Microsoft's Worldwide Hackathon for Windows in November

By Kevin Parrish
published

Microsoft's two-day "hackathon" will produce new Windows 8 apps for the Windows Store. Clever.

Microsoft released a short announcement on Wednesday alerting developers and students that the time is near to help stock up Windows Store with fresh new Windows 8 apps. Called WOWZAPP 2012, the event will take place on November 9 to November 11 in more than 30 locations worldwide.

"At the events, students will be provided with the resources they need to build their apps, such as Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows 8 and a free Windows Store registration code, both available through DreamSpark," the company said. "In addition, students will be able to test their apps, and developer experts and trainers will be available to answer questions and help participants submit their apps to the Windows Store."

Students and other types of developers across countries such as India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Turkey, Finland, Chile and Greece will work in teams to develop apps that will be published and available for download in the Windows Store, the company said.

News of the November "hackathon" arrives after BusinessWeek wrote a report about Microsoft's New England Research & Development Center back in September. For the past two summers, Microsoft has recruited college students to write apps that will help fill the Windows Store prior to Windows 8's launch. The first batch were mere prototypes, but the recent 2012 batch actually made it into Microsoft's virtual storefront.

"Microsoft is definitely playing catch-up with respect to the global app marketplace," said David Hilal, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, in an interview. "Their challenge is a chicken-and-egg problem. They need to get more users for their apps to entice developers, but they need better apps to attract more users."

So far Microsoft is only listing 13 North American locations for its "hackathon" event next month including Columbus (OH), Denver (CO), Edina (MN), Irvine (CA), Irving (TX), Los Angeles (CA), Malvern (PA), Redmond (WA), San Diego (CA), San Francisco (CA), St. Petersburg (FL), Sunnyvale (CA) and Tempe (AZ).

For more information about WOWZAPP 2012, head here (opens in new tab).

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Kevin Parrish
17 Comments Comment from the forums
  • freggo
    Sounds like a quantity over quality approach.
    Reply
  • chimera201
    Clever
    Reply
  • audiophillia
    freggoSounds like a quantity over quality approach.it worked for apple.
    Reply
  • bllue
    Money waiting to be made. Make apps for W8 now while the store isn't plagued by crap like the Appstore and Android market are.
    Reply
  • well who cares, win 8 is major let down
    Reply
  • SirGCal
    It honestly surprises me; if M$ put half as much attention into the detail and user comments of W8 instead of dumping buckets into advertising and marketing schemes, it would have gone off without a hitch. How can a company be so, for lack of a better word, stupid, even with the whole world basically screaming in their faces?!?

    It's like they are trying to save the sinking ship instead of patch the holes and just fix it... Or... Do they have some OTHER agenda, are they intentionally trying to kill the PC themselves?!?
    Reply
  • ejb222
    SirGCalIt honestly surprises me; if M$ put half as much attention into the detail and user comments of W8 instead of dumping buckets into advertising and marketing schemes, it would have gone off without a hitch. How can a company be so, for lack of a better word, stupid, even with the whole world basically screaming in their faces?!?It's like they are trying to save the sinking ship instead of patch the holes and just fix it... Or... Do they have some OTHER agenda, are they intentionally trying to kill the PC themselves?!?SirGCal - You mean to say that you really think you are much wiser the MS? Why haven't you developed an OS? Or why not apply for a job at MS senior level to influence their decisions? I'm not saying that are a perfect company. But calling them stupid is and claiming they are trying to kill the PC is far more 'stupid'. While I agree that W8 isn't perfect, I don't assume that I have all the right answers as to why they designed it the way they did. Do you? Other than assumption or speculation etc...can you viably give me their stradegy? Can you speak to how the code was designed and for what purpose or future implementations? Can people speak on this topic with the IQ greater the a 5yo rather than just keep saying 'W8 is epic fail'? If you only knew who rediculous you sound.
    Reply
  • ejb222
    PS....if you feel they aren't listening to the consumers then dont buy the product. And if what you say is true, many people wont buy the product. but from what I've heard, the preorders are already through the roof. Doesn't sound like the majority would agree with you.
    Reply
  • SirGCal
    ejb222SirGCal - You mean to say that you really think you are much wiser the MS? Why haven't you developed an OS? Or why not apply for a job at MS senior level to influence their decisions? I'm not saying that are a perfect company. But calling them stupid is and claiming they are trying to kill the PC is far more 'stupid'. While I agree that W8 isn't perfect, I don't assume that I have all the right answers as to why they designed it the way they did. Do you? Other than assumption or speculation etc...can you viably give me their stradegy? Can you speak to how the code was designed and for what purpose or future implementations? Can people speak on this topic with the IQ greater the a 5yo rather than just keep saying 'W8 is epic fail'? If you only knew who rediculous you sound.
    Wow, apparently you cannot. Insults and personal attacks. How mature.

