One of the selling points of the latest version of Microsoft Office is that it has its own app store. However, the offerings are pretty slim, so in an effort to expand both the App Store and the Office Suite functionality, Microsoft is holding a contest, as part of their Imagine Cup program, where students can submit their own apps for a chance to win $5000.
The idea behind this is that the Office suite has so many users with such specific needs that Microsoft can’t possibly satisfy all of them. But through the app store, devs and professionals can fill any feature gap that might arise.
Students who are participating in the “Apps for Office” contest are encouraged to create their own webapps using HTML, Javascript, PHP or .Net; and even though these are webapps, they will be able to interact with the desktop Office clients and change functions in accordance to the user’s needs.
Folks that submitted app proposals were given a free version of Visual Studio Pro 2013 on which they can start coding their apps. In the second round Microsoft will help the contestants directly, by offering engineering and coding advice. The final round ends on April the 30th and two finalist will be flown to Seattle where the winner will be chosen. He or she will walk away with $5000, while second place gets $3000. And of course, many of the apps created here will be published to the Office App Store, which is the whole point of the contest anyway.
Finally if you’d like to participate, you can still submit app proposals to Microsoft until January the 23rd , and of course don't forget about the rest of the student contests in the Imagine Cup. You can find more info and the terms and conditions on Microsoft’s Office Blog and the Imagine Cup website.
Via: Winbeta | Image via Microsoft
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