In the most closely contested Mobile Incubation Week to date, WaveMarket pulled out a dramatic victory in the fourth Mobile Incubation Week in Washington, D.C. September 28-October 2. The event featured a strong line-up of startups, ranging from an enterprise-focused project management tool to a mobile application focused on skincare for women. Spry took home the Team Spirit Award, capping an intense week-long marathon by all teams. Follow our Twitter site for the play by play. The week started off with a feature on ABC News on Mobile Incubation Week and the launch of Windows phone and Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Alex Housley from Rummble, a MIW London alumnus, joined me for the news segment on ABC’s Ahead of the Curve. Mobile Incubation Week on ABC News Following a similar format to our previous Mobile Incubation Week events in Mountain View, London, and Singapore, the week was a mix of educational workshops, 1:1 business coaching, technical support, and development sprints. Featured sessions included a chalk talk on Windows Mobile 6.5 and Windows Marketplace for Mobile, How to Work with Mobile Operators led by Sprint, and How to Get the Most out of Mobile Incubation Week led by Rummble. The 1:1 business consulting sessions focused on business plan improvements, opportunities to partner with Microsoft, and pitch refinement for our final judging on Friday. Two technical experts from Microsoft’s Premier Consulting Services were on-hand to answer questions, give advice, and speed development time. Final judging took place on Friday and included a diverse panel with a wealth of experience in the mobile industry, including: Michael Avon from Columbia Capital, Saj Cherian from Valhalla Partners, Jackie Luo from Sprint, Dayakar Puskoor from GlobalOutlook, and David Steinberg formerly at Swapdrive and now advisor to Core Capital. Special thanks to our partners for the week, including Sprint, Muranosoft, and Corpus Mobile. Murano and Corpus supported with onsite staff and offshore developers during the week. Most importantly, congratulations to our startups for a job well done. All five companies developed a working Windows Mobile application from scratch or greatly improved their Windows Mobile application during the week. Mobile Incubation Week is part of Microsoft’s continued efforts to find and support great startups on our platform. These developers, selected from over 150 applicants to participate in the event, showed tenacity and talent getting the job done this week. Congratulations to all our finalists!  
Mobile Incubation Week Kickoff Windows Mobile Chalk Talk  
Backstage at ABC News Mobile Incubation Week on ABC News  
Muranosoft Developer Session Our judging panel  
Overall Winner – WaveMarket Team Spirit Award – Spry 
· mTools: mTools is working with Microsoft on a mobile content management tool for Windows Mobile. With mTools, you can effectively manage and share files, contacts, settings, and bookmarks for end users and enterprise making your mobile life style easier. Sign up for an account for free, http://mtools.guiang.net 
· Spry: Spry is comprehensive insight for software projects. Spry brings the real-time activity stream into the world of software development and helps teams make better decisions. 
· Wavemarket: Wavemarket is building, Veriplace, a platform that provides a comprehensive, secure API for location-enabling your web or mobile application with WiFi, Cell ID, and GPS location data from mobile devices, unlocking LBS opportunities for both developers and their users. The Veriplace Location Tag is a smartphone application for Windows Mobile devices, enabling battery-optimized periodically pushed locations, asynchronously on-demand pulled locates, and geo-fenced location alerts. Users maintain complete control of their privacy preferences, have an audit trail, and can revoke or amend authorization at any time. 
· mySkin.com: MySkin finds products that work for your skin. With mySkin’s mobile app, you answer a series of questions about your skin. mySkin.com’s proprietary technology returns a highly customized combination of products at various price points that are right for you. You can maintain a journal where you take pictures, note products that you used and track changes in your skin via a simple report. All data are transferred to your account online and can be easily accessed via your Virtual Shelf. 
· My Kid is Safe: MyKidisSafe is the single application that caring parents need to keep their kids safe. Features include: Sexting monitor, location-based services, blocking texting while driving, scanning pictures for nudity and much more. Parents can have comfort that they have the information to help their kids avoid pitfalls from unwanted influences. 
It’s been a busy and exciting week in Washington, D.C. for Mobile Incubation Week. We’ve had five great companies giving it their all, literally working around the clock to produce the next greatest generation of Windows phone applications. The week has been action packed, featuring presentations, seminars, and chalk talks on Windows Mobile development, Windows Marketplace for Mobile, How to Work with Mobile Operators led by Sprint Nextel, How to Get the Most out of Mobile Incubation Week led by MIW London alumnus Rummble, business consulting sessions led by the Emerging Business Team, networking, and of course, lots of dedicated development time with the Microsoft team. ABC News aired their lead story on Ahead of the Curve today on Mobile Incubation Week and the launch of Windows Phone and Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Alex Housley from Rummble, a Mobile Incubation Week London alumnus, joined me for the ABC segment to give his perspective on Mobile Incubation Week and his work with Microsoft. The full video can be found here. Congratulations to all the startups on a job well done this week: mTool, Spry, Wavemarket, MyKidIsSafe/Push IT Mobile, and mySkin. Good luck for tomorrow’s final presentations and demo!
