Sri Lanka's first ever event centred around the Android mobile operating system, the Etisalat Android Forum 2011, was held this week, attracting a whopping 2,000 registrants, a number later cut down to 1,000 attendees because of seating restrictions. Orgnised by the local unit of UAE-based mobile operator Etisalat, the event featured presentations by Samsung, Huawei, Top Most Line, Fine Tech as well as the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT).
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| A vistor at the Android Forum, looks at a product. Pic by Hasitha Kulasekera |
Although the presentations were supposed to take centre stage, since they showcased big names from Huawei (South East Asia Chief Technology Officer Mark McDonald) and Google (Gangadeep Nagra, who oversees Business Development for Enterprises in India); it was perhaps not surprising that it was Samsung's and Huawei's Android tablet PCs and smartphones, demoed (demonstrated) to the public for the first time during this event, which stole a significant amount of the spotlight, especially as some devices are yet to officially enter the local marketplace.
In the meantime, mainly focused on educating an audience comprising mostly laypeople about Android, and kicked off by an amusing skit acted out by local rugby icon Chandrashan Perera and self-professed "Android freak" Asanka Sahabandu, a radio/television personality and performer who attributed his fame to a live performance of his song, "Good Morning, Malaa" that was uploaded to YouTube and shared via social networks, which was supposed to highlight the realtime information gathering capability of Android devices in a everyday setting; this forum also featured some highlights that made this overly lengthy event (over four hours long), somewhat bearable.
A presentation by SLIIT lecturer Prabath Rupasinghe, ostensibly to introduce Android to budding local developers, also revealed that the next generation of devices running version 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) were gearing up to compete in the gaming space and, as such, utilising their soon-to-be-standard quad core processors, which will make them more powerful than existing, tri core gaming units such as the Playstation 3.
He also opined that 8% of Android users had said they had switched from the iPhone with iPhone users also saying that, on average, they spent seven times more on applications compared to Android users. Additionally noted, around 40% revealed that the Android smartphone was their first device ever, while 60% of users were below 34 years old.
Also interesting was Mr. Rupasinghe's very short Google App Inventor demo, showing the creation of a very basic Android application, or app, in this case, a welcome screen. This click-and-drop type demo nicely featured the ease-of-use of the platform, while also signalling that there were even some functions that could be performed by laypeople with a very basic understanding of mobile devices.
Another highlight of the event was the launch of Etisalat Hub, a subscription based trilingual app with the stated intent of "making it easier for first time Android users to consume content." The app offers a reading component, which also includes local newspapers in all three languages, local and foreign songs, and gaming and YouTube based videos. This app is especially significant as the trilingual browser utilised by this app, Bhasha SETT, is homegrown and the only-one-of-its-kind available at Android Market, the platform's web-based app store.
However, the event also provided entertainment, with one situation even unplanned. The latter being a very visible display which was a result of a realtime hack of a Google Apps for enterprises demo, where hackers in the audience sent Google Messages using the existing accounts of company employees with comments including "this presentation is sooo boringggg" and "I resign" as well as other, more derogatory, statementss. |
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