Google Announces $10 Million Android Developer Challenge

Challenge to Inspire Innovation and Improve Mobile Experience

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (November 12, 2007) – Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced the Android Developer Challenge, which will provide $10 million to developers who build mobile applications for Android™, the first complete, open, and free mobile platform. The Challenge is designed to support the developer community and spark innovation on the Android platform by awarding cash prizes ranging from $25,000 to $275,000 to developers whose applications are picked by a panel of judges.

"We’ve built some interesting applications for Android but the best applications are not here yet and that’s because they’re going to be written by developers," said Sergey Brin, Co-founder and President, Technology, Google. "We’d like to reward these developers and recognize them as much as possible."

"We believe that the Android platform offers developers a unique opportunity to create truly innovative mobile software," said Andy Rubin, Google’s director of mobile platforms. "We’re challenging developers to stretch their imaginations and skills to leverage the full capabilities of this new platform and to create something amazing."

Android was announced on November 5 by the Open Handset Alliance™, a group of more than 30 technology and mobile industry leaders committed to fostering innovation on mobile phones and offering a better consumer experience. The Alliance will provide developers with a new level of openness that enables them to work more collaboratively. Today, the Alliance released an early look at the Android software developer kit (SDK) that includes the documentation, sample projects, development tools, emulator, and libraries that developers will need to build an Android application. Today’s Android SDK announcement can be found on the Alliance blog: android-developers.blogspot.com.

The $10 million total in the Android Developer Challenge will be distributed equally between the Android Developer Challenge I and II. Submissions for Challenge I will be accepted from January 2 through March 3, 2008, and the 50 most promising entries will be recognized by end of March with each receiving $25,000 awards to fund further development. These 50 entries will then be eligible for even greater recognition by applying by May 1, 2008 for ten awards worth $275,000 each and another ten worth $100,000 each. Recognition for the top apps among those entries will be announced by end of May 2008. Challenge II will launch after the first handsets built on the platform become available in the second half of 2008.

A panel of technology and mobile experts selected from the Open Handset Alliance member organizations and the industry in general will judge all qualifying entries. Awards will be given to the developers whose applications leverage all that the Android platform has to offer in order to provide consumers with the most compelling experiences. Developers retain all intellectual property and other rights to their applications. Interested developers should:

1. Download the SDK at code.google.com/android/download.html
2. Build a great app.
3. Submit an application between January 2 and March 3, 2008.

Additional information about the Android Developer Challenge can be found at code.google.com/android/adc.html

About Google Inc.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top Web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall Web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

Media Contacts:

Barry Schnitt
Google
+1 650-253-4194
barry@google.com

Michael Kirkland
Google
+1 415-793-5571
mkirkland@google.com

###

Google, Open Handset Alliance, and Android are trademarks of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

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Motivational Monday: Laugh a Little Will Ya?

One of my students shared this on our private Ning. I was grading tonight and feeling overwhelmed, but watching this gave me a mood boost and I thought you'd like it too.



Let me ask you this... How often do you just laugh and be in the moment? So many times the problems we worry about never come to pass. Now, I the list-making Mama would never tell you not to plan, however, I find that I stress myself out way too much.

So, here are a few more:

Baby Laughing at the Wii



Or a summary of three funny ones



So, do you feel better?

tag: motivation, inspiration, learning, humor, funny

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Life, Ethics, and Alicia Keys

This is a great case study to share with the students. The article at PC world says:

"The widely reported problems with pop singer Alicia Keys' MySpace profile have been cropping up on the social networking site for the past ten days and are likely to continue, a security expert said Friday...

As with the Alicia Keys hack, which was discovered Thursday by Exploit Prevention Labs, these pages try to install malicious software on the victim's PC. If the victim's software is not fully patched, this can happen silently, but if that fails, the sites will tell the victim that he needs to install a video codec. That file is actually malware, researchers say.

In all cases, hackers used the same background, the same Web code and the same malicious payload. "It's the exact same hijack," Boyd said via instant message.

