10:30 - 10:43 am
6	Kinect PT	University of Virginia	Charlottesville, VA	10:45 - 10:58 am
Games
7	Lost Spectrum	University of Houston & University of Texas	Houston, TX / Austin, TX	11:20 - 11:33 am
8	Gigaloth	University of Colorado	Denver, CO	11:35 - 11:48 am
9	Skyline Studios	University of Houston	Houston, TX	11:50 - 12:03 pm
10	SwagFace	Rice University	Houston, TX	12:05 - 12:18 pm
Top Accelerators
1	Verbatim Signers	University of Arkansas at Little Rock	Little Rock, Arkansas	1:30 - 1:37 pm
2	Defenestrate	California State University - Los Angeles, Computer Science Department	Los Angeles, CA	1:39 - 1:46 pm
3	The Mobile Lab	Florida State University	Tallahassee, FL	1:48 - 1:55 pm

WORLD CITIZENSHIP COMPETITION

Team DePauwsome, DePauw University. WeAssist: The team developed a Windows Phone 8 app that allows a user to share their location and share a message in an emergency. WeAssist also has an optional location tracking service called WeFind, which runs in the background and uploads the user’s location history to the cloud.

Project SAM, University of Chicago. Project SAM: The team developed a mobile application that streamlines a health clinic’s inventory and provides real-time updates to suppliers via text

The Miracle Workers, Harvard University/ Winona State University. Cloud Monitor: The team developed a baby monitor app for Windows Phone 8 that tracks respiration, heartbeat and body movement of an infant. In case of an emergency, the application sends an alert to parents on their smartphone. Parents are also able to check the live streaming of baby's vital signs in on their phone.

INNOVATION COMPETITION

Pitch, Boston University. Pitch: Using Windows 8 and a Windows Azure backend server, the team created an account-less yet secure system for creating meetings, in which documents of any file type can be quickly and easily shared with all meeting members.

Team Poli`ahu, University of Hawaii at Hilo. Help Me Help: The team developed an application that aides the community in times of need by utilizing the smartphone’s camera and location capabilities to get images and locations of hazards as they are introduced.

Kinect PT, University of Virginia. Vitrunetics: The team built an application that allows doctors to administer and receive real-time feedback on physical therapy exercises that are performed by patients at home using Microsoft’s Xbox with Kinect.

GAMES COMPETITION

Lost Spectrum, University of Houston/ University of Texas. Chroma Tales: The team developed a fast-paced 2D action game on Windows Phone 8 where each level lasts approximately five seconds. Each player’s mission is to restore color to the world.

Gigaloth, University of Colorado. Produce Wars: The team developed an "Angry Birds" style physics game evolved with dynamic platform and puzzle elements for young children.

Skyline Studios, University of Houston. Zipline Hero: The team developed a puzzle-action platform game where the player uses the touch screen input to rescue animals.

Team SwagFace, Rice University. FaceFun: The team developed an innovative facial recognition game for Windows Phone 8, where players mimic amusing, famous and funny faces using their smartphone and win points.

TOP ACCELERATOR TEAMS (DEMONSTRATION TEAMS, NOT COMPETING IN THE FINALS)

Verbatim Signers, University of Arkansas. Word of Hand Project: The team developed a project using Kinect to interpret American Sign Language. The user simply signs in front of the Kinect, and the application translates it into both written and spoken text, thus bridging the gap between the hearing and the deaf

Team Defenstrate, California State University - Los Angeles. Slash Admin: The team developed an Internet themed RTS game, where some of the key features include being able to play a consistent game save across multiple platforms including smartphones, tablets, and PCs.

The Mobile Lab, Florida State University. Ryder Fall Response: The team developed an application for Windows Phone 8 that monitors if someone has fallen and notifies a pre-identified contact in the event of an emergency.

