Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the United States and the No. 1 smartphone provider worldwide¹, recognized the top five students and their mobile application concepts developed during the 2012 Mobile Application Boot Camps.

(Left to Right) Ryan Bidan, Director of Product Marketing for Samsung Mobile and Tim Stevens, Editor In Chief of Engadget, announced the winners of the Samsung Mobile Application Boot Camps on Engadget Stage at CES. Third place and a $5,000 scholarship was awarded to Ofri Harlev, an eleventh grader, at Lowell High School in San Francisco, second place and a $10,000 scholarship was awarded to Sophia Li, an eleventh grader, at Lowell High School in San Francisco and the Grand Prize winner Joseph Romano, a tenth grader at Arlington High School in Arlington, MA, received a $20,000 scholarship from Samsung Mobile. (Photo: Business Wire)

Grand prize winner Joseph Romano, a tenth grader at Arlington High School in Arlington, MA, received a $20,000 scholarship for his Better4All volunteer application. Romano’s Better4All mobile application is a crowd-sourced service which allows users within a specific region to report and respond to volunteer opportunities within three main categories: road hazards, off-road issues and volunteer positions. This call-to-action application encourages users to identify areas in their community that need emergency and philanthropic assistance.

“The goal for the Samsung Mobile Application Boot Camps is to inspire a new generation of engineers,” said Dale Sohn, President of Samsung Telecommunications America. “The students that participated are learning a timely and relevant skill that has an opportunity to influence not only their lives, but the lives of others as well. It is encouraging to see the creativity these students have and the desire to empower change through technology.”

Sophia Li, an eleventh grader at Lowell High School in San Francisco, received second place and a $10,000 scholarship for her SoundUP app. By allowing users to “piggyback” on multiple phone speakers, SoundUP delivers a synchronized, extended speaker system. SoundUP not only brings people together through the power of music, but also delivers on convenience, personalization and versatility.

The third place prize of a $5,000 scholarship was awarded to Ofri Harlev, an eleventh grader at Lowell High School in San Francisco. Harlev created the Karma Trader application to bring communities together by identifying and promoting citizens’ unique skill sets, such as carpentry or health care.

Fourth & Fifth place winners, David Park, from Duluth, GA, and James Fong, from Alameda, CA, in addition to all winners, will receive Samsung Galaxy S® III smartphones. For more information or to view winner concept submissions, please visit www.scholastic.com/samsungbootcamp.

In July and August of 2012, Samsung Mobile collaborated with highly recognized engineering universities - University of California, Berkeley, University of Texas at Dallas, Georgia Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology to host four two-day mobile application boot camps for top performing high school students interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Samsung worked with Scholastic – the global children’s publishing, education and media company – to develop the activities for the boot camps, as well as teacher resources that are available online for teachers interested in teaching mobile application development during the school year.

For more information about the program, please visit www.scholastic.com/samsungbootcamp or contact samsungcampinfo@scholastic.com.

¹ Samsung Mobile is the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the United States based upon reported shipment data, according to Strategy Analytics, North America Handset Vendor Marketshare, Q3 2012. Samsung Electronics Company is the No. 1 smartphone provider worldwide based upon reported shipment data, according to Strategy Analytics Global Smartphone Vendor Market Share by Region: Q3 2012.

Samsung, Galaxy, Galaxy S are all trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

About Samsung Telecommunications America

Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, (Samsung Mobile) a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets, wireless infrastructure and other telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in consumer electronics and the core components that go into them. Through relentless innovation and discovery, we are transforming the worlds of televisions, smartphones, personal computers, printers, cameras, home appliances, medical devices, semiconductors and LED solutions. We employ 227,000 people across 75 countries with annual sales exceeding US$143 billion. Our goal is opening new possibilities for people everywhere. To discover more, please visit www.samsung.com.

About Scholastic

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology and related services and children's media. Scholastic creates quality books and ebooks, print and technology-based learning materials and programs, magazines, multi-media and other products that help children learn both at school and at home. The Company distributes its products and services worldwide through a variety of channels, including school-based book clubs and book fairs, retail stores, schools, libraries, on-air, and online at www.scholastic.com.

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