Guest post: Mobile challenge in Europe
I’m happy to announce the official launch of a contest for EU residents: The Adobe Mobile Challenge. Adobe are challenging you to build a great AIR app and publish it into the Apple Store, the Android Marketplace and the BlackBerry App World for a chance to win a trip to Adobe MAX in Los Angeles, California this October. The first prize includes a flight, hotel accommodation and entry to Adobe MAX. Runner up prizes include Creative Suite 5.5 and Flash Builder Premium 4.5.1.
This is your chance to show us and the world what you can do. Using AS3 or Adobe Flex you can now develop advanced mobile applications and run them on iOS, Android and on the BlackBerry PlayBook. So what are you waiting for? Get coding. That said, you don’t have to build a new or exclusive application for this contest; if you’ve already published an application, feel free to submit it.
This challenge is managed by Adobe Europe, that’s why the competition is open to EU residents only :Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden & United Kingdom.
The submissions end on the 1st of September. Then the members of the jury will elect the best applications.You just need to develop an AIR mobile application with or without the Flex framework. It can be a game, a pure artistic experience, a lifestyle application, or even a productivity application… there’s no restriction except that it be a useful and interesting app. If you have already developed an application, you can submit that as well. You are not forced to create a new exclusive AIR application for this challenge.
Visit the dedicated website of this contest to discover its rules, the prizes and members of the jury: www.adobemobilechallenge.com
Android week: Win a Google Nexus One!
So today is my birthday… ehr… I mean… Today is the start of Google I/O! To celebrate both occasions, I am giving away a Google Nexus One to one of my readers.
I’m sure you all know that Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2 are coming to mobile devices. In order to win the Google Nexus One I want you to tell me which site(s)/app(s)/game(s) (built with Flash) you are most looking forward to using on your mobile device. What have you been missing on your current mobile device? Which application do you want to build with AIR for Android? Just leave a comment below and I will pick a random winner from all entries on Friday May 21st at 12pm GMT.
Easy, huh?
Just a few simple rules:
- The Google Nexus One phone is unlocked and ready to be used anywhere in the world.
- I will ship the device anywhere in the world using Fedex.
- This contest is open to anyone anywhere unless prohibited by law in your country.
- The winner will be picked randomly.
- Entries can be submitted until Friday May 21st 11:59am GMT.
- If you win, you will be notified by email. That means you have to enter a valid email address when you post a comment! If the email bounces, I will pick a new winner.
- In order to fight spam, the comments on this blog are moderated. Don’t panic if your comment does not appear immediately.
Looking forward to your comments!
UPDATE: This contest is now over. The winner is Patrick Welfringer. Thank you all for your comments!
Declaring this week “Android week”
February 9th 2010: The last day I used my iPhone. Or: The day I discovered Android. Or: The day I switched to the Google Nexus One. Well… You get the idea.
I was an iPhone user from the moment it came out. Before I continue this post, I want to repeat what I’ve been saying all along: Apple has done a fantastic job with the iPhone. I was very happy with my iPhone and never thought I would last more than a few days without it. Especially since I was so accustomed to having all my apps and my music there. But you know what…? Most of the apps I often used are also available on Android. And in all honesty… some of those apps look better on Android than they do on the iPhone.
Take Tripit for instance. If you are a frequent traveller, Tripit is your best friend. It was the first application I installed and when I first launched it, I immediately noticed how sexy the UI was. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that the iPhone UI isn’t sexy. Trouble is that every app that uses the iPhone design guidelines looks just like the next one. It’s refreshing to see application designers/developer being creative with their UIs again. (And yes, I do know that there are some very creative UIs on iPhone apps as well). In this particular case, the app even becomes easier to use. The icons, dates and times are a lot clearer compared to the iPhone version.
Even though I (and some of my colleagues) thought I wouldn’t last longer than a few days without my iPhone I am now entering my 14th week without it. But back to the title of this post… With Google I/O just a few days away and some really exciting announcements coming up, I officially declare this week “Android week”. I am going to blog about Android at least once a day and you can even win a Google Nexus One on my blog this week!
So… Happy Android week everybody!
Also read “Android week: On switching to Android“.
And the winner is…
Well… Picking a winner in my blog design contest was far from easy. I had multiple favorites and so I asked a few friends to help me pick the winner. We eventually narrowed it down to two and then did a final voting round.
The winner is Marten De Jongh, a freelance photographer/designer from The Netherlands. You’ll see his design appear on my blog mid-january.
I’d like to thank everyone who participated. You guys did an fantastic job!
Blog design contest: Design my blog and win CS4 Master Collection!
Last week I realized that I am not 100% happy with the blog theme I recently installed. I like it, but it’s not quite exactly what I wanted. In all honesty, I don’t really like fiddling around with CSS and HTML. I hate having to navigate around different browser implementations and therefore never really got in to CSS and HTML. I also realize that there are people out there with much better design skills than me.
Last week I asked my Twitter followers if someone would be interested in designing/building a theme for my blog in exchange for CS4 Master Collection. I also asked if they would want to participate in a contest or if I should just pick one person based on previous work. The majority of the “votes” went to an open contest and so here we are…
What am I looking for?
A nice, fresh, clean and unique theme for my blog. You would provide both the PSD files and the WordPress theme files. The code has to be 100% valid and as SEO friendly as possible. The main content area must be at least 640 pixels wide. The theme would have at least 1 widget enabled sidebar on the right.
What’s in it for you?
Eternal fame ;-) and CS4 Master Collection (a €3300 value).
Moodboard
To get you started, I put together a little moodboard that should hopefully give you an idea of what I like. I like minimalistic and clean with nice typography.
I also like these designs (or parts of it):
http://www.fontshop.be/
http://www.engadget.com/
http://www.adobeusergroup.nl/
http://www.adobeusergroupxl.nl/
http://www.8020studio.com/
http://aigany.org
http://concentric-studio.com/work/
Deadline
To spare you from doing unnecessary work, I will judge this based on the static designs. You can add a link to the design in the comment section. The designs have to be in on December 18th 2009. I will pick and announce a winner on December 21st. The winner will then create the actual WordPress theme. The final theme has to be delivered on January 15th 2010. Don’t forget: delivering the WordPress theme is part of this contest! The contest is open to anyone anywhere.
More questions?
If you have more questions, feel free to leave a comment or use the “Get in touch” form.
Looking forward to seeing your designs!
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