We know that there is a little geek in all of us – a geek who wants to create apps. We also know that you have some amazing ideas for those apps. That’s why we wanted to provide you with the tools, training and assets, to get you started with developing apps and launch them off to the world!

Geek Out is a collection of events, online and offline, which are aimed to help you create amazing Windows 8 apps and publish them to the Windows 8 Store. There are seminars, workshops and hackathons happening all around Finland – and the best part is..they’re all free!

So what are you waiting for, get your Geek Out and check out events in your area! You might even win a brand new Windows 8 device through our raffle!

We’ll organize a training with a speaker from Redmond. In the event you’ll get an introduction to Windows Phone 8 development and explain the new features of WP8. The event is free of charge and it will be organized in Espoo. Stay tuned for updates and registration links. Want to book a seat? Send an email to wpworksfi@microsoft.com

It’s been a couple of week since WOWZAPP and we’ve managed to get some sleep. It’s been great seeing that so many attendees have continued on your app development, looking forward to see them in the Store! Let us know when you’re ready to publish, so we can do a virtual high five – and maybe promote your app!

Today is a big day, because we’re announcing the winners of the WOWZAPP Windows 8 devices! I must say, this wasn’t an easy decision. We’ve been going through these entries over and over again thinking on who should win… we had quite a few candidates! You know you all rocked, but we had to choose one!

Remember to check out the cool pictures from the event at Go Underground Finland!

The winning team – bringing style to Windows 8

The winning team was chosen based on their idea, use of the Windows platform and work done during the hackathon. Team Nano from Tampere did an amazing fashion app, which allows you to create different outfits based on your own clothes or clothes from different websites. You could just take a picture of your shirt with your tablet and add it to the collection. The app automatically removes the background and allows you to easily combine the outfits and share them with your friends!

Sini Pietilä, Joni Saarelainen & Noora Vainio formed Team Nano just before the hackathon. They joined with no previous Windows 8 development skills and created the whole thing from scratch! With a great attitude and a smile on their face, they survived the whole hackathon and are continuing working on their app! Hope to see it soon in the Store!

AppCampus will announce their winner soon, as well! Follow Go Underground Finland and AppCampus to make sure you hear the winners!

What’s happening next?

There is a whole bunch of local activities going on around Finland, look forward to some great events in December and spring of 2013! The best places to follow these events are Go Underground Finland and www.microsoft.fi/app

You’ll also see a lot more activity coming from the Young Developers of Finland as they launch their program full speed!

Release an app and get a phone

We’re organizing a couple of big hackathons before the Holidays in Oulu, Tampere and Turku! Make sure you register and join us at the Ho Ho Ho-Hackathon! We’ll help you get you polish your apps and launch them to the store! Also note the competition we have over there, the first 50 to finish their killer-apps will get a Lumia device!

Why isn’t the Ho Ho Ho-hackathon organized in Helsinki? We have a ton of cool events in Helsinki also, check www.microsoft.fi/app for details.

To get a headstart on your app development with Windows Phone 8, you should join as at the WOWZAPP-codenight. We’ll have great trainers for Windows Phone 8 and representatives from the Windows Phone Design team from Redmond. It’s a great chance to learn Windows Phone development from the best and get your application known. As you know AppCampus is also joining us and awarding the best idea with 20 000€

Isn’t the event just about Windows 8?

Nope. The event is called “WOWZAPP: Worldwide hackathon for Windows”, so both Windows 8 and Windows Phone are a part of this. We will have trainers that are experts in both platforms and they will be able to help you create your own app.

The trainers

I wanted to highlight a few trainers for you, check the full list at http://www.microsoft.com/finland/wowzapp/

Kimo Boissonnier
CEO of Tuliotus
Project Manager – Student Projects in Nokia Student Innovation Lab

Kimo Boissonnier started to work with mobile games as a student in Nokia in 1998 and has since then actively practiced game design and programming. A real geek with a passion of gadgets, working with embedded systems and most importantly teaching all aspect of game development to the younger generation.

