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The Top 5 Android Developer Challenge Round 1 Winners
Posted by Sean Fallon at 6:30 AM on May 14, 2008
Round 1 of the Android Developer Challenge has come to a close and 46 of the 50 winners have been made public (the remaining four opted not to disclose their work). For your convenience, we dug through the winners and picked five of the apps we think might be in the mix for that sweet $275,000 prize in the final round.
Android Scan discovers pricing and metadata for any product with a barcode. After a code is scanned automatically into the phone using the camera, you can get images of CDs, DVDs, or book covers along with detailed reviews on Amazon. It will also display a list of stores nearby that offer the product, links to online storefronts, online music sample tracks and local library searches. [Android Scan]
Breadcrumbz Allows users to navigate and record a route using images instead of a map. The goal is to develop a community around the app where users can share geo-content. [Breadcrumbz]
Pocket Journey "connects your location to the voices of a global community of artists, historians, architects, musicians, comedians, and others so you can quickly know everything about anywhere." The app will rely on a community to provide in-depth information about a particular area for tourists or locals looking to explore. [Pocket Journey]
GolfPlay may be more of a niche offering, but it is a big niche, and if you have ever played the game you know that any help you can get is more than welcome. The app is intended to offer golfers support for real-time necessities like GPS locations, game statistics, and weather information. [GolfPlay]
Commandro is an elaborate social networking app that allows users to communicate with a network of friends and coordinate and plan activities. [Commandro]
For the complete list, check out the following links: [Phandroid and Android Blog]
Tags: android | applications | apps | developers | google | mobile phones | open source | phones | software
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Groggy Banana
Posted 7:25 AM 14/5/08
@bpatten: It is sad, but at least they're trying to create communities. Whatever happened to the notion that a phone is a communication device rather than a personal mini-computer. All these network technologies and it's still a pain to share something meaningful with more that just one or two people at a time.
And for that matter whatever happened to polygamy?
Groggy Banana
mricpx
Posted 7:23 AM 14/5/08
I think shapewriter looks pretty good, but that's probably because I don't like touchscreen keyboards at all.
mricpx
atuck
Posted 7:21 AM 14/5/08
How easy is it to port code from android to the iphone's OS and vice versa?
atuck
nwaringa
Posted 7:14 AM 14/5/08
@crycry: Really? ;)
nwaringa
crycry
Posted 7:08 AM 14/5/08
@nwaringa: you had me, then you lost me.
crycry
pandasonic
Posted 7:07 AM 14/5/08
@bpatten: Could you please guide me to a Java, WM or iPhone barcode scanning app that lets me know where I can find an item for a lower price and give me a map to get there?
pandasonic
Groggy Banana
Posted 7:05 AM 14/5/08
That bar scanner may have worked wonders with a normal camera, but whatcha' you gonna do when your phone doesn't have that fancy auto-focus?
Groggy Banana
Brian Lam
Posted 7:05 AM 14/5/08
@Log1c: TRUE
Brian Lam
nwaringa
Posted 6:57 AM 14/5/08
The Iphone 2.0 has downloadable refined apps and Android has a bar code scanner.
No really, thats really really really sweet.
Really.
nwaringa
LindsayJoy
Posted 6:53 AM 14/5/08
Well, assuming that all of this will get even better when Android phones are finally released, this will be very welcome instead of all the WiMo smartphones.
Android Scan: If the barcode scanner really works that will be awesome.
Bread Crumbs: Music Was Painful. Also looks like a lot of work running around getting pics of intersections, especially since they will look totally different at night, and not super simple.
Golf Play: Could be useful for some, but the courses I've went to have GPS, weather, stats all built into an LCD screen in the cart. Looks good for other courses, and also depends on very specific accuracy.
LindsayJoy
rainfever
Posted 6:49 AM 14/5/08
@Log1c: lol!
I agree, but remember Android itself is just the platform. Its going to be several different companies who make the actual hardware.
rainfever
justinpe
Posted 6:48 AM 14/5/08
I was expecting a little more than this.
A lot of potential here though.
justinpe
highfloydelity
Posted 6:48 AM 14/5/08
Have there been any dates or hints of a release date for any hardware running Android?
highfloydelity
matsayz
Posted 6:42 AM 14/5/08
@Log1c: i concur
matsayz
bpatten
Posted 6:41 AM 14/5/08
This is kind of sad really.
None of these apps strike me as particularly original. They seem like they're based on existing WM, Java, or even iPhone Apps.
Also as Log1c so eloquently said, there's still no real hardware
bpatten
Darrone
Posted 6:41 AM 14/5/08
the bar code reader would be frigin sweet.
Darrone
Log1c
Posted 6:37 AM 14/5/08
Yeah, now make a fucking phone.
