#intelsoftware

The 2015 AT&T Developer Summit Hackathon took place at the Palms Casino & Resort in Las Vegas the weekend of January 3rd.  Over 700 participating contestants filled three floors of the Rain Nightclub competing for $100,000 in cash prizes and additional sponsored prizes.  

AT&T’s Alex Donn kicked off the event’s opening ceremonies Saturday morning and sponsors announced their challenges and prizes.

I announced the three Intel prize challenges: 1) Best Use of Intel Hardware using Intel Edison: $10,000 and up to five Basis Peak Watches 2) Best Use of Intel Software using Intel XDK and or the Intel Eclipse Extension: up to five Basis Peak Watches and 3) Best Use of the Mashery API Network: up to five Beats Solo2 Headphones.

Teams were organized and app building began.  Many visited our Intel booth where I was joined by Intel’s Christopher Croteau, Kevin Quinn, Daniel Holmlund, Steven Xing, and Ashish Batta providing Intel developer support.

Our team debuted the "HackleBox," an Intel Iot tackle box containing Intel Edisons and IoT Dev Kits, various sensors, breadboards and more for participating developers.

Projects took shape in the late evening including a 3D printed car using the Intel Edison and sensors to alert drivers if they are driving too close to others.   

A business strategist came by our table eager to learn about Intel technologies and while there, she built her first mobile app using the Beats Music API and amazingly continued to build her first hardware hack in just minutes using Intel Edison and XDK.

Contestants submitted their projects Sunday afternoon and the top 20 teams presented their apps on stage to the audience. These semifinalists included "MI Link," a heart monitoring app alerting users of any possible signs of a heart attack, and "Red Alert," an evacuation management system using flying drones for emergency guidance.  Both these projects used Intel Edison. 

"Anti-Snoozer" won the 1st place $25,000 hackathon prize and their victory was announced at the AT&T Developer Conference keynote.  This application for the car prevents drivers from sleeping while driving. "Anti-Snoozer" also won the Best Use of Intel Hardware prize.  The team used Intel’s Edison and RealSense to analyze a driver’s face and emit an alert to the driver if they show signs of falling asleep.

The Best Use of Intel Software prize was awarded to "AirDoorman" which enables the user to remotely allow a tenant entry in their home. The homeowner can unlock the door and control other household electronic using the mobile app built with Intel XDK.

The Best Use of the Mashery API Network prize was awarded to "CarSafe" which allows drivers to alert other drivers or pedestrians nearby about traffic emergencies.  These alerts are then linked to a social network using the ShareThis API to provide information to the public concerning local traffic safety.

I want to thank Alex Donn and the AT&T team for organizing this event.  Lastly, thanks to all participating contestants for taking on the challenge to build awesome apps.

The two day Hack for LA hackathon took place last weekend at LA City Hall. This event was in association with the National Day of Civic Hacking, an Intel supported initiative to improve our communities and the government that serve them.  

The TechLA Technology and Innovation Conference occurred alongside the hackathon with discussion tracks on big data, green vehicles, and civic engagement.  

I represented both Mashery and Intel, sponsoring two challenges: 1) Best App Using the Mashery API Network with a prize of Rover 2.0 App Controlled Wireless Spy Tanks and 2) Best App Using the Intel XDK mobile app development platform, which yielded a prize of some beautiful Intel-powered Android tablets. Both Mashery and Intel proved a winning combination achieving four winning app awards (out of the 500 participants) using Mashery powered APIs and the Intel XDK, including the Hack for LA 1st place $3,000 grand prize and “will.i.am's" (of The Black Eyed Peas) "i.am.angel Foundation" $2,000 cash prize.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti kicked off the events Saturday morning.  His passionate and motivating speech about LA technology resonated through the LA Council Chamber.

Los Angeles Chief Innovation Technology Officer, Peter Marx gave an accompanying motivating speech and participated in Hack for LA.  I met with Peter just before his talk and was pleasantly surprised about his knowledge of Mashery and the API ecosystem. He proudly sported the HTML5 logo lapel pin on his suit jacket (see image below). That's my city's CIO.

Soon after the speeches, the conference continued and hackathon participants were directed to the hackathon on the 10th floor.  After the pre-hack pitches, hackers explored the floor seeking their workspace in the designated rooms.  One room was reserved for Hack for LA Kids, a hackathon crafted especially for the youth hacking crowd.

I met so many talented developers with an eagerness to learn. I provided a technical talk on the Mashery API Network and new Mashery tools including the “API Catalyst”, code snippets for simple and quick app deployment that incorporate APIs, built by our own Amit Jotwani.  In no time, developers were using the USA TODAY API with Intel XDK to create new apps!

I saw so many familiar faces including fellow developers, hackathon organizers, and community leaders all participating in the Hack for LA fun.  I presented a workshop “How to Build a Mobile App with the Mashery API Network” and called on a volunteer to help demonstrate this technology to the attendees with my direction.

In just minutes, our volunteer and participants built their very first Mashery-powered API app using Intel XDK in just minutes.  Many approached me afterwards expressing a willingness to build more apps after learning how much development time they saved learned from my workshop.

Final app presentations were held at Los Angeles Police Department Auditorium. The Mashery prize was awarded to “eDeliver.IT,” the convenient, cost saving delivery services app which used the Best Buy Products API.  

The Intel prize was awarded to "Know Thy Law," an app built with Intel XDK allowing users to post and vote on interesting LA laws, facts, and data pulled from Data.LACity.org.

The 1st place overall winner, "Shelter Connect" connecting shelters with restaurants and volunteer organizations was built by a team of high schoolers using the TomTom API.

"Help the Homeless” which used Intel XDK won the “i.am.angel Foundation” prize. The app pools information for those in need of free food, clothing, shelter, rehabilitation centers and other much needed services all around the Los Angeles County.  This app was inspired by the creator's own homeless experience and the tools he used to overcome his struggles.

Special thanks goes out to Lilly Kam of the "i.am.angel Foundation” and Catherine Geanuracos of the New Economy Campaigns for organizing Hack for LA and supporting local developers.

Southern California developers journeyed to the Nokia Building in San Diego for DVLUP Day.

This Saturday April 26th event was focused on fun and learning about and building Windows Phone apps and games.

Developer evangelists from Microsoft, myself representing Mashery, and experienced developers and engineers provided breakout sessions and hands-on workshops.  

Attendees publishing their apps or games to the Windows Phone Store within three weeks of the event will be receiving a free Windows Phone.  Fun random drawings for prizes such as JBL speakers and a Microsoft Xbox One video game console were awarded to lucky attendees throughout the day.  

Nokia ambassador, George Salcedo welcomed all and kicked off the event.  

I met many new and experienced developers, as well as winners from previous hackathons looking to strengthen their development skills with the latest tools and techniques.

Joel Mountain from the Mashery Sales Team made an appearance, met with local San Diego developers and learned about Windows Phone development.

Microsoft evangelist Adam Tuliper gave an entertaining talk about the Unity Game Engine.  He amazed the crowd using Unity to create a virtual world filled with happy trees and monstrous dinosaurs, a Tyrannosaurus Rex to be exact.

I taught developers about the Mashery API Network and the Windows Phone building features in Intel XDK.  It was great seeing them build their first Windows Phone apps with Intel XDK and invoking the services of the Active and Rotten Tomatoes APIs.

Special thanks goes to George Salcedo and his team for organizing DVLUP Day San Diego and for providing at the conclusion of this event, one of the most incredible cakes I’ve ever seen, a huge two piece front and back Nokia Windows Phone chocolate cake.