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Hi Folks, following our Windows Phone Challenge #1, and Windows Phone Challenge #2…. We are back! This time round, we are going for 5 x 1020s, 5 x 1520s and lots of Sudden Death challenges for 920s Updated as of 26th Nov 2013, 3:17pm Challenge Completed for Sudden Death (SGAG Client) Challenge Completed for Sudden Death (TV Guide) Challenge Completed for Sudden Death (Overseas Notification) Added #5 Challenge for Sudden Death (Inori Aizawa Fan App) Added #5 Challenge for Lumia 1520 (SG Buses Competitor App) Added #4 Challenge for Sudden Death (Big sweep for Singapore) Added #4 Challenge for Lumia 1020 (Optical Object Recognition App) Added #3 Challenge for Sudden Death (sgag client for Windows Phone) Added #4 Challenge for Lumia 1520 (iTown@SG App) The rules will be very identical to previous rounds, and this time (from your votes) we will shorten the challenge period to 4 weeks :) The competition will start once this article is live, and the deadline will be set at 8th December 2013, 2359 hours! We will be limiting the wins per developer to 2 phones maximum this time round. (there will be no limit for Sudden death challenges) Do note that some of these ideas might be really hard to implement, but if you have a great idea, let us know and we’ll replace / place it in the challenge list below. Multiple developers can compete in the same idea. The best submission for each challenge will be awarded a Nokia Lumia. If you have questions or have an idea to suggest, drop us an email at win8sg@microsoft.com How do i join this challenge? 1. Join our community group on http://www.facebook.com/groups/apolloexplorer 2. Drop us an email at win8sg@microsoft.com and let us know which challenge(s) you are interested to work on. If you have a great idea, let us know and we will list it below. While you may work on multiple (or even all) ideas, we will be limiting the maximum prize an individual can get is limited to 2. 3. Publish an a live version to the Windows Phone store before 8th December 2013 . (For Sudden Death Challenges, just be the first publisher to fulfill the challenge criteria to win.) 4. Read the FAQ all the way below Nokia Lumia 1020 Challenges 1. A filter application which allows users to show filter effects in real time while taking picture and add the filter effect after taking a picture. This application should provide the user with 10 interesting filter effects (you are to come up with these effects), and you are encouraged to use the Nokia Imaging SDK for this. The application would provide users In-App-Purchase features to purchase additional interesting filters. You are free to come up with the revenue dynamics of this application, but the app should be 100% free to download from the store. The application should also save a 38MP picture into isolated storage if the detected phone is a Lumia 1020. Here’s a guide to help you with this .To maximize your potential of getting revenue from purchases of filters, you should add a gallery of user generated photos with the effects. You should also provide a “trial” to some of these paid filters, example use for 3 times. Developer(s) working on this idea : 2 2. A photography application which can trigger one or more other Windows Phone to take pictures. The intention of this application would be to great a bullet time effect. There is a sample of what HTC has done [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD26Mrf1mck&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]. The master phone should be able to connect or sync up with the slave(s) phones via NFC or other means you deem fit. Once synced, the master phone should be able to trigger the slave(s) phones in a continuous manner. The slave phones should send the pictures taken back to the master phone in chronological order in which the photos are taken. If possible, the delay time between 2 slave phones taking pictures should be less than 10ms. You can considering doing a burst mode of each of the slave phones, and selecting the ones which makes the chronological order. Developer(s) working on this idea : 2 3. A video diary clone application of the popular iOS and Android application, one second everyday. Here’s the original idea One Second Everyday ; but we would love to have you take it further. While the application strictly follows the calendar, this windows phone version of the application should also allow the user to use it during holiday and during events to take lots of 1 seconds snippets. Do note that you would have to save the videos into isolated storage (when you are travelling, there is no Internet) and then onto an online storage services. The online service would then trim these videos to exactly 1 second each and stitch them together. If you are confident, you can do the processing of trimming and stitching on the phone itself. Developer(s) working on this idea : 1 4. An optical object regconition app comparable to CamFind. You can find an API for this on mashape Check out their video below [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3VQkuu3uUM[/youtube] Developer(s) working on this idea : 1 5. Coming Soon Developer(s) working on this idea : 0 Nokia Lumia 1520 Challenges 1. An application to show the dengue hotspots in Singapore. You should make use of Here Maps for this application. This application show make use of Live