Second round of Etisalat Android forums praised by veterans and neophytes alike

Etisalat’s second round of Android Forums, held on 27 January 2012, have been lauded by both veteran developers and Android amateurs alike. Etisalat, which pioneered the innovative idea of Android Forums in Sri Lanka with the first-ever forum last November, hosted two separate forums on 27 January, geared at developers and beginners respectively.

The morning session was ‘Deep Dive Into Android Development,’ a forum that was targeted at Android application developers. The session saw a huge influx of over 500 willing attendees, with the King’s Court of Cinnamon Lakeside meeting maximum capacity. Many members of the audience who attended were IT professionals and Information Technology students from various universities and institutions.

The session addressed two types of applications that can be developed on the Android OS; HTML5 and Native based, as well as an evaluation of many of the other elements of Android development. The forum also looked at ways to turn ideas into applications, working with the hardware capabilities of modern mobile devices (the use of touch sensitivity, motion sensors, GPS, etc.).

The afternoon saw ‘ABC’s of Android,’ a forum geared at Android amateurs looking to understand this global phenomenon. The session focused on the reasons for Android’s growth and looked to provide a framework through which the audience could understand its potential. The forum focused on explaining how the technology works but also its real life applications.

Etisalat’s CEO Dumindra Ratnayaka commenting on the second round of forums said: “This time around the forums were streamlined; we segmented the audience and found speakers that would strongly appeal to each respective group. We are always innovating, looking for ways to improve upon our own initiatives and the positive feedback we have received on how well we have improved the Android forums is evidence of our success. In addition to the audience segmentation, another major improvement was that through our international channels we were able to bring down a speaker from Google, Misha Seltzer.”

Seltzer, a software engineer from the Google Analytics team at the Google Research and Development Center in Israel, was a speaker at both forums. At the developer forum he compared HTML5 and Native for development as well as the usage of Google analytics with Android applications.

At the beginner’s forum he spoke on the revolution of mobile devices with the growth of the smartphones. Commenting on the forums, Seltzer said, “It’s a really exciting time for Sri Lanka, the developer community has so much potential here, and it’s wonderful to see their thirst for knowledge and the ways in which they will employ their skills.”

In addition to Seltzer, there were other notable speakers. Tharaka Tennekoon, the Managing Director of Top Most Line (Pvt) Ltd., gave an introduction into the world of Android at the evening’s beginner forum. Buddhika Siddhisena, another notable speaker, is the Co-Founder of THINKCube Systems Pvt. Ltd, an affiliate of Access Telecommunications that specialises in developing cloud computing solutions for Telcos. Siddhisena gave an opening speech at the morning’s developer forum on the Android architecture, the evolution of the OS, and the basics of the programming languages. Other notable speakers included Mike McDonald, Chief Technical Officer of Huawei South East Asia and Shan Sinnathambi, the Chief Technical Officer and Director of Microimage Mobile Media (PVT).

As one of the most powerful players in Sri Lanka’s telecommunications industry, Etisalat continues to discover new horizons and explore new possibilities in the domain. Etisalat further offers Sri Lanka’s most cutting edge Internet solutions with the launch of its 3.75G technology. Standing at the top of the ladder in innovation, quality and customer service, it has passed an impressive 3.5 million subscribers in a record time since its launch and Etisalat remains dedicated to increasing its subscriber base and taking the company to greater heights.