But one difference has been the amount of pain experienced by the bands after they were hacked. While the Alicia Keys site was repaired and up and running on Thursday -- the same day that the problem was publicly reported -- smaller bands that have fallen victim to the hackers have had to restart their MySpace profiles from scratch."

One band has been trying to get myspace to restore its backup to no avail!

Some things to share here:

• How to patch and keep one's computer safe.
• The importance of backup but also the ethics of having a company have total control over your backups and information. (This is going to be an increasing problem.)
• Hackers and ethics. The whole discussion.

But how about this. Why not have students write their solution for this. What should happen? I find that if you find a topic that students are passionate about that they will write!

Now, back to grading.

tag: ethics, teaching, education, myspace, social networking, safety, hack, Alicia Keys

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Nominate your favorites for the 2007 Edublog Awards by November 21st!

The edublog awards are open. Nominate your favorites in the following categories.

And don't "assume" that "someone" will nominate your favorite. A lot of bloggers (like me) will not nominate their own blog for an award. (There is a story behind that for me, but no time to tell it now.)

Go here to nominate by November 21st! (There are a lot of educational blog awards out there that are basically ignored by edubloggers, however, this is one by edubloggers for edubloggers and for me, carries a lot of prestige. So please, participate.)

Here are the categories:

2007 Nomination categories:

1. Best individual blog

The best edublog maintained by an individual

2. Best group blog

The best edublog maintained by more than one person

3. Best new blog

The best new edublog (group or individual) of 2007

4. Best resource sharing blog

The best edublog of whose primary purpose is to share information, links and resources.

5. Best designed blog

The most beautiful edublog

6. Most influential blog post

The edublog post that has had the biggest impact (for better or worse!)

7. Best blogged research paper or project

The best research paper or project in any field that has been
committed to an edublog

8. Best teacher blog

The best blog kept by a teacher for or about teaching

9. Best higher-education student blog

The best blog kept by a student in higher education (16+)

10. Best librarian / library blog

The best edublog kept by, for or about a library or librarian.

11 .Best educational tech support blog

The best edublog for providing hints, tips and support for your tech needs.

12. Best elearning / corporate education blog

The best edublog kept by or written about education and training in a business context.

13. Best educational use of audio

The best use of the audio medium in any form.

14. Best educational use of video / visual

The best use of the visual medium in any form.

15. Best educational wiki

The best educational use of a wiki.

16. Best educational use of a social networking service

The best educational use of any social networking service.

17. Best educational use of a virtual world

The best educational use of any virtual world space.

18. Best educational use of open source

The best educational use of an open source platform.

19. Digizen’s 13-19 competition

For young people creating and sharing online resources around the theme of cyberbullying

20. Conveners award

A special award given to an edublog that particularly deserves to be of note.

tag: awards, edublog awards, eddies, edublog

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BestoftheWeb: My Most Useful Tools

a simulpost with TechLearning

Bloggers, we need to work on welcoming folks to the Internet and that includes sharing our tools. I encourage you to share your most useful tools and websites with your readers. Tag it bestoftheweb

Let me start by saying, I know I'll forget something, but here is my list.

• BLOGGING:
  
  
• Blogger: This is where I blog. Yes, wordpress and typepad are "prettier," but integration with searches from Google is where its at and despite what folks say, nothing is integrated more tightly with Google Blog search and Google search than blogger. Period. If you're not found, you're not heard. So, if you use another platform, you'd better make sure you submit your URL to Google so you'll be found.
  
  
• Sources for content: Creative Commons Search and Youtube will turn up great sources for content or to add emphasis. When I get concerned about participating in group think, I pull myself out of the rut, I often go to Stumble upon, Digg, Twittervision, Flickrvision, or read the News at newsmap. It is so important to not only read IN education but also intentionally pull out of education and read other things. Don't think the "gurus" know it all. They don't. Sometimes they are wrong. Grassroots folks are important. I also read those who are writing about my work using my watchlist in technorati. (I also pay special attention to new bloggers, sometimes a comment from someone they've linked to will keep them going.) I also browse and read the tags I'm following in Education.
  