Now on his new quest to release his first commercial title, Haunted: Dungeons of Herwood.

Karl Ots
Technical Consultant at Symbio

Karl Ots believes that smart mobile devices and great user experiences will make the world a better place. He applies that passion to his work as a technical consultant on latest Microsoft technologies at Symbio. With over 5 years’ experience on software and mobile industry, Karl is a Microsoft Student Partner Lead, has published several international papers and holds a patent. His Twitter handle is @fincooper. Karl is also a Windows Phone 8 trainer.

Arturo Toledo
Architect

Arturo Toledo is an Architect. He runs a boutique design studio attending clients in the United States, Europe and Asia. His work explores the convergence of human arts and science to give shape to an ever evolving design practice. With a particular commitment towards design education, Arturo is permanently engaged with the international design and development communities and often travels the world to exchange ideas about design with other designers and developers. Prior to his current venture, Arturo worked for Microsoft in Redmond for 7 years driving design evangelism.

Jeremy Bowen
UX Designer, Windows Phone

Jeremy is a user experience designer on the Windows Phone. Jeremy joined the Windows Phone design studio after recognizing their unique, authentically-digital approach to design and user experience. Before joining Microsoft, he was a graphic designer for the Seattle Art Museum, creating in-gallery graphics, print materials, websites, and mobile apps. Jeremy studied Music and Graphic Design at Brigham Young University, and believes in creating meaningful, delightful experiences – whether it’s a phone, an app, a book, a brand, an exhibit, or music.

So what are you waiting for? Register now at www.microsoft.fi/wowzapp

As you might guess the event will gather quite a lot of attention, not only because it’s a huge developer-event in Finland but because it’s a big event worldwide. Companies like Avanade, Symbio, Sulava, RAY Innovation & Future Lab and many more are taking part in the event. The Finnish event will be home for many Microsoft representatives who are looking for showcase Windows 8 apps from Finland. This is a great chance for partners to get their app out there visible and possibly get some extra promotional help from Microsoft. You might get your app highlighted in the Store, Tietoviikko’s app of the week, www.msn.fi/sovellukset or on other websites and print!

You can find a list of the staff at www.microsoft.fi/wowzapp

Channel9 will be attending WOWZAPP from Finland!

Channel9 is a very popular website for developers and enthusiasts alike. It’s a source of videos about the newest releases in technology and video-guides for developers. You can check out for example their series on Migrating apps from Windows Phone to Windows 8 or check out their WOWZAPP video with Andrew Parsons, who is also coming to Finland!

The Channel9 crew has decided that they will take part in the Finnish WOWZAPP event and will be delivering content straight from the 24H event. So track them down and get your 5 minutes of fame!

AppCampus and WOWZAPP

As you may know AppCampus funds only Windows Phone projects, so how does this relate to WOWZAPP the Windows 8 hackathon? To make this simple:

1. You come up with an app and idea
2. You come to WOWZAPP to develop a Windows 8 prototype
3. AppCampus will choose the best idea and give it a grant
4. You use that money to also build a Windows Phone version of your app.
5. Be happy and rock the Stores!

How Team TWD got their funding after 24h

I know what you’re thinking, it’s impossible to get 20 000€ after just 24h of work…so I’ll prove you wrong! Team Turku World Domination received a 50 000€ grant a few weeks back during the Nokia Do Good Hackathon, after working for just 24 hours. They didn’t win because of 24 hours of development work, they won because they had the best idea at the hackathon!

During the WOWZAPP hackathon you’ll be able to present your app idea and develop a Windows 8 app prototype with expert support. This is a great chance to get extra support from Microsoft and the partner network. Also remember AppCampus is looking for the best idea, that will be taken to the Windows Phone platform, so you don’t have to be a supercoder, you just need to have a good idea!

But let’s hear it from the Turku World Domination-team (they’re still setting up their company and deciding on the final name)!

