Teleios SMS Code Jam Competition

About Teleios Code Jam

How It Works

Downloads (SDK Now Available)

General Conditions

Registration

Entries

Judging

Prizes

Limitations of Liability

About Teleios Code Jam

Teleios promotes the development of the mobile messaging ecosystem that MessageCentral facilitates through the Teleios SMS Code Jam Showdown Competition. This coding competition brings mobile network operators and developers together via the Teleios MessageCentral platform.

The Teleios SMS Code Jam is an opportunity for teams to showcase their skills in design, implementation and creativity in the development of SMS based applications using the MessageCentral Software Development Kit. Participants will be required to come up with an original submission of a potentially useful SMS application. Entrants are also allowed to create ‘Mash Ups’ with web application components that pull from various web resources or databases.

This team based competition is facilitated by Caribbean Internet Forum (CIF) now in its sixth year and being held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Over three days from 29th to 31st October 2008, speakers and exhibitors will address this year’s theme of Mobile Internet for Development. The final phase of the competition, the Teleios Code Jam Showdown, takes place on the final day of the conference.

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How It Works

The competition will take place in two phases as stated below:

Phase 1:

During the first phase of the competition, entrants will be allowed one month to download the Teleios SMS SDK and design and develop an SMS application. All teams will be required to submit their Phase One entries via email on or before October 24th 2008. Submissions shall be made to codejam2008@teleios-systems.com. Names of teams for Phase 2 will be posted online on Tuesday 28th October 2008.

Phase 2:

Phase Two of the competition called The Code Jam ‘Showdown’ will take place on the final day Friday 31st October 2008 of the CIF conference. Teams selected for Phase 2 will compete in a day of coding. Teams will be asked to develop an SMS Application and a short presentation of their application [See ‘Presentation Format’ below] . The available categories will be revealed on the day of the Showdown. Teams should have at least one laptop computer with the following requirements:

  • Battery capable of holding charge for at least 1 hour
  • Wi-Fi Capability
  • Windows XP SP2 or higher
  • Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 or higher
  • Microsoft Visual Studio C#/VB.NET or preferred development tools
  • Teleios MessageCentral Software Development Kit

 Other Required Elements

The Teleios SMS SDK is based on the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0. As such Teleios recommends that the Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 or higher be used for the development and debugging on the SMS Application. Free versions of these tools are available at http://www.microsoft.com/express/product/. Developers may also choose to use other languages and toolkits if all tools and compilers are freely available and easy to download or acquire.

Presentation Format

Presentations should conform to the guidelines below:

  • An Introduction of the Team
  • A description of the SMS Application
  • How the Application is Interesting, Useful or simply Fun
  • Instructions for using the Application
  • The Application in action
  • Short Demo of how the Application works

Downloads

Download the Teleios Software Development Kit by clicking here.

View the Application Demo Video part 1 here.

Demo Video part 2 here.

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General Conditions

These are the official rules that govern how Teleios SMS Code Jam will operate (hereinafter called "the Competition").

In these Rules

  1. "Agreement" means the content contained herein
  2. "Entrant(s)" mean any eligible person(s) participating in the Competition.
  3. "Entry" means any and all materials submitted by the entrant for use in this Competition. These may include but is not limited to notes, drawings, diagrams, photos, video, images, music, text,  documents, records, notebooks, flow charts, computer programs and source and object codes, regardless of the medium in which they are presented.
  4. "Organizer," "we," "our," and "us" collectively mean Teleios Systems Limited and the Caribbean Internet Forum, the joint organizers of this Competition
  5. "You," and "yourself" means an eligible Competition entrant

If you meet the eligibility criteria stated below, but are considered a minor for the purposes of this competition, then you should ask your parent's or legal guardian's permission prior to submitting an entry.

By entering this competition, you are agreeing

  1. that you will abide by these rules written and referenced below
  2. that this competition is governed by the laws of Trinidad & Tobago, and that you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and the courts of Trinidad & Tobago for any disputes arising out of this competition.

Eligibility

You are eligible if you meet the following requirements at the time of registration:

  • All team members are 15 years of age or older (Please note that any entrant below the age of 18 yrs at the time of submitting his/her entry must obtain a  parent/ legal guardian’s signature in order to be eligible to participate in this competition.)
  • No member of your team is a current employee or intern of Teleios Systems Ltd.
  • No member of your team is an immediate family member (parent, child, sibling or spouse) or household member of a Teleios Systems employee, or is involved in any part of the administration or execution of the competition.

