Microsoft ‘I unlock Joy’ Program – Build App and Win Windows Phone

Microsoft India announced ‘I unlock Joy‘ initiative which is a unique Application Development and Submission Program, where technology professionals and students get to receive Windows Phones. ‘I unlock Joy’ program for developers has started from November 1, 2011 and will continue till March 30, 2012. This program is already open to student developer community which is receiving good traction/response and will conclude on till December 18, 2011.

Developer Offer:

• “SUBMIT & RECEIVE” CATEGORY: A registered participant submits THREE qualified Windows Phone Applications in the Marketplace and gets a chance to receive a Windows Phone. In this category, the Applications must be distinct and of non-trivial utility value for the Application User. A “Spam” or close replicas of existing Windows Phone Applications are disqualified.
• “PORT 2 APPS & RECEIVE” CATEGORY: A registered participant submitting TWO qualified Windows Phone Applications in the Marketplace which are ported from existing Android or iPhone Applications get to receive a Windows Phone.
• “WOMEN SPECIAL” CATEGORY: A first of its kind in the developer space, the first 100 registered Women Developers who submit ONE (1) qualified Windows Phone Application each in the Marketplace qualify to receive a Windows Phone each. The applications can be based on Entertainment, Fashion, Leisure, Sports, Recreation or Travel themes.

Student Offer:

“STUDENT” CATEGORY: The “I unlock Joy” program for student developer community provides a platform to showcase innovation and creativity. In turn, the student developers will receive a Merit Certificate, a Windows Phone T-Shirt and a 2GB USB Flash Drive for 1 app published on Marketplace and a Windows Phone for 4 published apps.

[advt]”I unlock Joy”, is a maiden attempt particularly focused to bring out the creative zeal among women and is an apt opportunity for student developers, given that the community is already well entrenched in the market and continues to grow.

Focusing on the talent pool among Developers, ‘I unlock Joy’ will encourage participants to build and submit one or more applications on AppHub. Once certified and published on Windows Phone Marketplace during the program period, they can claim goodies like a brand new Windows Phone, T-Shirts and certificates of acknowledgement from Microsoft India.

Bonafide participants for the Program are those whose applications have passed certification testing before being published to Windows Phone Marketplace. The application policies and technical certification requirements can be availed from Windows Phone 7 Application Certification Requirements.

Mr. Moorthy Uppaluri, General Manager, Developer Partner Evangelism, Microsoft India said,

“India is a vibrant developer market, and we see a lot of excitement and enthusiasm around the availability of marketplace for customers in India. We believe that opening up this marketplace will provide the developer community in India with an opportunity to showcase creativity. He added, “The best part about Windows Phone Marketplace is that developers will be able to use familiar development tools and technologies. They create global market opportunities for themselves and reach out to a large user base.”