Sencha, the leader in powering HTML5 development for desktop and mobile applications, today announced the HTML5 is Ready App Contest to further ignite HTML5 app development in 2013 and beyond. Sencha is offering over $20,000 in cash and prizes for developers to build stunning mobile apps which showcase the performance and design capabilities of HTML5. Developers are challenged with re-creating popular default native apps (e.g., Stocks, Weather, etc.) as web applications using HTML5 and Sencha frameworks.

With today’s fragmented mobile device landscape only getting more bifurcated, universal app development is critical for developers to rapidly bring high quality, high performance applications to users, regardless of the platform, and this contest will help prove to the world that HTML5 is ready to drive it. To kick off the contest and further demonstrate how ready HTML5 is, Sencha built an HTML5 implementation of the Facebook news feed and timeline that outperforms the native Facebook application.

Click to tweet: Sencha announces $20,000 HTML5 is Ready App Contest to demonstrate that 2013 is year of #universalapps – visit www.html5isready.com #HTML5

“In the last year, tens of thousands of HTML5 apps were built that perform as well or better than any app on the market but we have just hit the tip of the iceberg for what is possible,” said Paul Kopacki, vice president of marketing, Sencha. “Tech giants such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, and RIM have all taken major steps in 2012 to improve HTML5 support in their operating systems and browsers, and we have reached the tipping point where there are no limits to what developers can accomplish using the right HTML5 tools and frameworks. And we are putting our money where our mouth is to drive this point home.”

Contest Categories

To compete and show off the power of HTML5, developers merely pick their favorite default apps installed on iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 devices and then build their own versions that blow these existing apps away by innovating well past their basic functionality.

Application categories include:

• Weather
• To Do/Reminder
• Calculator
• Stocks
• Camera/Photos
• Calendar

Judging criteria will include:

1. Use of HTML5 (how well app shows off the power and grace of HTML5 on the latest devices)

2. Elegance of app design/architecture

3. Overall quality of UX

4. Coolness and innovation

5. Tests well on iPad 4, iPhone 5, Galaxy S3, and Microsoft Surface

Prizes

• 1st Prize - $10,000 + iPhone 5 + iPad 4 + Samsung Galaxy S3 + Nexus 10 + Surface tablet + 1 conference pass to SenchaCon 2013
• 2nd Prize - $5,000 + 1 conference pass to SenchaCon 2013
• 3rd Prize - $2,500 + 1 conference pass to SenchaCon 2013

Requirements

The apps must be built with a Sencha framework.

The contest is now open. Participants must submit their app by February 15, 2013 to be eligible to win their share of the $20,000 in cash and prizes. Please see contest rules for full details.

About Sencha

Sencha’s application frameworks, tools and cloud services empower developers to create high quality applications based on Web standards that can run on an unprecedented number of devices, platforms and browsers. The company’s flagship product, Sencha Complete, includes industry-leading JavaScript frameworks, tools, and services. More than 2 million developers worldwide at more than 150,000 companies use the Sencha family of products to build highly functional and robust desktop and mobile applications to run their business. Visit Sencha on the Web, read the Sencha blog, follow us on Twitter @sencha, and like us on Facebook facebook.com/SenchaInc.