Android Developer Labs – are you Going?

by admin on February 1, 2010

Android is coming to a town near you.  Google have announced they are taking Android on a world tour so that developers can speak to “Android Advocates”.  If you attend the events you’ll be able to ask questions about the Android platform and have a go with the new Software Development Kit (SDK).  You’ll also be able to try out various Android devices, test apps and talk to other developers.

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Google seems to want to get developers more involved and developer closer relationships them. It might be an opportunity you don’t want to miss.

Here are the dates and location of the events.  You can register here: https://sites.google.com/site/androiddevlabs/register

Feb. 4, 2010 Austin, Texas, USA 5pm-9pm Open!
Feb. 8, 2010 Seattle, Washington, USA 2pm-6pm Closed. Session Full!
Feb. 8, 2010 Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
2pm-6pm Closed. Session Full!
Feb. 9, 2010 Washington D.C., USA 2pm-6pm Closed. Session Full!
Feb. 10, 2010 Mountain View, California, USA 2pm-6pm Closed. Session Full!
Feb. 11, 2010 Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 2pm-6pm Open!
Feb. 12, 2010 New York, New York, USA 2pm-6pm Closed. Session Full!

Europe

Date Location Time * Status
Feb. 2, 2010 London, UK 9am-1pm Closed. Session Full!
Feb. 8, 2010 Paris, France 2pm-6pm Closed. Session Full!
Feb. 10, 2010 Berlin, Germany 2pm-6pm Closed. Session Full!
Feb. 12, 2010 Zurich, Switzerland 2pm-6pm Open!
Feb. 13, 2010 Madrid, Spain 10am-2pm Closed. Session Full!

Asia

Date Location Time * Status
Feb. 28, 2010 Singapore (
TBD Closed. Session Full!
March 3, 2010 Taipei, Taiwan 12:30-4:30pm Open!
March 5, 2010 Hong Kong 1pm-5pm Open!

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How the iPad Affects Android Development

by admin on January 30, 2010

So we all know about the new Apple iPad, the device that is placed half way between a smart phone and a notepad computer.  It’s an amazing piece of equipment, and starting from $499 it doesn’t seem like too hefty a price to pay for a piece of the latest Apple technology.

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REUTERS

How though will the iPad affect Android development.  Android already has the problem that there are so many more iPhones on the market than Android phones.  With the iPad it takes yet more of the development focus away from Android and more onto the iPhone Open Source.

A small developer that doesn’t have the budget to develop for all platforms may well choose to only develop for Apple’s platforms.

Competition of course isn’t a bad thing but with more focus being taken away from Android again, firms with smaller budgets only looking to develop for one platform may go for the iPhone/ iPad market purely because of the mass market appeal.

It’s too early to say how well the iPad will do.  It’s very unlikely that it will fail because of the backing and expertise it has behind it from Apple.  It probably won’t do as well as the iPhone or iPad purely because they were phenomenons that took the market by storm and were very different from anything else we had seen before.

The iPad is too similar to the iPhone in design and function to be game changing like the above mentioned devices, but it will be popular and it will and probably has already taken development focus away from Android.

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How many Android Apps are Bad?

January 12, 2010

Apparently about 1% of Google’s Android apps are bad. There is no pre-screening for apps and it’s up to the users to find the bad ones.
It’s only the applications that have been flagged as bad by users a number of times that are then removed by Google.  This is interesting because in theory Apple don’t [...]

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Nexus one gives Android Developers more Confidence

January 12, 2010

The new Nexus One phone from Google has given Android Developers more confidence that Google are pushing forward with Android and that they want to bring phones that use the platform to an even wider audience.
A faster phone will make it easier for developers as previously slow phones are a hinderence to develop on.

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How to choose an Android App Developer

September 24, 2009
Thumbnail image for How to choose an Android App Developer

The Android app market is going to grow hugely over the next few years, I have no doubt about that.
Because of that, developers for Android applications are in demand at the moment.  If you want a decent app made then you need a decent developer right?
It’s so important to hire a developer that has the [...]

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