 Powering The On-Demand TV Generation
Press ReleaseAnd the winner is…January 22, 2001
OTTAWA, Canada - 7 June 2001: How does a group of key technology companies trying
to encourage software development for a new platform of hand-held computers, web
pads, digital TV set-top boxes, wireless and automotive devices peak the interest
of their development community?
You offer them a BMW Z3 Roadster, of course! That's exactly what Espial did last night when it held a party for their developer community from devicetop.com at a local nightclub celebrating the talent of developers from all over. Devicetop.com has grown to be the premier web portal for developers of services for smart-devices, devicetop.com offers a hub for news, industry information, discussion forums, technical tutorials, and software development tools for developers to learn, communicate, and create web content and application services. Devicetop.com provides developers with a global marketing venue to showcase their services to leading consumer electronics manufacturers, ISPs and network operators. The smart device application contest ran from June to December 2000. Lured by the chance to drive away in a BMW Z3 some 3000 Java developers have signed up for devicetop and over 50 answered the call by submitting an application. “We are completely enthusiastic with the results of this contest and are thoroughly impressed with the caliber of applications that were submitted,” commented Jaison Dolvane, president and CEO of Espial. “This level of participation and quality indicates the movement towards a more pervasive Internet and reinforces that all the developers on devicetop.com are top notch programmers who will become the key driving force of applications of the future.” The judges for the event included several leading authorities on Java technology. Devicetop.com founders and several other media partners judged the applications submitted. In evaluating entries, the judges looked primarily for applications that rated extremely high in originality, efficiency, usability/functionality, user interface, and marketability. Extra points were given to developers who have contributed to the devicetop.com community. Grand Prize Winner: Car Angel Car Angel is an easy-to-use application intended for a car equipped with a GPS. Car Angel provides local maps, and point-to-point navigation. It guides users to a destination, finds the closest gas station, finds the closest fast food restaurant, or even shows where the car has been recently. High marks went to the application for its readiness for market use, and ease of potential deployment. There is a great potential for extending the application in a commercial environment -- restaurants, for example, could pay to receive priority on the local restaurant map. Jason Lawrie chose the automotive scenario, and designed a successful application that makes use of existing Internet-based services to provide navigation and routing information to drivers. Using Espial Architect and the Espial Espresso component toolkit, Jason created a simple user-interface that makes generous use of the hotspots. Even though the interface and the information provided is very rich, the application's memory footprint is light, as it leaves the bulk of the processing to existing network services. This alleviates the need to recode this data or functionality locally. "I think it’s a great opportunity that devicetop.com is giving to developers to work on device applications with the possibility of winning such great prizes. Winning the car was a fantastic outcome to a rewarding experience," commented Jason from Moorpark, California. “I came up with Car Angel because I wanted to create an idea that was useful but still unique, so I picked up the general navigation aspect and added a few extra features (the tracking and the gas and restaurant finders) that aren't normally available, but that I thought would enhance the application.” "I would encourage anyone interested in Java or device development to have a look at devicetop.com. Learning and participating through the devicetop.com community is very rewarding, and you can't beat the incentives,” continued Lawrie. The BMW was not the only prize given away at last night’s event. Two summer jobs along with a $2500 signing bonus were granted to two Carleton University students. Mihnea Galeteaneau and Kris Woodbeck both submitted top applications to devicetop.com. Mihnea developed a home management system application. This system enables numerous smart devices within the home to be connected together. And Kris’s application was a pharmaceutical drug guide. This application will allow pharmacists to search by drug name or effects to display to their clients the names, side effects, cautions and various other existing data about that drug they have been prescribed. This initiative was created through the devicetop.com university program launched in the fall of last year. This program is the next step in creating awareness about the smart device industry in a face-to-face environment. With the embedded industry on the verge of explosive growth, there is a relative shortage of embedded developers that is threatening to hold the industry back. But with the creation of devicetop.com and the university program Espial is working towards creating and ensuring a sufficient pool of highly skilled embedded developers, to meet the growth of embedded technology. Stay tuned close to devicetop.com in the next few weeks, as the announcement for the second smart device application contest is about to start. Contact: Jill Meloche |
