By Grant Shepherd

SYDNEY: Livescribe has just kicked off a global developer competition to encourage people to create new and exciting apps for it Pulse Smartpen. Over US $10,000 in prizes are up for grabs, as well as the chance to have your own app on the Livescribe Application Store.

To enter the competition, contestants must upload a 30-90 second video demonstrating their original application. This application can be based around three different categories: entertainment, education and productivity.

Jim Marggraff, founder and chief executive officer at Livescribe, commented on the new initiative.

“We are fortunate to already have a global community of over 5,000 developers worldwide, however, we hope that this contest will encourage not only the existing community but also other developers to try their hand at creating and developing compelling and innovative applications on the unique Pulse platform,” he said.

“It is very much part of Livescribe’s vision to support developers, and the recent unveiling of the application store presents us with an excellent opportunity to create a rich pipeline of applications for consumers ranging from productivity and reference tools, to games, entertainment, travel and education.”

The developer competition runs until 13 February 2010, and the winners will be announced on 7 March 2010. A grand prize of US $5,000 will be awarded to the most popular app as voted by the public. Category winners will receive a US $500 prize. A second US $5,000 prize will also be awarded by a panel of guest judges.

The Livescribe Pulse Smartpen is available now from OfficeWorks, selected Dick Smith stores and at Apple.com for a RRP of $299.

For all the details of the competition visit http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/13579.

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