Google knows that if it wants Android to succeed in the competitive mobile computing marketplace, it needs to make sure it not only attracts developers to the platform, but keeps them happy once they’re committed. And it kicked off its Google I/O conference yesterday by doing just that.
Right out of the gate, Google gave each and every Google I/O attendee a free unlocked phone running Android. (As Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan said in his live blog of the keynote: “Everyone at the conference is getting an Android phone to help them develop. Marketshare just increases by 4,000.”)
But that wasn’t all. Google also announced the second Android Developer Challenge (ADC2). This time around, developers will work with Android 1.5, also known as the Cupcake version of the mobile OS. Plus, Google’s added a new twist. Users will be able to download a special judging application and use it to download challenge applications and rank them. The applications that float to the top after that round will then be ranked by a combination of users and a panel of Google-selected judges, who will determine the final winners.
ADC2 will begin in August and run for two weeks, with the first round of judging ending in October and winners announced in mid-November (although Google cautions that all those dates are subject to change until the official rules are published in June).
The top prize is $100,000 for each of 10 categories, plus $150,000 more for the top app overall. Not a bad haul for some lucky/talented developer.
And finally, Google let Android developers know that all their hard work and Android-specific expertise is set to pay off in even more (lucrative) ways. Andy Rubin, senior director for mobile platforms at Google, announced at the conference that users and developers will see at least 18 new Android phones this year, and perhaps as many as 20. So no worries about whether a market for all those new Android applications will exist or not.
Add that to the fact that several netbook makers are contemplating using Android in upcoming wares, and it looks like Google’s keeping its Android developers very happy indeed.
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