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Announcing the winners of MTA App Quest!
(Photo: Grand Prize team Embark NYC with a custom 5’ subway sign at Vanderbilt Hall in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal.)
Earlier today, travelers strolling by Grand Central’s Vanderbilt Hall overheard something historic: the announcement of the winners of MTA App Quest, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s competition for software developers. The MTA challenged developers to create new apps that improve the transit experience of its 8.5 million daily riders. Forty-two apps were submitted, for a range of platforms and devices: Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, and more.
Join us in congratulating the winners!
- Grand Prize: Embark NYC, by Taylor Malloy and David Hodge of Embark
This all-purpose transit navigation app for Android and iOS devices offers trip planning, service advisories, interactive maps, schedules and more. - Second Prize: Free NYC Subway Locator, by Jordan Hill of Flatiron Factory
This iOS app automatically calculates the nearest subway entrances to your current location and lists them by direction, in order of proximity by feet. The app also shows the individual station entrance locations, service alerts, and elevator and escalator outages, all using data provided by the MTA. - Third Prize: Notify Me NYC, by Emma Assin and Felipe Flores of the Cortelyou Collective
This Android app notifies you if your subway, Metro-North or LIRR train is experiencing service problems, based on the times of day and days of week you ride. - Popular Choice Grand Prize: CityMaps, by Christopher Winfield
This app combines real-time information about local businesses with subway information about how to reach them. - Popular Choice Second Prize: Right Track: Metro-North, by David Waring
This Android app provides quick access to Metro-North schedules, real-time status updates and track assignments. - Large Organization Award: NYC Station Finder, by Slalom Consulting
This iPhone app allows users to find station entrances with an augmented reality station finder.
Five apps received honorable mentions from the panel of nine expert judges:
- Annadale: Staten Island Train & Ferry, by Mike Raney
- Art by Subway NYC, by Matthew Vincent
- NYC Travel, by Fernando Garza and Chevon Christie
- OnBoard, by Reed Martin
- Right Track: Metro-North, by David Waring
View all the submissions in the gallery, and download an app today to enhance your own experience of the MTA!
‘Embark NYC,’ Multi-Purpose Navigation App, Wins MTA App Quest [mta.info]
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By Marci
Feb 2 Comments - Grand Prize: Embark NYC, by Taylor Malloy and David Hodge of Embark
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NYC BigApps: Advice from past winner Abby Suckle
Reblog from the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC):
Jan 11 CommentsMaking progress on your BigApps submission? The deadline for NYC BigApps 3.0 is January 25th! For inspiration, we checked in with previous BigApps winners for words of wisdom for this year’s competitors. Read on for insights from Abby Suckle, President of CultureNOW, whose Museum Without Walls app took Honorable Mention last year. The app allows users to experience public art and architecture in Downtown Manhattan using location maps, self-guided tours, and podcasts.
Abby displays CultureNOW’s map of Manhattan after accepting award from Mayor Bloomberg.
What advice would you give new BigApps applicants?
Have big goals. It’s not enough to just make another transit app. Instead teams need to focus on exploring NYC’s rich, diverse facets to create really interesting, useful apps.How has your app, company, or career evolved since winning BigApps?
CultureNOW has worked closely with the City and other cultural/academic partners to greatly expand our app content. We’ve also become an increasingly national platform for cultural guide information in many cities throughout the US. Additionally, we’ve released an Android version of our app.What are your future goals for your app, company, or self?
CultureNOW plans to continue to improve our app and grow our user base. As a non-profit with a strong mission, we are always looking for ideas on how to take our app to a new level.What are the most important aspects of winning BigApps for you?
BigApps was a coming of age for CultureNOW and a great way to meet people. But, we’re still waiting on BMW to give us a car! -
Samsung Free the TV Challenge: winners announced!
We’re thrilled to announce the winners of the Samsung Free the TV Challenge!
- First prize: Party Shots
- Second prize: Let’s Play Stop
- Third prize: FREQSHO
View the winners and all the other submissions in the Gallery.
Thanks again to everyone who participated and made the challenge a great success!
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Jan 9 Comments -
NYC BigApps: Advice from past winner Aaron Royston
Reminder: Spots still open for NYC BigApps 3.0 Developer Day this Saturday, January 7! Free registration here. Come work on your app, meet the NYC Open Data team, and collaborate with other developers and designers!
Reblog from the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC):
Jan 5 CommentsHow’s your app coming along? The deadline for NYC BigApps 3.0 submissions is coming up January 25th. For inspiration, we checked in with previous BigApps winners for words of wisdom for this year’s competitors. Read on for insights from Aaron Royston of Sportaneous, which is a location-based online and iPhone application that allows users to find fellow athletes to play games with at nearby public facilities.
What were the most important aspects of winning BigApps for you?
Sportaneous won the Popular Choice award and 2nd Overall Grand Prize, and we received a lot of publicity following the event. Our app requires a strong network effect to be effective, so therefore this PR helped a lot in building our user base.
How has your app, company, or career evolved since winning BigApps?
From the BigApps recognition we received, co-founder Omar Haroun and I were invited to the White House to receive the Champions of Change award in Technology and Innovation, which was a great honor.
What are your future goals for your app, company, or self?
Sportaneous is evolving into a discovery tool beyond just pick-up sports, and we are developing a proprietary algorithm to help suggest activities that our users will enjoy. The new edition should be released in the spring.
What advice would you give new BigApps applicants?
The user interface is a key component to making an app compelling and attractive. It is not simply about the idea, but the execution is critical. -
NYC BigApps: Advice from past winner Judy Wong
We love hearing success stories from past NYC BigApps winners! Check out Judy’s new iPhone app that helps tourists and residents explore the Lower East Side.
Reblog from the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC):
Dec 30 CommentsThe deadline for NYC BigApps 3.0 submissions is less than one month away. For inspiration, we checked in with previous BigApps winners for words of wisdom for this year’s competitors. Read on for insights from Judy Wong of NYC Plan It, which won the NYC BigApps 2.0 City Talent Award. NYCPlanIt serves as a personal tour guide for visitors in New York City.
What were the most important aspects of winning BigApps for you?
It was a joy for us to create NYC Plan It, which would help NYC’s major tourism and travel industry by supporting local businesses like restaurants and shops. Using technology to practically help people around us—travelers, locals and also industry folks—meant a lot for us working in technology. Many times there is a disconnect between business and charity, and business and the real lives of people.
How has your app, company, or career evolved since winning BigApps?
Since the competition, we have been developing our app across platforms in iOS for iPhone as well as other platforms such as Blackberry. We’ve also listened to our users and have redesigned the pages to be more modern and contemporary. The users have given us a lot of kudos for the concept of NYC Plan It and now we have caught on to their need to cover more mobile markets and make the UI friendlier. We’ve also had chances to develop more apps for Android and iPhone. Check out our iPhone app for the Lower East Side Tourism Center.
What are your future goals for your app, company, or self?
We hope to continue to develop our product within this niche local NYC market. We hope to help build up businesses during such hard economic times. After 9/11 it was hard, but with this economy it’s continued to be difficult. Maybe our app can help things improve for consumers, travelers, locals, and businesses alike.
What advice would you give new BigApps applicants?
Keep up the good work. Creativity really helps to drive technology and connect users, our world around us and the emerging technology market. It’s also great to be part of the Big Apple; if your app can make it here, it can make it anywhere.
Excluding your own, what’s your favorite BigApps app?
Our team felt that the winners all had wonderful apps. We need the parking space finder since it’s so useful. DontEat.at was also really great. We love food and eating and find that helpful as we go to different restaurants. It’s absolutely the favorite of our friends, too.