Changes in Eligibility Status

Teleios reserves the right to verify your eligibility status at any point during the competition period, therefore should you experience a change in eligibility status due to special circumstances such as acceptance of an internship or offer of employment from Teleios, or anyone else that is involved in the execution and administration of this Competition, you must contact Teleios immediately and explain the circumstances.  If you fail to notify the organizers of a change in eligibility status, you may be disqualified from this Competition and will not be allowed to win any prizes.

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Registration

How To Register

You can register for the Teleios SMS Code Jam at http://www.cif.tt/teleioscodejam/registration.php.

Early Registration is advised as limited seats are available.

Registration Fee

Online Registration Dates
 September 1st 2008 at 8am – October 24th 2008 at 12pm

Registration Process

Registration for the Teleios Code Jam is free. On-site registration at the Crowne Plaza Hotel will take place on Friday October 31st 2008 between 8:00am and 9:00am. 

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Entries

Entry Limit

We shall only accept one (1) entry per team

Size of Team

Each team must comprise a minimum of two (2) or a maximum of four (4) persons. Any team which does not comply with this requirement will be disqualified.

Once you register as part of a Team, you cannot change Teams or otherwise remove yourself or anyone else from your Team. If you submit multiple entries, then we will consider the first entry received as your official entry. We will also disqualify any incomplete or illegible entries that we receive.  We are not responsible for entries that we do not receive for any reason, or for entries that we receive but are not decipherable for any reason.

General Standards of Entries

Please note that the intent and spirit of the Competition is to test the skills and creativity of entrants.  Anyone acting as a team mentor, or in an mentorship role, where allowed (for example lecturer, tutor, parent or local sponsor(s) must limit the level of support provided to entrants to general guidance and must not contribute in any way that may be considered original authorship, or in way that may enable claims of rights or ownership to the submitted entries.  In no event will work-on-behalf of any teams or individual members of a team be allowed.

The content of your entry and any supporting materials must be acceptable for all viewing audiences. We will automatically disqualify any entrant that submits any entry or supporting materials that contain text, sound or images that we, in our sole opinion and for any reason, find vulgar, offensive, defamatory, or inappropriate for public viewing, or that presents the organizers of this Competition in a negative light.

By registering to participate in this competition, you confirm that:

  • Your entry meets the content and technical requirements set forth below.
  • Your entry is your team’s original work and does not breach any third party intellectual property rights; and
  • Your entry only includes material (including but not limited to music, text, computer code, video or images) that you own or that you have permission from the copyright/trademark owner to use; and
  • Your team has obtained permission from any recognizable person (parent/guardian, if a minor) that appears in the entry to submit your entry in this Competition and to use their personal data in the entry for the purposes of the Competition (if applicable); and
  • Your submission of an entry is not to be construed as an offer of employment; and
  • Your entry has not been selected as a prize winner in any other competition, contest, marketing or promotional campaign

We will disqualify any entries that we, in our sole discretion, find to be a duplicate, or the result of collaborative work contrary to this Agreement and to the spirit of the Competition.

The decisions of the judges are final and binding in all matters related to this Competition.

How Will My Entry Potentially Be Used?

Other than what is set forth in this Agreement, by submitting your entry and signing this Agreement (whether as an entrant or behalf of an entrant in the case of a minor), you:

  • Understand and acknowledge that the Organisers and/or other entrants have developed, plan to develop or may develop in future, or have commissioned or shall commission materials similar or identical to your submission.  Therefore by entering this Competition, you agree to waive any and all claims you may have (whether now or hereafter) resulting from any similarities to your entry or any such claim pertaining to losses, demands or damages associated with this Competition.  For the purposes of this Agreement, a waiver means that you relinquish and/ or surrender your right to bring any legal action, claim or suit for any losses, demands, damages or claims for liability or ownership against the Organisers of this Competition.
  • Are granting us an irrevocable, worldwide right and license to: (i) use, review, assess, test and otherwise analyze your entry and all its content in connection with this Competition; and (ii) feature your entry and all its content in connection with the promotion of this Competition in all media (whether now known or later developed);
  • Agree to sign any necessary documentation (which may include but may not be limited to releases or waivers) that may be required for us and our designees to make use of the rights you granted herein;
  • Understand that we cannot control the incoming information you may disclose to our representatives in the course of entering this Competition, or what our representatives will remember about your entry. You also understand that we will not restrict work assignments of our representatives who have had access to your entry. By entering this Competition, you agree therefore that use of information in our representatives’ unaided memories in the development or deployment of our products or services does not create liability for us under this agreement or copyright or trade secret law;
  • Understand that you will not receive any compensation or credit for use of your entry, other than what is expressly described in this Agreement.

Please note that following the end of this Competition your entry or some portion thereof may be posted on the Teleios website or the Caribbean Internet Forum for viewing by visitors to these websites.