So guys, you just received a 50 000€ grant from AppCampus! Could you give us a short description of your project?

Our team consists of three guys from the City of Turku. Jesse Tuominen and Petrus Tuominen (not related) are currently studying in the Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS) and Juhani Hakala who’s also a former student of TUAS.

Our project is called MediKit. It’s a Windows Phone application to serve user with medical information. It has three main purposes: 1) It has medical tutorials common situations like “how to give CPR”, 2) Based on User profile, application can tell to user when user is ready to donate blood again. User can track own blood type donation status and get a push notification when their own blood type is running low. 3) Location service tracks user location and can show the nearest donation center on map.

Why did you originally join the hackathon?

Well, everyone has their own story, but some of us (Jesse) actually started by organizing these hackathons. Now they have grown into a much bigger events. Juhani came along, because he needed his kick to learn something new and more challenging than web-programming. Petrus attended to his first Hackathon in February 2012. After that Petrus has been addicted to Hackathons.

What’s your favorite thing about hackathons?

The favorite thing is the awesome prizes. The great thing is the most of the people are not there for prizes, its the experience and being part of this weird society. You can also feel the atmosphere and the excitement among the participants.

I heard a wild rumour, that one time wasn’t enough for you.. Why do you keep coming back to hackathons?

Hackathons are great! Getting together with likeminded people who are enthusiastic about creating something cool in a short amount of time. They give a little kick when you need it to start learning something new. Without these events its pretty lazy to start from the beginning.

What advice would you give to the brave souls who are going to attend WOWZAPP in Finland?

Use your time wisely. Plan what you are trying achieve in your project before you start to develop it. Don’t use too much time in the things that doesn’t matter in the presentation, instead try to increase the cool effect of the project. Remember time is not on your side. So create mockup of your application first then start finalizing it. And if feel dead tired, there’s no shame of taking “power nap” (well, there is, but don’t tell anyone)….. And remember even the event name starts WOW, please do not try to make World of Warcraft 2. And most importantly have some fun!

So what are you waiting for, sign up for WOWZAPP now and get those 20 000€ that the people of AppCampus are ready to provide to you! Sign up now and amaze us!

It’s time to register for the greatest hackathon ever! WOWZAPP will be a chance for you to meet a bunch of fellow developers from around the world, experience the newest devices and amaze the world with your crazy app development skills!

The event is free of charge, we’ll provide you with the training, mentors, food & beverages and a lot of fun activity through the code-night! You don’t need any previous experience with Windows 8 app development, we’ll teach you! All you need is your amazing self and your laptop with Windows 8!

Check it out now at www.microsoft.fi/wowzapp

It’s a *huge* worldwide event

WOWZAPP is a worldwide Windows 8 hackathon organized by Microsoft. There will be 6 anchor points around the world and Finland will host the anchor event for Western Europe! All of the events will start at 17:00 their local time and continue with a overnight hackathon, so there will always be someone, somewhere in the world that will be able to answer your questions!

In Finland there will be many partners taking part in the hackathon, so for students it’s a great chance to network with these partners and find out about possible job openings. Some of the partners will join as mentors, so they will be there to help you around app development.

Quite a few faculties are also arranging bus transportation for their students from their own faculty, Turku UAS, HAMK and JAMK to name a few! There will be over 500 developers attending the Finnish event!

Learn from the best

During the event we’ll have a ton of mentors to assist you with your app development. There will be local trainers and experts from our partners, such as Avanade, Symbio, User Intelligence and many more! There will also be international trainers like Arturo Toledo and Microsoft experts and product group representatives, to answer your toughest questions!

To get the most out of the experience you should sign up for either one of the workshops (App or Game) and the 24h code-night! There is also a extremely interesting Windows & Windows Phone seminar on Thursday, that you can attend!

Showcase your skills

It’s not just about developing apps, it’s about the community and the whole experience! During the event you’ll get to learn from fellow developers and designers. This is a great chance to showcase your apps to Microsoft staff and possibly get some extra visibility and promotion for your application.  We’ll also have some extra activity available for all of you through the night, so you will definitely be entertained!

