Winners Of Windows Phone 7 Challenge

Microsoft New Zealand Announces Winners Of Windows Phone 7 Challenge
First mobile Trade Me app on the way.

Microsoft New Zealand today announced the four winners of the Windows Phone 7 challenge in both the New Zealand and Trade Me categories. Each winner will receive a brand new HTC 7 Trophy.

Recent graduate Sashank Ramkumar and Shane Anderson from Arraybracket Limited were named winners of the New Zealand apps category for their respective EventFinder and Auckland Transits apps. Seshi Chemudugunta from Cegedim and Brian Donovan-Smith from ASB were named winners of the Trade Me apps category.

“The Windows Phone 7 Challenge was a great opportunity to build an app that would appeal to New Zealanders,” says Sashank Ramkumar, whose EventFinder app allows users to search for the concerts and events while they are out and about.

“I was shocked when I found out that I won the competition, but I’m confident my app will be well received by fellow Kiwis and tourists alike, particularly with next year’s Rugby World Cup.”

The winning Trade Me apps also promise to be popular with New Zealanders who have waited a long time for a mobile application for the much-loved auction website.

“I’m thrilled to have done so well in the Windows Phone 7 Challenge. I’ve had a ball using the Microsoft developer tools to create the app,” says Brian Donovan-Smith, who has been a software developer for more than 25 years.

Comprising of two categories, the competition encouraged New Zealand software developers to develop some of the world’s first applications for the new Windows Phone 7 platform.

Nigel Parker, Acting Developer Platform Group Director for Microsoft New Zealand, says the challenge was a great opportunity to showcase the developer talent within New Zealand.

“We have a wide array of software developer skill in New Zealand and this competition gave developers the opportunity to show us what they were capable of. There were some amazing entries, which made the judging difficult, but the overall winners produced some very slick software that we couldn’t fault, so were well deserving of their wins.”

The New Zealand category asked developers to design and build an original app or game that is inspired by New Zealand through local services, themes and culture. The Trade Me category saw developers competing to build an original application for Windows Phone 7 that leverages the new Trade Me API to create a mobile Trade Me experience.

Entrants were able to take advantage of the free developer tools and learning resources Microsoft provided to build their applications.

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