  
• Tagging - If you have read 10 Habits of bloggers that win, you'll understand the importance of tags. I use the Tag Editor firefox add on.
  
  
• Blogging Widgets and Add Ons:
  
  
• Feedburner - This takes your RSS feed and makes it really useful. I use it to splice my del.icio.us links into my feed (something that many of my readers often tell me they like best. So much for blogging. ;-)) I also suggest you use the show feed readers button, add e-mail subscribe ability (for those who just can't do RSS), and a big RSS "chicklet" in the top left or top right corner of your blog. You can also use it to add all kinds of cool things at the bottom of a post (called Feed Flare). (I also love Feedburner because it lets me take the school blogs and import them onto the website. See my blog about how to use RSS to automate your website.)
  
  
• Show Me Widget - This is a must use for bloggers. If you go to my blog and look on the left hand side, it shows you all of the places I communicate. Until the Open Social API takes hold, this widget helps others connect with you.
  
  
• RSS Readers
  
  
• I think that each of us should have two types of RSS readers: the visually organized RSS reader and our "power reader." It is about fast, easy access. We are so shaped by the information we surround ourselves with. None of us have any time, so setting up good RSS readers will pay big dividends in all areas of your life.
  
  
• Visual RSS Readers --
  I have two favorites for this. I start up using my iGoogle page which includes several of my favorite blogs (shhh I'm not telling), my Airset calendar, my weather, Google Groups. It also includes a tab for "work" which includes a quick view of my Google Reader, access to my Google docs, and my Google Notebook. I also have a tab for my own "fun" including movie times and ratings, ratings of top products from PC Mag, an RSS feed of the top videos on Google video and youtube (and no they aren't the same), a recipe of the day and a feed from Interesting thing of the Day and How Stuff Works.
  
  Netvibes - My Teacher Dashboard - I use this for grading ALL of my student work. All of the wiki edits and comments, RSS feeds from public student Nings, public student blogs, etc. are here. The way this RSS reader works is ideal for grading and just so easy. It is the one I teach my students. I have at least 10 tabs in here!! If you want to know how I set this up, use the free tutorial that I created over at Atomic Learning where I give you a behind the scenes tour of how I set this up. Of note to principals is how I follow the youtube videos, etc. that are posted with my school's name. I am now calling this my teacher "dashboard." I can dash over there and see everything at a glance, all new things, all issues, all comments... everything!
  
  
• Power RSS Reader - While I've used bloglines for two years, I've been gradually moving to Google Reader just because it is so unbelievably easy to use. It is chock full of features, not to mention the recent implementation of Google Gears which allows me to read my Google Reader OFFLINE! So, when you go on that long trip, the kids can watch a DVD, and you can catch up on your RSS! Just so cool. (And for those who don't want to set up delicious, the google clip service is really cool.)



• My Personal Learning Network
  Besides my RSS reader, these are other things I use to learn. (Also see above, other sources for content.)
  
  
• iTunes - More people listen to podcasts on PC's than on their ipod. This free software is my best friend and companion many times. Mood is often affected by music and sometimes we don't need medication, we need music! (I wish more schools allowed kids to work with ipods on!) If I'm stressed, sometimes a little Jimmy Buffett, James Taylor, Indigo Girls, or even a Disney tune just snaps me right out of it!
  
  
• ipod - I always thought it was hype. It's not. My nano is with me. I have turned my most despised task of washing dishes and clothes into a joyous one, as I listen to the Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, anything from Twit TV (Leo LaPorte is da man!) , the shows at Edtech talk, the Bored Again Christian, or whatever podcast suits my fancy. I'm often adding and removing podcasts.
  
  (When I'm working on computers, I always have my earbuds in and am listening to something. Honestly, it helps me focus and it is why I let my students do the same. If you want to see them type a term paper in no time flat, give them their iPod and see what happens. You'll see that they work, don't talk to neighbors and focus. Isn't that what we're supposed to provide, a great working environment?)
  
