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Roku’s neat little Internet TV box is also a platform for third-party channels–app-like services which can offer music, photos, social networking tools, and more. The company is taking a logical step to encourage developers to create cool stuff: It’s holding a channel competition and giving away a total of $35,000 in prizes to the creators of the best channels.

Who decides which entries are the best? The first round of judging will be done by Roku owners. Then a final pass will be done by guest judges: Jim Louderback of Revision3 will look at video channels; Michael Endelman of Rolling Stone will handle music; Dave Zatz of Zatz Not Funny will take care of photos; actor, director, producer, and Twitter superstar LeVar Burton will be responsible for social media; and Roku founder Anthony Wood will choose a special award called Founder’s Choice. Oh, and I’m handling screen savers–should be fun.

The deadline for entries is September 6th, and winners will be named in October. Here are the complete rules.