 Sprint, one of our partners for this week’s Mobile Incubation Week in Washington, D.C., is offering free passes to the Sprint Developers’ Conference October 26-28 in Santa Clara, CA. This offer is for a limited time only and is available exclusively for readers of this blog and Twitter feed. To take advantage of this offer, please email Anne-Louise Kardas at Anne-Louise.Kardas@sprint.com with “Mobile Incubation Week Free Pass Offer” in the subject line. Sprint will be supporting Mobile Incubation Week this Wednesday with a presentation to participants on how to partner effectively with mobile operators. Jackie Luo, Director of Strategy and Planning, will also be on Friday’s judging panel. Sprint’s Application Developer Conference Sprint is holding its ninth annual Application Developer Conference Oct. 26 – 28, 2009 in Santa Clara, CA. This year marks the first time the conference will be open to the entire developer community. Registration is open here. The conference will focus on educating the developer community on current Sprint capabilities across devices, networks and platforms, as well as provide compelling and useful tools that can immediately be used to develop applications, content, machine-to-machine devices and unified communication solutions relevant to the market. Conference goers will learn best practices for all supported Sprint mobile device software platforms including Android, Java, Palm Web OS, RIM Blackberry, Windows Mobile and more. There will be discussions and demonstrations of the network capabilities including location based services, messaging, streaming multi-media, Sprint 4G and Sprint Developer Sandbox. In addition, developers can learn how to work with Sprint’s partners to take your applications to market. Sprint 4G will be live during the event. Developers will be able to experience turbo-charged data speeds of 4G and learn about creating the next generation of wireless applications. Steve Elfman, president of network operations and wholesale for Sprint, will be providing the keynote address. Here are some of the reasons why you’d want to attend: 1. See the Power of 4G - A live 4G network running in the conference - See extensive demos in the 4G demo room 2: Get help to develop your application - Hands on coding labs and best practice sessions for application developers: Windows Mobile, Android, WebOS, Blackberry, Java… 3: Learn about ways to work with Sprint to get your application in front of customers - Sessions from many of Sprint's mobile content application storefront providers - Sessions from Boost and Virgin Mobile 4: Get Your M2M and Embedded Solution on the Sprint Network - Learn how to get M2M/embedded solutions certified and provisioned on the Sprint Network - Overview of existing certified solutions in the M2M demo room 5: Leverage Sprint's Network and IT Service Capabilities - Topics include Sprint IT Services, LBS, Messaging, Multi-Media and the Developer Sandbox The full agenda is posted here. Mobile Incubation Week stormed into our nation’s capital today, with five terrific startups developing the next greatest Windows Mobile applications. This may be the most exciting Mobile Incubation Week yet, with a range of companies building everything from location-based parental controls to mobile healthcare applications. The event kicked off this morning with an overview of the week’s goals and agenda by yours truly, followed by a presentation from Muranosoft and Corpus Mobile on the development resources they will be providing for the week. Murano is a MIW veteran, having supported both the Mountain View and London events, while Corpus Mobile is joining us for the first time. Both companies are supporting with offshore developers to supplement the work of the Microsoft technical team that will be onsite all week, led by Mike Francis and Reed Robison. The rest of the week holds an action-packed agenda, with presentations on Windows Mobile 6.5 and Windows Marketplace for Mobile (both of which launch next week!), How to Work with Mobile Operators led by Sprint, Getting Ready for the Pitch, technical training sessions led by Mike and Reed, as well as business consulting sessions with myself and Tom Halabi on the Emerging Business Team. You can follow the event real-time with our Twitter feed. Without further ado, congratulations to our five outstanding finalists! · mTools: mTools is working with Microsoft on a mobile content management tool for Windows Mobile. With mTools, you can effectively manage and share files, contacts, settings, and bookmarks for end users and enterprise making your mobile life style easier. Sign up for an account for free, http://mtools.guiang.net · Spry: Spry is comprehensive insight for software projects. Spry brings the real-time activity stream into the world of software development and helps teams make better decisions. · Wavemarket: Wavemarket is building, Veriplace, a platform that provides a comprehensive, secure API for location-enabling your web or mobile application with WiFi, Cell ID, and GPS location data from mobile devices, unlocking LBS opportunities for both developers and their users. The Veriplace Location Tag is a smartphone application for Windows Mobile devices, enabling battery-optimized periodically pushed locations, asynchronously on-demand pulled locates, and geo-fenced location alerts. Users maintain complete control of their privacy preferences, have an audit trail, and can revoke or amend authorization at any time. · mySkin.com: MySkin finds products that work for your skin. With mySkin’s mobile app, you answer a series of questions about your skin. mySkin.com’s proprietary technology returns a highly customized combination of products at various price points that are right for you. You can maintain a journal where you take pictures, note products that you used and track changes in your skin via a simple report. All data is transferred to your account online and can be easily accessed via your Virtual Shelf. · PUSH IT Mobile: PUSH IT Mobile is the only solution you need for increasing sales by portraying a professional image. PUSH IT uses handheld software to exceed customer expectations with sharp letter templates for invoices, quotations, and rescheduling of appointments, all in the palm of your hands. 