  
• Twitter - Twitter isn't for everyone. However, if you're going to test, use, and innovate on the bleeding edge, it is a must. When I decided to ustream, I went online and asked if anyone was "around" and had 6 people helping me test it within moments. It has sped my own R&D cycle up considerably and has prevented me from taking things into the classroom that don't belong there. Oh, and I actually use snitter to twitter. (And while some talk about leaving the blogosphere for twitter, I think this is a bit ridiculous. There is a place for both. Twitter is like the backchannel of the blogosphere but not its replacement.)
  
  
• Newsmap - The most efficient way to read the news. Period.
  
  
• My students (and family)- I have a private ning for all of my students. The Ninth graders also blog at youth voices. Flat classroom students blog and communicate over on their Ning. I read student work more than everything else combined (since I am a teacher) and I find that it refreshes me, gives me hope, excites me, teaches me, and makes me a better person and more focused teacher. When my students reflect on my classroom it is like an instant focus group. Why wait to survey them at the end of the year? If they are reflecting daily, you're learning daily what works.
  
  My kids are some of the greatest teachers about technology. I take the time to learn the newest Xbox game (although when I play call of Duty, I can't climb the darn ladder) or adopt a Webkinz or IM my own children. I listen a lot! I am a parent who loves them and I want to be IN their world. It takes effort but it is worth it and it makes me a better teacher (and mom.)
  
  
• Other Important tools
  
  
• Del.icio.us - The best bookmarking and sharing tool. Period. I want to play with Diigo which integrates with Delicious, but for now, Delicious is it.
  
  
• Screen Capture - I've used CamStudio for screen captures, but have recently begun using Camtasia. I love it, however, if you cannot afford it, head over to the free Jing Project. I believe that screen capture is an essential skill. The reason that I love Camtasia is that the codecs are great, and it gives you the ability to render for just about any platform.
  
  Oh, and if you're going to screen capture, Sizer is a must download tool that automatically sets windows to the default video sizes. (Otherwise, you'll get blurry images.)
  
  
• Video Editing and Conversion - I use a smattering of products for this. For editing screen captures, I use the Camtasia Studio. When I want to green screen, I use Pinnacle Studio 10 (thanks Dean Shareski).
  
  A must own for anyone editing video is Quick Time Pro. It allows you to convert all kinds of video formats, grab still shots of video, and has a robust editing program in this deceivingly simple looking software. You can even rip mp3 files off of quick time videos and produce video for the iPod or iPhone. It runs around $30.
  
  But if you need to convert and want something FREE try Zamzar. It converts between all types of formats... even those nasty Open Office to Microsoft Word conversions.
  
  Other great multimedia tools that are Free, Windows Movie Maker, PhotoStory, VoiceThread, Slideshare (try slidecasting), Animoto, and my sister loves iMovie.
  
  
• Video for the Classroom - Of course, I'm one of the lucky ones who uses youtube in the classroom and do so at least twice a day. Nothing like video to pull them in! But, for longer videos and high quality teacher materials, nothing beats the united streaming service from Discovery Educators. This service has recently been provided for our teachers here and I've just finished training all of the teachers. From the word of a veteran teacher, "Finally a technology I can use." The videos are searchable by topic, grade level, and include standards, teacher guides, and quizzes. If your library is wasting money on DVD's, tell them to STOP and purchase united streaming. It is a must!
  
  
• Synchronous Communications - For communicating one on one, I love Skype. We use it at my school to provide tech support to teachers, send files, resolve issues quickly. It is great. I also love Google Talk but can only communicate with those who have gmail accounts. (like my whole family)
  
  For real collaborative projects and group meetings, Elluminate is my favorite. With the seven teachers for Flat Classroom it is IMPOSSIBLE to get us all awake at the same time, so we use elluminate for the 3-4 who can meet to get together and then we record it and send the recording to the others. They have an mp3 feature coming soon which will make it even more useful. You can use a vroom for free and Elluminate Live is free also. I believe every student should know how to use a live classroom environment such as elluminate. They WILL use it in college.
  