Webcast: Build Awesome Windows 8 Apps using Azure Cloud Services

LauraMKim — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:34:00 GMT

You may have heard about cloud-computing and all the cool ways you can use it to boost your projects, but did you know it could also land you more job opportunities as a mobile app developer? Take Microsoft’s cloud-computing platform Windows Azure for example. A rising number of businesses and companies out there are looking to hire developers who have experience creating apps on the cloud platform. In fact, according to Elance.com, job listings looking for Windows 8 and Windows Azure developers have more than doubled since January 2012 and over 250 listings are added every month. There has seriously never been a better time to add cloud-computing to your resume, no matter how impressive it already is!

Elance and Microsoft are hosting a webinar tomorrow, April 23, 2013 at 11 am PST to talk about how to find more job opportunities and monetize your existing skill-sets. Whether you’re a student looking to make extra money, or a professional developer seeking out your next big project, here are the top reasons why you should attend this webinar.

Find more job opportunities with Elance!

Elance is the largest and most popular freelance platform for businesses looking to hire and work with top freelancers. Over 500,000 businesses and 2 million freelance professionals in more than 150 countries use the platform and each year, more than 1 million freelance jobs are completed through Elance! Combined, its users have earned nearly $700 million in revenue. The best part is that with the growing number of jobs seeking out developers with experience in Windows 8 and Windows Azure development, developers like you have a greater chance of making more money for your skills.

[Above: Windows Azure and Windows 8 job trends since January 2012]

During the webinar, the Elance team will go over how developers can leverage the freelance platform to explore the growing job marketplace, submit client proposals, and lock down new job opportunities – all at no cost. On top of that, Elance will be providing everyone who attends the webinar with a promo code for a FREE 3-month premium membership which gives users the ability to apply to more jobs and receive preferred search placement ($30 value) – don’t miss this opportunity!

Learn about the benefits of using Windows Azure Mobile Services.

If you want to learn more about Windows Azure Mobile Services and how it can benefit you as a mobile app developer, Microsoft Technical Evangelist, Brian Hitney,will cover the many different ways adding a cloud back-end to your app can help you streamline the development process. Here are a few examples:

1) Easily save data in the cloud

2) Include custom business logic with server-side scripting

3) Add users to their apps

4) Quickly integrate push notifications

In addition, Mobile Services now fully supports Windows Store, Windows Phone 8, iOS, Android, and web app development and are free for your first ten apps so you have the option of leveraging Windows Azure across the board.

Meet the Speaker: Brian Hitney

We will be joined by Microsoft Technical Evangelist, Brian Hitney, a seasoned developer with a focus on developer and cloud computing technologies. Brian has worked with the Windows and Windows Azure platforms for years and will be sharing his knowledge on how to best leverage these platforms in your upcoming projects. If you are just starting out, you won’t want to miss Brian’s presentation on how Windows Azure Mobile Services can save you time and help you make more money from your apps.

Watch his 5-part DevRadio series on Channel 9 on How to Use Windows Azure to Build Back-End Services for Windows 8 Apps which provides a great overview for what we’ll be covering during the webinar.

See you there!

The webinar will take place on Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 11 am PST on the Microsoft Developer Facebook page. Check out the Facebook event page for more information and RSVP to reserve your spot!

Don’t forget, you can get ahead of the game by trying out Windows Azure FREE for 3 months with our trial offer! Quickly build, deploy & manage apps using any OS, language or tool: http://bit.ly/ZiN3P5.

Microsoft Announces the Imagine Cup 2013 U.S. Finalists!

LauraMKim — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 18:03:00 GMT

UPDATE - May 8, 2013

We will be streaming live from the U.S. Imagine Cup Finals Demo Day on Monday, May 13 from 8:45 am-2:45 pm PST. RSVP for the virtual event here: http://po.st/uEd5Jl.

REDMOND, Wash. – April 16, 2013 -
Microsoft today announced the 10 teams who are advancing to the 11^th annual U.S. Imagine Cup Finals Demo Day. Demo Day will take place on May 13 in Silicon Valley and will be streamed live on the U.S. Imagine Cup Facebook page.

