TopCoder has partnered with Amazon Web Services to launch two challenges to gather ideas from the TopCoder community about potential uses of the new AWS service AppStream.

AppStream, which was one of the new AWS services launched last week at AWS re:Invent, provides developers with a dynamic way to stream entire applications, or their components, to a device. See Amazon AppStream - Let The Cloud Do The Heavy Lifting for a full appraisal of this interesting new idea that can be summed up as application streaming as a service. 

As with all novel services, AppStream now needs people to come up with ideas for using it and Top Coder's challenges are intended to identify the best scenarios for taking advantage of it capabilities. They are open to the more than 600,000 members of the TopCoder community - and of course to any other developers who register.

Announcing the competitions, Mike Frazzini, General Manager, Amazon Games said:

“AppStream is a new way to think about how applications are built and delivered. Working with TopCoder, we’re excited to learn about the wide range of real-world uses developers are able to dream up for AppStream.”

There are two contests. If you sign in to TopCoder you'll find AppStream Use Case Idea Generation in the Design Studio section where there's a total prize purse of $4250; and AppStream Build a Prototype with a total $6250 in the Development section. In this contest prizes will be awarded for the following three categories:

1. Best Tutorial - $1000 (1st) and $500 (2nd)
2. Best Architectural Reference (more than a simple "Hello World" application) - $1000 (1st) and $500 (2nd)
3. Most Innovative - $1000 (1st) and $500 (2nd)

Both are two-round contests with the deadline for Checkpoint submission (which also offers prizes up to $250)  being December 4th.

You'll need to be part of the AppStream limited beta program to progress to the second round in the development contest and TopCoder says it has a few spots open for it.