"Smoked By Windows Phone" Winner To Auction Prizes For Charity

Yesterday probably wasn't very fun for Microsoft. They were accused of not playing fair when it came to their "smoked by Windows Phone" competition, telling a winner that he lost "just because". The story quickly gained traction in the media, and hoping to avoid the situation blowing up further, Microsoft representative Ben Rudolph took to Twitter to apologize. He also offered up the $1,000 prize laptop as well as a Windows Phone.Sahas Katta got in touch with Ben Rudolph via email, and discovered that Microsoft had set aside the prize laptop and phone for him at the Santa Clara Microsoft Store. After talking to two managers at the store, he walked home with a special edition Hunger Games HP Folio 13 worth $1,049, and a $899 Nokia Lumia 800 bundle.

While Katta was happy to receive both prizes, it turns out he's content with his existing equipment, so he decided to throw both the laptop and Windows Phone up on eBay. Both are available to bid on via auction, and all proceeds will go to charity.

In a nice little twist, Katta hasn't chosen the charity: that will be up to Reddit, who are currently pitching various ideas in a thread. Although Ben Rudolph appears to have smoothed things over, he posted on Twitter yesterday afternoon that he "stand[s] behind "smoked by Windows Phone" wins (and losses) 100%".

[via The Verge]