• + The Launch of the G1.  Holy smokes it actually works!
• + Waiting for “paid” apps to launch.  Seems like it took forever!
• + The launch of a2b and our first dollar of revenue!  2/19/09
• + Answering 5,474,764 customer service emails!
• + Key Ring is patent pending!
• + Fun podcasts with androidguys.com and motodev!
• + Award nominations for both Key Ring and a2b via the android network awards!
• + The google android developer conference.  Finally, names with faces!   Met a great game developer by the name of Jeremy Slade as well!
• + What’s twitter???  Okay, I guess I’ll give it a shot :)  Met guru 3D annimation artist, Mark Reisch.  The power of twitter :)
• + Key Ring launches!  Becomes the number one paid shopping app in 48 hours!  Then we made it free 3 weeks later haha
• + Getting a free MyTouch at the google dev conf.  Finally, a phone I would use!
• + Cows and Potatoes!  What a great mix!  3 months later we have a game :)
• + The launch of the Motorola Cliq, Samsung Galaxy, HTC Hero, and soon the HTC DROID!  3 of the 4 largest US carriers now sell android handsets!  AT&T, where you at?????
• + Smack talking DROID commercials on the iPhone!  haha

Working in the mobile space isn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination, but if you thrive off of competition, being innovative, and solving real world problems it can be one of the most rewarding jobs ever!  Here we are a year later with roughly 100,000 customers and I have no doubt we’re going to see explosive growth with android/our apps in the next few months.  It’s been a pleasure working in the android space and we look forward to driving on and delivering best in class applications!

To say thanks for all the support we’ve received over that past year, we’re going to give away several free versions of a2b!  I’ll announce the give away via twitter.  Follow us at @froogloid!

Okay, time for a beer :)

~Team Froogloid

So, the question is… how did a2b make its way to China since China doesn’t sell android handsets, and even if they did, they certainly don’t support “fee based” downloads.

• +Did someone from the US/Europe that has access to paid apps download a2b, travel to China, and use the app on china’s gsm networks?  Are the existing android devices even capable to operate on China GSM frequencies? 
• +Has a2b been hacked and is being distributed all over the world? 
• +Are Chinese device manufacturers using a2b to test the networks with phones not yet released to market? 

What are your thoughts?  Any other android developers seeing their apps being used in China?

Link to podcast

Enjoy!  If you have any questions, comments or your own experiences, post em up!

First, chose an application idea that’s do-able.  For example, don’t try to invent a time traveling mobile application your first time out the gate :)  Once you have your idea, do some research to see who else is offering a similar product.  If someone has already built an application that’s very similar to your idea, don’t be discouraged.  The reality is, your idea is probably not an original.  Study what other people have built and figure out a way to add additional features and streamline the apps usability.  Often times it’s better that someone has already built a product similar to your idea so that you can learn from their design shortcomings.

Now that you have your idea, let’s get started with the design.  First, if your not familiar with the Microsoft office application “visio”, I HIGHLY encourage you to learn. It’s a simple application that will allow you to create screenshot designs very easily and fast.  If you’re a newbie check out the visio how-to video’s on youtube.  Here’s one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmDjmm0btO8 Here’s the best part…. a company by the name or artbitfuls has created a custom visio stencil specifically designed for android UI creation.  You can download the stencil here and also see some of the designs they’ve created using visio.  Keep in mind that visio is very helpful in regards to designing your layout and picking which android widgets to use.  However, visio is not a great tool to design custom buttons and graphics.  I would strongly encourage you to use photoshop for this.  When designing, don’t try to reinvent the wheel. The android SDK has provided a wealth of existing widgets to use in your design.  USE THEM!  Trust me, it will make your life so so so much easier!  The previously mentioned visio stencil provides graphics of most of the widgets however, go here for a complete list.

When I make design I try to focus on one thing ~ “make the application as user friendly and intuitive as possible”.  Here’s a tip:  try to find the most non-techie person you know, in my case it’s my girlfriend, and without telling them anything about the application you’ve designed ask them to review the screenshots and provide a play by play on what the application does and how the user will interact with it.  If you’ve designed, let’s say, a bowling game and they think you’ve designed a baseball game you’ve got a problem :)  It’s best to change your design as early in the process as possible.  Otherwise you’ll have a very angry developer :)

Here’s a couple before and after screenshots of a2b.  You’ll notice the layouts are very similar but the actual graphics are different.
Visio Designs:

Built Application:

On a related note, thanks to everyone who provided positive feedback on the android market regarding the latest update.  Your feedback is VERY APPRECIATED!  THANK YOU!

Manually enter location. Select “save location” => “map” tab => menu => “manually enter location”.   

GPS Settings.  You can now configure GPS to automatically turn off when you exit the application.   Go to the home screen => menu => “settings”

New Home Screen Background Graphic.  We wanted more contrast between the save and find buttons and the background. Hopefully this new background will do the trick :)
 

Turn by Turn / Driving Directions. You’ll now have the option to navigate to your saved location using turn by directions. Unfortunately it’s against google’s terms of service to integrate turn by turn directly within a 3rd party application otherwise we would have a built a custom view. Nonetheless, google maps seamlessly integrate with a2b. Select “find location” => select the location you’d like to navigate to via the list => find “map” tab => menu => “Driving Directions”

Email Saved Location. Once you’ve saved a location you can share it with anyone you’d like via email. If you’ve taken a picture and/or created a free text note this will also be sent when emailing the location. Select “find location” => select the location you’d like to share via the list => find “map” tab = menu => “email saved location”

Update Menu.  When you download an updated version of a2b you’ll now be able to reference what updates were made.  Go to the home screen => menu => “updates”

Several UI Enhancements.  Progress circles between screen transitions, pop up toast for playing audio, background color for find map tab distance, manage application description, and various other tweaks.

If you’re not familiar with the android development challenge here’s a summary of the first challenge:

• +1788 developers submitted applications
• +open handset alliance partners picked 50 finalists and each received 25,000 to either pocket or reinvest in their app
• +top 50 finalists were given an opportunity to make a another round of edits  and then submitted apps as final
• +open handset alliance partners selected 20 winners!  10 received $100,000 and 10 received $275,000
• +total prize money awarded was $5,000,000 

If you look at the number of submissions v. the number of winners you’d have roughly a 3% chance of walking away with any money.  The odds weren’t exactly in your favor!  Keep in mind 1788 people submitted applications for an operating system that wasn’t even available for sale on a device!  And, 100% of development and testing had to be done via your PC!  Now that we have more than a million android devices out there and MANY more on there way who knows how many people will submit applications for the 2nd development challenge!  Nonetheless, Froogloid isn’t discouraged and we’re always up for a challenge!

For those in U.K. we’d love to hear your feedback!  Likes/Dislikes etc :)  Obviously the queen digs a2b :)