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At the finals Team OneBeep quickly made it to the final six. The top six was whittled down from 68 teams from around the world.
Vinny Kumar, Chanyeol Yoo, Kayo Lakadia and Steve Ward of Team One Beep achieved the highest placing for a New Zealand team in the history of the competition.
The final results came in overnight and third place went to New Zealand, second went to Serbia, with Thailand being crowned the winner.
“We can’t begin to describe how shocked and excited we are,” said Vinny Kumar, Team Leader for Team OneBeep. "The whole team is on a high. When you put this much into a competition you always dream of getting this far but even when it actually happens it never feels real. The most exciting thing though is that the recognition our project will gain will help us make a bigger difference in people’s lives.”
While Team OneBeep did incredibly well, Microsoft New Zealand's press release would have you think it won: "
“Team One Beep has been one to watch right from the beginning of the competition,” said Kevin Ackhurst, Country Manager, Microsoft New Zealand. “Their solution is a result of passion, drive and talent and I congratulate the team on their amazing achievement. They were fantastic global representatives and have proven themselves to be role models for the next generation of IT minds.”
Apparently everyone in the audience received a Windows 7 mobile phone.
Team OneBeep created an inexpensive solution of sending educational content to laptops in under developed countries where there are no phone lines or internet access. The solution uses software to package data up as audio that can then be received on any AM/FM radio, which is then converted back to its original form on a laptop.