Tiles to rotate information about the dengue hotspots in Singapore. The application should also users to voice query for hotspots in a region and response with speech. Example users will ask “appname, is bukit panjang a dengue hotspot?”, the application should reply “Yes or no” and show the map of the region. If possible, implement a push notification update which will show the users what are the newest reported dengue hotspots. Here’s a website you can start off with Dengue Developer(s) working on this idea : 1 2. An application to check the timing of SMRT Trains at different stations and provide news of Breakdown. This application should allow user to pin their favorite station(s) as a live tile(s), and this live tile should show the arriving timing of the next train. User may pin more than 1 station live tiles. There should also be a “status watch " live tile which would show the general status of the trains running. If there is any delay or breakdown, this live tile should show the information in text. Developer(s) working on this idea : 2 3. An application which is similar or comparable to myENV application from NEA Developer(s) working on this idea : 2 4. An application which is similar or comparable to iTown@SG from Town Council Developer(s) working on this idea : 1 5. A competitive application similar or comparable to SBS Iris NextBus. The application should allow users launch the application via Speech to query by Buses Number / Bus Stop Number. Example “app name, timing for bus 190” or “app name, bus timing at bus stop 12345”. The application will then launch and ask you for more information (if necessary) before displaying the wait time. The application should also allow you to pin a secondary live tile with the wait time for a specific bus at a specific bus stop. Pressing this live tile will launch the application to give you more information on the bus and its bus route. Developer(s) working on this idea : 2 Nokia Lumia 920 Sudden Death Challenges 1. An application to help create SMS for overseas notification. You have to follow the list of countries available from www.ns.sg for overseas notification. This application should allow the user to use speech to launch the application from the start screen. Example “appname overseas notification to australia from 1st October 2013 to 10th October 2013” will help you to create the SMS template to 36767. “MNC NRIC Country of Visit Departure Date (DD/MM/YYYY) Return Date Contact Number” This application should prompt you for your NRIC and Contact Number on first launch and store it into the isolated storage. Developer(s) working on this idea : 3 (completed) 2. An application to show the programme schedule for MioTV and Starhub Cable TV Developer(s) working on this idea : 2 (completed) 3. An client application for reading sgag post, Singapore’s version of 9gag. Developer(s) working on this idea : 3(completed) 4. An client application similar to 4DTOTO@SG, but showing big sweep results for Singapore Speech is optional for this as Big Sweep numbers are really long. :) Developer(s) working on this idea : 1 (completed) 5. A fan application for Internet Explorer Mascot Inori Aizawa. You are free to use this as a template, please use this Theme Pack link for the “soundboard” section. Do change the background, fonts, wallpapers and videos to suit the theme of IE or Inori Aizawa. Also include the video from Anime Festival Asia Special Video and add the video theme song as a Windows Phone Ringtone. If you need pictures for wallpaper, refer to this skydrive account to select relevant ones. Do ensure that the sounds from the soundboards are savable as SMS and other alert tones on the Windows Phone Here are some additional resources you might find useful for this challenge Piano Theme Song Collateral Damage Studios Developer(s) working on this idea : 2 Frequently asked question FAQ Q. Who is eligible for this challenge? A. If you have a windows phone developer account which is tied to a Singapore live id, you are eligible for this competition. Do note that if you are residing outside of Singapore and wish to compete this online, we will not ship the prizes overseas. Do contact us at win8sg@microsoft.com and let us know in advance if you wish to participate remotely. Q. If I’m competing for all ideas, is it possible for me to win in all the challenges? A. We will restrict the maximum number of prizes to 2 for each developer account. (there is no limit on Sudden death challenges) Q. So what’s the maximum number of phones can I win? A. 2 phones for each developer, and unlimited Sudden death challenge prizes Q. Can I work with a team, or is this an individual challenge? A. Yes you may work in a team. Q. If I have a team of 10, do we get 10 phones if we produced the best application for one idea? A. No. 1 phone for each challenge. Q. Are existing applications upgraded counted for this challenge? A. Nope. You application has to be a net new application published after 7th November 2013. Q. I’m interested in this challenge, but I do not have a developer account. What can I do? A. After you are done with your 1st working version, drop us an email at win8sg@microsoft.com. We will provide you with a complementary token for the developer account registration. Q. Can I exchange Lumia 1020/1520 for other phones? A. No, but I can help you ask if some other winning developers is/are