Getting to know the Android Developer Challenge finalists
December 22nd, 2011 | Published in Uncategorized, Google Code
By Chukwuemeka Afigbo, Program Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa
Cross-posted from the Google Africa Blog
Last month, the five finalists of the Android Developer Challenge came together to share their experiences with the world via Google+ Hangouts.
Selected from a group of more than 200 submissions and 30 semi-finalists, the five finalists were Chike Maduegbuna, Bobola Oniwura and Tope Omotunde of AfriNolly (Nigeria); David Lemayian of Olalashe (Kenya); Gerald Kibugi of Shopper’s Delight (Kenya); Herko Lategan of Rainbow Racer (South Africa); and Richard Marsh of Wedding Plandroid (South Africa).
The interview was hosted by CP Africa, a popular African blog and Gbenga Sesan, Nigerian tech evangelist, who conducted the interview while sitting in the departure lounge of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos as he waited to board his flight to Addis Ababa.
Thanks to the power of the internet and Google+, the interview was held simultaneously in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, in collaboration with three developer hubs: Umbono (Cape Town, South Africa), Co Creation Hub (Lagos, Nigeria) and iHub (Nairobi, Kenya). The finalists answered live questions and questions from people around the world including Ghana, Italy, Malaysia, Mali, Nigeria and Uganda using Google Moderator.
The top-voted question was on how to prioritize features when building an application, while another participant wanted to know what kind of changes the finalists hoped to create in Africa with their applications.
To learn more about the finalists for the Android Developer Challenge and their applications, please visit the new case studies section of the Google Africa Developers website. If you create solutions using Google services for developers (Google Apps, Chrome extensions, Android, App Engine, etc.) and want to share your story with the world, let us know!
Chukwuemeka Afigbo is a Program Manager in the Sub-Saharan Africa Outreach Team. He is an avid football (soccer) fan.
Posted by Scott Knaster, Editor