The list of finalists include:

Lost Spectrum, University of Houston/ University of Texas

Chroma Tales: The team developed a fast-paced 2D action game on Windows Phone 8 where each level lasts approximately five seconds. Each player’s mission is to restore color to the world.

Kinect PT, University of Virginia

Vitrunetics: The team built an application that allows doctors to administer and receive real-time feedback on physical therapy exercises that are performed by patients at home using Microsoft’s Xbox with Kinect.

Team DePauwsome, DePauw University

WeAssist: The team developed a Windows Phone 8 app that allows a user to share their location and share a message in an emergency. WeAssist also has an optional location tracking service called WeFind, which runs in the background and uploads the user’s location history to the cloud.

Team SwagFace, Rice University

FaceFun: The team developed an innovative facial recognition game for Windows Phone 8, where players mimic amusing, famous and funny faces using their smartphone and win points.

Team Poli`ahu, University of Hawaii at Hilo

Help Me Help: The team developed an application that aides the community in times of need by utilizing the smartphone’s camera and location capabilities to get images and locations of hazards as they are introduced.

The Miracle Workers, Harvard University/ Winona State University

Cloud Monitor: The team developed a baby monitor app for Windows Phone 8 that tracks respiration, heartbeat and body movement of an infant. In case of an emergency, the application sends an alert to parents on their smartphone. Parents are also able to check the live streaming of baby's vital signs in on their phone.

Pitch, Boston University

Pitch: Using Windows 8 and a Windows Azure backend server, the team created an account-less yet secure system for creating meetings, in which documents of any file type can be quickly and easily shared with all meeting members.

Gigaloth, University of Colorado

Produce Wars: The team developed an "Angry Birds" style physics game evolved with dynamic platform and puzzle elements for young children.

Project SAM, University of Chicago

Project SAM: The team developed a mobile application that streamlines a health clinic’s inventory and provides real-time updates to suppliers via text.

Skyline Studios, University of Houston

Zipline Hero: The team developed a puzzle-action platform game where the player uses the touch screen input to rescue animals.

To advance, students ages 16 and older competed in three major competition categories, including:

Games –
     Using Microsoft’s gaming platforms such as Windows PC (PC or touchscreen),
     Windows Phone, Xbox, Indie Games, or Kinect SDK students are tasked with
     creating a new game, changing a current genre or developing a new visual
     style of game.

Innovation –Reinvent social networks, transform online shopping,
     experience music in a new way or do something amazing with GPS. In this
     category, students are tasked with using their skills and creativity to
     design a totally new app experience.

World Citizenship – Students have the opportunity to create an app that
     will help solve global challenges, such as reducing world hunger,
     providing better treatment for diseases, raising awareness of
     environmental issues or providing better access to education.

The team that will represent the U.S. at the Worldwide finals in St. Petersburg, Russia July 8-11, 2013 will be unveiled at the U.S. Finals.

As a key program of Microsoft YouthSpark, Imagine Cup inspires students to tackle software development projects using Microsoft’s tools and platforms from the initial brainstorming phase through final release and beyond, transforming them from passive consumers of technology to skilled creators. Imagine Cup uses the thrill of competition to drive students to develop new skills, test themselves in new ways, lead multidisciplinary teams and take command of their future careers.

The future is now, which makes for the perfect time for students to start turning their dreams into realities. Please visit Microsoft’s Imagine Cup website for more information on the competition.

Keep up with live updates from the Imagine Cup 2013 U.S. Finals!

We will be providing live coverage from the U.S. Finals Demo Day on May 13 in Silicon Valley, CA through our social channels! Keep up with us on Twitter @MsTechStudent and Facebook for live updates and watch the official hashtag #ICUSFinals for additional coverage.

Lessons for Developers from Tom Kosnik

LauraMKim — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:06:00 GMT

Tom Kosnik, Professor at Stanford University, spoke at Microsoft Startup Boot Camp in Silicon Valley this week and shared his advice on how startups can successfully cater to their customers in a way that makes sense for their business goals. Here are the top 5 must-dos to help narrow your focus and get to building the app your customers actually want.