We’ll also have the great Channel9 team join us for the event, so you’re definitely in for a treat!

Getting Windows 8

Keep in mind that as a student you can get Windows 8 free through your schools DreamSpark (or MSDN AA) subscription! There are also local “Installation Fests” arranged around Finland that will help you install Windows 8 and learn the basics, for example in Tampere and Helsinki.

(This is a part of the blog series I’m writing for the EuroSkills 2012 as the Finnish WebDesign expert)

This year the WebDesign skill is connected closely with Graphic Design and the competitors will need to work in pairs to succeed in the competition. Niko and Pia seem to get along and have synced what they need from each other to succeed. This is very important, as the contestants don’t know each other before the competition. The Finnish team has multiple training camps and one of the goals over there is building team spiriti, apparently it works pretty good!

The day ended with the Opening Ceremony for EuroSkills 2012. I was a part of the last EuroSkills in Portugal 2010, so I had something to compare it to. I really enjoyed the speeches today, they were the approriate lenght and contained a clear message. There is a big effort to bring more attention to vocational studies in Belgium, as those seem to be underrated in some eyes.

I think EuroSkills is a great opportunity for everyone to come and learn what do you get our of vocational studies and to see some of the most talented young minds out there. It’s honestly an amazing and very humbling experience.

During the day each group of experts went through the assigment, workplace setup and rules for their own skill. Different skills had different type of issues, everything from issues with the assigments to missing toolboxes. Luckily for me, WebDesign was pretty simple. All we needed were some PC’s and software on them

This year EuroSkills is organized in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. What’s interesting this year, and different from previous years, is the layout of the competition. The competition is located right on the tracks of Spa-Francorchamps, so it’s quite challenging to get everything working, but it’s also a very interesting location for the event. Florists are placed in the pitstops, there are tents built around the track and a lot of acitivity around the area, getting the venue ready on time.

I’ve been a part of these competitions before as a competitor. I took part in a couple of local Skills-competitions in Finland, then EuroSkills 2010 in Lissbon and WorldSkills 2011 in London. This time I’m taking part in the competition as an expert and I’m very excited to see how this is going to go!

Tomorrow Niko, the Finnish competitior, will arrive and we’ll get to check his machine and prepare for the competition. Really excited to see how this will go..I’m feeling pretty confident

In short, the program offers you funding and support for your Imagine Cup project. You receive the money and Microsoft will support you for the next 3 years. During the program you get connected to different venture capitalists, NGO’s and several different influencers who can help you take your solution to the next level.

All Imagine Cup 2012 worldwide finalists can apply, you don’t have to be in the top 3 teams to apply. You can send it your applications from 10th of July until the end of August!

It’s not just about the money

During the session last years finalist team OaSys shared their experiences with the grants program. It was interesting to hear that the team originally applied mostly because of the financial support, but the support the got in addition to the funding was invaluable. Bu yeah.. the team applied for $58,000 and actually received $75,000 for their solution.

Tips & tricks for applying

There were a couple of tips and tricks shared to during the session, so I decided to share them up here

• You can and should work with your local Microsoft staff, we’re not punishing you for getting support. We want to make sure you get all the support you need for your solution.
• You will need to send in a application in English and a 2 minute video explaining your solution. This is a very important part of the application because it’s might be the only time the judges will see your application working. Check out last years Lifelens-video as a reference.
• It’s very important to define your teams strengths and weaknesses! I’ve heard some of the teams say “we’re engineers, not business-students” when talking to them about their business-plan. When applying for a grant, make sure you specify where your teams needs help so that Microsoft can connect you with the right people when you receive your grant.
• It’s important that your application has a strong social impact. In Imagine Cup we’ve talked about social impact, but sometimes team have used creativity to bend the rules a bit The grant program will be much more strict on this, so make sure you explain how are you making a social impact.
• Communicate and ask for support from Microsoft. You will need to report to Microsoft every 6 months on your progress. If you’re smart you’ll be much more active than that. So keep communicating actively with the Microsoft staff telling them about your progress, challenges and asks for support. This way you’ll get the most out of the program.

