The ChallengePost Blog

Lollapalooza wants developers to create cool festival apps!

Lollapalooza, Chicago’s popular music festival, just launched HackLolla 2012, its second annual apps competition for software developers. Using the Lolla API, which includes data on the festival’s artists, events, stages, venues, and updates, developers are invited to create apps that help fans get the most from their Lollapalooza experience.

Last year, the grand prize went to Veokami (now Switchcam), whose application aggregated user-generated videos of Lollapalooza performances and then allowed fans to edit the videos into their ideal show. Switchcam recently closed $1.2 million in investments, and lauds HackLolla for giving its growing company exposure and a platform to launch their business. Co-founders Brett Welch and Chris Hartley, said HackLolla made them feel like VIPs:

Having access to Lolla’s data expanded the possibilities of what we could do — from easy geotagging through to setlist-based navigation. When you’re coding apps like this, you expect to come up against barriers when you’re looking for good computer-readable data sources. Lollapalooza practically rolled out a virtual red carpet for us and told us to make ourselves at home. And we did.

Simply put, much like the festival itself, HackLolla rocked. Other teams told us that participating in the challenge was “fun,” “great,” “a blast,” “enjoyable” and even “magnificent.”

This year, we expect no less magnificence and will be awarding two prizes for the apps that help music fans get the most out of the Lollapalooza experience before, during, and after the festival. One Grand Prize winner will receive 2 Sold Out VIP Passes to Lollapalooza, airfare and hotel accommodations ($4,000 value) as well as designation as The Official Fan App for Lollapalooza 2012. One Popular Choice Award winner, selected by public voting, will receive 2 Sold Out VIP passes to Lollapalooza ($2,100 value).

Additionally, both winners will be promoted on the official Lollapalooza website and to fans via the Official E-List, Facebook, Twitter and the festival’s jumbotron screens. Combined, that’s over 1 million in impressions! (And let’s face it, who doesn’t want their app on a jumbotron?)

The submission period is open now until June 25, 2012. Check out the official rules, get a Lollapalooza API key, and start coding today!

We invite you to join us on Facebook, follow @ChallengePost on Twitter, and use the hashtag #HackLolla when you tweet.

By Megan

May 15

HackLolla,

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ETS wants game developers, designers, and educators to create a math assessment game

Video games and apps have enormous potential to fundamentally change the way people view standardized testing. The days are gone of children having to sit down with a paper and pencil to take a test.

- Gabrielle Cayton-Hodges, Associate Research Scientist at ETS

Educational Testing Service (ETS), the world’s largest nonprofit educational testing and measurement organization, just launched the ETS Assessment Games Challenge, a competition that invites emerging and experienced game developers, designers, and educators in the U.S. to develop a K–12 math assessment task in the form of a game.

More than 50 million assessment tests like the TOEFL, TOEIC, and GRE tests are developed, administered, and scored by ETS every year.

So what could a modern day math test look like? Tell us your ideas, access materials and Learning Progressions to help build your game, and register to enter at ETSGamesChallenge.com.

One grand prize winner will receive $7,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to showcase the winning project in a learning and games demo space at ETS in Princeton, N.J. Additionally, the winner will have the opportunity to discuss the ideas behind the entry with the Vice President of Research at ETS. Three runners-up will also receive all-expenses-paid tips to showcase the winning project in the demo space and meet with the VP of Research.

The submission period is open from now until August 18, 2012. Get started today!

Follow @ChallengePost on Twitter, and join us on Facebook.

By Samantha

May 1

ETS Assessment Games Challenge, games, apps,

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Evernote Devcup opens: $100,000 competition for software developers & designers worldwide

Evernote, the popular note-taking and productivity app, is launching Evernote Devcup, its second annual worldwide developer competition for software developers and designers.

Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote, announced that more than $100,000 in prizes will be awarded for the best apps that combine captivating functionality with beautiful, intuitive design to help Evernote users better capture and recall the important items in their lives. Six finalists will be flown to San Francisco as presenters at the Evernote Trunk Conference in late Summer 2012.

Any software (desktop, mobile or web) that integrates with an Evernote API is eligible for Devcup.

To help you get started, the Evernote team will be hosting Devcup Meetups around the world in May. Attend one in a city near you to brainstorm ideas, discuss your app with Evernote API experts, and connect with fellow participants. (If you can’t make it in person, click “Accept this Challenge” on devcup.evernote.com, and we’ll let you know about upcoming webinars.)

