Marvin Lee Dot Net

I had a fun afternoon last Saturday with some Gee Thugs in KL.

Sounds like a triad, looks like a triad, smells like a triad. The only thing is, it’s not a triad.

GTUG (yeah pronounced Gee Thug) is the abbreviation for Google Technology User Group.

The first meetup of GTUG KL was at iTrain, Jalan Tun Razak, Megan Avenue just beside Plaza OSK.

Mike from iTrain was the wonderful and ever smiling host of the day.

GTUG KL was founded by Nazrul who had everything ready to go for the first meetup of Malaysian Google fans.

The first meetup was mainly about Android, the phone which has since started to enter Malaysia.

Nazrul gave an overview of the GTUG and then proceeded to fill the crowd with information of Google Android.

Some photos to share:

He also ran the Android emulator or virtual device with Eclipse IDE.

Following that, we had lightning talks, where those who are interested gave an average 5 minutes talk on their Google Technology of choice.

Kegan demo his MalaysiaCrime.com project which uses Google Maps extensively.

Chee Aun showed his six gay GAE (Google App Engine) projects welcomed by huge laughter from the crowd when he called them ‘my gay apps’.

Ikhwan Nazri a.k.a. Tekong demonstrated his OfficeKami.com project that tracks and aggregates all his mobile office locations with useful information for mobile warriors or solopreneurs.

Colin Charles a.k.a. bytebot shared about the powerful Google Sites that can replace traditional free hosted websites like Geocities, Tripod and the likes in no time. He also feature Google Sites as ‘A poor man’s version of MS Access’.

Then, along came Razlan who showed us his Android G1!

He got his G1 for free from Wherecamp 09 at Palo Alto.

He has a program in the G1 that could decode the QR code on Nazrul’s t-shirt.

I had a chance to borrow the Android from Razlan later and found out that I like it so much!
Even though it’s the first generation of Android, I can’t help loving it already.

Subsequently, Haresh demonstrated how Google SketchUp can easily create 3D modelling without the need to have complicated software installed.

At the end of the lightning talk sessions, a voting was held to select the best talk to win a GTUG t-shirt and a cool GTUG USB Hub which transforms more than Optimus Prime. The winner was Tekong. I’m starting to like his talks already since the previous one from BarCamp.

A group shot of the GTUG KL first meetup before all of us belah.

Oh, just in case you were wondering why I wasn’t in the photos, that’s because I took those photographs. Hehe..

Thanks to Surianee, there are a couple of photos with me in it.

I had a quick 5-min intro on OpenSocial with FriendConnect.

You can checkout some videos recorded by Mike from his YouTube itrainulearn channel.

If you’re a fan of Google Technologies and located in KL, come join the user group and meet some techies and some not-so-techie a.k.a noob like me.
If you’re interested to set up a GTUG at another area, contact Nazrul.
Do follow GTUG events/meetups, Facebook group and twitter.

GTUG members are really not thugs. Serious.

Events, Google, Malaysia, Technology Android, Android G1, Google App Engine, Google Sites, Google SketchUp, GTUG, GTUG KL, GTUG KL Meetup, iTrain, MalaysiaCrime, OfficeKami, OpenSocial

The sequel to Android Developer Challenge is back.
There is an enormous bounty up for grabs with the highest reward amounting to USD 250k.
USD 250,000 for one person or a team!

I had a brief experience with Android SDK previously but gave up hope developing applications for it due to time constraints.

So to those who missed the first chance previously, now is your second chance for the jackpot, but honestly, starting to pick up the SDK and to develop a winning application for it wouldn’t be easy at all. Effectively there’s only less than 2 months left for submission of the Android application.

A few rules that I think are advantage for those who are starting to pick up Android:

*The ADC 2 contest is open only to applications that have not been published

*An application that has already been made available to the public (at the time of judging) is ineligible, regardless whether it is free or sold commercially.

*Additionally, applications that were entered in the ADC 1 contest are ineligible for the ADC 2 contest, regardless whether they were winning apps.

*Similarly, updated versions of applications entered in the ADC 1 contest are ineligible for ADC 2.

Looks like Google are singling out new developers for this challenge so that there will be more Android developers around the world. The rules would definitely be an advantage to new developers since there would have been a bigger challenge should those who participated in the first one are allowed to submit in the second challenge too.

Some other Terms and Conditions:
All submitted applications must run on Android 1.5 and be in English.

Awards

Prizes will be distributed as follows; all prizes are in USD:

For each of the 10 categories:

* 1st prize: $100,000
* 2nd prize: $50,000
* 3rd prize: $25,000

Overall (across all categories)

* 1st prize: $150,000 (meaning the overall winner will receive $250,000)
* 2nd prize: $50,000 (meaning the 2nd prize winner will receive up to $150,000)
* 3rd prize: $25,000 (meaning the 3rd prize winner will receive up to $125,000)

Impatient already? View the full details at the Android Developer Challenge site.

Some resources that might be helpful for you in your quest for the $250k reward
Android Developer Challenge 1 Winners
Android Developers Website
Android Google Code Project
Android Developers Guide
Android Developer’s Blog

And if you’re free this June 27th, Saturday and have something in mind to share about Android, why not join the Malaysian Google Technology User Group (KL) meetup?

Events, Google, Software, Technology Android, Android Developer Challenge, Android SDK, Google, Google Code, Google prize

The first Google Android phone in Asia is released in Australia, following the trail of its initial release in the US and UK.

The first Australian Android phone model is called HTC Dream (above) while the Androids in US and UK are T-Mobile G1 (below).

The HTC Dream is not only powered by Android, but also comes preinstalled with a suite of Google applications and a fully integrated Google experience: one-touch access to Google search, Google Maps for mobile, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, and YouTube.

Android is a mobile platform or simply the operating system of a handphone/mobile devices. Android-powered phones or Android devices means mobile phones made to run Android.

Android was an early initiative by Google which bought over a company building the mobile software and later grouped a few other handset makers and carriers to form a consortium named the Open Handset Alliance. When Google had Android earlier, it has been rumoured that Google is venturing into the mobile industry to produce a mobile phone. That has since evolved much until today. You can learn more about Android’s history here and its timeline.

I had been following quite closely on Android’s development since the launching of its Android Developer Challenge in 2008 which promises million dollar award to developers for great Android application. I have downloaded the Android SDK then and played with it although I did not really participated in the challenge. Basically the applications shown by other developers way before the submission date has already proven that there will be many greater applications than that I could think of or develop.

The Android SDK was quite easy to use and wasn’t that complicated. If you’re used to developing applications in Java especially with the Eclipse IDE, then it’s even easier for you.

And what’s the difference between Android and other mobile platforms like Windows Mobile, Symbian, etc?

Android is an Open Source project! Yes, it is a superb encouragement, that the upcoming and coolest mobile device, the Android, is built on Open Source platform! Its source code is open for download here.

And if that’s not cool enough, it’s built in Java and Google officially supports it!

Android platform allows developers to write managed code in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries.

The mobile devices platform are changing with the likes of iPhone and Android-powered phones where applications can be developed and not limited to those created and embedded by handset makers only. Android already has its own Market for distribution of such applications.

It might take a while for Android phones to be available globally but when that happens, that could just be the time when the internet has gone widely from the PC, to the laptop and to mobile devices.

See where the future is going?

Google, Hardware, Java, Software, Technology Android, HTC Dream, Open Handset Alliance, T-Mobile G1