‘I unlock Joy’ program for developers & students - Windows Phones up for grabs

New Delhi, 3^rd Nov 2011: Microsoft India has topped the Windows Phone Marketplace opening for customers in India with ‘I unlock Joy’, a unique Application Development and Submission Program, where technology professionals and students get to receive Windows Phones.‘I unlock Joy’ program for developers will start 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 Application 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 Woman 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.
•  “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.

As Vishal Gondal, founder and CEO of Indiagames, a global games developer and publisher, said: "The Windows Phone Marketplace opening up to developers in India is a great opportunity for Indian developers to take their content onto an exciting new platform. Windows Phone is a huge step up from the previous versions of the Windows Mobile platform and with the number of Windows phones expected to launch in the next few months, we foresee this marketplace to be a great place to monetize our apps."

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.

On the novelty of the ‘I unlock Joy’ program, 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.”

Nimish Dubey, a well-known Technology Evangelist, adds: "When the Marketplace opened I had predicted the large-scale opportunities at hand for developer and student communities alike. A program like ‘I unlock Joy’ has that bit of a seductive appeal for individuals to come out and hone their creative skills. A new Marketplace with a unique program like ‘I unlock Joy’ – apt combination.”