  
• Asynchronous Communications - OK, my name is Vicki and I love wikis. I can't help it. Is it any wonder? They are easy to use, have a super quick learning curve, and are trackable down to the comma. You can control editing and even make them private. As most folks know wikispaces is my favorite. Not that the other folks aren't great, but I KNOW Adam and the folks at wikispaces and when I have a problem it is solved in moments. They listen to educators and were one of the first organizations to offer ad-free services of any kind. I have my class wiki, the Flat Classroom Wiki, the Horizon project wiki, my cool cat teacher wiki for presentations, and the k12 wiki to train teachers.
  
  It is also important when collaborating globally to decide how you're going to connect the students. Our first project, we shared e-mails. Then, after experiencing it, we think that is not a good idea. Using a social network like Ning allows the students to communicate, and a comment on a student's page generates an e-mail nudge to come over to the Ning. It allows us to coach the process. Great tool!
  
  
• Airset - I've blogged about this one before. Airset is my life. I now have airset on my cell phone (b/c I can't afford the Treo I'm dying for!) It handles time zones, runs my family, handles my lists, and even sends text messages to my cell phones (or those in my family) when I enter reminders. (see my posts Rapidly Synchronize your Sanity and time Zones adieu meet Airset.)
  
  
• Cell Phone Tools - My new favorite is 4info.net. In fact, the other day I was talking about this in a conference and a man jumped up and said "I love you!" This handy service lets me subscribe to weather alerts for me. And I have it text me when a Georgia Tech ballgame ends. My son, who literally wouldn't leave the house on game day, gets a text message for EVERY SCORE CHANGE in a Georgia Tech football game. He went canoing two weekends a go and relaxed, knowing he'd know the score.
  
  I also use Google SMS- GOOGL - and have taught my students to use Google to translate, find directions, define words, and more.
  
  Another great service is Jott.com -- It is great for sending myself messages when I don't have a pen handy. I can blog from jott, but usually don't, my southern accent is a mess with Jott. I have used it to send messages to others when I can't get to a computer. Very useful!
  
  I also love Twitter on my cell. Not only can I twitter from cell, but I can receive direct messages on my cell phone. This meant a lot to me this past summer when my grandmother passed away, I received direct messages as condolences. It really helped me a lot.
  
  
• Word Processing - I still love Microsoft Word. The Microsoft Office is a must own for teachers. (Sorry open source guys.) The smart art feature is the best for teachers because it makes creating graphic organizers very easy. But don't write your blog posts in there or you'll trash your RSS feed.
  
  Google Docs is what I use for collaborative editing or writing for blogs. It is a great online office suite.
  
  
• Presentations - Although PowerPoint is the de facto standard, I often create in PowerPoint and pull into Google Presentations. And if you only use PowerPoint in your preso, you're missing out. You should pull in web resources AND video, which means going to the web. That is where google presentations is so handy. Drop in the link and those following online can go directly there. And remember to recruit a backchannel facilitator beforehand.
  
  
• Live Streaming - Although I'm testing a new service, uStream has still got it!
  
  
• Photo Editing - Guys, PhotoShop is the best. I know there is other stuff out there, but there are some things that I just have to find the money for.
  
  Some free tools are out there like Gliffy. Also, I love Flickr, and love their tools for automatically adding photos to the school website. Also, everything over at Big Huge Labs is wonderful (and free unless you need a print.) Also, forgive me for this term, but I needed to blow up a photo really really big, and if you want to do that, rasterbator is great for it. (Just don't tell anyone the name of it.)
  
  
• Webcam - I have a personal Favorite. The Logitech Quickcam Fusion and here is why. It has the most phenomenal avatars, so when you want your students to shoot video and do not want their face on the video, you can still do it. The videos range from princesses to leprechauns and it requires NO geekiness.
  
  Additionally, it clips to your monitor but can come off easily and be held for video that needs to be a little more mobile. This is one thing you cannot do with permanently affixed webcams.
  
  
• Web Browser - Firefox - Using the add in's firefox is literally MINE. It is customizable to everything I am and makes it easier to work.
  