1.) Why will customers buy your product over a competitor’s?

If you’re in the early stages of development, take a break to go out and find out about your potential customers. Why are they going to use this product over what they’re using now or what they’d buy from a competitor? You must answer this question conclusively before moving on.

2.) Stop selling, start listening.

At the beginning stages you should be continuously discovering what your target customer base wants. Don’t wait until you have a finished product to do this. Remember the 80/20 rule. Listen for 80% of the conversation and talk for 20%.

3.) Test your hypotheses.

Turn customer guesses into facts through constant research and analysis.

4.) Keep a clear focus.

At some point you need to filter those customer suggestions and use only the ones that make sense for the success of your product. As Tom stated during the workshop, “customers are not product developers. It’s your job as a business owner to understand which of their asks make sense to focus on.”

5.) Don’t be afraid to pivot! Change course if required.

Great entrepreneurs realize that at some point their company needs to pivot so do not be ashamed to do so, especially when you have a strong conviction that the market is changing. However, diminishing returns result when you pivot too frequently so make sure it is the right move to make.

Keep up with live updates from Startup Boot Camp!

If you can follow these steps you will be able to develop iteration after iteration of your product without crisis and will have built a fast, agile and opportunistic company capable of disrupting markets.

Follow the hashtag #MSBootcamp or follow the Tech Student handle on Twitter for tips, quotes, and insights from angel investors, startup leaders, evangelists, and students between now and the end of the week. We’ll also be highlighting events and fielding questions on Facebook.

3 Lessons on App Development You Missed from Microsoft Startup Bootcamp

Nicholas Martin — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 05:02:00 GMT

Taking an app from an idea to an actual functioning prototype is a huge step in the journey of a startup. It's likely that entrepreneurs with a game changing idea won’t face their biggest challenge executing code. Rather, paring down the concept to exactly what’s needed to deliver on a vision is the step that presents the biggest challenge.

Yesterday, 15 teams moved from testing their ideas to building their prototype with the help of expert Microsoft Evangelists. The next step in their week-long startup bootcamp will be creating a go-to-market strategy, but for now it’s all about focusing their vision and pounding out code on Microsoft’s dollar.

As we tagged along for possibly the most important step of these fresh startup’s journey, it dawned on us that we were witnessing something unique: The challenges and lessons faced by those 15 aspiring startups are a microcosm of what startups everywhere are experiencing. Not ones to waste a good opportunity, we captured five of the most interesting lessons that emerged during the “day of hacking” for your enjoyment.

Lesson 1 – If You’ve Built It, Port It!

Maybe one of the most overlooked and quick-hit opportunities young developers miss out on is porting existing apps to the Windows Platform. If you already built or began building a compelling app, choosing to port can be extremely fruitful. To get a feel for the potential that exists, we’d recommend consulting evangelist Kevin Ashley who is currently monetizing his apps at a rate of $30,000 per month on Windows 8. That’s him in the picture above giving a lesson on designing Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 apps to participants at the Startup Bootcamp.

Lesson 2: Focus & Build Then Test, Test, Test.

As we mentioned above –once you have your concept baked it’s time to focus your functionality on what’s core to the vision and start building a prototype. The key is to make sure you’ve focused on the right elements:

“A lot of the teams have amazing ideas … At this stage of their projects, it’s important to pare down what exactly they need to do to deliver their vision and focus on making those components successful.” -Helen Zheng, Developer Evangelist

A fundamental step in ensuring your app makes the impact on the end user you imagined is testing you app on appropriate devices. Knowing that, you’re probably not surprised that each member of the Startup Bootcamp was given a free Windows Phone 8 device as a prize for being admitted.

