Africa Android Challenge 2014 - [AAC 2014]

Are you aware of #aac2014?

Africa Android Challenge #aac2014 is a competition that allows us to groom the next generation of successful developers and Android experts on the African continent. These developers will create innovative Android applications with a focus on #design.

Why AAC?

The challenge aims at increasing the quality of Android Apps written by African Developers and well as to increase the quantity of video content on YouTube and Google+ illustrating ambitions and aspirations of African developers.

Where is it happening?
1. Sub-Saharan Africa
2. North Africa
3. Middle East Africa

When?
Round 1 :

30th Jan : Submission site opens
10th April : Deadline for resubmitting apps
15th April : End of first-round - Judges announces Semi-Finalists
15th April : Shipping Android Phones and Tablets to winners (semi-finalists)
15th April to 30th April : Frame to organize GDG Bar camp sync events (GDG/JUG) to celebrate the winners.

Round 2 :

15th April : Re-submission site opens
15th May : Deadline for resubmitting apps
20th May : End of the second round - Judges announce the winners
20th May : The team announces the destination for the winners
Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept : The winners travel (all-expenses-paid) to the Android/Google Developer Group community event.

Categories:

1. Education/Not for Profit/Reference/Productivity/Tools Enterprise/Small Business

2. Games(Arcade/Action)/Social Networking / Lifestyle/Travel/Misc

Criteria :

- Effective Use of Google Cloud platform (bonus)
Such submissions must have an URL of http://aac2014-[AppName].appspot.com domain for the cloud back-end
- Usability on multiple screen sizes
- User-friendliness (Ease of use)
- Relevance to Country (i.e. value-add to users)
- Innovation and creativity
- Execution of idea
- Use of hardware platform or use of Android’s features
- Branding (clever, catchy, sticky or innovative branding strategy)
- Necessity  (solve a unique problem, meet a need)

Judging criteria: 

The Judges will evaluate each entry and give it a score from one (1) to five (5) according to specific criterias. The entry with the highest score will receive the first prize;
In the event of a tie between any eligible entries, an additional judge will break the tie based on the criteria outlined below
The team will create a pool of countries with less than 3 submissions

What tools do you need to begin developing Android Apps:

1. An IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for example: Eclispe, Android Studio, IntelliJ
2. The ADT (Android Developer Tools plugin) for eclipse: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
3. Android SDK (Software Development Kit) - The Android SDK provides you the API libraries and developer tools necessary to build, test, and debug apps for Android.

If you're a new Android developer, we recommend you download the ADT Bundle to quickly start developing apps. It includes the essential Android SDK components and a version of the Eclipse IDE with built-in ADT (Android Developer Tools) to streamline your Android app development.

With a single download, the ADT Bundle includes everything you need to begin developing apps:

1. Eclipse + ADT plugin
2. Android SDK Tools
3. Android Platform-tools
4. The latest Android platform
5. The latest Android system image for the emulator

Important sites for reference and download: 

1. Main Website: http://developer.android.com/index.html
2. Traning classes: http://developer.android.com/training/index.html
3. Tutorials: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/android/android_resources.htm
4. Tutorials: http://www.vogella.com/tutorials/Android/article.html

We shall be having hack days and barcamps for the AAC 2014 but in the meantime you are encouraged to start developing.

All the best!