The
embeddedSPARK 2010 Summer Challenge is conceptually similar to Microsoft's
embeddedSPARK 2010, which reached its conclusion at April's ESC (Embedded Systems Conference) Silicon Valley. (For complete information and details of the winning projects, see our coverage,
here.) However, that event -- which will return next year -- focused on the Windows CE-based Windows Embedded Compact, whereas the summer version is built around the Windows 7-based
Windows Embedded 7.
Open to any "Internet technology enthusiasts" who are at least 18 years old and not Microsoft employees, the Summer Challenge asks entrants to create an embedded project that is related to the theme "Media Explosion." Contestants are being asked to come up with projects that "approach media in a new and innovative way."
Officially opened on Apr. 27, the day the embeddedSPARK 2010 contest concluded, the embeddedSPARK 2010 Summer Challenge is scheduled to end at 5:00 pm PST (GMT -8) on Aug. 31, Microsoft says. The company explains the three rounds in the competition as follows:
- The website www.embeddedspark.com went live in April for accepting submissions. Contestants had until 5:00 pm PST on June 8 (later extended to June 15) to submit a paper outlining their projects.
- Last week, Microsoft announced 75 contestants (see later in this story) chosen to participate in round two. In order to build their devices, each contestant will receive the hardware described later in this story, along with Windows Embedded Standard 7, and must build OS images using the IBW (Image Builder Wizard) and Image Configuration Editor (ICW) tools. After building a working prototype of their device, they'll need to submit a four- to eight-page paper describing it, along with a three-minute video, by Aug. 31 at 5:00 pm PST.
- On Sept. 7, three finalists will be announced. Each will receive a flight to ESC Boston, where they'll present their devices on stage during a Microsoft industry address on Sept. 21. Conference attendees will have the opportunity to vote for first, second, and third-prize winners and award the finalists $15,000, $5,000 and $1,000 in prize money, respectively.
HardwareContestants for the Windows CE-based embeddedSPARK 2010 event built their devices around a kit based on a 3.5-inch SBC (single board computer) with a 800MHz Vortex 86SX processor. Appropriately, those in the Windows 7-based summer event will be stepping up to more powerful hardware, employing a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N450.
According to Microsoft, the platform will be Advantech's AIMB-212 (below), a 6.7 x 6.7-inch Mini-ITX board. A single 200-pin DIMM slot accepts up to 2GB of memory, and the board offers 32-bit PCI, Mini PCI Express, and CompactFlash expansion slots, Advantech says.
Advantech's AIMB-212
As pictured above, the AIMB-212's "coastline" includes a VGA port, two Ethernet ports, four USB 2.0 ports, three serial ports (2 RS232, 1 RS232/422/485), and audio I/O (mic in, line out, and line in). Meanwhile, internal connectors add LVDS video, four additional USB 2.0 ports, three more serial ports (RS232), and two SATA ports, according to Advantech.
Microsoft's embeddedSPARK 2010 Summer Challenge kit
(Click to enlarge)According to Microsoft, the AIMB-212 will be dressed up with memory, a hard disk drive, a case, and a power supply, as pictured above, in order to provide contestants with a "ready to rock" device. The kits have been sent out and should be arriving in contestants' hands later this week, the company adds.
Round two winners
Microsoft's embeddedSPARK 2010 Summer Challenge website listed the 75 second-round winners in the order reproduced below, which we presume was arbitrary. We have not attempted to describe the projects, but it appears that most if not all are detailed further in Microsoft's online gallery, here.
Second-round winners in the embeddedSPARK 2010 Summer Challenge are as follows, with the name of the projects listed first and contestant aliases listed second:
- RoomBox by realiser
- Second Tongue by saadtiwana
- The Net in your coffee tableby valter.minute
- Soul Shuffler by tiwana
- ME - Media Entertainer bymarco.bodoira
- Store Guide by picr
- Media-Frame forgrandma by suhaesen
- Augmented TV by dhbello
- Mirror Mirror by therobotgeek
- The Third Dimension MediaDevice by djaus
- Fusion Media Center byJinGod1
- In Store Interactive POPMedia Signage System by jameslock
- Smart In-Store DigitalSignage by lakshya
- Health Care Embedded byBudincsevity
- Door Bell of Future bygebus12
- Unison by amitk
- Car Venture by maydaputri
- Imaginelly by viejosata
- MyMedia with Remote Controlover PDA by saci
- Virtual Makeover Device(VMOD) by R.Velez@comcast. net
- InteractTV by yunsafi
- hermes : media phone by x3v3r
- eyeLounge! by alirehan
- Lights, Camera &Action by ShadowFax
- eMMEC, embedded MultimediaEntertainment Center by gianni.rg
- Device Remoter by b3rn475
- HomePortal: A family devicewith a personal "Touch" by serwill
- Delicatessen - TheMultimedia Cookbook by Sal
- Voiceover : your GPS partnerby helenloeb
- Embedded IPTV/DVB-S/S2 mediatranscoder by azaid100
- Kamuflase by aditasari
- DJ Explosion by CogswellCogs
- Kung Fu Karaoke byBlueHairBob
- Vturnable by luke.browngold
- Eguide by cfricker
- Storm-chasing console byflatos
- Mirror, Mirror on thewall. by amang
- EzeeCom by fahad
- CyberGym by hsr
- Multilingual Watchman byahmadrana
- MEDIPACK by bhanu
- Visualizr by Stanlo
- You, Lookin' at Me, Lookin'at You by sishea
- Watch and Go by talltree2011
- Poker Tournament Manager bynfgabor
- FunDinner by whiteangel
- Explorator by nikdandeker
- Karoaku by rannysetyastuti
- MediaShareBox by fei
- Pursuit by taparajita
- Genie by sethubhatti
- Visual Image Dictionary withtext converter & audio playback by Techtarq
- ICON by rajkumar
- A Rather Helpful TV Netboxby nurirfansyah
- Project M by jrspence
- Mem'Board by jijedslenoir
- Media armchair by ttsekov
- HomeKeys by stedri
- E-TAXI by ferroferizka
- Chalk Talk by DuckPaddle
- Mr Green by anubhav
- Synaesthetic by proteus
- The Goat by Kibblesnbits
- whizTop by akshaykulkarni
- interactiveMenu by jtranqs
- The Soundtrack of Life byanggapratama
- WizBuddy(Your TravelCompanion) by rajeev
- Teaching media by Bespoke
- Production Assistant byloneranger
- Smart Pad by Boopala
- Automatic Digital PhotoSlideshow by davr
- Intelligent DynamicRecognizer by Innoten
- SunScout by fosteref
- iCar by bilal
- oneUNIR by duketive
Further information
The rules for Microsoft's embeddedSPARK 2010 Summer Challenge may be found on the company's website, here. The list of second-round winners may be found in a forum posting, here.
More information on Avantech's AIMB-212, including a data sheet and a block diagram, may be found on the company's website, here.
In a separate contest, meanwhile, fifteen student teams are vying to win first, second, and third prizes in the Embedded Development category of Microsoft's Imagine Cup competition for students. The winners will be announced at the end of this week at the Imagine Cup finals in Warsaw, Poland. For more details, see our previous coverage, here.
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