Google has made several software developers a little richer this week, distributing US$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 US$25,000 each for making the first cut. Google awarded US$275,000 to 10 winners, and US$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 your exact address. GoCart turns a scan of a product's bar code into a comparison-shopping exercise using data from stores nearby your location. And Locale will change the settings on an Android phone depending on the phone's location, such as automatically setting the phone to vibrate when you enter a movie theater.
Check out the full list of winners over on Google's Android Developer site. The company plans to distribute the applications through the Android Market, in somewhat-similar fashion to Apple's App Store.
This article was first published as a blog on CNET News.com.
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