Lesson 3: Consider More Than Just Games

Thinking about building an app geared toward world citizenship? One approach could involve building a game to help solve a problem as last year’s Imagine Cup winners did, Even if you don't take that path, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should leave your knowledge of game mechanics at the door:

“Games are the most popular type of app but there are also ways to gamify regular apps to help make what you’re trying to achieve more attractive and immersive for the user.” – David Chou, Architect Evangelist

The Next Step of the Journey

Despite the fact that today’s focus was on building, Evangelists fielded many questions about business and monetization strategy and that’s exactly what the focus will be for the next two days of bootcamp.

3 reasons You Don't Want to Miss Dan’l Lewin’s Keynote at Startup Bootcamp

Erin Wigger — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:54:00 GMT

Today 15 teams of aspiring tech entrepreneurs begin a week-long startup bootcamp in Silicon Valley on their path to Imagine Cup. Participants will have the opportunity to work with successful startup leaders, expert mentors, and Microsoft executives as they make huge strides towards transforming their ideas for the next game-changing company into a reality. An exciting week if you’re keen on the startup world to say the least.

What better way to kick off a week full of innovation (and probably a lot of coffee and adrenaline) than with a keynote by Dan’l Lewin, a 30-year veteran of the Silicon Valley startup scene and VP of Strategic and Emerging Business development at Microsoft. Lewin’s work with companies such as Apple, NeXT and GO Corp. as well as his time spent consulting for dozens of hot startups gives him the kind of insights that aspiring startup entrepreneurs kill for. Lucky for you, we’ll be live tweeting all the good stuff using the hashtag #MSBootcamp so all you have to do is stay connected on twitter.

To get you primed for Dan’l’s speech we pulled together three reasons why you’ll want to tune in for Lewin’s chat (as if you needed it):

1. He knows what’s coming next.

As Microsoft’s man in the valley, he’s got his finger on the pulse of the future intechnology. Lewin has been steeped in this entrepreneurial stew since the mid-1970s and will talk about how he would start a startup in today’s world.

2. The investors are his friends.

Seriously. His title might be a mouthful, but basically Lewin manages Microsoft’s startup and investment community relationships. He’s on the board of the National Venture Capital Association and can tell you how to get funding for your nascent company. ‘Nuff said.

3. He’s plugged into all things startup at Microsoft

Through programs such as BizSpark, Lewin has identified and helped accelerate dozens of startups in over 60 countries including: Evernote, Loopt, Cheezburger, Kobo, Curse.com, Yammer, Graphic.ly, Kobojo, Lokad and Seesmic.

Make sure to tune in to our Imagine Cup Boot Camp coverage by following the hashtag #MSBootcamp on Twitter or our posts on Facebook. You won’t want to miss nuggets of wisdom from the folks at Yelp, Flickster, TaskRabit, YouNoodle and more. Ask questions. Get involved. Get pumped for Imagine Cup 2013!

Imagine Cup Champs Talk Strategy, Tips, and Career Planning

LauraMKim — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 22:05:00 GMT

Developers sometimes feel that when it comes to their career they have a choice to make: build solutions for the greater good or focus on bringing home the bacon. We don’t think you have to choose one or the other, and we tracked down last year’s Imagine Cup winners to prove our point for us.

[Left to Right: Taylor Mullen, Keith Ayers, Matt Lesnak]

It’s been less than a year since the Drexel Dragons built an award-winning mobile app that is as educationally beneficial as it is fun to play. Not only did their MathDash app take home 1^st place at last year’s Imagine Cup, it landed them roles at Microsoft where they are dreaming and building the next big thing. We picked the team’s collective brain to get some pointers for this year’s Imagine Cup contenders and gleaned lessons that mobile app developers can take to the bank along the way.

How an Award Winning App Gets Started

Have you ever started a project and half way through decided to scrap it? Keep tabs on your mobile app graveyard – it worked for these guys.

