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StrikeIron Announces Mashup Madness! Hoops Contest

Contest challenges developers to showcase their skills with live college basketball data and win a 42 inch flat screen TV

Research Triangle Park, NC – February 20, 2008 - StrikeIron Inc., the leading provider of Data as a Service (DaaS), today announced the NCAA hoops contest “Mashup Madness”. This contest is based on the newest addition to the StrikeIron Web Services Marketplace, The Sports Network Men’s College Basketball Web service. This XML-based API provides a breadth of real-time NCAA Men’s College Basketball data that is updated as often as every 60 seconds. StrikeIron is launching the contest to see who can create the most innovative basketball widget, mash-up or application that leverages this data.

The contest begins Friday, February 22, 2008 and ends Monday, March 31, 2008 with winners announced on April 7, 2008. All submissions will be judged by executives from The Sports Network, StrikeIron and Programmable Web. Winning applications must be innovative and easy to use, bug free, and extend the performance and quality of StrikeIron’s service. Prizes include an Apple iTouch for the “Best Mobile Application,” “Best Social Application” and “Best Widget” with the grand prize, a 42 inch HD flat screen television going to the “Best Overall Mashup.”

Entries must include data from The Sports Network NCAA Web Service from StrikeIron. Entries can also incorporate other StrikeIron Web Services or Web services from another source (see The StrikeIron Marketplace or Programmable Web for additional APIs to mashup). For details and submission information, please visit: www.strikeiron.com/hoops.

The Sports Network is the nation’s foremost international real-time sports wire service furnishing a multitude of content 24 hours a day, seven days a week. TSN’s Men’s College Basketball Web Service includes the following features:

  • Comprehensive live data on NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball provided by The Sports Network
  • Accessibility to key NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball statistics, news, scores, schedules, standings, injuries and poll data
  • Track all data, by conference, team, or individual player
  • Plug-and-play XML Web service makes it easy to integrate live college basketball data into a broad range of applications and Web sites
For more on this service, please visit www.strikeiron.com/TSNMensCollegeBasketball.

“Delivering college basketball scores and statistics over the Web in the form of an easy-to-integrate Web service is another example of laying a data foundation from which innovation can thrive,” said Bob Brauer, CEO and president of StrikeIron. “For StrikeIron, this contest will not only capture the competitive spirit for which this time of year is well understood, but will also demonstrate the power of reducing data integration complexity and the innovation and value creation that will inevitably follow.”

About StrikeIron

StrikeIron is the leader in providing innovative solutions for delivering data over the emerging Internet. The company’s innovative Web Services Marketplace provides a technology platform, micro-transaction management and a consistent interface across many XML-based Web services from multiple, diverse sources. This allows business users, application developers and enterprise IT professionals to customize and integrate external data sources and additional external functionality into enterprise, Web, and composite applications. Currently, StrikeIron provides over 100 live data sources and business functions from organizations such as Cortera, D&B, Gale, MapQuest, Midnight Trader, Tax Data Systems, The Sports Network, and Zacks.

StrikeIron also offers IronCloud™, the only comprehensive Web services delivery platform that opens up new channels for data distribution and consumption through Web Services. Enterprises of all sizes can now reduce the cost and complexity of managing the challenges of data distribution which include leveraging an existing external hardware and software architecture, controlling and metering access and usage, external monitoring for 24x7 reliability, full usage analytics, as well as multiple authentication scenarios and instead concentrate their focus on making information easier for partners, customers, and distributed business units to access and use. StrikeIron delivers value to over 1,500 customers and partners such as Avaya, BEA, Delivery.com, IBM, Honda Europe, D&B, Siemens, Nike, Swarovski, ShoeBuy, and Exclusive Resorts. For more information, visit www.strikeiron.com.

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Media Contacts:  
Jane Foreman
StrikeIron, Inc.
(919) 467-4545 x112
jane.foreman@strikeiron.com
Kristi Lee
Crossroads Public Relations 
(919) 270-8054
klee@crossroadspr.com
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