willing to barter trade. Q. How are you going to judge the entries? A. We will compare the entries for each challenges. The best entry, which fulfills the minimum criteria above will be award the phone. On a case-by-case basis, if necessary, we would need you to improve on user experience and design before award on the phone. Q. Is design and UX important? A. Yes, please do put in effort on designing and planning for good user experience. Q. How do I know if my application (with speech capabilities) is supported for English (united kingdom) and English (united states)? A. After setting your “speech language” in “settings” -> “Speech” to “English (united kingdom)”, press and hold your windows phone’s “windows button”, click on the “?” button on the top right hand side, and look at the “apps” tab. Your application should be visible when “speech” is set either “English (United Kingdom)” and “English (United States)”. Q. Is there a restriction on Free/Paid app? A. At minimum, please make it free so that it can be judged.

Often, entrepreneurs get too caught up with managing operations, or are too enamored by their soon-to-be launched product, that they sometimes forget to think about the basic economics of their business. Here are the two useful frameworks for business owners which are, in fact, very basic material and almost ‘doh-worthy, but I thought it was worth putting it out there anyway: Used for analysing changes in profitability A simple income statement is a very useful framework. By analysing profitability through its component factors such as revenues, COGS, operating expenses, you can quickly direct your analysis. For example, if profits are declining because of a fall in revenues, focus on marketing issues. If profits are declining because of rising expenses, you may want to look into operations and financing issues. Three ways a company can increase profits: Increase Unit Price ...

During the Singapore National Conversation dialogue, many participants expressed a need for a stronger kampong spirit. This inspired local tech company Estatebuzz Pte Ltd to optimise resource sharing online, encouraging Singaporeans to better connect with their neighbours living close together for mutual benefits. Estatebuzz is the parent company of Sharetransport.sg, blockpooling.sg and microfranchise.sg, all of which enable users to collaborate with one another digitally to solve particular challenges through social media. In order to make this work, Estatebuzz does the following: 1. Micro-franchising - Freelancers can join various franchises for training, administrative support and other benefits, making a potentially higher income than if they were freelancing independently. This helps people earn a decent monthly income, yet have a flexible work timetable with a shorter commute. Such examples include giving tuition to neighborhood children and delivering makeup packages to people’s doorsteps. 2. Block-pooling – Using a ‘helping hands’ approach, people living in the same block can leverage their own resources to help one another. This is a win-win situation for both sides. For example, neighbours do not have to spend additional money for a rice cooker if another neighbour has a spare one, and extra cash can be saved by purchasing items such as oil and rice in bulk. 3. Share transport – With the public transport crunch and sky-rocketing certificate of entitlement (COE) prices, commuters are driven to consider car-pooling as a more viable way to get around Singapore. Users are now able to discover others who live and work near them and are able to either car-pool, taxi-pool or bus-pool to get to work. Drivers are able to receive up to $4.60 per person per trip. As of now, Estatebuzz is being funded by the founders, with external funding help from National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC). The founders of Estatebuzz hope that more people will register for the website, as this will solve community bonding and cooperation challenges among neighbours. It is sad that Singaporean modern society is not like the kampong days, when social capital and community links were much stronger. One could theoretically have been living in the estate for more than 20 years, and not know anything about the people living just a few metres away from them! This is the result of people either having the fear of being labelled as a “busybody” if they probed into another neighbour’s affairs, or being too shy to seek for help. It is heartwarming to see Estatebuzz’s willingness and eagerness to help the community by encouraging neighbours to interact more. Chatting with Mr Soh Chong Kian, a formal civil servant and now co-founder of Estatebuzz, was a great pleasure. We wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