A few more questions…

Can I apply for an Imagine Cup grant and apply for funding from somewhere else, for example AppCampus? The grant program is created to help you succeed and take your solution to the market, so we encourage you to apply for all the funding and support that you can!

What if my team members and size changes? There is no limitation for the team size and you can add new members to your team. You will need to describe why these team members are added and what kind of additional value do they bring to your team.

To sum up..this is fricking awesome

Not only that you get funding, we like money, right? But you also get support from Microsoft and several different partners. Microsoft can connect you to the people who can help you with your solution, let it be venture capitalists, NGO’s or industry experts. Of course you get a lot of visibility through this program

I’ve seen such enthusiasm and excitement amongst the teams in the finals. That energy and attitude is the most important thing when you apply for a grant!

Today most of the competitors arrived – Sydney´s full of talented young people from around the world! It’s been interesting to see how everyone has prepared, everyone is excited, proud and full of energy..especially the Korean Student Partners, man those guys and gals can make some noise! And I can see that energy starting to catch on to others as well.

The opening ceremony was something out of this world. There were some really cool speakers like Jessica Watson and last years Software Design winner James McNamara! Really inspiring talks and extremely useful information for all competitors. The Corporote Vice President of DPE, Walid Abu-Hadba gave a great talk (featuring his Siamese cat) that seemed to strike a core with many students at the event.

Phones, trips and confetti

Walid actually did a comeback on stage and decided to invite Ali Driesman and a energetic dancing Korean MSP on stage to randomly pick out 3 teams that would be invited (all costs paid) for the next big developer conference that Microsoft organizes, COOL! The winning teams were from Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Tunis..also the Korean team got tickets for their amazing attitude, which was definitely well deserved!

But that wasn’t all! Nokia decided to reward all competitors with Nokia Lumia 800 devices, WOAH! He also made fun of the stereotypical Finnish “enthusiasm” that appeared when the Finnish team was called out

It all ended in a big bang…literally confetti going everywhere! Tomorrow is a new day, new challenges and tomorrow are the Software Design Round 1 presentations! I’m so excited!

We’re late – who cares

Our travel arraignments changed a bit when our flight from Helsinki got delay and half of the group had to stay overnight at Singapore. We took the most out of that time and decided to share our amazing jokes with each other and grabbing a drink or two.. When we arrived to Sydney we were welcomed by a koala that gave us some Sydney-love and escorted us to our transportation to the hotel.

Sydney – you’re so puurdy

I must say the venue and the hotel are amazing! We took a short walk around the shore and of course grabbed pizzas with local beer. Coming from Finland.. the customer service here is amazing! After getting our tummy’s filled up we decided to check out the local Aquarium and let me says.. WOW!

The whole aquarium was awesome, there were so many different species over there and the best part of it all was of course the shark tank, awesome! After listening to the suiting music of the aquariums and looking at the pretty fishies swim around we were pretty sleepy..but nothing that a few double espressos couldn’t fix!

Finish the evening off with an awesome dinner with the whole gang (btw what’s up with the whole “kitchen closes at 10pm”-thing.. kinda freaked me out) So yeah, first day was pretty much getting to know Sydney and having fun, today the teams are hard at work and tomorrow we will rock Imagine Cup!

We’re attending Imagine Cup with 3 teams, Matalapaine (Turku), Aaltovation (Espoo) and G3A (Lappeenranta). I’ve been working with these teams through various activities and seen them evolve over the year.

