about 3 years ago
And the winner is...
The judges have weighed in and we're excited to share the news! Our Grand Prize winner is:
Fitnesscoach - Submitted by Lasse Siebert from Germany!
Go to the Alexa Skills Challenge: In-Skill Purchasing gallery to congratulate the winners and check out all of the awesome submissions.
Even though the competition is over, you don't have to stop coding. Update your portfolio to inform your followers about new projects and get feedback from fellow hackers.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the hackathon, please post on the discussion forum.
over 3 years ago
And the finalists are….
The first round judges deliberated, the certification team reviewed, and you all worked so hard! While there were A LOT of amazing submissions, they had to choose 10 to advance to the next round! The finalists are in:
- Japan Finalist: 兎物語 (USAGI MONOGATARI)
- Germany Finalist: Fitnesscoach
- United States Finalist: Song Quiz
- United Kingdom Finalist: Puzzler - Crossword of the Day
- Wildcard Finalist: My Pet Cat
- Wildcard Finalist: Mein Strand - Der Strandmanager (Beach Manager)
- Wildcard Finalist: Pirate Island
- Wildcard Finalist: My Rewards - Alexa Skill
- Wildcard Finalist: Don't waste food
- Wildcard…
over 3 years ago
Date Update!
Hi Participants!
We’re almost to the end of the certification period. As you know, we extended the certification period so we have to push the other dates back a bit to accommodate this. Here’s our plan:
- Finalist announcement: Friday, December 20th ~2:00pm EST
- Finalist improvement period: December 20th ~2:00pm EST - January 5th at 11:59pm EST
- Winner announcement: January 13th ~2:00pm EST
Thanks for all your hard work!
Questions?
If you have any questions about the hackathon, please post on the discussion forum.
over 3 years ago
Certification Extension!
Thank you everyone who submitted skills. We know that most of you have cleared certification (woo hoo!) and a few more are pending review. To give you all the best chance and to help the certification team finish up, we’re extending the certification deadline to Wednesday, December 11th at 5pm EST. We will also push the finalist announcement back a little bit to allow for this and will update you all with the expected date ASAP.
Important: In order to get reviewed once more, you must have submitted to the skill store by 11:59pm EST on Sunday, December 8th.…
over 3 years ago
One day to go for bonus submissions!
Don't miss out on extra $$! Remember to enter a second ISP skill here by November 26th at 5:00pm EST to be considered. Read the full details in the update we shared last week.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the hackathon, please post on the discussion forum.
over 3 years ago
Big news! Submit a second ISP skill and win more!
Attention all registrants! We’re extending the competition briefly for all competition registrants including those who didn’t finish in time, or existing registrants who want to create another skill: Use your newfound ISP coding chops to enter an additional, eligible ISP skill and you’ll win a new bonus participation prize of $40 USD value (capped at 200 bonus participation prizes, no more than one per maker) Here’s what you have to do by November 26th at 5:00pm EST:
- Build and publish a new skill, or update an existing skill, with In-Skill Purchasing that offers premium paid content for customers and is…
over 3 years ago
Thank you for taking part!
We want to thank all of those who took part in the challenge for all your hard work! The certification team and the first round of judges are reviewing the submitted skills. While you wait to hear who will win, check out the submission gallery and keep building new Alexa skills!
Questions?
If you have any questions about the hackathon, please post on the discussion forum.
over 3 years ago
Final call: Submissions close Tuesday (11/12)
Just a final shout-out that you have two more days left in the Alexa Skills Challenge: In-Skill Purchasing to submit your skill.
Submissions are due November 12 before 5pm ET. (Find out what time that is in your city)
If you haven't started a submission yet, please do so now. (We’ll walk you through our submission form process if you need help.)
Submission checklist
Before the deadline passes, make sure you run through this list:
- Are you submitting a functioning Alexa skill that uses In-Skill Purchasing (ISP) and offers premium paid content for customers and is…
over 3 years ago
Have Last Minute Questions? Join our Twitch Office Hours for In-Skill Purchasing! Monday, 11/11 @ 9am PT
ISP Office Hours
Only a few days remaining in the challenge! Join us on Monday, 11/11 from 9 AM – 10 AM PT where we will answer your In-Skill Purchasing development questions!
Set a Reminder: https://www.twitch.tv/events/aeH_biTuQ0SiWze0ByXjmA
over 3 years ago
One week to go–the deadline is almost here!
Time’s almost up - there’s only one week left to submit your skill using In-Skill Purchasing to the Alexa Skills Challenge.
Submissions are due November 12 before 5pm ET. (Find out what time that is in your city)
If you've just recently joined the challenge, there’s still time! Explore your “to-do” list, the previous updates and Resources page to help get you started.
Requirement Reminder
Main Requirement: Build (or update) and publish a skill that integrates In-Skill Purchasing. Skills must be published in at least one of the Skill Stores that currently support ISP: US, UK, DE,…
over 3 years ago
Introducing a New Alexa Skills Training Course: “How to Design for In-Skill Purchasing”
We’re excited to introduce our new Alexa Skills course, How to Design for In-Skill Purchasing. This free course outlines the best practices for designing a great monetized Alexa skill experience. By completing this course, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge to design and optimize your skill for in-skill purchasing.
Join us on Twitch, Wednesday 10/30, 12:00pm PT. We’ll crowd-design a skill for three kinds of ISPs and write upsells together.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the hackathon, please post on the discussion forum.
over 3 years ago
Have Questions? Join our Twitch Office Hours for In-Skill Purchasing! Monday, 10/28 @ 9am PT
ISP Office Hours
There are just over 2 weeks left in the challenge! Join us on Monday, 10/28 from 9 AM – 10 AM PT where we will answer your In-Skill Purchasing development questions!
