Monday, May 04, 2009

Microsoft has just announced a contest for Azure developers! Now this should be fun. The contest is called "new CloudApp()" and has an official site at http://www.newcloudapp.com/.

Both PHP and .NET applications can be submitted. The .NET and PHP category applications will be judged by industry leaders, Om Malik and Michael Cote. Entries will be evaluated based on user experience and user interface, innovation and creativity of the application, applicability to cloud computing, and real-world applicability of the application. The overall Community winner will be decided by public voting.

Key Dates:

• Monday, May 4: Contest Open
• Thursday, June 18: Submission deadline
• Friday, June 19: Community voting starts
• Thursday, June 25: .NET & PHP category winners announced at Structure 09
• Monday, June 29: Community voting ends
• Tuesday, June 30: Community winner announced

So what do winners get?

• Featured on www.azure.com as well as at major Microsoft events
• Featured in a video interview on Channel 9 with the application author
• Winners will be announced at Structure 09
• Receive cash ($):
  o NET Applications Category winner: $5,000 Visa gift card
  o PHP Applications Category winner: $5,000 Visa gift card
  o Community winner: $2,500 Visa gift card

Contestants can choose to submit one entry into either the .NET or the PHP applications category. Azure applications that have already been built can be submitted for the contest.

Valid submissions are limited to residents 18 years and older of the 50 United States and District of Columbia.