Google held the GTUG Campout, its first hackathon that focused on Google Wave. The programming teams were not restricted to Wave but also included several entries using Google’s Android OS.

Geogad was there and took part in a Wave project called “Trippy”, which is a Google Wave robot to help groups collaborate on trip planning. You can add it to any Google Wave by accessing trip-bot@appspot.com.

The weekend was a great way to get an intro to Google Wave and what it can do now and in the future. The overall impression from working on the Trippy robot is that Google Wave is rightly a developer only version for now. It is still missing several important pieces. Some of the biggest missing pieces are

1. Since there is no leader in a Wave, all participants are equal. This can be both good and bad.

2. No one has the ability to remove a participant after they have been added. This includes robot participants.

3. Wave cannot connect to external devices.

4. Wave gadgets and robots must reside on Google AppEngine, and the AppEngine still has some shortcomings. For example, in the Trippy robot, we planned and coded a version that accessed flight and hotel info from Kayak.com’s API. It worked locally but did not work on the AppEngine server because it had issues with accessing cookies properly. The Kayak API depends on cookies. As a result, the version of Trippy that was presented lacked this important feature.

The overall view of Google Wave is that there is a great deal of power under the hood, but it will need to be refined to make an impact with regular users.

The really nice thing about Android for developers is that it is backed by Google, a very well-funded, tech-smart company that is determined to win the mobile computing field.

Two interesting articles have been posted on the Google Android phones and ecosystem. The first is that there is supposed to be at least 18 different Android phones available by the end of the year. The second is that there is already 5000 apps on the Android Market. It is no where near the 50K apps on the iPhone store, but it is much better for developers who want their apps to be easily found.

For those newbie Android developers out there, just check out an earlier blog post on this site to learn about Android. And if you are in Silicon Valley on a Wednesday night, be sure to stop by the Informal Android Developer Meetup sponsored by Geogad.

Geogad has just released the latest version of the Geogad app to the Android Market. This latest version includes new features such as maps that expand to show you where you are with respect to the tour stops and can zoom in to focus just on the tour stops at the touch of a button.

We really do want to hear from travelers for ways to improve and serve you better. If you have a comment, let us know by posting it either to the Feedback link on the Geogad web site or through the Android Market.

Keep your eyes focused on Geogad on the Android Market because we plan to add more features over the next few weeks. And, of course, we are always adding more content, both professionally-created and user-generated, all the time.

Speaking of which, check out Geogad this week for our newest professional tour.

Enjoy your tours!

The nicest thing about being located in Silicon Valley is the easy access to the latest technologies and to the people working on the latest technologies. The Silicon Valley Android Developer Meetup that was held on March 11 is a prime example. Geogad presented its latest addition to the Geogad platform, its Geogad Android application that combines the best of Geogad with highest quality of smartphone and GPS technology. This meetup was only the second meetup for this particular incarnation of the Silicon Valley Android Developer Meetup, but it is off to a fine start. And of course, Geogad is always interested in advancing the adoption of the Android platform, which is the reason that it sponsors the Informal Android Meetup. I look forward to seeing many bright, eager programmers at our next Informal meetup, which wil be Wednesday, March 18. See you at Red Rock Coffee in Mountain View at 7pm.

Geogad has released its first mobile application so that travelers can used the advanced features of their smart phones to search and find Geogad content when they are on the go. This app works on the Google Android platform and is available from Handango.

To support future developments on Geogad’s Android app, I am pleased to announce the formation of the Informal Android Developer Meetup. Tonight was our first meeting. I admit that it was set up very last minute since this Meetup group only formed a day or so ago. Despite the short notice, we had quite a few people show and discuss Android programming issues.

Some tips for programmers that are new to the Android platform are that they should start slowly and build up. There is a great deal to learn, but Google has put together a great collection of tools and samples. My personal suggestions on how to start are

1. Download the Eclipse IDE. You can use another IDE if you want, but this one is well supported by Google. Of course, this is assuming that you already have downloaded the latest Java jdk.

2. Download the Android SDK from Google.

3. Read the intro docs on the Google Android developer site.

4. Work through the Notepad tutorial on the Google Android developer site.

5. Check out the API Demos that should be preloaded on the Android emulator.

6. Check out the advanced Android program samples from Google.

7. If you would like a quick, formal intro and money is not an issue, you might want to buy an ebook on Android programming like “The Busy Coder’s Guide to Android Development“. It has some good starter examples and can talk you through the basics. I don’t think that it has anything that you can’t find on the Google Android site, but it was totally worth the $35 just for the command to switch the emulator from portrait to landscape mode (Control-F12 on Windows).

If you are on Castro St. in Mountain View on Wednesday and want to chat with other Android developers, feel free to drop by Red Rock Coffee Shop. We will be the people with the Android phones on the second floor.