Android Atlas

As the second round of the Android Developers Challenge 2 gets underway, Google is again calling on Android users to participate in the voting.

The field has been narrowed down to 20 semifinalists in 10 categories like Education/Reference, Entertainment, and Travel. As with the first round of the challenge, Google is encouraging developers to download the official application from the Android Market and vote on various criteria including originality of concept and indispensability.

Totemo

This developer community vote will constitute 40 percent of the overall score with a panel of Google-selected judges accounting for the remaining 60 percent. During the first Android Developers Challenge in 2008, judges from every founding member of the Open Handset Alliance participated. It's unclear whether Google will take a similar approach for this challenge.

The top three entries in each category will win cash prizes from $25,000 to $100,000. The top three applications overall will then additional bonuses. Third place will get $25,000, second place wins $50,000 and first place will take home $150,000.

The list of semifinalists includes developers who have come to make a name for themselves already. Hexage, an existing game developer, has a pair of games competing in the next round. Both its Radiant and Totemo are prime examples of Android gaming done right.

Two other notables, FlyScreen, and BuzzDeck, have a similar appeal but operate in two different capacities. BuzzDeck helps to extend the web experience for Android handsets by using dozens of "cards," from RSS streams, social networking services, and Web services. You can swipe through the cards and pull the latest information from their respective feeds.

Radiant

FlyScreen might look similar, but it's a bit different. Designed as a lock-screen replacement, it lets users pull news feeds and social networking services without actually going into the phone or opening an app. Simply wake your phone and you're greeted with your favorite news feeds. For example, if you're on Twitter, you can see your timeline, friends, and direct messages and you can tweet from within FlyScreen.

And while we're on the subject of Twitter clients, we noticed at least three titles (Xeeku Twitter, Swift Twitter App, TweetAssist) making the cut. While they might not win points for Originality of Concept, they likely scored well on Polish and Appeal.

Have you played with any of the applications on the list? Are there any particular favorites that you'd like to see win? What about titles you expected to see, but don't?

The Android Network Awards was a community run effort.

(Credit: Android Network Awards)

What are the best Android apps and games? That's not an easy question, but the Android community recently organized the Android Network Awards to determine the best that Android has to offer. After a week of voting, the community has spoken.

The idea started when a small group of blogs from the United States decided to organize and find the best Android software. Their goal was to nominate the best apps and games in several specific categories and let the community vote on the winners. More than 30 Android fan sites from around the world joined in to help plan and promote the event.

After several rounds of internal voting, the organizers nominated five apps in 26 unique categories. After 40,000 votes were cast in one week, the contest culminated on Monday with a live awards show hosted by the AndroidGuys podcast.

Several apps covered on Android Atlas were voted best of class. Mobile Defense won Best Security App, Sherpa was voted Best Location Based App, and Imeem Mobile took home Best Streaming Music App. Other categories include best apps for Twitter, weather, fitness, sports, productivity, and more.

A complete list of winners is currently hosted on the Android Network Awards site. On each app they've a barcode; just scan with your phone to go to the Android Market listing. If you browse the site from your phone, they've included direct download links for all of the winners. The list is great for new Android users, but I'd suggest that even seasoned Android fans check out.

During your turn, you can perform various actions using your available units and bases.

(Credit: UniWar)

More iPhone developers have begun to port their titles to Android as the mobile operating system gains momentum. Since the platforms have different native coding languages it can be a difficult and time consuming task. Thankfully, we're now beginning to see tools that allow developers to code in a single language and then easily convert to multiple platforms. Javaground has developed such a tool and has released its first title for Android.

Using Xpress Suite developers can write their apps in Java and then easily convert them to Android, iPhone, and Windows Mobile. To demonstrate its technology, Javaground has released UniWar for Android and iPhone.

UniWar is a turn-based strategy game where players battle their opponents online using three different races. First released for iPhone, it gained 30,000 registered users. And now this week, following UniWar's launch on the Android Market, players from different platforms can compete in free-for-all and team modes.

Javaground spokesman Alexandre Kral said his company chose to release the game on Android because the OS is picking up speed, and it expects Android will be one of the dominant platforms in the next few years. "We like the Android platform because it is robust, well designed and very open," he said. "Google truly created a free marketplace, and as a believer in free markets, I think it will do very well."

Early reviews of the game are positive, with users comparing it to StarCraft and Advance Wars. Up to eight players can compete in a single game on over 50 maps. Stats from the online games are compiled and posted on the official UniWar global ladder. In addition to the multiplayer mode, there's also a single-player campaign with 21 missions to conquer. The game is currently available in the Android Market for $4.99.

The Ion gives a taste of what to expect with the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

T-Mobile has finally unveiled its second Android phone, but how does it stack up with the carrier's first release? If you purchased a G1 back in October, is it time to upgrade? How were the major concerns of the first phone addressed?

The MyTouch 3G won't launch in the United States until August, but the phone has been available in other parts of the world for months. The Google Ion, which made the rounds at the Google I/O conference last month, is a limited edition version of the HTC Magic, and shares the same hardware and many features with the MyTouch 3G.

Battery life
One of the biggest complaints of the G1 concerned its limited battery life. Users were forced to disable many features in order to prolong use. Indeed, on my G1, I routinely had to disable Wi-Fi, GPS, and other features that I wasn't using. Normally, my phone would normally survive the day, but it was near dead when I placed it on the charger at night.

Luckily, the battery life is no longer an issue on the second Android phone. The Ion's 1300mAh battery offers increased capacity over its predecessor. Though it's only 13 percent larger than the G1's 1150mAh battery, it feels as if it has twice the capacity. Even if I leave all features turned on, my phone is still going strong at night. There have even been a few nights where I skipped charging the Ion, which is something that I could never do with the G1.... Read more