BOSTON, October 28 /PRNewswire/ --

- Building on the successful Spark Your Imagination program, this contest
will reward innovative hobbyists and academic developers plotting the future
for smart, connected devices.

Today at the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) Boston, Microsoft Windows
Embedded announced SPARKs Will Fly, a new contest based on the successful
Microsoft Windows Embedded SPARK Your Imagination community-focused program
launched in April 2008. SPARKs Will Fly, the largest Windows Embedded contest
outside the Imagine Cup, is designed to foster creativity and innovation
among the hobbyist and academic communities. The contest will reward those
with a passion for building devices on Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2 and will
create a forum for enthusiasts to showcase their development skills.

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The theme of the contest is "home of the future," offering contestants a
broad platform to demonstrate fresh thinking around smart, connected devices
of the future.

"Windows Embedded is excited to bring SPARKs Will Fly, the premier
contest for hobbyists, academics and general developer enthusiasts, to the
developer community," said Ilya Bukshteyn, senior director of Windows
Embedded Marketing at Microsoft Corp. "Windows Embedded is committed to
fostering creativity and innovation in the embedded technology market. This
is a great chance for the embedded developer to have an impact on the
innovation we will see in the future. We are eager to see the forward
thinking that will shape the home of the future."

How the Contest Works

SPARKs Will Fly is a three-round competition with more than $50,000
(U.S.) in prizes. The contest begins today and will wrap up in spring of 2009
at ESC Silicon Valley. In round one, contestants will submit a one- to
three-page entry at http://www.sparkcontest.com detailing their idea for the
home of the future. The first round will close on Jan. 7, 2009. On Jan. 9,
Windows Embedded will announce 50 contestants chosen to participate in round
two. These contestants will be provided with a free-of-charge SPARK Your
Imagination kit based on the VIA ARTiGO Pico-ITX board to build a working
prototype of their idea. The 50 chosen contestants will also be required to
submit a four- to eight-page paper describing their solution along with a
three-minute video by March 11, 2009. On March 13, the top three finalists
will be announced. These three finalists will present at ESC Silicon Valley,
where the winner of the contest will be chosen.

Prizes

Each of the three finalists will receive an all-inclusive trip to attend
ESC Silicon Valley and will be awarded $1,000 (U.S.). The winner will be
awarded $15,000 (U.S.) and receive an all-inclusive trip to participate in
the 2009 Microsoft Tech-Ed Developers Conference in Los Angeles.

Additional Details

SPARKs Will Fly is open to people in all countries eligible to
participate according to U.S. laws. The contest will start at noon PDT on
Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008, and will end at 3 p.m. PST on March 29, 2009. More
details and full official rules can be found at the SPARKs Will Fly Web site
at http://www.sparkcontest.com.

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software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize
their full potential.

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com