Back in November 2007, Andy Rubin, Google’s director of mobile platforms announced the Android (News - Alert) Developer Challenge with a call to developers to reach deep and come up with some creative applications for the mobile development platform. “We’re challenging developers to stretch their imaginations and skills to leverage the full capabilities of this new platform and to create something amazing,” Rubin said.

 

Well, five months on, Azhar Hashem, Product Marketing Manager for Android, Google (News - Alert) Developer Products Team, announced that the Android Developer’s Challenge has netted nearly 1,800 entries from developers in over 70 countries.

 

Hashem noted some interesting trends during the submission process. “When we announced the Android Developer Challenge, developers started submitting entries right away but it wasn’t until the April 14 deadline approached that the flood really began.”

 

“The rate of submissions spiked in the wee hours of Tuesday morning,” Hashem added, “reaching as high as 170+ submissions per hour.”

 

Submissions poured in from all over the globe and represented a vast array of diverse applications, with developers entering games and social networking applications, in addition to productivity tools. Apparently a full one-third of all the total application submissions came from developers in the United States, followed by Germany, Japan, China, India, France, United Kingdom and others.

 

Over 100 judges will now receive judging packets and laptops that have been preloaded with all the applications, in order to provide a consistent, judging environment across all submissions. Google has selected judges from among member companies of the Open Handset Alliance (News - Alert), in addition to a number of experts in the fields of mobile devices, cellular telecommunications, software development, and/or technology.

 

According to the schedule (revised in January 2008) the top 50 semifinalists chosen will be announced on May 5. These 50 developers will receive prizes of $25,000 each as well as move on to the final round of judging.

 

The deadline for the 50 winners of the first round to submit for the final round is June 30, 2008, and then on July 21the Android Developer Challenge concludes with the announcement of the grand prize winner and runner-up.

 

For additional details on the Android Developer Challenge, please visit the Web site.