This year, the You Make IT Smart competition is focusing on application development for Windows Phone and, by participating, you have the opportunity to win a brand new Nokia Lumia 800. Read how it works and take part today!

The You Make IT Smart competition is open to students of Swiss educational institutions. The participants must be at least 18 years old to enter the contest. The competition is being organized together with Nokia this year, and we are giving out more expensive prizes than ever before – brand new Nokia Lumia 800. There are two ways to participate:

Freestyle” Category: Create your own unique application or game from scratch for Windows Phone 7 (Step 4 A below) and have it published in the Marketplace – Microsoft`s virtual store for Windows Phone applications and games. After your application has been published in the Marketplace and you have informed us of this, one of the first Nokia Lumia 800 in Switzerland will be yours. In this category, we are offering an unlimited number of phones as prizes until the end of the campaign.

“Toolkit” Category: Create your own Windows Phone 7 application using our simple Toolkit. The Toolkit enables you to quickly and easily develop a “team application” aimed at schools, teams, club, peers, family or any other group you would like to share a themed application with (Step 4 B below). There are a limited number of phones in the Toolkit category and only the first 20 students (in the order the e-mails are received, on a “first come first served” basis) to have their applications published in the Marketplace as defined in the rules will each be awarded one Nokia Lumia 800. For the other Toolkit-based applications (beyond the first 20 participants of this category), we are offering an unlimited number of Microsoft Touch Mice as prizes until the end of the campaign.

The submission period begins on October 21, 2011 at 0:00 and ends on February 29, 2012 at 23:59. Phones will be awarded to applications that meet the competition criteria and that are submitted to the Marketplace after October 21, 2011 only. In the Toolkit category, a maximum of 20 phones are available, after which Touch Mice will be awarded to applications that meet the competition criteria and are submitted to the Marketplace after October 21, 2011 only. We will start distributing phones for the winners as soon as the new Nokia Lumia 800 is commercially available in Switzerland. Touch Mice will be sent by post after the winners have been confirmed accordingly. We provide a maximum of one prize (phone or mouse) per person across all categories.

Step 1: If you are not yet a Microsoft DreamSpark member, you need to register at www.dreamspark.com using your Windows Live ID (if you do not yet have a Windows Live ID, you can create one while registering). Please note that, when you register with DreamSpark, you should get “Verified with DreamSpark” as a student.

Step 2: Once you have your DreamSpark Verification, you should register to Develop for Windows Phone & Xbox 360 App Hub using your Windows Live ID. Important: You must select “Student” as your account type so that you do not have to pay any subscription fee (no credit card details required). When your personal details are requested, please note that you should use the same e-mail address you used for your DreamSpark registration and your own name as a publisher of the application. Further instructions about the registration process are available in the Registration Walkthrough.

Step 3: Download and install the Windows Phone SDK 7.1, which will provide you with all the tools you need to create a Windows Phone application.

Step 4 A) FREESTYLE CATEGORY: If you would like to develop your own Windows Phone 7 application or game, you have “free hands” to use your own creativity. You can create your application or game using either the Silverlight Framework (for applications) or the XNA Framework (for games). Please follow the application certification guidelines when creating your application. Remember: we have an unlimited number of Nokia Lumia 800 available in this category.

OR

Step 4 B) TOOLKIT CATEGORY: If you would like to develop your Windows Phone 7 application based on our simple Toolkit, you can download the instructions here. This Starter Kit provides a template for building Windows Phone applications aimed at schools, teams, clubs, peers, family or any other group that wishes to get a themed application up and running quickly. The default theme is aimed at schools, but by following the instructions, it can easily be customized by making some configuration settings and adding a few new images. Note: Only the first 20 published Toolkit applications will win a Nokia Lumia 800; the remainder will win a Microsoft Touch Mouse.

Learning materials: Whichever option you choose, if you want to learn more about developing applications for Windows Phone 7, we recommend the following materials: Windows Phone app development quickstarts, Windows Phone developer resources, MSDN library technical documentation, Game development and Windows Phone “Mango” Jump Start Videos.

Step 5: Once your application is ready, you should submit it to the Marketplace – Microsoft`s virtual store for Windows Phone applications and games. Your Dream Spark membership allows you to submit your application free of charge. Submit your application. Your application will be published in the Marketplace catalog as soon as it passes certification. Further instructions about the application submission process are available in the Submission Walkthrough.

Step 6: After your application has been published in the Marketplace, send us an e-mail from your personal school/university e-mail (if you do not have one, please use another e-mail account, but include a scanned copy of your student card), providing all the following details: your full name, the institution you are studying at, which category you are participating in (freestyle or toolkit), the Marketplace ID of you application, the name of the application/game and your postal address (within Switzerland).

Microsoft is committed to data-privacy. We will process the personal data and/or communication data that you provide in your e-mail submission for the purpose of running and handling the competition and in conformance with our General data privacy rules. Please ensure that any personal data you provide us with is accurate. By subscribing to the competition, you understand and accept the use of your personal data in relation to this competition,

The competition is open to students at Swiss educational institutions domiciled in Switzerland. The participants must be at least 18 years old to enter the contest. Microsoft employees or their relatives and employees of companies involved in developing or supporting the contest shall not be eligible to participate. Governmental officials are not allowed to participate.

Please note that you must send us your entry from your personal e-mail address at the university or university of applied sciences at which you are studying. If you are studying at a vocational- or other school that has not provided you with a personal e-mail address, you may send your entry from your private e-mail address, but you must also send us a scanned copy of your student card.

Creating and publishing a solution does not automatically entitle you to a prize. Microsoft holds the sole right to judge the submitted entries. All decisions of the jury are subjective decisions that are non-contestable. Microsoft will contact each student receiving an award in person via e mail.

No purchase is necessary to participate in the contest.

A cash payout of the award is not possible. All winners are solely responsible for any and all taxes and/or fees, as well as all additional costs that may be incurred. All warranty claims against Microsoft are excluded.

By entering the contest, participants are conclusively deemed to have agreed to be bound by these terms and conditions. Microsoft expressly reserves the right to exclude any participant in breach of these conditions from this competition.

Microsoft Switzerland has no obligation to disclose any results, reasons, names or any other information connected with the competition (no correspondence). Competitors have no entitlement to reimbursement of any expenses they may have incurred in order to take part in the competition or to any remuneration whatsoever from Microsoft. No correspondence will be entered into concerning the competition. These terms and conditions are solely subject to Swiss law. No recourse to legal action is permitted.

Microsoft will not claim any ownership of your source code.

By entering the contest, you hereby grant Microsoft nonexclusive, unrestricted rights to copy, use, distribute or publicly publish the materials provided to it. Materials affecting third parties shall not be provided without prior consent of the third party.

The competition is organized by Microsoft Schweiz GmbH, Richtistrasse 3, 8304 Wallisellen, Switzerland.