Minix is trying to improve its relations with the Android developer community with an interesting developer challenge designed to benefit the company and innovative developers.
The company is offering three prizes for user interface design. The winning developer will win $5,000, while the runners up will get $2,000 and $1,000. Those who vote will be entered in a separate giveaway and they have a chance to win one of five Neo X7 mini Android mini PCs.
Our readers should be familiar with Minix products and the developers will have to come up with U.I solutions for the Neo X7, X7 mini, Neo 5, X5mini ili G4. We tried out the X7 and we were impressed by its capabilities, although we can’t say the same for the simple mini I.R remote.
In fact, due to limited functionality the mini I.R remote works good only in combination with a special U.I interface. In other words the goal is to develop a user interface that will be embraced by regular users, but ease of use is just one of the criteria.
Minix launched the Neo series a couple of years ago and these mini Android computers are usually used as media hubs or HTPC solutions. Minix has nothing against users who decide to flash their ROMs and the company also rolls out regular software updates of its own. The Minix forum community is a lively one and plenty of custom ROMs are available online.
For all you Minix developers, it’s time to show the community what you can do with your device.
The UI designs will be judged on the following criteria:
- Ease of Navigation (using only the simple MINIX I.R remote)
- Functionality / ‘User Friendliness’
- Aesthetics / Appearance
- Degree of Innovation / Creativity
Applications must be submitted on the Minix Forums by Sunday 9th February (11.59PM G.M.T). Applicants are permitted to submit only 1 entry. Minix will announce the five finalists on Friday 14th February, and the winner will be voted for by members of the Minix Forum. Voting will close on Friday 28th February (11.59PM G.M.T), with the winners announced shortly afterwards.
