World’s largest collegiate hackathon PennApps moves to Wells Fargo Center

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PennApps, claimed to be the world’s largest collegiate hackathon, is taking over the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for its 12th edition from September 4 to September 6.

The hackathon began in 2009 as a project by students at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science with little more than a dozen students taking part. Now organisers are expecting more than 2,000 attendees from as far afield as Spain, Australia and Cameroon to fill the 19,500 capacity...

By James, 19 August 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

Hackathon project uses machine-learning to predict 50% of hotel cancellations

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Hotel cancellations are a big concern for the travel industry as rooms are held for people who may not even turn up at not just a significant cost to the business, but also preventing other travellers from using the room which may be required for their visit. 

Nigerian hotel booking service, Hotels.ng, held a hackathon on August 1st which aimed to answer whether it is possible to predict what users are going to cancel a hotel...

By Ryan_Daws, 18 August 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

Smart Port Hackathon produces 21 prototypes

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Maritime technology has seen little noteworthy advancements in recent years; with tried and tested technology causing stagnation in advancements. Organised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the Smart Port Hackathon aimed to spark innovation in the sector and help to increase efficiency. 

This year's hackathon was attended by a total of 120 participants from 21 teams. 20 various...

By Ryan_Daws, 17 August 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

'OneNote for Learning' wins Microsoft hackathon

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Microsoft's popular note-taking tool, OneNote, has been going from strength-to-strength and has become as indispensable to some as the rest of Microsoft's productivity suite. During the company's second annual hackathon, a team sought to address language and learning disability barriers with an innovative extension to OneNote. 

'OneNote for Learning' combines OneNote with technology available...

By Ryan_Daws, 14 August 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

HERE 'With The Best' of Mercedes-Benz hackathon

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One car manufacturer which aims to be on the cutting-edge of connected-car technologies is Mercedes-Benz. The company held a hackathon called 'Hack With The Best' in June and the winners all had one thing in common - they utilised HERE's leading maps and services. 

HERE is a subsidiary of Nokia and their maps can be found in four out of five cars...

By Ryan_Daws, 13 August 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

Water/Energy Nexus hackathon is a 'live science fair' for sustainability

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Later this month, the Water Innovation Project is set to launch the 2015 Water / Energy Nexus hackathon in San Francisco. Beginning on August 15th, hackers will create innovative ways of tackling important sustainability issues over the course of 36 hours. 

The hackathon describes itself as more akin to 'a live science fair' which aims to leverage data to better...

By Ryan_Daws, 12 August 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

"Masters of Code" hackathon arrives in San Francisco

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The next part of MasterCard's awesomely-named "Masters of Code" hackathon series arrives in San Francisco on August 22nd - 23rd to continue its search for the best coders in the world. The city marks the seventh stop on the intense 12-city tour. 

APIs for the hackathon are supplied by MasterCard and teams are tasked with creating the best prototypes which demonstrate their incredible coding and...

By Ryan_Daws, 11 August 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

GeoHack aspires to change the world

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Developers will make their way to the Inmarsat Conference Centre on September 5th for location-focused hackathon, GeoHack, in the hope of creating the next app which makes "a difference to people's lives around the world." 

It's a big aspiration, so we caught-up with an organiser from the event to find out how they plan to cultivate the right atmosphere for innovation to foster. James Milner is...

By Ryan_Daws, 07 August 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

MyScript announces online hackathon for virtual handwriting

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MyScript, a leader in digital ink management technology, has launched a global challenge to find the most innovative applications of the company's handwriting recognition APIs. For a reward, a prize pot of $20,000 is up for grabs by the most creative and forward-thinking developers. 

"At MyScript, we continually push the boundaries of what digital ink technology can do to enhance the way...

By Ryan_Daws, 06 August 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

UK's first sports hackathon kicks-off in October

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We're hesitant to call it the UK's first sports-related hackathon – that award goes to IBM's Wimbledon hackathon back in June – but the Sport England Sport Technology Awards hackathon can boast that it will be the UK's first sports hackathon which isn't tied to a particular sport. 

To be held at a venue just opposite The British Museum in London on...

