Verizon Wireless Announces Finalists in Mobile App Concept Development Program at Local Boston High Schools

Verizon Wireless announced today the slate of finalists in its Education Empowerment Program at two Boston Public Schools. Conducted in partnership with Samsung, the program’s curriculum focuses on teaching students to leverage mobile technology in and out of the classroom and prepares them to enter higher education and/or the workforce. For the past four months, students attended workshops facilitated by Verizon Wireless team members covering topics including effective marketing, college readiness and Internet safety.

The program’s signature component is its mobile app concept development competition. Eighteen teams of students, all selected by the schools’ administrations, developed unique app concepts and marketing plans that they presented to a panel of Verizon Wireless judges on May 16. The panel evaluated the concepts and selected finalists for the next phase of the competition.

Now through May 28, the public is encouraged to vote online for their favorite app design at http://education.verizoninsider.com. Each member of the first place winning team will receive a $5,000 scholarship, a new Samsung tablet and Verizon Wireless summer internship opportunities. Each member of the second and third place teams will receive a Samsung tablet. Most of the Educational Empowerment Program has been facilitated on the Samsung Galaxy Tab™.

Finalists from the John D. O’Bryant School include:

• Team “Mi”: provides information and news customized to personal preferences including but not limited to movies, sports, TV, local events, music, weather and local bus schedules.
• Team “uHabits”: helps people create positive reinforcement to change bad habits to achieve personal and career success, empowering the user to set goals and share achievements with their networks.
• Team “VORText”: recognizes and understands handwritten notes via the device’s camera, then translates the content into digital texts for future use.

Finalists from the Boston Green Academy include:

• Team “iAgenda”: provides homework reminders, grade tracking abilities, school contacts, time alerts and GPS capabilities.
• Team "Scar-Clari": helps students achieve better grades and motivates students to do well, particularly students new to the USA.
• Team “World Washers”: designed to be a game app that encourages users to engage in eco-friendly behaviors and activities while having fun.

“It’s been very impressive to follow the teams’ progress from developing an app concept to delivering a professional presentation,” commented Christine Berberich, New England president for Verizon Wireless. “We’re proud of all of the participants’ accomplishments and grateful to Boston Public Schools and Samsung for their partnership.”

For more information on Verizon Wireless, please visit www.verizonwireless.com or call 1-800-2-JOIN IN. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/VZWmike.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s largest 4G LTE network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves 98.9 million retail customers, including 93.2 million retail postpaid customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with more than 73,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. For the latest news and updates about Verizon Wireless, visit our News Center at http://news.verizonwireless.com or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/VZWNews.