US : Alcatel-Lucent is hosting an open contest for residents of Second Life, the popular social networking and virtual reality site (developed by Linden Labs, Inc.), to envision and design the wireless devices and applications they think will be possible in 2017, when access to extremely high capacity is widely available on always-on networks. Participants are encouraged to unleash their creativity and join Alcatel-Lucent on an exploration of the future of user- friendly devices and multi-media applications that deliver content and communications to people whenever, wherever and however they want to receive them.

The contest helps launch Alcatel-Lucent's Fourth Generation (4G) Virtual Lab on Second Life at the CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment trade show and exhibition, taking place in San Francisco, California, October 23-25. For the contest, Alcatel-Lucent is providing residents with a "sandbox" area where they can use Second Life capabilities to build their ideas. This sandbox area is equipped with application development tools and simple user interfaces to help contestants bring their ideas for 4G services to life. While the specific qualities of 4G networks have not yet been established by any standards body (to be defined as part of the official ITU-R process for "IMT Advanced"), 4G is expected to offer extremely fast broadband capacity with peak speeds reaching 1 Gigabit per second, continuous connectivity, extraordinary reliability and quality with significantly less "delay" to support real-time services.

These capabilities will enable the support of multiple streams of high-definition video simultaneously, in concert with a variety of other applications. As importantly, 4G is anticipated to offer unprecedented capabilities for personalization of services, coupled with support for virtually any communications device. In aggregate, these capabilities will deliver a communications experience very different from what is available today, and this contest is designed to tap the creativity and ingenuity of people around the world to visualize the kinds of services that may be available in the 4G future. "We see Second Life as an ideal tool for exploring the benefits of ultra- high bandwidth networks and helping define the kinds of services and applications that people would find attractive, useful and even indispensable in the years to come," said Jessica Stanley-Yurkovic, Vice President, North America Marketing with Alcatel-Lucent.

"We've invited the world to use the Second Life platform to design and create device concepts, services and even complete user experiences that will be made possible by the advent of 4G networks. We see this as a great way of laying the groundwork to realize the benefits that truly broadband, always on mobile networks will offer." Contest participants can enter one or several design prototypes for a functional device -- gadget, heads up display (HUD), wearable communications device, video terminal, etc. -- that makes Second Life or real life more enjoyable or productive. Entries -- including designs, note cards, videos (flash, wmv, .Mov) or device prototypes, must be submitted (by December 1, 2007) to Alcatel-Lucent's "Next Generation Design" submissions display located on the Main Plaza of Alcatel-Lucent's SL site. All Entries will be confirmed within 48 hours and will become the property of Alcatel-Lucent. Entries will be judged by a panel of experts from Alcatel-Lucent and Millions of Us, a firm that has partnered with Alcatel-Lucent on the development of its SL site. The first place winner will be awarded 50,000 "Lindens" -- credits that can be used to purchase items and services in the Second Life environment -- and will have the chance to have their design built or displayed on the Alcatel-Lucent SL site. Three runners up will be awarded 20,000 Lindens. Winners will be announced via Blog and Group announcement and displayed in our showcase center on Alcatel-Lucent Island.