By Ryan_Daws, 05 August 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

Data Quest invites hackers to tell "science stories"

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Through collaboration between two companies, htxt.Africa and SciBraai, the DataQuest hackathon wants scientists, journalists, coders and data analysts to tell "science stories" out of data sets. Teams of up to three individuals can take part and create projects for three categories; health, environment, or general research. 

A multimedia article must be created over the hackathon which is to be judged, and winners going...

By Ryan_Daws, 04 August 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

Carsales seeks love at Melbourne hackathon

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Don't worry, here at the Hackfest we haven't moved into classified ads for singles. Carsales is one of Australia's most-popular car listing websites, and just this past weekend the company invited hackers to its offices in Melbourne to find ways to "love thy customer" with new innovations. 

Over the course of three days last week, more than 150 employees from across the business took part in creating brand-new ways of improving their customer experience. The company...

By Ryan_Daws, 03 August 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

Facebook internal hackathon reveals push for LinkedIn-style profile tags

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Facebook has confirmed it is testing a new ‘profile tags’ feature following an internal hackathon examining new features for the social network.

If you think this sounds a little familiar, then the feature is not too dissimilar to LinkedIn’s skills and endorsements profile section. As reported by The Verge, friends will be able to add tags about each other describing personalities which...

By James, 31 July 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

HTML and JavaScript most popular hackathon languages, Android most used platform

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Data released by Devpost from more than 13,000 project tags has revealed HTML/CSS to be the most popular programming language students code in at hackathons, followed by JavaScript and Python.

If you’re wondering how an organisation with an unfamiliar name came by such large swathes of data, rest assured: Devpost is the new name for ChallengePost, and the company released the report as part of the rebranding.

Having looked at project tags from a sample of...

By James, 29 July 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

App for teenagers giving answers to tough life questions wins Namibia women’s hackathon

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Hot on the heels of other female-exclusive hackathons this publication has covered, the African country of Namibia is getting in on the act with a successful women’s hackathon at the Namibia Business Innovation Institute (NBII).

The object for the 20 participants, who met up on July 1, was to design a prototype of an application which would “solve local societal challenges” through the NBII Mobile Lab. For the organisers, it was to bring about a forum for women who had been “outnumbered”...

By James, 27 July 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

Nintendo and Facebook teaming up for Super Mario Maker hackathon

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Nintendo is enlisting the help of Facebook staff to create a new level for its upcoming Super Mario Maker game at a hackathon event on July 28 and 29.

The event, to be held at Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, will get employees of the social behemoth to design a special level for the Wii U game through using its demo version showcased at the E3 gaming event back in June.

The hackathon will be judged by representatives of both Nintendo and Facebook, and the winning team or individual...

By James, 24 July 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

HackCoin brings cryptocurrency back into the spotlight

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London will be host to another cryptocurrency-based event this Friday (24th July) aimed towards ensuring investment continues in digital currency. HackCoin is to be held at the Barclays Accelerator in Notting Hill and welcomes hackers and developers to come put their innovative minds together in the hope of creating a range of creative financial projects. 

Teams will be allowed to choose...

By Ryan_Daws, 23 July 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

Cleveland jumps on the medical hackathon bandwagon

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It's about time healthcare received some impactful technical innovation - and the amount of medical hackathons we've covered in recent months goes to show others feel the same. Cleveland Clinic is the latest to announce a medical hackathon to seize this important trend. 

The event, to be held at the Global Center for Health Innovation, will take place September 26th  - 27th, 2015 and will be...

By Ryan_Daws, 22 July 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

ABI invites women to create "Tech for Good"

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The renowned Anita Borg Institute (ABI) is inviting women to a female-exclusive hackathon with the aim of creating technology under the rallying tagline of: "This is your chance to help make our world a better place." 

Female coders will join talented women from various computing and technology backgrounds to work on projects which could have a positive social impact. The hackathon will be...

By Ryan_Daws, 21 July 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.

Pepper learns Java at Softbank hackathon

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Robots are getting increasingly complex - but sometimes it's just the simple things in life that make the most difference. SoftBank held its second hackathon for their AI-powered robot, Pepper, at the Nescafe Harajuku with the goal of teaching it to become a world-class barista. 

There are several key aspects to being a great barista; the ability to create latte art, a great...

By Ryan_Daws, 20 July 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Hackathon.