Fast Fact! The Android operating system for Smartphones, released in 2008, is an open source platform backed by Google, along with major hardware and software developers. The software suite included on the phone, consists of integration with Google’s proprietary applications, such as Maps, Calendar, and Gmail, and a full HTML web browser.
What exactly is Android Dev day and where is it held?
It’s an event hosted by Google, where Android developers and other mobile development enthusiasts have an opportunity to engage with each other and most importantly, with a Google Android ‘evangelist’. The day is filled with presentations on Android development and devices, case studies and coding/hack sessions. This particular Dev day was arranged and hosted by Justin Mattson, a Google Android evangelist based in San Francisco. Justin was kind enough to arrange the Dev day on the last day of his holiday in South Africa.
Why do you think it was important that you attended?
Being at the fore front of mobile development in Africa and with Android being one of immedia’s strategic development areas, attending this event was a must. Android development down South is fairly wet behind the ears, as compared to its popularity around the world. Having said that, the +/- 70 attendees at the event, is a clear indication that this premise is slowly changing.
What were some of the most interesting new developments that you were exposed to on the day?
In the first presentation, Justin discussed in detail some of the new features available on latest version of the Android OS (version 2.3 code named Gingerbread) including:
• SIP-based VoIP
• X-Large Screen support and
• Near Field Communications (NFC)
We were also privileged to play around with the Gingerbread OS on the Nexus S from Google, which is only available in the USA right now. It’s a pretty sleek phone and truly makes full use of the latest OS. There’s a saying that iPhones get you the attention of the girls and Android phones get you the attention of the geeks… trust me when I say all us geeks were drooling over the hot lil’ Nexus S!
We also got to experience the Samsung Galaxy Tab running Android 2.2 aka Froyo. I always thought that being able to hold a tablet device in one hand would be really nice and with the Tab’s 7″ screen that is very do-able. However, after playing around with the device, I came to the realisation that the lack of screen size would actually be missed. Having more real-estate on a screen for app development, allows for more rich and feature full tablet apps. Other than the screen size, I would say it is a nice device and an excellent first attempt from Samsung.
In Justin’s second presentation, he discussed one of his pet projects, Generic Asynchronous caching. This aims to improve API’s content retrieval and caching which gave me some insight on memory usage on Android devices.
A case study was also presented by a development house based in South Africa, on one of their apps that was built in three versions for three different mobile platforms.
It was very interesting to see how they overcame issues of device testing, user expectations and app store reviews, as this was their first client commercial application.
How will your attendance at the event shape/influence your work going forward?
It was definitely beneficial in that I was able to network with other local developers in the Android space. It also made me realise that although the interest in Android development is still fairly small in South Africa, it is growing at a steady pace and will be a major contributor to some awesome apps in the world market in the near future. Having an opportunity to be involved and engage in a community, especially one that is still so young (literally and figuratively!) in South Africa is pretty awesome. May be one day I can say, “I was there when it all started!”