Last Call for Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week for Windows 7 @ Boston during week of 5th Oct 2009. Thanks to everyone who submitted their nomination for Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week for Windows 7 in Boston during 10/05/2009 – 10/09/2009.
 We are getting very cool application nominations using new and unique features of Windows 7, and looking forward to announce the accepted companies soon. You are welcome to send your nomination, if you haven’t done so. See the nomination details here.
Don’t forget to check the award winners of the last Incubation Week in Washington DC.
September 5 is the deadline to apply for the next Mobile Incubation Week in Washington, D.C. The event will be held September 28 through October 2, 2009. If you have an idea for a great Windows Mobile application, would like to port your existing app, or want to accelerate development of your current Windows Mobile application, Mobile Incubation Week provides a truly unique opportunity to meet with top technical and business development people at Microsoft, network with partners, and get exposure for your application. To nominate your team, please submit the following details to Mobile Incubation Week: -
Contact information -
Location of Company -
Size of company and year founded (if applicable) -
Overview of your idea -
Why you would like to participate -
How your applications is unique to Windows Mobile *Note: please do not send confidential materials at this time as no NDA has been signed. Applications will be judged according to the strength of the founding team, originality and creativity of the idea, and uniqueness to Windows Mobile. For more information and to keep up on the latest news and updates on the event, subscribe to our Twitter alias and stay tuned to this blog. Questions? Email Mobile Incubation Week.
Mobile Incubation Week is back, and this time we’re heading to our nation’s capital in search of the best and brightest mobile entrepreneurs. The fourth Mobile Incubation Week will be held at Microsoft’s offices in Washington, D.C., September 28 through October 2, 2009.
If you’re an entrepreneur and have an idea for a great Windows Mobile application, would like to port your existing app, or want to accelerate development of your current Windows Mobile application, we are now accepting nominations.
Mobile Incubation Week puts you on the fast track to success with dedicated coaches, development support, and business insights. The week will feature development time supported by Windows Mobile technical gurus, business coaching from members of Microsoft’s Emerging Business Team, sessions on upcoming releases such as Windows Mobile 6.5 and Windows Marketplace for Mobile, and more! We’ll wrap up on Friday with final judging and prizes, featuring a panel of industry experts, venture capitalists, and members of the press.
This event offers a unique perspective and exciting opportunity for any startup building on the Windows Mobile platform. Check out the feedback from our last event in Mountain View:
-
“This was truly amazing. The on-hand development & support staff of Microsoft was outstanding.”
-
“We accomplished more in this week than we could have in six months on our own.”
-
“All the onsite help dramatically reduced our time to market.”
How do I apply?
To nominate your team, please submit the following details to Mobile Incubation Week:
-
Contact information
-
Location of Company
-
Size of company and year founded (if applicable)
-
Overview of your idea
-
Why you would like to participate
-
How your applications is unique to Windows Mobile
*Note: please do not send confidential materials at this time as no NDA has been signed.
Applications will be judged according to the strength of the founding team, originality and creativity of the idea, and uniqueness to Windows Mobile.
How do I keep up with the latest news?
For more information and to keep up on the latest news and updates on the event, subscribe to our Twitter alias and stay tuned to this blog.
Questions? Email Mobile Incubation Week.
Due to the popularity of our Mobile Incubation Week events in Mountain View, London, and Singapore, our next event is in the works. This time, we’ll be hosting our second U.S. event on the East Coast!
