The Android Site

From the Android Developer’s Blog:

I am happy to announce that Android Developer Challenge 2’s first round of judging has begun!

As a reminder, user voting determines which apps will make it to the second round. Voting will occur through an application called Android Developer Challenge 2, which is now available for download from Android Market. Android Developer Challenge 2 presents apps for each user to download and score according to a set of criteria, such as originality and effective use of the Android platform, among others. The first round of judging will last at least two weeks from today. Judging will continue until we receive a sufficient number of votes to identify the top 20 applications in each of the 10 categories (200 apps total) that qualify for the second round.

During the second round, judging will occur through a combination of user voting and input from a panel of industry experts. User voting will continue to occur via Android Developer Challenge 2 and will account for 40% of the final score that each app receives in round two. The remaining 60% of the final score will be determined by the industry expert panel.

It has been a little less than a year since the first Android-powered phones became available. Today, there are more than 10,000 applications available in Android Market. We are pleased by the energy and commitment demonstrated by developers in such a short period of time. Our goal with Android Developer Challenge 2 is to inspire the developer community to produce even more innovative apps for Android. Now on to the voting!

Search for “Android Developer Challenge” in the market, or scan this QR code with your phone to download:

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There are now new categories in the Android Market making it easier to browse applications. New categories include Comics, Health, Sports, and Themes. This is a small, but much needed update to the ever growing Android Market. Future updates include the ability for developers to upload screenshots, promo icons, and improved descriptions. As well as refreshed look, as shown in this video:

It would be nice to see more sorting options, ability to mark apps as favorite, and perhaps share an application with a friend via email. I guess that desktop version of the Market is still a long way out.

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The rumors are flying around like busy bees, and everyone seems convinced that an official Facebook application is on the way to Android very soon. AndroidAndMe first picked up the hints from some T-Mobile MyTouch marketing material. TechCrunch is convinced that Google and Facebook have been working together to make it happen. Despite last year’s news that Facebook just wasn’t interested. Has Android’s recent success changed their minds? With MySpace Mobile being the number 3 application in the Android Market right now, are they afraid of something?

Well readers, do you thing the official Facebook application is just over the horizon?

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We introduced you to the Brightkite for Android application a few weeks ago. It’s now official out of Beta status and released as version 1.0 to the Android Market.

A quick recap: Brightkite is a location based social network that lets users share with their friends their location, notes, and photos, all in real-time via the web, applications, email or even SMS. The Android application allows for easy check-ins, posting of notes and photos, as well as all the other features of Brightkite.

Grab it now, just search for Brightkite in the Android Market.

*UPDATE* Here’s the official annoucement on the Brightkite Blog.

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Had enough Hero news today? Well here’s a change of pace. T-Mobile has release two new applications to the Android Market. Mobile Backup And Hotspot Connect. And they both do pretty much exactly what you would think.

Mobile Backup will sync your contacts to you my.t-mobile.com account, while disabling your Google Account sync. Maybe not for everyone, but if you’re going to a non-Google phone or don’t use your Google account much, I can see how this would be useful. Or you can do a one-time sync, and stick with the automatic Google syncing. The app seems to suffer from the same thing as T-Mobile My Account, where you need to turn off you wifi manually before using it.

And Hotspot Connect will locate the nearest T-Mobile Hotspot and automatically log you in when you arrive.

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It’s not a stretch to say there are flaws in the Android Market. There are probably a thousand things that could be done differently. Personally, I would like to see a desktop version that’s linked to your Google Account to automatically load apps on your mobile. I would also like to see more specific categories, with the influx of home themes and e-books, the market is getting hard to navigate. Additional filtering options, such as price, ratings, etc would also be nice. Another addition I would like that I’ve seen mentioned several times is a direct link within free apps to donate to the developer. This eliminates having a separate app just for donations, or having to search for a link to send a donation.

So, question of the day is: How would you change the Android Market?

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Without an official blog post or even a peep from Google (yet), they quietly rolled out Google Maps version 3.1.0 for Android phones, now available on the Android Market. And unlike other normal application updates, you will not be notified of it, just search the Market for Google Maps. New features include voice search, transit and walking directions, business details and reviews, and Latitude updates including fixing that issue of not updating your location. And of course, all the same great features you’ve come to rely on, including traffic and street view. Also a few minor tweaks to the user interface, such as moving the zoom buttons to the corner, and a “shout out” feature in Latitude.

It took me a bit of trying to get it to download at first. At 1.76MB it’s a hefty download, but worth it in the end. Voice Search is quick and snappy and had no trouble deciphering my early morning voice for a few tests. And switching between car, transit and walking directions is a one-button operation. And of course, you can long-press anywhere on the map to get the address, start directions, or view Street View, if available. Although at the time of this writing, I could not get any address to pull up a Street View, even though it’s available all over my city.

So readers, have you tried it out yet? Excited about Voice Search? Are you a heavy user of transit or walking directions?

Here’s some screenshots of the new features:

If you can’t find it in the market, just scan the QR Code below on your phone with Barcode Scanner:

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Question Of The Day: What applications would you like to see in the Android Market?

Sure, there are plenty of useful and fun applications, but with apps coming out like “101 Farts,” you have to wonder, what applications should developers be focusing on? There’s still a large gap between the Android Market and the iPhone App Store in terms of number of applications. Are there any iPhone apps you would like to see Android versions of? One area that Android is seriously lacking is in gaming.

Leave a comment and tell everyone what you would like to see developers working on.

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The popular SMS application, SMSBarrage, with 10,000 downloads before it was pulled, apparently violates Google’s TOS. The applications lets you send large amounts of the same SMS message to any phone number. With the obvious ability to harrass and annoy, it’s no big surprise that Google didn’t think it fit well in the public market. You can still download it from the developer’s site, the latest version being 1.1.3, and iPhone and Blackberry versions are in the works.

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Looks like Google has just rolled out a new feature in the Android Market that went live sometime today. And as with all the rollouts, some of you may or may not be seeing it as of yet. Where previously the only developer information was to view more applications or email the developer, now depending on the data available, you can also visit a developer’s website or call the developer. I think the website link right in the market is handy, especially when it’s otherwise not shown, or included in the application description, but cumbersome to type out. On the other hand, I have to be a bit skeptical of the phone number being readily available. Sure, with big software publishers a phone number is nice to have, but if it’s just one person publishing apps, do they really want unsolicited phone calls about little bugs in their software? Sure the problem will sort it out soon, but I’m curious to know if Google has made developers explictly aware of phone numbers being published.

Update: Here’s a screenshot via @timsuh on Twitter:

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