The world’s coolest student technology competition just announced who is making it to the next round! Microsoft just unveiled the 10 teams who will compete in the 11^th annual Imagine Cup U.S. Finals Demo Day on May 13 in Silicon Valley.

Each of the top teams will pitch their business to investors, as well as members of the press and the startup community. Prizes will be presented to the best teams in the categories of Games, Innovation and World Citizenship.

The list of finalists include:

Lost Spectrum, University of Houston/ University of Texas

Chroma Tales: The team developed a fast-paced 2D action game on Windows Phone 8 where each level lasts approximately five seconds. Each player’s mission is to restore color to the world.

Kinect PT, University of Virginia

Vitrunetics: The team built an application that allows doctors to administer and receive real-time feedback on physical therapy exercises that are performed by patients at home using Microsoft’s Xbox with Kinect.

Team DePauwsome, DePauw University

WeAssist: The team developed a Windows Phone 8 app that allows a user to share their location and share a message in an emergency. WeAssist also has an optional location tracking service called WeFind, which runs in the background and uploads the user’s location history to the cloud.

Team SwagFace, Rice University

FaceFun: The team developed an innovative facial recognition game for Windows Phone 8, where players mimic amusing, famous and funny faces using their smartphone and win points.

Team Poli`ahu, University of Hawaii at Hilo

Help Me Help: The team developed an application that aides the community in times of need by utilizing the smartphone’s camera and location capabilities to get images and locations of hazards as they are introduced.

The Miracle Workers, Harvard University/ Winona State University

Cloud Monitor: The team developed a baby monitor app for Windows Phone 8 that tracks respiration, heartbeat and body movement of an infant. In case of an emergency, the application sends an alert to parents on their smartphone. Parents are also able to check the live streaming of baby's vital signs in on their phone.

Pitch, Boston University

Pitch: Using Windows 8 and a Windows Azure backend server, the team created an account-less yet secure system for creating meetings, in which documents of any file type can be quickly and easily shared with all meeting members.

Gigaloth, University of Colorado

Produce Wars: The team developed an "Angry Birds" style physics game evolved with dynamic platform and puzzle elements for young children.

Project SAM, University of Chicago

Project SAM: The team developed a mobile application that streamlines a health clinic’s inventory and provides real-time updates to suppliers via text.

Skyline Studios, University of Houston

Zipline Hero: The team developed a puzzle-action platform game where the player uses the touch screen input to rescue animals.

The team that will represent the U.S. at the Worldwide finals in St. Petersburg, Russia July 8-11, will also be unveiled at the U.S. Finals.

Please continue to follow the U.S. Imagine Cup finalists via the official Facebook page, which will include live streaming throughout the competition.

Grilled hot dogs, the smell of fresh roasted peanuts, and that glorious crack of a Louisville slugger hitting the ball out of the park- baseball season is upon us! Between work and busy schedules, it’s not always easy to make it to the ballpark to relish the baseball experience. Never fear, Microsoft has you covered with the new MLB.TV app, which is now available on Windows 8.

With MLB.TV on Windows 8, MLB.TV Premium subscribers have access to every out-of-market MLB game LIVE or on demand in HD. Subscribers can watch either the home or away broadcast feed as well as several different audio-only streams of games.  You can view player stats and match-ups from MLB.com and get the latest scores from games delivered right to your Start screen via live tile! Not an MLB.TV Premium subscriber? Don’t worry, you can still enjoy all the latest game scores and watch the MLB.TV Free Game of the Day.

Be sure to download MLB.TV on Windows 8 today from the Windows Store today!

We’ve all thought it – “I could be so much more productive if I were (insert cool place i.e., local coffee shop, mall, park bench, my living room in fuzzy slippers) instead of handcuffed to my desk or in the midst of yet another meeting.”

Fret not. Microsoft has an app for that, and it’s in the new Office.  It’s called Skydrive, this pretty cool video  tells you all you need to know.  Even better, it’s all free for students for an entire 3 months using SkyDrive.

SkyDrive allows you to work with others across platforms, devices, and Office versions to write papers, prepare presentations, create spreadsheets, and take notes. Multiple people in different places can work on the same document, at the same time. Share only what you want and set the rest to remain private.

SkyDrive is perfect for working together with classmates, co-workers and friends. Just visit SkyDrive.com to share any file with anyone you choose. Your friends can use free Office Web Apps to view the document and make quick edits—even if they don’t have Office installed.

