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Introducing the Windows & Windows Phone Challenge

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Windows and Windows Phone apps are better together. Especially when connected through the cloud with Windows Azure, they enable seamless experiences from PC to laptop to tablet to phone. Developing an app for both platforms is within reach for any student developer and gives you great experience with connected software and cross-platform development.

But apps aren't developed in a vacuum. In the real world, development teams with customers, whether internal or external, to deliver the right solutions to solve the biggest problems. In this contest we want you to get out there and find someone in your community to partner with. It could be a family business, a restaurant, a new startup, an artist or musician you know, or a charity working to make a difference. Use your networks, find someone to partner with, and make your case: you'll develop a set of Windows & Windows Phone apps that meet their needs and both of you come out ahead.

Working with your partner, figure out the problems they have that apps could solve. If it's a nightclub, maybe they need an app that publishes their calendar of live performances. If it's an artist, a digital portfolio they can easily update and share could help their career. If it's a homeless shelter, maybe they need an app to alert volunteers of opportunities to help. If it's a restaurant, maybe an app that has their menu and a link to make reservations.

This is a great opportunity for you to think beyond technology. Consider finding a team member or associate from your school's business program who wants to get some real-world experience, working alongside your dev team to collaborate in your community and demonstrate impact.

We're looking for student teams who are already thinking past graduation, past the next class, and who are ready to take a big step into their future. If you succeed at this contest, you'll have an amazing story to tell when you start interviewing for jobs. Your talent, your passion, your technology, your community: with Windows & Windows Phone, they're all better together.

One team will win a trip to Seattle to be honored at the Imagine Cup World Finals in July, 2014. That team will receive $5,000 and every team member will get a Nokia Windows Phone 8. Best of all, they'll spend time with the actual Windows & Windows Phone team on campus at Microsoft to review the winning project and get expert feedback on where to take it next.

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Get started now by taking these steps:

  1. Visit Microsoft DreamSpark to download Visual Studio and our other tools and technologies at no cost to student developers.
  2. Download the Windows Getting Started Guide for Student Developers.
  3. Download the Windows Phone Getting Started Guide.
  4. Then read all about the Windows & Windows Phone Challenge to learn how you can participate!
  5. Want to learn more? Take the free Microsoft Virtual Academy course Build Apps for Both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 Jump Start and really dive in.

And then get out in your community! Ask your friends, families, and neighbors for referrals. And soon you'll all be better together.