Android Developer Challenge Round 1 Winners

So, there’s been some time now to take a browse through the list of round one winners of the Android Developer Challenge. There are some very interesting ideas, and it’s good to get some clues about the way Android is heading.

The Phandroid blog has a great round up of all the winners.

I’ve had a good look through the winners (at least the ones that haven’t chosen to remain anonymous!), and, after much deliberation, chosen my top 5 winners. These are the applications I think I’d get most use out of, so obviously the list won’t be the same for everyone.

1. Splashplay - As a guitar player myself, this application is a really exciting concept for me. By simply attaching a “pod” and light panel to your guitar, you can learn songs and chords wherever you are using bluetooth. Features include a guitar tuner, metronome and handsfree Bluetooth foot pedal. Innovative ways to learn and practise instruments are becoming more widespread - I’m a big fan of Jam Sessions for Nintendo DS - and this application could really take off with music fans.

2. Cooking Capsules - I love cooking, but traditional recipe books can be hard to follow, and not especially convenient. Cooking capsules shows you a short cooking video, then using GPS tells you where your nearest supermarket is, and gives you a shopping list. You can then use step-by-step instructions to cook the recipes you saw in the video. I think this application could be huge. Cooking shows are immensely popular, and if there could be guest appearances by popular celebrity chefs, the potential for this application is enormous.

3. Wikitude - Wikitude shows you points of interest based on your current location. This is a great concept, and could be incredibly interesting and useful when you are in a new area. I had a go on their website and entered in my London work address. Wikitude gave me hundreds of nearby sites that I can now go and check out on my lunchbreak! I think this could become a very well-used application for me.

4. Eco2go - Almost everyone has at least some concerns about global warming. I use public transport for pretty much all my trips, but Eco2go is something that could help me to make sure I know all the options for my regular journeys. It provides an easy way for you to offset your carbon usage, and in the ‘Inspire’ section you can chat and discuss environmental issues with the global Eco2go network. The team’s enthusiasm for the project is certainly inspiring, check out their ‘Why we are excited’ page!

5. Rayfarla - Rayfarla is another intriguing music related application. The word is that Rayfarla “turns your phone into a musical instrument as well as providing a variety of mini games that are music related”. This certainly has the potential to be a very cool application, so I’m looking forward to finding out more exact details on this one!

 So, those are my top tips for the best Android applications so far! What do you think?

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