  
• E-mail Tools -- I use Gmail and have a great new add in called Better Gmail that helps me follow the Inbox Zero principles that I'm following now. If you have Gmail and are using firefox this is a MUST DOWNLOAD!
  
  If I wasn't using Gmail, I would be using Thunderbird because of its ability to do templates. You've got to use power tools in your e-mail or your e-mail will kill you.
  
  

I'm sure there are other things I'm using, however, I've been working on this blog post for 3 hours and its late and I need to go to bed! (And I probably missed a few typos too.) So, let me know what I've forgotten, will you?

tag: bestoftheweb, wowoftheweek, tools, web 2.0, innovation, Gmail, google, Thunderbird, Inbox zero, firefox, Logitech, Flickr, Gliffy, Photoshop, uStream, Microsoft, Microsoft Powerpoint, Microsoft Office, Google Docs, Twitter, Jott, SMS, 4info.net, Airset, Palm Treo, Treo, Ning, wiki, wikispaces, blogger, elluminate, discovery educators, united streaming, Skype, VoiceThread, Slideshare, Animoto, iPod, Pinnacle Studio, Dean Shareski, Camtasia, Camtasia Studio, Jing, Delicious, Webkinz, Twitter, ipod, Twit TV, Leo Laporte, Google Gears, Google Reader, bloglines, Atomic learning, netvibes, igoogle, Feedburner, Technorati, Creative Commons, Youtube

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I need answer's: What will the home of the future look like?

My Dad has always been into technology, and is the reason I fell in love with technology before I hit double digits.

He is taking me to a cool meeting today at 3 pm EST to discuss the fundamental question:

"What will the house of the future REALLY look like?"

This group has grant money and are looking to build the house that we need to have in 10 years TODAY!

The focus is energy efficiency and technology. The reason I'm going is to talk about the student of the future AND the content creator of the future (which I feel like a lot of us are living now.)

If you post a comment in the next hour, I'll get it. Otherwise, you can direct message me at coolcatteacher on twitter. (Just sign into Twitter and type dm coolcatteacher and then your thoughts.) It will then text it to my cell phone.

I want to demonstrate to the others just how connected we are and how things are working now with your answers on my cell.

Thanks!

(Oh, and if you come across this later, still leave your message, I'll forward it to the group. Doesn't this grant sound too good to be true? I wish it was my house they were building!?)

tag: home, future, innovation, student

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Play Web 2.0 Truth AND Dare

Truth

Watch this video (hat tip to David Warlick)



Dare

In light of this video, I have 20 questions for you, how do you rank?

Do you spend any time talking about proper methods of e-mail?

Do you have a facebook or myspace profile? (I don't?)

I someone wrote about you, is your name hyperlinkable? (Do you have something they can link to?)

Do you know the names of all of your students?

If your students have computers in the classroom, do your students make ongoing eye contact?

Are you unafraid of what would happen if youtube, myspace, and facebook were allowed in your classroom?

Do your students collaboratively create documents?

Do you expect your students to complete their reading assignments?

Do you assign papers and grade them after reading EVERY WORD?

Have you ever given assignment and allowed students to create content on the public world wide web?

Do you allow students to post content WITHOUT premoderation?

If you allow students to post online, do you subscribe to 100% of their content in your RSS reader?

Do you comment on your student blogs?

Is more than 50% of your content relevant "to life?" (Ask your students)

Do all of your students open their textbook for your class on a weekly basis?

Do you give reading assignments that include web content?

Have your students been taught methodologies for assessing the validity of web documents?

Do you give students projects where they must manage themselves, multitask, and deliver a comprehensive output that is relevant to your topic?

Have you changed anything significant about ALL of the courses you are teaching THIS YEAR?

Do you care?

Answer these questions on your blog, in the comments below, privately at your desk. What questions are missing?

Double Dare...

Show this video to your administrator.


tag: web 2.0, teaching, education, learning, pedagogy, , coolcatteacher, youtube, video, opinion, hz08, leadership

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