Team Matalapaine – The rockstars from Turku

With team Matalapaine I’ve been working on a huge amount of different events. The guys from this team have been organizing some of most successful hackathons in Finland and have been sharing their knowledge through their local Student Tech Clubs in Salo and Turku. The team took part in Imagine Cup with Pregnancy2Baby, won our local Finnish finals and earned their place in the Imagine Cup 2012 worldwide finals as the Finnish representatives in Software Design. I’m so excited to see their presentations here! [Check the video]

Aaltovation – Drive, energy and attitude

I still remember the first day I met team Aaltovation. It was during a EBEC Aalto 24h hackathon at Aalto Venture Garage. The team consists of 3 gals and one guy, they truly blew my mind with their dedication, energy and positive attitude. They worked on their project “Mothercare” from the first hackathon and pushed through 24 hours, winning the 2nd place in the hackathon. After that I met them several times in different events, for example they totally dominated the Nokia hackathon! I was so excited when I heard that they had made it to Top 3 in the worldwide Windows Phone Challenge… now we’re just waiting for the final results! [Check the video]

Team G3A – Experience and innovation

I’ve know the guys from team G3A for some time now. They took part in Imagine Cup last year, they’ve been in the Microsoft Student Partners program and as you might now Lappenranta University of Technology is one of the best codecamp organizers in Finland… and these are the students are the masterminds behind them. Their project TinyCircle is definitely something that can change the world, ensuring freedom of speech all around the globe. [Check the video]

What makes a winner?

When I look at these 12 individuals from these top teams, I see a few things in common. As you know, they all have the courage, drive and passion to go and do something completely new and put themselves on the line. But actually I think there is one more important thing to notice..

All of these teams share their knowledge and are excited to help others. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen these people teach, help and mentor other students around different technologies. It’s not just about learning for yourself, for them it’s about sharing that knowledge and making sure students have access to new technology and training. Clearly helping others pays off

I couldn’t be with a more amazing group of people in Sydney. I’m really looking forward for this event and celebrating their amazing success!

When Windows Phone was released we got a first taste of the Metro user interface. As you know now Windows 8 is following the same principles and Metro has really taken off. You know what else has really taken off.. rectangles – blue rectangles, red rectangles, green rectangles .. it’s a whole festive of colorful rectangles! Now however, it’s time to think outside the rectangle box and show your Windows 8 app skills!

As you know Metro is now just about colorful rectangles, it’s about much more. For example Live Tiles are about relevant and personal content, it’s not just about fun colors. The Windows Dev Center is a great place to learn more about the Metro styled apps for Windows 8.

Once you’ve evolved to a Windows 8 developer head over to The Box and take part in the challenge to win a Windows Phone development device! That should make your Windows Phone app development a bit more easier

Good luck and drop a comment below if you have any questions.

Please note this applies for Finnish developers! Check with your local Microsoft DPE for possible local activities.

Well now I bring good news! It’s time to rock that Windows 8! We’re inviting certain partners to join us at the Windows 8 Quality Labs. “What the freck is that?!” – you think. It’s a lab where you bring your Windows 8 app and we go through it together making sure it’s a “quality app”.

Please note, this applies for Finnish developers, contact your local Developer Platform Evangelism team for details on how it works in your country.

Taking part in a Quality Lab

First of all you can send me an email at drazen.dodik[at]microsoft.com to apply for a quality lab. I say apply, because this isn’t a guarantee that you’ll get the spot. We have a limited number of these Quality Lab spots. The first Quality Labs will be organized on the 21st of May, so act fast!

Here are a couple of things to remember

• Check out http://dev.windows.com
• Make sure you understand Windows 8 specific features (charms, Metro, navigation model)
• Come up with a great idea & email me to request a Quality Lab slot
• Create the Windows 8 Metro styled application
• Attend a Quality Lab
• Publish to the store

This is a great opportunity because through a Quality Lab you can be one of the first ones to publish to the Windows 8 Store in Finland! It’s a great way to get some free additional visibility and to gain publishing rights to the Windows 8 Store. This means that in the future you won’t need to wait for a Quality Lab to be able to publish – instead you just publish!

