Android Development

Viewdle Inc just announced the largest Android developer contest to date. Offering a grand prize of $25,000 to the winner of the contest makes this a must for anyone that wants to try their hand at entering.

This is all based off the idea that face recognition software that is device based rather then cloud based is a good thing and solves any privacy concerned from cloud computing and piracy.

Viewdle’s Chief Product Officer, Jason Mitura said: “Fundamentally, Viewdle’s technology provides much more user control. We’ve been able to harness the processing power on newdevices to run face recognition algorithms on the device at the point of capture, rather than in the cloud or on a server, so that users can decide how their media is being used and shared.”

To get started you, as the developer, will submit up to a 3 paragraph application idea/summary to entry@viewdlecontest.com. You have from today through August 31st to get your submission in. At that time 10 finalists will be selected by a panel of judges, which include Stephen Erickson (@Stericson) and other notable Android influences, and flown for free to Mountain View CA on September 23. Where you will be showcasing your new completed application at the Android Homecoming 2011 FunFrence event.

Just the trip to the event and making it in the top 10 is a feat in it self. This contest is a world wide call for application developers, which means your competition will be stiff, but worth the end result. Lets say you don’t cash in big an win the $25,000 prize. That’s OK, The top 4 will each receive a new 10″ Honeycomb tablet AND the latest HTC Android device currently available. Viewdle inc didn’t stop there though. All 10 contestants will continue to consult with Viewdle after the event to help foster and refine their ideas to create a market ready application.

Mitura added: ““This will be the first worldwide computer vision contest for mobile devices – the possibilities are endless. We’re extremely excited to work with TheDroidGuy to bring our tech to the Android community and can’t wait to see what apps the developers design and present.”

This should be a very interesting contest. Viewdle already has a few applications available in the market, such as ThirdEye andViewdle SocialCamera. Both of which take advantage of their facial recognition software. You guys should check them out.

I suggest you quit reading this article now and get to thinking about how you can win that grand prize! We all look forward to seeing what our talented developers can create. Good  luck to you all.