As colleges push to integrate mobile-phone technology into the college experience, the AT&T Corporation has announced a contest to develop mobile-phone applications for campus use. Students and faculty members from any four-year institution are eligible to compete for the $10,000 prize. Students would get the money as scholarship funds.
Students and faculty members can develop applications across three categories—social networking, academics, and safety and security—for any type of mobile phone. The contest closes August, 31. The winner in each category will be announced in October.
So what happens with the applications after the winners are selected?
Mark Williams, a spokesman for AT&T, says that each application will remain the developer’s intellectual property (or the university’s, in some cases). If the company decides to distribute the applications on its network, it will enter a revenue-sharing agreement with the winners.
It should be noted that AT&T is the carrier for Apple’s iPhone, which a few colleges are giving away to students. —Hurley Goodall