We are not responsible for any unauthorized use of your entry by visitors to this website.  While we reserve these rights, we are not obligated to use your entry for any purpose, even if it has been selected as a winning entry.

If you do not want to grant us these rights to your entry, please do not enter this competition.

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Judging

All entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges appointed by the CIF. A winner will be determined by the judges on a point structure, along with a determination of which entry best meets the criteria below. The Judges’ decision is final.

Point Structure

Points will be distributed based on the following criteria:

  • 30% Creativity: What creative and unique ideas have been used in the development of the application?
  • 15% Novelty: Are there any new and innovative concepts being utilised in the application?
  • 15% Solution Architecture: What solutions are being employed and how have they have they been built into the application?
  • 20% User Experience:  To what extent will the application be user friendly? Perhaps it may be potentially beneficial, entertaining or serve a real need for the user.
  • 20% Presentation: The judges will be looking for oral presentations that provide background and context to the applications, entrants should discuss how the application would work and include an insightful demonstration. Teams may be asked questions about their application by the judging panel.

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Prizes

Prizes as advertised will be presented to the winning team, its appointed team member or team member’s representative.

1st Prize

  • $4000 cash
  • 2 Samsung F210s courtesy bmobile
  • 2 Samsung F250s courtesy bmobile
  • Microsoft Game Studios pack
  • 4 copies of Microsoft Expression Blend 2
  • Microsoft Learning book pack

2nd Prize

  • Books courtesy Ericsson
  • Microsoft Game Studios pack
  • 4 copies of Microsoft Expression Blend 2
  • Microsoft Learning book pack

3rd Prize

  • Microsoft Game Studios pack
  • 4 copies of Microsoft Expression Blend 2
  • Microsoft Learning book pack

Prize Conditions

Your odds of winning a prize will depend on the number of eligible entries received and the level of skill of each entrant. If for any reason an advertised prize is unavailable (unless to do so would be prohibited by law), we reserve the right to substitute a prize(s) of equal or greater value.  Any cash prizes shall be stated in TT dollars. Once winners are determined, all prizes will be distributed on the final day of the CIF Conference.

If you are selected as a winner:

  • You may not exchange non-cash prizes for cash or any other merchandise or services.
  • You may not designate someone else as the winner.  If you are unable or unwilling to accept your prize, we may award it to the next highest scoring Team.
  • If you accept a prize, you will be solely responsible for any applicable taxes or fees related to accepting the prize, as permitted.
  • If you are a minor, then we may award the prize to your parent/legal guardian on your behalf.
  • Unless otherwise noted, all prizes are subject to their manufacturer’s warranty and/or terms and conditions.

We are not responsible for any dispute arising regarding prize dispersal among team members.

Prize Obligations

By accepting a prize you agree to participate in promotional events and activities that may include, but are not limited to, showcases of your entry on-stage at industry events, and allow us to use your name, trademarks, image, comments and/or company logos on presentation slides and other marketing materials promoting the Competition.

You agree to assist us in the creation of case studies or white papers (together "Studies") detailing your entry.  Studies will not include any confidential information. Upon your approval of the Studies’ accuracy, you agree to give us permission to display the Studies including trademarks, logos and other identifying information contained therein, on our web sites and in other documentation. This documentation may take various forms, including printed materials, on-line articles, video, audio, and other digital recordings.

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Limitations of Liability

By entering this competition you agree:

  • To abide by these Rules
  • To the extent allowable under applicable law, to release and hold us, and all our respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, employees and agents from any and any and all liability or any injury, loss or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with this Competition or any prize won
  • That our decisions will be final and binding on all matters related to this Competition
  • That, by accepting a prize, we may use your team member(s) proper names and areas of residence online and in print, or in any other media, in connection with this Competition, without payment or compensation to you, except where prohibited by law.

This Competition will be governed by the laws of Trinidad and Tobago, and you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts of Trinidad and Tobago for any disputes arising out of this Competition.

What If Something Unexpected Happens And The Competition Cannot Run As Planned

If someone cheats, or a virus, bug, catastrophic event, or any other unforeseen or unexpected event that cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled, (also referred to as force majeure) affects the fairness and /or integrity of this Competition, we reserve the right to cancel, change or suspend this Competition.  This right is reserved whether the event is due to human or technical error. If a solution cannot be found to restore the integrity of the Competition, we reserve the right to select winners from among all eligible entries received before we had to cancel, change or suspend the Competition.
If you attempt to compromise the integrity or the legitimate operation of this Competition by hacking or by cheating or committing fraud in ANY way, we may seek damages from you to the fullest extent permitted by law.  Further, we may ban you from participating in any of our future Competitions or promotions, so please play fairly.

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