Last week we challenged DotNetNuke developers to create and submit applications for the latest DotNetNuke Mobile Hackathon. Entries had to have a mobile application component and a DotNetNuke component that allowed the mobile application and a DotNetNuke website to work together to provide a compelling mobile DotNetNuke experience for the user. Because the mobile development space is a bit new to many of us, we enlisted the aid of Appcelerator in sponsoring the event and giving a short demo of their Titanium Mobile product to the Hackathon kickoff event attendees. Titanium simplifies mobile development and allows developers to target several mobile platforms using a single code base. Apparently our developer community liked Titanium as well, since 4 of the 5 entries were created using the Titanium Mobile SDK.
The submitted entries included applications that showed how to upload photos to an image gallery, how to send and receive messages using the built in DotNetNuke messaging system, how to browse forums and reply to forum posts, how to call, email or text DotNetNuke users, and finally how to browse Snowcovered listings. These applications highlight how easy it is to extend the reach of your DotNetNuke website to mobile applications with just a dash of programming experience and a little bit of time.
Because of the limited time frame available for developing hackathon entries, the applications are not expected to be fully finished commercial grade products and in keeping with the community spirit of the Hackathon and DotNetNuke, all of the source code for the entries is available under the MIT license. With a bit of additional work and some extra polish here and there, many of these applications could easily be turned into great products and posted to the iPhone App Store or Android Market
This morning I am pleased to announce that we have opened up community voting for the Hackathon entries. Each entry has the code available in the DotNetNuke Forge on CodePlex along with a demo Video and in most cases a product website. Voting will close on Sept. 1 at 6PM CDT at which point we will announce the winners.
Thank you to everyone who attended the kickoff event, all of the Hackathon entrants and the Hackathon sponsors who made this event possible.