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Much like they have done in previous years, Samsung are once again challenging developers to come up with innovative apps that geared around Samsung’s devices. Last year’s challenge was based around Samsung’s Chord SDk, which allowed Samsung devices to connect wirelessly without the need for additional servers or networks (Group Play), and the Smart App challenge from 2012 involved developing apps that would take advantage of the Galaxy Note’s capabilities, with special emphasis on the S-Pen. And with the wearable device market set to explode in the coming months, it makes sense that Samsung would base this years competition around it’s wearable device offerings.
The Gear App Challenge will begin from May 8, with developers from anywhere in the world allowed to enter. There is an incentive of course, and as you’d expect from a company with Samsung’s huge resources, the prize money is not to be sniffed at, with a total amount of $1,250,000 up for grabs. Samsung will be holding Developer Days or Hackathon events around the world, with events in the US, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brazil and South Korea already penciled in, with the promise of more events to be added as time passes.
Participating developers are advised to download the Samsung Gear Dev Tools, available from Samsung which includes both the Tizen SDK for Wearables as well as Samsung’s Mobile SDK. This years challenge is yet another sign that the Tizen operating system is gaining momentum from within Samsung, with the possibility of the first Tizen handset appearing later in the year.
If you are a developer, or even an aspiring developer, are you going to take part in the Samsung Gear App Challenge? Is the prize money enough of an incentive, or considering things like everyday living expenses, is it too much of a gamble to spend time on without any guarantee of a return? And if you’ve participated in a previous challenge, let us know how you fared. As always, let us know via the comments below or via our Google Plus page.