NEW YORK & OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), September 15, 2010 - As the first national wireless carrier in the United States to offer 4G service to its customers, Sprint (NYSE:S), with partners WIRED, Reddit and Ars Technica, today announced an application developer contest to create innovative 4G apps. The Sprint 4G App Challenge, accepting submissions today through Nov. 5, will recognize the top performer in each of five categories – entertainment, gaming, productivity, social networking and multimedia. To register for contest rules, regulations and additional information developers can visit www.sprint.com/appchallenge.
In addition to bragging rights, winners in each category will take home a $50,000 grand prize, an HTC EVO™ 4G with one-year of Sprint service (includes applicable taxes and surcharges), a one-year membership to the Sprint Professional Developer Program (including 250 hours in the Virtual Developer Lab) and an invitation to WIRED’s VIP party during the 2011 International CES in Las Vegas. “We are excited to announce the Sprint 4G App Challenge and help spur creation of innovative new apps that harness 4G speed,” said Len Barlik, vice president of wireless and wireline services for Sprint. “Developers can take advantage of unique features from the only 4G phones available in the U.S. today like the popular HTC EVO 4G and new Samsung Epic™ 4G, along with incredibly fast 4G data speeds to create apps that increase productivity for businesses and let consumers do even more than they imagined with their mobile phone.”
Submissions will be scored based on four criteria – creativity, intuitive navigation, functionality and design. The judges’ panel will comprise product and technology executives from Sprint, editors from WIRED and its partners at Reddit and Ars Technica. Finalists in each category will have their apps showcased at the WIRED Store, an interactive shop and gallery in New York, on Dec. 16, during which winners will be announced.
Sprint offers a growing portfolio of 4G-enabled devices, including HTC EVO 4G, the nation’s first 4G-capable handset, and the newly launched Samsung Epic 4G. Both operate on the Android™ platform. These products are part of a large selection of 4G-capable modems, mobile hotspots and routers that enable 4G advantages of rapid mobile downloads of large files, high-quality streaming video and high-speed Web browsing.
Developers can learn more about developing 4G apps with the Sprint 4G developer guide from the Sprint ADP website. The Sprint 4G developer guide provides details on developing for an Android handset and how to take advantage of HTC EVO 4G and Samsung Epic 4G unique hardware and software capabilities and the Sprint 4G network. Visit www.sprint.com/developer to learn more about the Sprint Application Developer program and to take advantage of the resources and tools available to developers.
In addition, developers can learn more about the Sprint Application Developer program at the 10th annual Sprint Developer Conference Oct. 26-28 in Santa Clara, Calif. Throughout the three-day conference, developers will learn about Sprint’s open strategy, creating applications for 4G, enterprise machine-to-machine solutions, go-to-market strategies, approaches to make developers more profitable and current Sprint tools and capabilities across devices, networks and platforms. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse will be delivering the keynote address on Oct. 27. Developers that submit an app to the Sprint 4G Challenge by Oct. 20 are eligible to receive one free pass to the Sprint Developer Conference if they select the Sprint opt-in option on the submission website. Developers can register for the conference at http://developer.sprint.com/devcon2010. You can check available coverage in your area using 3Gstores 3G/4G coverage map.
