Android Deeloper Challenge: Allowed submited application completeness

[Hazon]

Hello,

I would like to know if I have to submit my application completely
developed or if I can submit a functional DEMO of my application and
then use the $25,000 grant to complete it.

Thank you very much for your time,

Pablo Ferrari

[Muthuselvam Ramadoss]

Whatever you submit must impress the judges and highlight the potential for mass usage. Google wants mass adoption of Android. Android needs killer applications that users cannot live without. What's those killer applications. Well thats why we have ADC!

--
take care,
Muthu Ramadoss.

http://mobeegal.in - find stuff closer.

[tberthel]

Why not send both?

[Megha Joshi]

The judges will be judging the applications as if they were a user who downloaded the app for the first time. Thus, unless every user is expected to access specific gtalk accounts, the user should be responsible for creating whatever accounts are needed themselves. This also applies to server interactions, specific files that need to be loaded on SD cards, etc. The judges should be treated as first-time users who have just visited the developer's web site and installed the application.

[tomgibara]

This seems to be somewhat inconsistent with this post by Dan Morrill:

http://groups.google.com/group/android-challenge/browse_frm/thread/2571a31b40d5cd1b/1514a69f23351c2

The application I am planning to submit is already being adopted by
companies, even though it was written specifically for the Android
platform. This means, in my case, that I need to properly authorize
user accounts. I can't do this on the emulator because there is no
device identifier and no email support (so that I can confirm the
supplied email address). So I can't allow users to sign up via the
emulator.

Based on Dan's comment that they can't be expected to go to the
website to register, I guessed that my only option was to pre-register
an account for them on my server (though they can register a different
account if they want to), but this is not treating the judge as a
'first-time user'. What do you suggest?

Tom.

On Apr 3, 10:13 pm, "Megha Joshi" <mjo...@google.com> wrote:
> The judges will be judging the applications as if they were a user who
> downloaded the app for the first time. Thus, unless every user is expected
> to access specific gtalk accounts, the user should be responsible for
> creating whatever accounts are needed themselves. This also applies to
> server interactions, specific files that need to be loaded on SD cards, etc.
> The judges should be treated as first-time users who have just visited the
> developer's web site and installed the application.
>

> On Thu, Apr 3, 2008 at 1:12 PM, tberthel <travisberthe...@hotmail.com>

[Megha Joshi]

 Hi,

 The Android applications like GTalk use the standard gmail accounts, users can use their already established gmail accounts. As some of the android applications require a gmail account, there will be an option on the phones to register for gmail accounts, that is the model used with applications like Gtalk. On the other hand, what Dan said  was in a different context. The question he replied to was whether the judges will execute the contestant's server application, client application and his android application. Users/Judges are not expected to run your desktop applications or run applications from your site, etc. and then execute your Android application.

Thanks,
Megha

[tomgibara]

Thanks for the clarification,

Tom.

On Apr 3, 11:36 pm, "Megha Joshi" <mjo...@google.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> The Android applications like GTalk use the standard gmail accounts, users
> can use their already established gmail accounts. As some of the android
> applications require a gmail account, there will be an option on the phones
> to register for gmail accounts, that is the model used with applications
> like Gtalk. On the other hand, what Dan said was in a different context.
> The question he replied to was whether the judges will execute the
> contestant's server application, client application and his android
> application. Users/Judges are not expected to run your desktop applications
> or run applications from your site, etc. and then execute your Android
> application.
>
> Thanks,
> Megha
>

> On Thu, Apr 3, 2008 at 2:49 PM, tomgibara <tomgib...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > This seems to be somewhat inconsistent with this post by Dan Morrill:
>

> >http://groups.google.com/group/android-challenge/browse_frm/thread/25...

[r a f t]

hi megha,

this explanation raises the questions:
* will the judges be ordinary users or will they be IT
professionals ?
* will the judges be trained for using android ?

i'm asking these as i can't clarify what to write to my application's
document. should i write simply 'setup a GTalk account for this
application' or describe the account setup process in detail. an
ordinary user which sees the android first time probably wouldn't find
out how to setup a GTalk acount in his/her first attempt.

another question is, should we supply technical details of our
application in document ? it sounds like this readme thingy is like a
user manual, and user manuals doesnt contain technical details.

and will the judges judge our application on any architectural aspect
of it ? or what really matters is what our application does ?

thanks,
r a f t

On Apr 4, 12:13 am, "Megha Joshi" <mjo...@google.com> wrote:
> The judges will be judging the applications as if they were a user who
> downloaded the app for the first time. Thus, unless every user is expected
> to access specific gtalk accounts, the user should be responsible for
> creating whatever accounts are needed themselves. This also applies to
> server interactions, specific files that need to be loaded on SD cards, etc.
> The judges should be treated as first-time users who have just visited the
> developer's web site and installed the application.
>

> On Thu, Apr 3, 2008 at 1:12 PM, tberthel <travisberthe...@hotmail.com>

[Peli]

Good questions to which I want to add the following question:
* Is it ok to ask the judges to try out GTalk first with the API
demos, and only if this works to proceed with our application?

Reason: When I let others try out my GTalk application, they thought
my application was broken. But in fact it was only the well-known
"could not find JID" problem they had encountered. It is not an error
that I can catch programmatically - simply the other emulator will not
receive the intent.

Peli

[Dan Morrill]

Hello!

The judges will come from a variety of backgrounds, so some will not be developers.  You should write your documentation accordingly.

- Dan

[r a f t]

hi dan,

thanks for answer. so we should better write something about setting
up a gtalk connection. maybe in appendix

what about architectural information ? will the judges judge our

application on any architectural aspect of it ? or what really matters
is what our application does ?

r a f t

On Apr 5, 11:28 pm, "Dan Morrill" <morri...@google.com> wrote:
> Hello!
>
> The judges will come from a variety of backgrounds, so some will not be
> developers. You should write your documentation accordingly.
> - Dan
>

[Dan Morrill]

The shortest and most accurate way to answer this is:  judges will judge what you submit. :)

Architecture (meaning the way you've designed your application, etc.) will not be judged.  However, if you've built a framework such as a media framework, game library, or something similar, then you can and should mention that in your documentation.  The judges will be able to understand that you've built a library, but they'll judge it based on the demo(s) you provide.

- Dan

[ian]

One of my applications requires an account at my server. What I did
is: provide a default account, but remind the user that they can
create their own (specified both in the document and client
application). -- i hope the judges will create their own by which the
full capabilities of the app may be demonstrated.

What interested me is the composition of the judges. Seems more are
developers. Developers and End Users are often focusing on different
things ... My applications are practical and mature (but not fancy)
which may be more attractive to the judges that are not developers.