We have received sufficient scores and have now closed public judging for ADC 2. We are reviewing the final results and will announce the top winners this coming Monday, November 30.

Some of our carrier and OEM partners may want to connect with you for future opportunities. If you are interested in participating, please fill out this form:

[link removed]

In addition, we will be highlighting all of the top 200 applications on code.google.com. We plan to include your previously submitted icon and description. If you have an update to your description, please also include it in the above form and we will update it in future refreshes to the site.

Thanks for your entry, and good luck!
ADC 2 Support

There are close to $2 million in prizes, with the top winner receiving $250,000. This is going to be an exciting announcement for several developers and should launch a new app to stardom. Check back next week for the winners and we will try to interview the top devs.

ADC2 Awards

Prizes will be distributed as follows; all prizes are in USD:

For each of the 10 categories:

• 1st prize: $100,000
• 2nd prize: $50,000
• 3rd prize: $25,000

Overall (across all categories)

• 1st prize: $150,000 (meaning the overall winner will receive $250,000)
• 2nd prize: $50,000 (meaning the 2nd prize winner will receive up to $150,000)
• 3rd prize: $25,000 (meaning the 3rd prize winner will receive up to $125,000)

The following is a sample email that Google is sending out.

Congratulations! Your application ‘Todoroo’ was selected by Android users as one of the top 20 in the Lifestyle category! We’re excited that you chose to participate in the ADC 2 and wish you luck in the final round as your application is evaluated by users and a panel of judges.

For full information on the challenge, please see our official site: http://code.google.com/android/adc/

Thanks,
ADC 2 Support

There are 10 categories with 20 finalists in each which means 200 apps will be competing for top prize.

Update: Google has posted the list of top 200 apps on the official ADC site.

Categories

• Education/Reference
• Games: Casual/Puzzle
• Games: Arcade/Action
• Social Networking
• Lifestyle
• Productivity/Tools
• Media
• Entertainment
• Travel
• Misc

Awards

Prizes will be distributed as follows; all prizes are in USD:

For each of the 10 categories:

• 1st prize: $100,000
• 2nd prize: $50,000
• 3rd prize: $25,000

Overall (across all categories)

• 1st prize: $150,000 (meaning the overall winner will receive $250,000)
• 2nd prize: $50,000 (meaning the 2nd prize winner will receive up to $150,000)
• 3rd prize: $25,000 (meaning the 3rd prize winner will receive up to $125,000)

Go vote

Search the market for ADC2 or scan the QR code above.

After installing the app, random applications are downloaded to your phone in order to let you review them. The voting application sends a message to your notification bar when an app is ready to be installed and another message reminding you to score the app.

Users score the applications in the following categories:

• Originality of concept
• Effective use of the Android platform
• Polish and appeal
• Indispensability

Round 2 judging is expected to end in November (estimated) so vote before time runs out. The first round ended abruptly so there is no telling how long the 2nd will last.

If you find an application or game you really love, leave a comment and let us know.

Scan to download.

Google released the Android Developers Challenge judging application today. After installing the app, random applications are downloaded to your phone in order to let you review them. The voting application sends a message to your notification bar when an app is ready to be installed and another message reminding you to score the app.

Users score the applications in the following categories:

• Originality of concept
• Effective use of the Android platform
• Polish and appeal
• Indispensability

Google will use the community votes to calculate which apps will advance to the second round.

The twenty (20) Entries in each category with the highest scores (for a total of 200 Entries across all categories) will be determined to be “Qualifying Entries” and will advance to the Second Round. If any category does not contain at least 20 Entries, all Entries in that category will advance to the Second Round. In the case of a tie,a panel of judges selected by Google will determine the Entries, from among those that are tied, that will advance to the Second Round.

The first round judging will end sometime in October and the winners will be announced in November when the second round judging is over. It will be interesting to see how the community scores the apps since most are a month old and the developers are not allowed to update them with any bug fixes or new features.

If anyone stumbles across a really cool app, leave a comment and let us know about it.

Update: Google posted on the official Android blog about ADC2 judging.

[Thank you supernova for the tip]

Light Racer 3D

Robert Green developed a TRON inspired motorcycle racing game. The game takes place in full 3D and offers support for multiple players. The title is currently available in the Android Market for $4.99.

Mole Miner

Little Fluffy Toys has developed a puzzle game called Mole Miner. Players can compete for local and global high scores. The title is available for free in the Android Market.

X-Disc

Not much is known about this title from Fallen Leaf Games.  It appears to be a mix between dodge ball and soccer.  I searched the Android Market, but could not find this game for download.

Head to Head Racing

Craig Mitchell has been working on racing games for awhile and Head to Head Racing is his latest title.  This top down racer lets you compete against your friends with the winner taking the car.  A lite version is available for free in the Android Market.

Daisy Garden

This title from Tom Gibara allows you to start a garden and grow flowers. Each flower that you plant can be added to your desktop as a widget. You can purchase the full title for about $1.96 or download a lite version for free.

Have you seen any other ADC2 games captured in video form? Send us the link and we will update our list.

The timeline for the remainder of the event is as follows:

• August 31: submission site closes
• September: ADC2 client/scoring app goes up on Market; users begin reviewing apps
• October (estimated): first-round judging ends
• November (estimated): final judging ends, winners announced

The next round of action begins when Google releases an official judging app to the Market which allows users to download and score apps.

After the public questions arose about the submission site, we contacted Google to see if the rest of the schedule was still on track.  In response to the availability of the judging app, a Google spokesperson responded with the following:

“For availability of the judging app, we are targeting mid-September, but the date depends on how many submissions we have to process.”

This is in line with the original schedule and should hopefully calm the concern over meeting deadlines.  Once the judging app is available in the Market, users will be able to score entries based on the following criteria.

1. Originality of Concept:  Does the application introduce a great new idea; for example, a new angle on social applications?
2. Effective Use of the Android Platform:  Does the application take advantage of Android’s unique and compelling features, such as built-in location-based services, accelerometer, and always-on networking?
3. Polish and Appeal:  Is the application easy to use and aesthetically appealing?
4. Indispensability:  Is the application compelling and essential, such as a game the user just can’t put down or a utility she can’t live without?

During the first round, the community scores will be used to determine the top 20 applications in each of the 10 categories.  These 200 apps will then qualify for the second round of judging that will be done by the community and an expert panel of judges chosen by Google.  The community judges scores will comprise 40% of the final score, with the remaining 60% determined by the expert judges.

From what I have been reading, there does not appear to be much buzz for ADC2, even though Google is offering close to $2 million in prizes. I would have expected to see more apps appear in the Market during August so developers could gather feedback from users and fix any bugs.  After the August 31st deadline, developers will not be able to submit new versions of their apps for Judging.

Hopefully, we will be surprised when we finally see the full list of apps that got submitted.

Public voting for ADC2 begins this September.