Log1c
drewheyman
Posted 7:40 AM 14/5/08
a barcode scanner sounds pretty cool, if it is hackable. i mean, if you've got the bar code in a manner scannable by a camera, then you can read the CD or book's dustjacket, so it's somewhat worthless in that regard.
but if you could scan barcodes and make a personal database archive of stuff you bought, then that would be really cool.
drewheyman
Crashproof
Posted 8:51 AM 14/5/08
Or stuff you want to acquire. (I often pore through Borders shelves to decide what to reserve from the library.)
Crashproof
Khamel
Posted 8:42 AM 14/5/08
wow, if those are the 5 best, what was #50? a program that allows the addition, subtraction, division and multiplication of up to 8 digit numbers?
Khamel
bitfactory
Posted 8:58 AM 14/5/08
WiMo < Android < iPhone
iPhone SDK FTMFW
Be sure to check back next month for the top 5 apps in the 'app store' - I have a feeling it'll be a bit more compelling than this.
bitfactory
mikeklein
Posted 9:39 AM 14/5/08
@bitfactory: Given iPhone SDK is quite locked down I can hardly compare it to an open API that seamlessly merges applications with desktop.
The gPhone API was designed with developers in mind...Apple's was designed with politics and the bottom-line in mind...no comparison.
mikeklein
howie_in_az
Posted 10:22 AM 14/5/08
@mikeklein: I agree with you completely, because there's no way Apple, or anyone with an iPhone, will ever think of merging data from said iPhone onto the desktop. Case and point: I see no way of merging calendar and address book data from the iPhone onto a computer. It just can't be done. Additionally, there are no applications that allow the iPhone or iTouch to control anything on a machine running OS X or indeed communicate with a computer at all.
Furthermore, yes, it's widely known that Apple's iPhone SDK was designed by their PR department and not the same people that developed their renowned Objective-C APIs.
howie_in_az
howie_in_az
Posted 10:16 AM 14/5/08
@drewheyman: You mean like Delicious Library for OSX?
howie_in_az
bitfactory
Posted 10:37 AM 14/5/08
@mikeklein: Huh?
bitfactory
ninjatales
Posted 12:52 PM 14/5/08
The video's gone. :(
ninjatales
pevans34
Posted 1:11 PM 14/5/08
sorry I went back and I think that was more of "restating" than "following up" lol. my bad
pevans34
pevans34
Posted 1:10 PM 14/5/08
I dunno about this whole "android" thing.
Those five apps are all pretty good, nothing I personally would use.
To follow up on someone elses idea, it would be cool if you could scan a barcode and see all the stores in the area that sold that item, which one had it cheapest, and how to get there. :P something like that would definetly come in handy.
pevans34
Zenshai
Posted 12:34 AM 15/5/08
@howie_in_az:
"I see no way of merging calendar and address book data from the iPhone onto a computer. It just can't be done."
Here's some ways to sync the calendar:
Sync calendar
And heres syncing in general (contacts included):
Sync iPhone
If you still "see no way", I recommend a visit to the optometrist.
Zenshai
GadgetPlay
Posted 12:53 AM 15/5/08
I'm already on the course, so I know where it is and what the weather is like. If it doesn't give me yardage to the hole, I don't need it.
GadgetPlay
justinpe
Posted 1:05 AM 15/5/08
@howie_in_az:
idk, super monkey ball and other apps look a lot better than any of this crap, and a lot less time to develop too. I will admit, though, that they have no hardware to work with, but still.....
justinpe
OgdenHaole
Posted 7:17 AM 14/5/08
Breadcrumbz? Really? Seems like a lot of work. Instead of going through all this, I think I'll just keep hanging out with people who can follow directions.
OgdenHaole
Ypoknons
Posted 3:04 AM 15/5/08
@justinpe: But I can get Supermonkeyball on my DS, Wii and a whole bunch of other platforms. Scan is actually a pretty interesting program that can only be done on mobile devices.
Ypoknons
howie_in_az
Posted 3:50 AM 15/5/08
@Zenshai: Welcome to the wonderful world of sarcasm. Enjoy your stay :)
howie_in_az
FrankBurns
Posted 6:48 AM 15/5/08
Locale looks pretty sweet.
FrankBurns
Angus
Posted 7:22 AM 15/5/08
@Khamel: thats sort of what i was thinking. im sure once android has matured a bit we will see better apps out there. Im not a fan of anything that relies on "the community" to do the work. people are lazy and arent going to use an application if they have to do all the work that makes it useful themselves.
Angus
Fishguy
Posted 1:19 PM 15/5/08
Being an iPhone fan boy eagerly awaiting v2.0 I can't help but agree with a number of other readers on here...
Many of these apps will come to the iPhone and quite likely be much more refined before they even see the light of day on commercially available Android hardware.
@bitfactory: Brilliant post.
Fishguy