$10 million from Google for cool mobile apps

The Android Developer Challenge: Google has offered $10 million to developers for the coolest, most interesting, creative applications that will run on their new mobile operating system.

Android is the google sponsored operating system that they hope will run on all future phones, and with true google flair, they are offering some no-strings-attached funding to encourage developers to get involved.

If you want some of this money, you will need to move fast, though. They have split it into two packages:

Android Developer Challenge I: Happening now. You need to apply before March 3, 2008.

The top 50 entries each get $25K to fund their work, and then they also get the chance to apply for further grants (ten $275K awards and ten $100K awards)

Android Developer Challenge II: This part will only happen once the first android handsets become available - so we are talking the second half of 2008


As always - a breath of fresh air. Lets hope that some of those winning apps are good for learning!

If you want to find out more, visit the android site

Intel pulls out of OLPC !!

The news of the week must surely be that Intel, that giant of processors, has pulled out from the One Laptop Per Child project (OLPC).

There is not much information out about why, but it seems like Intel were being pressurised into stopping their own, alternative projects which they were unhappy about. or at least that is how Intel tells it.

Is this significant?

Well, yes, given that Intel dominate the current laptop market, though early versions of XO, the mean, green, OLPC machine were not using an Intel chip anyway, so this may not be a problem in the short term.

Still - it is one step backwards for joint working and co-development.

If you didn't already know, OLPC is the amazing group of people championing super-green, ruggedized, cheap laptops for learning. (See the BBC's technology factfile for the low down)


Geoff2008 (the new improved model)