Android Developer Challenge II

While I did get a lot out of the Boston conference, I wish I'd been able to attend Google IO this year, a conference for developers which focused a lot this year on Android. They pulled an Oprah and gave all the attendees a model of the new HTC phone running Android, the HTC Magic.

They also announced the second Android Developer Challenge. The first phase of the contest lets users vote on the best apps, which make it to a final phase in which judges pick the winners. There are 10 categories (e.g. lifestyle, travel, etc.), and the top three in each category will win $100,000, $50,000, and $25,000 respectively. And the top three overall will win bonus money on top of the category prizes.

My plan for the summer had been to work on a couple of game ideas, including a word game, and continue producing small apps like medical and construction calculators. But the announcement of the ADC II has changed things. I'm going to try to develop an app to enter by the August deadline.

The project is ambitious, it's a mobile RPG with some really cool features. I don't really want to talk about it too much until it's close to release, but I think it's pretty innovative and will have a decent shot at least at making it into the finals. If I can pull it off. I'm going to have to outsource the music and art, and I may need help with the programming. I'm going to see what I can get done this month and take stock of where I am. There's no way I can implement a full version of the game, but I'm going to try to get a workable demo which includes all of the basic features, and hope that will be enough.

I'll report here periodically about my progress. Wish me luck!