In December last year, Google successfully whet the appetite of the world's mobile developers by laying down the Android Developer Challenge: submit a useful, powerful application for Android - and therefore Google's forthcoming suite of mobile phones - and win a chunk of cash.
Fifty teams made the final and Google listed those on the Android Developers Blog last night. Those finalists win $25,000, the semi-finalists $100,000 and ten teams of winners a not insubstantial $275,000.
Here's the top ten:
• GoCart: The shopping tool compares prices and reviews of products in local shops that you enter by scanning product bar codes.
• CompareEverywhere: Same as above. Both have wish lists, but CompareEverywhere also has a GPS tool that shows you the nearest shop.
• Locale: This very interesting GPS-based app (above) manages your incoming calls according to your location. You could tell it to divert calls form your boss if you're in the pub, for example. Or you could tell it to switch to silent mode when you get to the office.
• cab4me: Lets you call a cab to your current location anywhere in the world. Quite a claim - will it work in the Gobi desert?
• Wertago: A nightlife manager. It will tell you where all the hot clubs are in town and connect you with other clubbers.
• Life360: Messaging system for families and neighbours, so you can track your family location (wayward spouses included) and get updates like local traffic and fire warnings, for examples.
• TuneWiki: Music social network that plays audio and video along with lyrics. Music maps show listening trends around the world, including real-time listening charts for your friends. (Why are you listening to Last Christmas in August, etc...)
• PicSay: Picture editor that lets you customise photos from your phone and upload the straight to your Facebook, Picasa or Flickr pages.
• Softrace: Tracks your real life runs using GPS and then plots your progress against others in a multi-location race. Great idea.
• Ecorio: Tracks how far you travel and calculates your carbon footprint - and then suggests ways to cut down that output, sharing stories and tips from other users.
In other Google Android news, it has been announced that Android's apps will be available through an Apple iTunes Store-style site called Android Market. Android's Eric Chu said in a blog post that Google is regarding the platform more like a market than a store because it wants to emphasise its open nature; I guess it has to do that to avoid any more comparisons with Apple than are necessary.
