Pebble announces $5,000 grand prize for upcoming app contest

The Pebble Appstore recently launched on both Android and iOS, and smartwatch fans rocking the crowd-sourced device now have access to more than 1,000 apps and watch faces. Now the company is encouraging third-party developers to launch even more Pebble apps, with a March Madness-style bracket challenge that kicked off on Monday. The Pebble App Challenge begins with an open call for submissions and interested developers can submit ideas until March 23.

Developers hear ye, hear ye! To celebrate the inauguration of the Pebble appstore on Android, Pebble is summoning app developers from all corners of the known world to partake of the ultimate app making challenge for one of the most popular smartwatches in the market. The mechanics of the competition sounds more like a face-off than an outright contest, with a dose of audience voting added. Participating developers have up to March 23, 5 p.m. PST to submit their entries. Then from the 24th to the 27th, both users and developers will whittle down the list to the top 16. Then starting the first week of April, the finalists will be paired and one app per day will face off with its rival, and users will get to vote on who lives to fight another day.