    What I do know: M$'s own in-house testers for the server flavors were constantly complaining, WAY before it ever saw public testing. And I had to listen to a bunch of the in-house testing team complain about it every night and it just kept snowballing. And those are the markets which make M$ the big $, not home users. Not by a long shot. M$ has constantly been pushing away from productivity and it doesn't make any sense to even their own people in house. If ANYONE has a single reason why clicking 20 times down various menus is more efficient then clicking on a toolbar (thinking of latest office releases since 2000 and how they changed their menus and made them serious drill-downs as just one TINY example), by all means.

    Or why forcing people away from commands and into GUIs, even for server-level stuff, is a good idea?!? Especially on the server-side, there are loads of commonly used commands an IT tech can issue to tell literally thousands of boxes to execute at the same time. Now instead of typing out one command, they'll have to open some tool, drill down some options, etc. It's just not as time efficient.

    But if the in-house M$ people are complaining about it... And THEY can't even make sense of where M$ is trying to go with this... What makes you think any of us have any clue... As a tablet OS, it's great, but it's not meant for a tablet. For use with a keyboard and mouse, it's clumbsy. And sure there are ways to fix the UI itself, that's not the point. They are focusing on 'boot up times' and such which in the grand scheme of things are really rather pointless unless you just sit there and reboot your box all day and go 'Wow!', when what should be focused on is user efficiency and productivity.

    Intel even mentioned being worried about W8 and what it will do to the PC market. Don't get all up in a fuss at me because I'm the one with the guts to simply say it out loud...
    Reply
  • ejb222
    SirGCalWow, apparently you cannot. Insults and personal attacks. How mature.What I do know: M$'s own in-house testers for the server flavors were constantly complaining, WAY before it ever saw public testing. And I had to listen to a bunch of the in-house testing team complain about it every night and it just kept snowballing. And those are the markets which make M$ the big $, not home users. Not by a long shot. M$ has constantly been pushing away from productivity and it doesn't make any sense to even their own people in house. If ANYONE has a single reason why clicking 20 times down various menus is more efficient then clicking on a toolbar (thinking of latest office releases since 2000 and how they changed their menus and made them serious drill-downs as just one TINY example), by all means.Or why forcing people away from commands and into GUIs, even for server-level stuff, is a good idea?!? Especially on the server-side, there are loads of commonly used commands an IT tech can issue to tell literally thousands of boxes to execute at the same time. Now instead of typing out one command, they'll have to open some tool, drill down some options, etc. It's just not as time efficient.But if the in-house M$ people are complaining about it... And THEY can't even make sense of where M$ is trying to go with this... What makes you think any of us have any clue... As a tablet OS, it's great, but it's not meant for a tablet. For use with a keyboard and mouse, it's clumbsy. And sure there are ways to fix the UI itself, that's not the point. They are focusing on 'boot up times' and such which in the grand scheme of things are really rather pointless unless you just sit there and reboot your box all day and go 'Wow!', when what should be focused on is user efficiency and productivity.Intel even mentioned being worried about W8 and what it will do to the PC market. Don't get all up in a fuss at me because I'm the one with the guts to simply say it out loud...Good arguements, I guess I'm just frustrated with the peeps who have no viable complaint. I went to Best Buy today and they have a bunch of W8 PCs and Laptops out to play around with. I have zero problems with any of the functionality and find it hard to believe that anyone would have many issues.
    Sorry I took my frustrations out on you.
    Reply