New Delhi, India — September 26, 2013 — Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. has announced the launch of Imagine Cup 2014, inviting applications from student developers. Currently in its twelfth year, Imagine Cup is a global student technology program and competition that provides opportunities for students across all disciplines to team up and use their creativity, passion and knowledge of technology to create applications, games and integrated solutions that can change the way we live, work, and play.
Registration for the Imagine Cup is now open on www.imaginecup.com with a chance for outstanding ideas to compete at Seattle, USA, where the worldwide finals will be held next year, and win a grand prize of US $ 50,000.
Microsoft Imagine Cup is often referred to as the ‘Olympics of Technology’, and is the largest student technological competition in the world. Indian student developers have vastly contributed to the illustrious list of global Imagine Cup champions in the past by showcasing exciting innovations on the global platform. Pratima Amonkar, Director – Strategic Audience Marketing, Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. said “Over the years, Imagine Cup has helped cultivate a spirit of innovation in technical students. Imagine Cup has created opportunities for students to learn how to launch their business and bring their ideas to market. This year, the competition has been re-imagined into a more exciting and engaging program that brings together the best ideas from around the world. India has traditionally been a frontrunner at the competition and I would want to encourage student developers from across the country to make the most of this incredible opportunity.”
This year, in addition to the core World Citizenship, Innovation and Gaming competitions, the Imagine Cup 2014 will offer three new and exciting non-technology challenges, in which participants will stand a chance to win a US $3,000 cash prize each.
The top ten teams from each category will be honored as Challenge All-Stars and rewarded with exclusive Imagine Cup lapel pins and certificates of victory. The new challenges are:
- Pitch Video Challenge, which is now live and runs till October where students will record a three to five minute video with the team to pitch their project.
- Project Blueprint Challenge, which runs from November to December, requires students to dig deep into their thinking and deliver a written project proposal covering the end-users, requirements, scenarios and business model.
- User Experience Challenge, running between January and February, is aimed at encouraging teams to focus on transformative user experiences. The teams will have to show the user flow, wireframes and a visual target for how the software will look on screen.
The recently concluded Imagine Cup 2013 Worldwide Finals, held in St. Petersburg, Russia, in July 2013, featured the Indian team Y-Nots, who won the First Prize in the Windows Azure Challenge and the Mail.Ru Group Connected Planet Award for Zoik It, a social networking app that allows users to connect at a location in real time.
About Microsoft Imagine Cup
Microsoft Imagine Cup is the world’s premier technology program and competition for students to learn, build and compete with innovative tools, platform and services. To participate in the twelfth edition of the Imagine Cup, students can get started at www.imaginecup.com/Custom/GetStarted.
In addition to providing a platform for students to demonstrate and share their next great technologies, Imagine Cup has taken on an increased focus in preparing these students to be young entrepreneurs in the global marketplace. In addition, through the Microsoft BizSpark program, Imagine Cup participants can launch startup businesses in their communities and across the Web.
About Microsoft India
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software – at any time, any place and on any device. Microsoft Corporation (India) Private Ltd is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation, USA. It has had a presence in India since 1990 and currently has offices in nine cities – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune.
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