Pecha Kucha, the Japanese term for the sound of conversation (“chit chat”), was recently held in Singapore. It created a space where people spanning multiple disciplines and fields of study shared their ideas and passions with others. This 9th installment of Pecha Kucha night was held at Home Club, Clarke Quay. The event is fundamentally quite unique, as it covers topics across a diverse range of industries. Pecha Kucha also has a quirky restriction: The speakers are only allowed to present 20 slides, each one on display for 20 seconds each. This style of presentation is known as the 20x20 format, which is aimed to keep individual presentations short, concise and interesting. The restriction also helps open up the stage for more speaker slots. Various people from all walks of life spoke, including Vanessa Kenchington of Plain Vanilla Bakery, Fakkah Fuzz, a stand-up comedian, and Alvin Ho of Atelier Hoko. Former lawyer Vanessa Kenchington left her job as a law firm associate to grow her bakery business without any formal culinary training. She had to learn how to frost and bake cupcakes from scratch, and reach a minimum quota of 100 cupcakes a day. As an entrepreneur, “Practice makes perfect” was a very important value to her, as she saw it as a sign of dedication to making any small business succeed. Vanessa also mentioned that her experiences, loved ones and family were the source of her strength that validated her business plan. Alvin Ho, co-founder of independent research platform HOKO, shared his research on void deck cat behaviour. This research includes investigations towards material and immaterial conditions that make up experiences in everyday life. He used to see some stray cats setting up their ‘home’ near his apartment and he began to question himself, “Why do these cats choose to live around the area? Is there any hidden potential embedded in my environment that the majority has failed to notice?” He then started his field study on 4 cats, in search for their ‘immaterial house’ embedded in the midst of our everyday environment. [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ2BnXdvjpg[/youtube] We also had Jonathan Wong, who represented Microsoft as the product manager for Internet Explorer. He talked about his life and how as a product manager, he markets IE to consumers - not an easy task, given that people’s perspectives of the new browser interface are heavily influenced by old stereotypes and impressions of IE. Pecha Kucha Night ended with the last speaker, Sam Chablani, who shared his journey training under Michelin-starred chefs at the Culinary Institute of America. He gave interesting insight into the world of professional kitchens, explaining how the modern-day chef had to master various aspects of not just cooking, but business, marketing and entrepreneurship as well. You should attend the next Pecha Kucha Night Vol #10, which is happening soon. For more information, visit: http://www.pechakucha.org/

This giant surface was spotted in the heart of London last Thursday. Located in Trafalgar Square, the 82-inch giant surface instantly became the centre of attraction amongst the other historic buildings in the area. Microsoft set up the 27-foot wide and 17-foot tall structure in just around 12 hours. [caption id=“dialogue” align=“alignnone” width=“570”] The Giant Surface 2[/caption] On top of that, a fully-functional replica of a purple Type Cover 2 was attached to it, which enabled people to play games on the enormous keyboard simply by jumping on the keys. To mark the launch of the event, Dizzee Rascal, an English rapper, was called up using Skype on the giant device. [caption id=“dialogue” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Dizzee Rascal at the launch event[/caption] Microsoft workers wearing blue hoodies were also happily demo-ing the new Surface 2 device throughout the day, and the public were given the opportunity to check out the new Surface 2 and also participate in numerous activities. Some of these activities included a competition to re-create a classic National Gallery painting on the giant, which could potentially earn them a ticket to a secret Dizzee Rascal gig. [caption id=“dialogue” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] People playing a game on the Giant[/caption] This publicity stunt was designed to market Microsoft’s recent release of the Surface 2 tablet. This reminds me of a similar stunt that Microsoft pulled in New York two years ago in 2011. Be sure to also check out the behind-the-scenes, as well as the Official Microsoft Surface website. Images courtesy of Andre Fryer and The Verge

Windows Azure Backup Service is now available! This means it is now live in production, backed by an enterprise SLA, supported by Microsoft Support, and is ready to use for production scenarios. What is Windows Azure Backup? Windows Azure Backup is a cloud based backup solution for Windows Server which allows files and folders to be backed up and recovered from the cloud, and provides off-site protection against data loss. The service provides IT administrators and developers with the option to back up and protect critical data in an easily recoverable way from any location with no upfront hardware cost. How does Windows Azure Backup Work? Windows Azure Backup is built on the Windows Azure platform and uses Windows Azure blob storage for storing customer data. Windows Server uses the downloadable Windows Azure Backup Agent to transfer file and folder data securely and efficiently to the Windows Azure Backup Service. Along with providing cloud backup for Windows Server, Windows Azure Backup Service also provides capability to backup data from System Center Data Protection Manager and Windows Server Essentials, to the cloud. All data is encrypted onsite before it is sent to the cloud, and customers retain and manage the encryption key. How to do it? Click New->Data Services->Recovery Services->Backup Vault to do this: Learn more on how to do it from: ...