And best yet, gone are the days of unformatted bullets and mixed up fonts. Office Web Apps are designed to preserve your document’s formatting, which means your friends will be able to view the work you share just the way you intended. They’ll also be able to make changes without messing up the overall look.

Download Office 365 and SkyDrive today. Spring is here. Free yourself.

American companies face a unique challenge today. While unemployment is still at a high, many open jobs are unfilled because employers cannot find workers with the skills they need. Many of these unfilled jobs are in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields (STEM). To address the skill-gap that exists today, Microsoft is exploring the situation in a series of events spread across the country called “YouthSpark Connection”.

Recently, Dr. Heather Lattimer, department chair and associate professor at University of San Diego’s School of Leadership and Education Sciences and Andrew Ko general manager, U.S. Partners in Learning at Microsoft crafted an op-ed for the San Diego Union-Tribune to address the opportunity divide in San Diego and highlight some of the ways we can help local youth find success.  

Teaming Up to Help Youth Compete, Succeed

There is a staggering opportunity divide affecting young people in San Diego. Local youth are increasingly disconnected from today’s economy and need access to education and training, especially in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), to achieve full-time employment.

This week, at the Microsoft YouthSpark Connections event at USD, the Brookings Institution issued new research showing that too many San Diego youth do not have the education and skills they need to be successful in today’s economy. This Microsoft-sponsored research demonstrates in stark terms the divide in San Diego—1 in 4 young people are either not in school or in the workforce, which amounts to 40,000 unemployed San Diego youth who are in need of direction and opportunity. Meanwhile, a third of area job openings require a bachelor’s degree and a quarter requires some form of STEM education. 

The Brookings Institution research shows that the share of San Diego-area jobs with high concentrations in each of the STEM disciplines exceeds the national average, making it even more imperative that area youth gain skills in this area. In fact, approximately 25 percent of San Diego’s jobs are in STEM-focused fields.

There is hope, and the skills deficit can be overcome. To do so we must create new strategies and programs to educate and train youth in STEM fields. Microsoft, local educators like San Diego Unified, San Diego Community College District and the University of San Diego, along with non-profits like the Boys and Girls Clubs, are working together to create programs that give kids real-world access and training in STEM education. Microsoft is leading the way with Microsoft YouthSpark—an initiative to create 300 million opportunities for youth around the world over the next three years. In San Diego, this means the creation of a Technology Training Center for Youth in the South Bay and other training and mentorship programs through non-profit partners.

These types of partnerships extend the reach of our traditional educational institutions and reach at risk youth most prone to experiencing the opportunity divide. The issue of producing a modern workforce with the skills required for economic success isn’t unique to San Diego, but it is our community’s challenge to accept. Through partnerships with governments, nonprofit organizations, and businesses, YouthSpark provides youth with increased opportunities for education, employment, and entrepreneurship and the power to shape their professional and financial destiny. Microsoft also addresses the other critical part of the education equation – teachers – through our Partners in Learning Network, which offers training, support, peer collaboration and lesson plans to empower them to do their jobs.

Every one of our children is a success story in waiting, and we must act now to start writing the next chapter. By joining together, we can give young people access to the critical tools needed to cross the opportunity divide and reach their full potential. For more information, please visit www.microsoft.com/youthspark.

Heather Lattimer is department chair and associate professor at USD’s School of Leadership and Education Sciences. Andrew Ko is general manager, U.S. Partners in Learning/Microsoft.

“I hate finding good deals,” – said No One Ever. Even if the bargain-priced shirt has loose stitch, or the recently-reduced loaf of bread is near the end of its prime, you’re saving money, and who doesn’t love saving a buck or two? Of course, some products are safe bets for a bargain basement deal, but software for your PC isn’t one of them. Illegal software may save you money at purchase, but it exposes everything on your computer to cyber-threats like identity theft, data loss and system crashes.

To learn more about software piracy, Microsoft and IDC recently surveyed more than 2,000 consumers and found that people will waste $22 billion and 1.5 billion hours dealing with security issues from counterfeit software in 2013. Also, 1 in 3 PCs with counterfeit software will be infected by malware in 2013. Think of what’s housed on your computer and what could potentially be stolen: personal photos and videos, confidential documents and passwords – all of that information and more is potentially up for grabs when you install pirated software.

So how can you tell if the software you purchase is legit or not?  Microsoft’s www.howtotell.com website walks you through the indicators of properly licensed products including the correct labels, packaging, hardware embossing and more for both PCs and Xbox so you can buy with confidence.

Remember, if the software deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Keep your personal information and PC/home network safe by using genuine software products.