Details will be announced soon on this blog and via Twitter, but if you’d like to get your idea in early, we are now accepting applications!
To nominate your team, please submit the following details to Mobile Incubation Week:
-
Contact information
-
Location of Company
-
Size of company and year founded (if applicable)
-
Overview of your idea
-
Why you would like to participate
-
How your applications is unique to Windows Mobile
*Note: please do not send confidential materials at this time as no NDA has been signed.
As always, applications will be judged according to the strength of the founding team, originality and creativity of the idea, and uniqueness to Windows Mobile.
For more information and to keep up on the latest news and updates on the event, subscribe to our Twitter alias.
Questions? Email Mobile Incubation Week.
In anticipation of the upcoming launch of Windows Marketplace for Mobile, Microsoft announced today a new contest to reward developers called the “Race to Market Challenge”. From launch until the end of 2009, we’ll be rewarding the developer whose paid application earns the most revenue within the contest period and the developer whose free application is downloaded the most within the contest period.
Winners will receive a prize package including a Microsoft Surface table and developer kit, free online marketing and promotion of their application, plus a one-of-a-kind trophy!
For more details, visit the Race to Market Challenge website or read the official rules for contest details.
Windows Marketplace for Mobile opened for applications today so get your apps in soon. Good luck!
With several successful Incubation Weeks completed, including Mobile Incubation Weeks in Mountain View, London, and Singapore, as well as CRM Incubation Weeks in Reston and Boston, and Windows 7 Incubation Week in Irvine, CA we are pleased to announce Windows 7 Incubation Week in Reston, VA. The event will take place the week of August 24. The current economic downturn is putting many entrepreneurs under increased pressure, making it critical to find new resources and ways to reduce costs and inefficiencies. Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week for Windows 7 is designed to offer the following assistance to entrepreneurs: -
Learn and build next generation applications using new and unique Windows 7 capabilities with the help of on-site advisors and off-shore development teams -
Access coaches, guest speakers, and a panel of industry experts -
Generate marketing buzz for your brand -
Create opportunities to be featured in upcoming Windows 7 launch activities 
We are inviting nominations from BizSpark Startups interested in developing Windows 7 applications that target one or more of the following scenarios: The Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week for Windows 7 will be held at the Microsoft Technology Center, Reston, VA from Mon 8/24/2009 to Fri 8/28/2009. The event consists of ½ day of training, 3 ½ days of active prototype/development time, and a final day for packaging/finishing and reporting out to a panel of judges for various prizes. This event is a no-fee event (plan your own travel expenses). Each team can bring up to 3 participants (1 business and 1-2 technical). To nominate your team, please submit the following details to Sanjay Jain or Ashish Jaiman (preferably via your BizSaprk Sponsor). Nominations will be judged according to the strength of the founding team, originality and creativity of the idea, and ability to leverage new and unique Windows 7 features. -
BizSpark Startup Organization Details: Name, Web Site URL, Mailing Address, Solution Overview, Target Industry, Company Size and Year Founded -
BizSpark Sponsor Details: BizSpark Network Partner or Microsoft Champion Name, Web Site URL -
Team Details: Participants’ Names, Brief bio, Email, Contact phone | View in Web Browser | /_layouts/images/ichtmxls.gif | /Blogs/brian_hoskins/_layouts/xlviewer.aspx?listguid={ListId}&itemid={ItemId}&DefaultItemOpen=1 | 0x0 | 0x1 | FileType | xlsx | 255 | | View in Web Browser | /_layouts/images/ichtmxls.gif | /Blogs/brian_hoskins/_layouts/xlviewer.aspx?listguid={ListId}&itemid={ItemId}&DefaultItemOpen=1 | 0x0 | 0x1 | FileType | xlsb | 255 | | Snapshot in Excel | /_layouts/images/ewr134.gif | /Blogs/brian_hoskins/_layouts/xlviewer.aspx?listguid={ListId}&itemid={ItemId}&Snapshot=1 | 0x0 | 0x1 | FileType | xlsx | 256 | | Snapshot in Excel | /_layouts/images/ewr134.gif | /Blogs/brian_hoskins/_layouts/xlviewer.aspx?listguid={ListId}&itemid={ItemId}&Snapshot=1 | 0x0 | 0x1 | FileType | xlsb | 256 |
|
|
|
|
|
Featured Startup
The BizSpark startup of the day is Frotcom International, based in Portugal. You will find below an interview with Valério Manuel Machado Marques, Co-founder and CEO of Frotcom International. All the best to them and congrats for being the startup of the day!
Read more...
|
|
|