At the heart of the Microsoft Cloud OS vision, Windows Server 2012 R2 brings Microsoft’s experience delivering global-scale cloud services into your infrastructure with new features and enhancements in virtualization, management, storage, networking, virtual desktop infrastructure, access and information protection, the web and application platform, and more. Here’s are some resources to help you get started with Windows Server 2012 R2; > Start your evaluation > Start your Microsoft Academy Courses > What’s New in Windows Server 2012 R2 > Read the Windows Server 2012 R2Datasheet > Read the Windows Server 2012 R2 White Paper

In this Developer Feature series, Spiffy talks to up-and-coming developers to learn what makes them tick. We talk with with 16-year-old Yan Zheng Hao, a first-year Game Design & Development student from ITE College Central (tertiary student) in Singapore. What is your background and how did you get here? My background in programming started with mainly on the assembly side. Admittedly I was quite a heavy gamer back then when I was 12 years old, its this fascination for the things you can’t do normally (‘hacking’) for the game that I’m playing which is MapleStory. Rather than how most people started in programming with a Hello World app, I got to learn techniques like memory editing with CheatEngine (http://cheatengine.org) to change the game’s instruction according to what I want. (Schools in Singapore don’t teach programming until the age of 16 as a tertiary student) This soon became my foundation for programming when the first MapleStory game emulator, ‘odinms’ was released and open sourced back on 2008. I immediately downloaded it and start playing around with the source file written in Java 6 and Javascript. Again, this fascination and even addiction to the game that got me into learning Java and JS in order to customize it to my needs. It took around 1-2 years of copy and pasting, or rather the term ’leeching’ before making a breakthrough as I get to learn more things over time gradually. Every single emulator that’s publicity released was made for the global version of the game, and as a player for ‘MapleSEA’. I wanted to make one that’s based on the local edition, and that just took a month to successfully update the files for it. I soon got quite a lot of attention from other developers in this field and a public server was even opened at one point in time with a partner that lasted for 2.5 years. We have gotten over 1200 concurrent players at some point in time at peak. I learned even more during this process as I was really the only developer to handle everything on the game play. Me and my partner is reluctant to trust anyone out there after the source code was leaked once. For instance, the switch to Linux CentOS to save cost on hosting fees instead the usual Windows Server 2003/2008, security issues (dealing with constant DDOS/DOS attack), server side programming, emulating techniques to keep the game up to date with the official ones, database management & etc. However it have to be shut down due to some issues in June 2012 that I am unable to disclose. I am just an average scorer during my secondary school life, but the internet changed my life completely. In Singapore where the mentality of our society are towards education exclusively for a good future, why can’t anyone strike it on their own? What motivated you to start building apps? The shutting down of the server also means losing a source of my only revenue stream. That is when I made the switch my focus to mobile apps instead. Being already a rather passionate Windows Phone user with a HTC Trophy 7 and with Silverlight/.NET language available for development(means I am able to use my current Java knowledge and apply it, given that both languages were quite similar). I have chosen Windows Phone 7 as the platform. On top of that, as an early adopter of Windows Phone (Bought right after its launch in Singapore) there were a lot of missing gaps in terms of application required by me everyday. It can also be annoying at times when there is a lot of peer pressure from my friends, when at that point of time the trend is towards iPhone 3GS and I’m considered to have a ’low end’ or rather inferior phone without apps. I wanted to change that, and build it for myself as a start. ...