As you know we also organized local qualifications for the Windows Phone Challenge. Through this local addition we try to identify, reward and help the top teams get their apps our there to the public. I’m happy to announce the top 3 Windows Phone Challenge teams that will join the Software Design finalists for the Finnish Imagine Cup finals on the 25th of April!

I’d like to remind all teams that there are two paths in this Windows Phone Challenge:

Worldwide Challenge – This is coordinated from the worldwide level and the teams that proceeded to the second round have already been announced on the Imagine Cup Leaderboard.

Finnish local Windows Phone Challenge – This is our local Finnish twist, it’s not directly connected to the worldwide qualifications. What I mean by this is that going through to the second round in the Worldwide Challenge doesn’t mean that you go on the second round in the Finnish local challenge.. and the other way around.

You can read more about the local version in an earlier post.

The local finalists

Without further mumbo jumbo.. here are the finalists for the Finnish Local Windows Phone Challenge (in alphabetical order)

Aaltovation – from Aalto University
Dev4Fun – from Lappeenranta University of Technology
Team G3A – from Lappeenranta University of Technology

Congratulations to these amazing 3 teams! You guys rock!

It’s been really great to see so many students get excited about Imagine Cup this year! Especially the Windows Phone Challenge has been intersting for interesting for many students around Finland. We’ve had tons of seminars, hackathons, codecamps and courses around the subject during the last couple of months. I want to thank all the MSPs, faculty members and partners who have been involved in providing our students with the best possible training. Who knew 24H events would be so much fun

But now.. something that everyone has been waiting for, the top 3 teams for Software Design who will proceed to the second round and attend the Finnish finals in Taitaja 2012. From there one team will be chosen to represent Finland in the Imagine Cup worldwide finals in Sydney, Australia!

This year the competition was extremely tight, there were so many real problems tackled and so many new ideas that we definitely had a very hard job to do, when selecting the top 3 teams. I want to thank you all for participating and for sharing your great ideas with us! We hope to hear from many of you in the future.

Let’s get to business… drumroll please.. here are the teams who will proceed to the Finnish Software Design finals (in alphabetical order)

• Team Aaltovation from Aalto University
• Team BOBS from Lappeenranta University of Technology
• Team Matalapaine from Turku University of Applied Sciences

Congratulations to all of you!

I’ve notified all of the team by email with the feedback from the judges. As said previously, the competition was really tight this year and it was just a matter of single points. So make sure you attend next year, if your team didn’t pass this year.. come back stronger than ever!

We’ll organize the Finnish Software Design finals in Jyväskylä on the 25.4. Stay tuned for more information!

It’s a good day to be a geek! Microsoft & Nebula are offering free virtual webservers for Finnish students! Things like this don’t come around so often, so you should definitely head over to www.microsoft.fi/TakeOverTheWeb and request free access of your own! Quick before they run out of servers!

Oh, we’re also giving out free movie tickets for the first 200 who gets their site up and running before 1.5.2012…You know for those rainy summer days

This service does not contain backup services from Nebula. The servers are hosted for you for 6 months, so these will be available for you until 30.9.2012. It’s a great place to learn more about products like WebMatrix and really just see what these Windows Servers are like!

Microsoft and Nokia are organizing local finals of the Windows Phone Challenge with amazing prizes, internships and an exclusive hackathon!

By participating in Imagine Cup, you’ll get the chance to win some cool devices, get a trip to Australia and perhaps work at the most amazing summer internship ever at Nokia! If that wasn’t enough, 40 students will be invited to an exclusive hackathon event.

What’s Imagine Cup?

Imagine Cup is a innovation/technology competition for students, it’s basically Microsofts way of encouraging students to challenge themselves and innovate on new ways of using technology to solve some of the worlds biggest problems.

You can read more about Imagine Cup here:

• The official ImagineCup website
• Time to save the world–Now with extra kangaroos! (this blog)
• Get ready for Imagine Cup 2012 (this blog)

Alright.. so what’s a Hackathon?

