challenge

Google has made several software developers a little richer this week, distributing $3.75 million in prizes for 20 applications designed for its Android mobile phone operating system.

Fifty finalists were in the running for the big money after receiving $25,000 each for making the first cut. Google awarded $275,000 to 10 winners, and $100,000 to 10 others. Each of the 10 big winners jumped on the location-aware bandwagon in some way with their applications.

For example, cab4me lets you hail a nearby cab without having to know the number of a local cab company or even … Read more

Ten teams are signed up once again to compete in the NASA-sponsored Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, a $2 million contest to simulate a moon flight in the New Mexico desert.

The X Prize Foundation, the event's host, announced the team lineup Tuesday, saying it is confident that this year, after two years of unsuccessful attempts, NASA will award the prize money. However, in a potentially cautionary move, the 2008 event in late October at New Mexico's Holloman Air Force Base will be closed to the public for the first time. People can watch it live via the … Read more

Ten teams are signed up once again to compete in the NASA-sponsored Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, a $2 million contest to simulate a moon flight in the New Mexico desert.

This story was inadvertently double-posted. For the full story, click here.

Let Bill Gates have his TouchWall. You can still be the envy of your friends with the "Heads-Up Challenge" digital poker table.

Unlike the "iDealer" or its mahjong counterpart, this one truly brings the game of champions into the Digital Age by using a large touch screen to shuffle, deal, calculate odds, and pay the winner. And get this: It will even let you peel up the cards, according to Chip Chick.

Unfortunately it can handle only two players--hence the name, which refers to a one-on-one game. But it certainly beats that other wireless poker game, … Read more

Google has chosen 50 finalists in the Android Developer Challenge, doling out $1.25 million in the process.

As part of a bid to heighten interest in Android, Google's forthcoming mobile operating system, the company has been running a contest for prospective Android developers to submit their ideas for the platform. A total of 1,788 entries were received from 70 countries.

Android is envisioned as a mobile phone operating system for mass-market phones, not necessarily smart phones like the iPhone or BlackBerry Bold. Google and its partners in the Open Handset Alliance hope to release phones running the … Read more

A village in England will host a robot hide-and-seek exercise next month, when 11 teams drawn from private companies and universities compete to sniff out snipers, roadside bombs, and other hidden dangers while relaying real-time images to a command post.

The MOD Grand Challenge, as it's called, is billed as the U.K. Ministry of Defense's counterpart to the U.S. DARPA Challenges, except it's military robots that compete against one another instead of robotic cars.

The purpose is to boost development of small robot teams capable of scouting out and alerting troops to potentially dangerous surprises on the urban battlefield. The robots must autonomously negotiate complex, unfamiliar terrain and urban clutter to locate the threats. Points are earned based on the number of threats uncovered in one hour. Points are lost if a team resorts to remote control to maneuver its bots at any stage.… Read more

Further details about this event have emerged. Please refer to this story for more information.

The robotic stars of last year's DARPA Urban Grand Challenge, an autonomous car race, will have a rematch at the Toyota Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif., later this month.

This time, their competition will be solely about speed.

"Boss," an autonomous Chevy Tahoe from Carnegie Mellon University and winner of the $2 million Urban Grand Challenge, will compete once again against "Junior," a robotic Volkswagen Passat from Stanford University, which took second place in the contest. The two teams, … Read more

Update July 19, 2008: Escape from Berkeley is now scheduled for Oct. 10-13, 2008.

If you're a regular reader of Geek Gestalt, but not of its sister blog, Green Tech, I thought I'd point you to an entry I just posted there about what sounds like one heck of a cool event scheduled for this summer.

The so-called Escape from Berkeley race will task contestants with getting their non-petroleum-based fuel vehicles from the famously liberal Bay Area city to the famously outrageous Sin City, Las Vegas, over the July 4 weekend.

Part Burning Man, part Power Tool Drag Races, … Read more