I’ve been in several board meetings as an observer on some of our portfolio companies (Disclaimer: I work with a VC fund), and thus have had the privilege of observing dynamics from both sides of the table - VC and entrepreneur. A few unifying themes that any entrepreneur in Singapore should know: 1. The VC-entrepreneur relationship is key This stems from both parties having the trust in each other to add value to the relationship, based on a mix of data points (ability to execute, domain knowledge, and above all, genuineness). Note: Different parties can do whatever it takes to get the investment agreement signed. Things can be all rosy and positive pre-deal, and quickly turn ugly post-deal. So for entrepreneurs, as much as the VC is assessing you, do make your own assessments and see who are the best partners for your business. 2. Team > Ideas Ideas will always change, it is inevitable. Given that, you will need a team that: 1) has the flexibility to recognise opportunity and change the business plan accordingly and 2) has the right skills and resources to take the business plan forward. This is typically what VCs want to see, especially for early stage companies. 3. Zero Cash Date Critical point for every entrepreneur to have front-of-mind, all the time. Track on a monthly basis, and let it be known to the key stakeholders (this includes founding team and employees). Communication of this keeps everyone aligned, and its better to track it early than later, especially at the early-stages of a company. VCs would definitely appreciate if entrepreneurs always keep this in mind, because this forms the foundation of how the entrepreneur allocates resources within the company. cialis 20mg

Some may wonder where some of the world’s startups begin. Perhaps not as well known as Silicon Valley, Israel is home to one of the world’s best enterprises with an astonishing figure of 4,800 active startups as of June 2013. Israel is said to be the next in line as it rewrites the future of cyber security. Today, for the very first time in Singapore, a rare opportunity has arisen for startups to reach the Far East market and establish themselves in this exciting ecosystem. However, only 10 Israeli Startups has been selected to pitch their idea to Singapore’s top investor community. Microsoft Singapore is proud to be the venue sponsor for this event where the BizSpark Team had the opportunity to network with the Israeli startups and listen to their pitches. Below are some promising Israeli tech startups that took part in the IX World Tour 2013: 1. NOK NOK #1 App on Israel app store Just when you thought that the telecom services could not get any better, Noknok mobile application was launched. This application allows users to receive free incoming calls on their original local number from all mobiles and landlines. Noknok combines technology such as SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to transform the way people reach out to one another. The reason for its position in the app store is of the fact that they eliminate expensive roaming charges for the users. https://www.noknok.com 2. Folloyu, featured by Global Entrepreneurship Week 2012 Maintaining online activities has just been made easier with Folloyu. Folloyu aims to empower web visitors where all uncompleted purchases and web activities can be continued, cross-device with a single click of a button. This application makes use of cloud technology in order to synchronize a URL across devices, allowing the user to seamlessly transition their online activities with any interruptions. www.folloyu.com 3. Fashioholic raised $1 million in seed funding Fashioholic is a leader in Serious Games, designed to provide added value other than mere entertainment. The games are also meant as a marketing channel for fashion brands, helping designers to collect user’s preference data to deliver targeted merchandise. Their application, Fashion Eye, has shown outstanding engagement retention statistics with over half a million items displayed to consumers. http://www.fashioholic.com/ We were given the honor of working with Esther Loewy (founding partner of Boot vamp venture, pictured below) to prepare the night for the Israeli Startups. Fine wine, tidbits and snacks were brought to be shared among the startups and investors that day. It was a night filled with lots of invaluable knowledge, which helped broaden my horizons greatly. With that, I truly hope that Singapore would have more of such events which could also be open to the general public. It would definitely be an eye-opener for all and Singapore’s entrepreneurs could take a leaf out of these great entrepreneurs’ books. I also hope to see more of our aspiring local startups in future.