We’ve been organizing these small events around Windows Phone for a while now. We gather up for 24H and create some kickass Windows Phone apps. It’s been pretty amazing to see people come to the event without any previous experience and then leave with a cool app prototype!

This time the hackathon will be filled with students who already have experience with Windows Phone, so we expect to see some really amazing things come out of it! We’ll head out to Hotelli Aavaranta and spend two days over there (11 – 12th of April).

During the two days you’ll get to chance to meet some of the representatives from Nokia and Microsoft and hear what’s it really like to work over there. You’ll also get feedback on your projects, make new contacts and learn from one of the best. We’ll also enjoy some nice food, drinks and party..in true geekstyle

During this hackathon you’ll also get a chance to talk to the Nokia representatives and apply for summer internships for their awesome positions. This is a great chance to connect with those guys and really show what you know…and amaze them with your Windows Phone apps!

Oh my…that’s really HUGE

Yeah, I know.. So now you’re wondering how can you take part in all of this awesomeness? It’s easy, all you need to do is participate in Imagine Cup’s Windows Phone Challenge and show us what you got! We’ll then choose 40 students to participate in the hackathon. Over there you can show the Nokia guys what you’re made of and hopefully get a awesome summer internship!

Oh..and don’t forget about the phones, trip to Australia and other prizes that are already related to Imagine Cup

Now what are you waiting for, go and register for the competition and join us at Aavaranta!

So you got your team, you got your idea and are ready to take over the world? To participate in Imagine Cup you’ll need to register to www.imaginecup.com and submit your files by the 13th of March.

You’ll need to rock the judges socks with…

A SketchFlow-prototype

This is extremely important! Please keep in mind that SketchFlow is the actual tool that you’ll need to use to mockup your application. As a student you can get SketchFlow for free through www.dreamspark.com And drop me an email if you have difficulties with DreamSpark veritification (for example, your school is not listed).

If you are completely new to SketchFlow then I’d suggest checking out this 90-second video from Channel 9

http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/LauraFoy/Sketchflow-in-90-seconds/player?w=512&h=288

You can find more great resources for SketchFlow from:

Videos

• http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/MIX/MIX09/C01F
• http://channel9.msdn.com/events/MIX/MIX10/CL03
• http://channel9.msdn.com/events/MIX/MIX11/DES02

Articles

• http://electricbeach.org/?p=302
• http://www.silverlightshow.net/items/Sketchflow-from-a-developer-point-of-view-part-I-Basics.aspx

and of course the always popular MSDN Library http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee341458(v=Expression.40).aspx

The document

Well, not much to say about this…fill out the document and you’re ready to go! Make sure you read the rules carefully and keep in mind the judging criteria, when writing filling up your document.

Listen to the Captain

You should also listen through the call with Jukka Wallasvaara, the Imagine Cup Windows Phone Challenge-captain! Listen to it here. In that call you’ll get some insight on how the competition will proceed and especially how Round 1 works

F.A.Q.

Q: I already have a Windows Phone application ready, do I need to create a SketchFlow-prototype?
A: Yes, for the first round you’ll need to submit a SketchFlow-prototype and the document describing your idea.

Q: Can I just sketch my application on paper?
A: Nope, you’ll need to create a SketchFlow-prototype

Q: Can I convert my Windows Phone application to a SketchFlow-prototype?
A: No. You can convert your SketchFlow-prototype to a Windows Phone application, but not the other way around. You can apply the “sketchy-styles” to your controls, but won’t make it a SketchFlow-application.

Q: SketchFlow is not a part of Windows Phone tools, do I have to pay for it?!
A: No. SketchFlow is included in Expression Studio Ultimate that you can get for free as a student. You can download it from www.dreamspark.com

You can read more about Imagine Cup on the official website and read more about the Finnish local finals right here on DiggTheDrazen.

Now go, run, get ready to see some amazing koalas and kangaroos!