I Unlocked some Joy!

May 31, 2012 • 3 min read

I recently shared a picture of my new Nokia Lumia 800.

Here’s the mini story about how I got it.
Back in September, 2011 “I Unlock Joy” (IUJ) for Developers was announced after “I Unlock Joy” for Student got some great response. So what was the program all about?

 

 

This program is about unlocking the potential of developers in India, like you. Register, build and submit one or more Windows Phone Apps on App Hub. If they get certified and published at the Windows Phone Marketplace by 31st March, 2012, you are entitled to receive a Windows Phone device to test your future apps.

Tl;dr version “Submit 3 Windows Phone Apps, get a brand new Windows Phone“. Now, this is where I made a mistake and was disqualified from the Program ;). As soon as the “Claim Goodies” link went live on the IUJ site on October 1st, I had 6 Apps in the Windows Phone Marketplace, and out of excitement, I filled the form to claim a Windows Phone without reading the detailed T&Cs.

Soon (in Feb, 2012) I discovered that the 3 Apps to get a new Windows Phone from IUJ needs to released in the Program period 1st Oct, 2011 to 31st Mar, 2012. 2 out of 3 Apps I used in the claim form were released before Program period. I re-filled the claim form with 3 Apps that were released in the Program Period (I had 9 Apps in the marketplace by that time).

The Program ended in March and one of my friend who participated was contacted by the IUJ team with the further formalities required to get the phone. So I too was expecting a mail from the team in the Inbox anytime soon. I didn’t receive any mail for a month. I mailed the team about the issue but didn’t receive any reply probably because I was a month late after the program ended. So I tweeted to Harish Vaidyanathan about the issue. He helped me find the status of my claim and said that I was disqualified for the 1st claim (for the obvious reason) and 2nd claim wasn’t considered. Then I requested him if he can get me the IUJ team in the loop. IUJ team mailed me asking for the issue.

I replied with the whole situation, explained them I am a committed Windows Phone developer and asked them to reconsider my 2nd claim. Sarvashrestha Paliwal got back with some good news and said that they’ll make an exception for me =D. So, here I am with a new Lumia 800 from the IUJ.

Harish Vaidyanathan, Sarvashrestha Paliwal, IUJ team, and Microsoft – Thank You for the awesome phone!

Blog, RSS Feed