“A long time ago we made a Math game for K-4 kids in a class as a throw-away project and we noticed that everyone, even our older friends, loved it. The game wasn’t close to MathDash is now, but the basic operations were the same. We wanted to improve it, but didn’t have much time. Later, when we saw the opportunity to enter the Imagine Cup with our game, we jumped on it.” –Keith

Just because the Dragons had a good idea of what they wanted to create didn’t mean it was easy. But knowing their final product would be critiqued by investors and industry thought leaders provided all the motivation they needed to put in extra hours on the project. And many of those extra hours were spent doing things way outside their comfort zone.

“Because of the small team size, all of us had to wear many hats throughout the project. For my contributions, I was the project manager, a programmer, one of two artists, and handled research on the educational component behind the game.” - Matt

Developers and Imagine Cup Contestants Everywhere: Heed This Advice

Competing in and winning Imagine Cup is much akin to launching a startup and getting funded, all in a matter of weeks. That’s precious experience that aspiring developers and entrepreneurs can learn from.

“Don’t get too attached to any particular feature of your project. Sometimes, a feature that you design or implement yourself holds a special place in your heart and you’re reluctant to see it get changed. Instead, get attached to your project and be willing to make whatever change is going to make it that much better.”- Matt

“Start a project that has meaning to you. Your passion for your project will shine in everything that you do, whether it be the development or even the presentation. If you don’t believe in your project how can you make someone else believe in it?” –Taylor

As for Imagine Cup here’s one nugget of advice to live by: building something great is just the beginning. The team that holds the giant check and hoists the trophy over their heads knows how to get others excited about their idea, and make a beautiful user experience.

“Game design was everything for us. We didn’t make the most technologically advanced game or the most content, the magic was the design – we had a game that was both fun and helped players with their math at the same time.”- Keith

“Focus on your presentation. A great project is necessary to win the competition, but the key is to know how to present your project and get people excited about it. That generated excitement is what will differentiate the winning project from the rest of the pack.” - Matt

What Happens After You Ride into the Sunset?

“To make an impact in the tech industry and learn the latest and greatest technologies there’s no place better than Microsoft. Currently I’m developing prototypes in an IT research team where things are always busy and interesting. I’ve already made tons of friends and mentors, and I’m well on my way to spending a 6-month rotation in MS Studios doing gameplay programming.” -Keith

“I am now working as a Producer in Microsoft Studios. This means that I help provide direction to the products I am working on and keep the team organized and focused on meeting the project’s goals. I decided to pursue working for Microsoft because it offered me the opportunity to break into the game industry and continue doing what I love to do.” -Matt

“I am working on the ASP.NET SignalR team where we focus on making it easier to develop real-time communication enabled application for developers. It’s been a blast so far and not too long ago I finished my HTML5 multiplayer game ShootR which was featured at Build, throughout real-time presentations across the U.S., and is one of two products used to demonstrate the power of SignalR. When it came to job searching after college I knew that I wanted to make an impact in the tech world and I felt that Microsoft was the perfect place for me to do that.” -Taylor

Do you have an idea that could change the world for the better? Compete in Microsoft Imagine Cup 2013! Register now!

Want to create a winning Windows Phone and/or Windows 8 app like MathDash? Sign up for Generation App to get the hands-on developer support and resources you need to take your app from idea to market in 30 days, at no cost. Get started today! http://bit.ly/VIPv5l

5 Tips For Up and Coming App Developers

LauraMKim — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 18:25:00 GMT

Last week, we sat down with the Windows 8 Games Studios team to get a feel for what the winner of the Ultimate Experience contest could expect. We left with some nuggets of advice worth their weight in gold. Rather than keeping those to ourselves, we decided to do the cordial thing and share with the community. From gamification to pursuing passion projects, here’s some worthwhile advice to get you ahead of the game – no pun intended.

Make it excellent on touch

Game designer Kevin Lambert said, “Right now tablets and touch-enabled devices are gaining a lot of momentum. Soon everyone will have it.” Kevin helped redesign elements of gamification into classics like Solitaire and Minesweeper on the new touch-enabled Windows 8 so he knows what he’s talking about. Be ahead of the curve and build the functionality into your app or game now.