Moscow, Russia – Follow @evernote_ru for more info
San Francisco, USA – May 2
Taipei, Taiwan – May 7
Singapore – May 8
New Delhi, India – May 9
Zurich, Switzerland – May 9
Mexico City, Mexico – May 17
Tokyo, Japan – TBD
Osaka, Japan – TBD
Sao Paolo, Brazil – May 25

The Evernote Devcup is open from now until June 25. Create an app to help 25 million Evernote users do more: register to enter at devcup.evernote.com today!

More news on the Evernote Devcup:
Video: Evernote CEO Phil Libin announces Devcup 2012 [The Evernote Blog]
Now Inviting Developers to the Evernote Devcup [ProgrammableWeb]

For competition updates, follow @ChallengePost and @evernote_dev on Twitter, and use the hashtag #Devcup when you tweet.

By Brian

Apr 30

Evernote Devcup, apps,

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Vote for Challenge.gov in the Webby People’s Voice Awards!

Today’s the last day to cast your votes in the Webby People’s Voice Awards! Vote for Challenge.gov at cpo.st/govwebby.

ChallengePost is thrilled to be nominated in the 16th Annual Webby Awards for powering Challenge.gov, an online challenge platform for the U.S. Government to promote innovation using prizes and challenges.

We invite you to follow @ChallengePost on Twitter, and join us on Facebook to hear about the latest competitions on our platform.

Apr 26

Challenge.gov, The Webby Awards,

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Samsung Galaxy Note S Pen App Challenge winners

Samsung Mobile just announced the winners of the Samsung Galaxy Note S Pen App Challenge, a competition for software developers to create Android apps using the Samsung S Pen SDK. The Android app developer community responded enthusiastically, entering 48 apps within a short month-long submission period, exceeding the expectations of the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S.

Here are the winning apps, as determined by a five-member judging panel of distinguished techies from AndroidCentral.com, AT&T, BlueRun Ventures, Gameloft and Samsung Mobile. The Popular Choice Award was crowned by the public, who voted on their favorite submissions online.

Best Overall Apps

Grand Prize ($100,000) — “Monkey Write * Learn Chinese” by Chiu-ki Chan of Square Island LLC - a game for learning how to write Chinese characters. Numbered stroke ordering helps learners master simplified or traditional characters.
Second Prize ($50,000) — “Maze Racer” by Roger Peters of SmartyPantsGaming and David McCanless - a simple maze-inspired game where you get rewarded stars for drawing a line from start to finish as quickly as possible.
Third Prize ($25,000) — “Drawing Pad” by Christopher Lott and Daren Murtha of Murtha Designs - a mobile art studio that provides realistic results with the pressure sensitivity of the S Pen, transforming a digital stroke to a textured one using digital crayons, markers, paint brushes, colored pencils, stickers, roller pens, and more.

Popular Choice Prize ($2,000 and a Galaxy Note)

“SignDoc Mobile” by Softpro North America - an app that professionally captures handwritten signatures.

Honorable Mentions ($2,000 and a Galaxy Note)

Games – “Speed Draw” by Ferdouse Khaleque and Kabir Khaleque
Productivity – “Papyrus” by Andrew Hughes (Steadfast Innovation)
Media – “FlipaClip” by Visual Blasters team members Jonathan Meson and Tim Meson
Sports – “Playcall” by Sargon Benjamin
Entertainment – “Colors! For Galaxy Note” by Jens Andersson (Collecting Smiles)
Travel – “Map Note” by Base 2 Applications, LLC
Social – “Authorgraph” by Evan Jacobs (To the Reader, Inc)
Lifestyle – “Makeup Paint” Modiface Inc.
Education – “iAnatomy” by Anouk Stein, M.D.
Other – “bConnected @ Ball State for Galaxy Note” by Ball State University team members Kyle Parker, Valerie Morris, Ryan Bitzegaio, Brandon Smith, Ian Gibson and Brice Brenneman.

Thanks to everyone who participated and made the challenge a great success!

More news on the Samsung Galaxy Note S Pen App Challenge:
Samsung announces Galaxy Note S Pen App Challenge winners! [AndroidCentral]

What is the S Pen?
The S Pen is an input device for the Samsung Galaxy Note that enables quicker and more precise input than existing stylus pens. With 256 levels of pressure sensitivity, it recognizes precise pen pressure and gives users a more natural digital writing experience.