Set a Reminder: https://www.twitch.tv/events/zylZRgFLTy6dUBQzK9RGyw
over 3 years ago
Join our ISP workshop on Twitch - TOMORROW 10/23 @10am PT
Build and Monetize an Alexa Skill using In Skill Purchasing
In this workshop, you’ll learn how to build a Skill with premium content that can be unlocked by customers via subscriptions, entitlements, and consumables. You will also learn the complete process, from building, to testing, through publishing an ISP skill. Developers who monetize their skills across numerous skill stores will be able to tap into a larger customer base, generating revenue to grow their global voice business.
Set a Reminder: https://www.twitch.tv/events/7J5HzOV-SaqbSrx7X5uCMg
over 3 years ago
Three weeks left—start your submission
There are three weeks remaining in the Alexa Skills Challenge: In-Skill Purchasing. Submissions are due November 12, 2019 before 5pm ET. (Find out what time that is in your city)
Start your submission now
Starting a submission is a good way to make sure that your skill meets the requirements. There’s nothing worse than getting to the deadline, only to realize that you’re missing a key component. Remember: once you submit a project, you can keep editing it as needed at any time prior to the submission deadline. Need a primer on how the submission…
over 3 years ago
Four Weeks to Go: How to make your submission video great
here are just four weeks remaining in Alexa Skills Challenge: In-Skill Purchasing. Submissions are due November 12 before 5:00pm EDT.
Start your submission now
Starting a submission is a good way to make sure that your app meets the requirements. There’s nothing worse than getting to the deadline, only to realize that you’re missing a key component. Remember: once you submit a project, you can keep editing it as needed at any time prior to the submission deadline. Need a primer on how the submission form works? Head over to our submission form tutorial.
Prepare your video
…
over 3 years ago
Halfway Point + A Tip From Your Fellow Dev
You are halfway through the Alexa Skills Challenge: In-Skill Purchasing, congrats!
As we all know, learning is part of the challenge process, and with Alexa skills it’s no different. Ahmed Shafei, creator of the Alexa Skill, “Movie Classics” and one of the Alexa Skills Challenge: Multimodal finalists, has a few tips to help you on your skill-building journey!
“In many cases the development of an Alexa skill is like app development. You should always start with the basic questions:
- Why? Define the reason why you’re building the skill? Why would someone want to use your skill?
- What? What…
over 3 years ago
New $3,000 Bonus Prize! Best Premium Spanish Skill in the US
Hola everyone! In September, Alexa announced that developers could start building premium skill experiences for Spanish-speaking customers in the US. Now we’ve added an additional bonus prize of $3,000 for the best Spanish skill in the US with In-Skill Purchasing (ISP). To enter, publish a new Spanish skill in the US with In-Skill Purchasing, or update an existing one, and submit your skill and submission materials to the challenge before the November 12th deadline. To learn more about building Spanish skills in the US, visit the announcement here.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the hackathon, please post on…
over 3 years ago
Did you know?! Fun Hack Fact Friday Featuring a Challenge Winner
Did you know?!
To build something great, sometimes it takes a village!
Stuart Pocklington, Grand Prize Winner of last year’s Alexa Skills Challenge: Multimodal for his skill “Loop-It” has a few tips for you as you build your Alexa skill!
“When you decide that you want to enter the competition, make sure you join the Slack channel. You will be joined by lots of other developers who will be amazing at helping you when you get stuck, they will help bounce ideas around, and will generally great people to know and to network with. You will also get first…
over 3 years ago
Important Announcements
The Alexa ISP Challenge is underway and we cannot wait to see what creative skills you build. We have a couple of announcements to share:
Office Hours
Join the Alexa evangelists during weekly Office Hours on the Twitch livestream. They can help you with all of your Alexa and ISP-specific technical questions. They’re a great resource so make sure you take part! Weekly on Tuesdays starting at 9:00am PT on Twitch.
Japan Skill Demo Videos
We realize that the Japanese Skill Store submitters may struggle creating an English-language demo video so we amended the rules to allow for Japanese…
over 3 years ago
Prizes, Prizes, and more Prizes!
Not only are Alexa Skills getting better with the addition of ISP (In-Skill Purchasing), but so are the prizes for this Alexa Skills Challenge!
As if just building cool skills wasn’t enough incentive for you, here’s a reminder of the prize potential for eligible participants, including participation prizes:
Overall Prizes:
- Participant Prize
- Note: Certified and eligible skills may win a participation prize. One prize per submission, and only one prize per eligible submitter. If you submit 5 skills, you will only win 1 prize.
- Eligible participants in the U.S. will receive a $50 USD delivered via Amazon.com digital gift card.
- …
over 3 years ago
ISP: What you need to know + Requirements Reminder
In-skill purchasing lets you sell premium content such as game features and interactive stories in skills with a custom interaction model. Buying these products in a skill is seamless to a user. They may ask to shop products, buy products by name, or agree to purchase suggestions you make while they interact with a skill. Customers pay for products using the payment options associated with their Amazon account.
To sell premium content in your skill, you need to define one or more in-skill products and associate them with your skill. An in-skill product defines the type of purchase and details…
over 3 years ago
Connect with the Dev Community + Tech Tip From Your Fellow Dev!
Whether or not you have starting building your skill, the Alexa Skills Challenge: In-Skill Purchasing Slack Workspace is the perfect place to connect with other developers!
Not only can you bounce ideas off each other and ask other developers for technical help, but you can also use the Slack Workspace to ask the Devpost and Amazon representatives questions!
Looking for a team? The #teams channel can help you connect with other developers who are potential teammates. (You can also search the challenge Participants Page to message other participants)
BONUS TECH TIP: Oscar Merry, co-creator with team member Jess Williams, took…