Make collaboration a priority

“Always going to have friction between those saying “make this great” and others saying “this is great, now let’s make it DONE” – push the technology and make it awesome, but don’t lose track of the end objective.

Be specific about your audience

Developers who can say “Women, age 35-55, who love Real Housewives” are going to build a better game because they are targeting their experience. If your audience is “everybody” your game design and mechanics are going to be great for nobody.

Gain experience through smaller apps

Developers that are eager to strike it rich on their first app should be patient. You learn a lot of lessons your first few times at the rodeo. Worry about monetizing once you’ve gotten any initial bumps and bruises out of the way.

Want to Get a Foot in the door at Microsoft? Build what you love

It’s all about displaying a passion and knack for technology. Learning your lessons and proving you can do it on your own is the best way to moving into a role with Microsoft when the time comes. The excitement and enthusiasm that comes from building an experience from scratch will only impress recruiters, so keep working!

Backstage with the Windows 8 Games Studio

LauraMKim — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 01:32:00 GMT

The Windows 8 Games Studio team wants you to know how awesome it is to be a game designer. We recently met with them to get a preview of what it’ll be like for winners of the Ultimate Experience contest to go backstage with the team as they work.

Haven’t heard of the Windows 8 Game Studios team? You’re in for a treat: The group plays a big role in creating innovative games for Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and the Xbox service. You love game design, they love game design—perfect match.

Here’s Jeremy, Frank, Paul and Kevin. A minute with them and they spilled career advice for developers, tips for developing on new touch-based devices, and insight into what technology we should all be excited about. We left with a slightly more severe gaming addiction, and some great insight into the current and future state of game design.

Meet Kevin: The Designer

Kevin is one of those lucky people that knew exactly what he wanted to do for a career when he was 10 years old. “I saw Pac Man at an arcade and I knew that I wanted to make things like that.”

A few years and a degree in Computer Science later, Kevin pretty much nailed it. These days, he spends his time figuring out how to make games fun: “My goal is to make game mechanics really cool.”

Based on the rest of our chat, I learned that “really cool” generally means excellent on touch, targeted to a specific audience, and addicting. Need some examples of Kevin’s principles in action? Take a look at the recently released Adera an episodic adventure game uses a tablet’s accelerometer and immerses the player in a stunning visual environment.

Kevin wants you to know: Touch-based devices are simultaneously creating exciting opportunities and huge challenges for people who want to push technology to create the most interesting possible experience. That means taking advantage of an accelerometer and doing more than just making an experience enabled for touch—it needs to be superb. “Touch-based tablets are taking off right now, but soon everyone is going to have them,” Kevin says.

Dreaming up an experience you think is cool is the easy part. To take the next step, Kevin suggests really honing in on your target audience: “The first question I ask is ‘Who is this for?’” The more specific you can be the better chance you have of building a great experience.”

Meet Jeremy: The Developer

To get the vibe of the developer side of the house, we talked to Jeremy, who has worked on a lot of projects for Windows, Xbox, and Game Studio. “I thrive on ‘v1’ projects. It’s extremely challenging and equally satisfying.”

If you get the chance to meet Jeremy, make sure you pick his brain. He’s helped shape everything from the apps Marketplace to mobile apps and data visualization tools. His favorite project to date: getting software ready for the Surface.

Jeremy wants you to know: With Windows 8, there is no shortage of work making applications amazing for touch. “The touch interface and new form factors are letting us re-design everything. It’s a really cool time.”

Advice for developers? “If you’re just getting your feet wet, don’t get overly concerned with monetizing right away. Go through the process of building and publishing smaller apps first and go from there.”

Start Your App Adventure

Enter the Ultimate Experience contest and win a chance to spend the day hanging out at Microsoft Game Studios. Join a coding session with the people who build games for Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and the Xbox service. We’re not competitive or anything, but if you’re the winner, just remember: We met them first.