PALO ALTO, Calif., May 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- For developers looking to build the next big thing in social apps, what better place to start than the social event of the tech season? [ AT&T ] and Facebook on May 4-5 will host a special hackathon for HTML5 mobile app developers with a focus on social networking. The event will be held in the heart of Silicon Valley at the [ AT&T Foundry ]® innovation center.

"Mobile devices are designed for social experiences, and some of today's most successful apps use the Facebook Platform to bring those experiences to life. We're excited to collaborate with AT&T on this Hackathon, to roll up our sleeves, and to help developers explore these great opportunities," said James Pearce, Facebook's Head of Mobile Developer Relations. "And there's no better place to start that creative process than the AT&T Foundry®, which was designed for just this - to help developers communicate with each other and innovate as fast as possible."

The 150 or so developers expected to attend the sold-out event will come away with new knowledge, tools, business contacts and maybe even some prize money.

Both seasoned and aspiring developers at the event will get plenty of help and advice from their fellow attendees and visiting experts.

Gurus from AT&T and Facebook will introduce developers to the latest cutting-edge tools and APIs around areas such as carrier billing and SMS. The goal is to make it possible for developers to easily deploy their own HTML5 apps with a website backend, fully hosted in the cloud.

"One of the goals of this hackathon is to make life easier for programmers by giving them access to senior developers from Facebook, AT&T, and others," said Alex Donn, Senior Marketing Manager with the AT&T Developer Program. "We help attendees put together a finished product in 24 hours and give them relevant skills they can take with them when they leave."

Developers will also get the benefit of working in the AT&T Foundry®, one of three AT&T facilities worldwide specifically designed to foster innovation and collaboration. With locations in Palo Alto, Texas and Israel, the AT&T Foundry® centers can help developers get their apps and services to market 3x faster. The AT&T Foundry® centers are also physically designed to accelerate innovation, with open floor plans, plentiful white boards, and movable desks to enable teams to form and shift as needed.

"This event will be a great opportunity for established and aspiring developers to build HTML5 social apps around Facebook's and AT&T's APIs and other developer tools," said Carlton Hill, Vice President of Device Operations and Developer Services at AT&T. "We expect to see some terrific innovation, and the AT&T Foundry® is the ideal place to foster that creative spirit."

The hackathon will kick off at 6 p.m. on the evening of Friday, May 4, with drinks, networking and team formation. Coding continues all day Saturday, with final app submissions due Saturday evening at 7 p.m. Speakers available during the event will include Alex Donn (@alex_donn), James Pearce (@jamespearce), Max Katz (@maxkatz), head of Community and Developer Relations for Tiggzi, a cloud-based [ mobile app ] builder, and Curtiss Pope, founder and chief executive officer of AisleFinder, an app that gives you a map of a supermarket and highlights the locations of items on your shopping list.

At the end of the hackathon on Saturday evening, developers can choose to present their apps to the audience and organizers for judging. Apps will be judged based on the ability to articulate what your app does, the originality of your idea, and on the use of Node.JS, Sencha, cloud9ide.com, Heroku and other technologies.

First place gets a $20,000 cash prize and a featured spot in the AT&T HTML5 [ AppCenter ] for the best overall app. Spot prizes will be provided by Facebook for teams building social apps.

In addition, the first 150 attendees to arrive at the hackathon will each receive a pair of tickets to a 2012 San Francisco Giants game at AT&T Park.

For more information on the AT&T Mobile App Hackathon, log on to: [ http://mobileapppa.eventbrite.com/ ]

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: [ T ]) is a premier communications holding company and [ one of the most honored companies in the world ]. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T │DIRECTV brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at [ http://www.att.com ]. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at [ http://www.att.com/newsroom ] and as part of an RSS feed at [ www.att.com/rss ]. Or follow our news on Twitter at [ @ATT ].

© 2012 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. Mobile broadband not available in all areas. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE AT&T Inc.

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Developers Creating the Next Great Social App at ATamp;;T/Facebook Hackathon

Developers Creating the Next Great Social App at AT&T/Facebook Hackathon

AT&T and Facebook hosting Mobile App Hackathon on May 4-5 in Palo Alto for developers to hone their skills and compete for prizes