App developers Tyrell Mobile win The Guardian’s n0tice.com challenge at LeedsHack 2012 with a new location-based news app for Android.
n0ticeXplorer was developed by a team of two coders from startup development agency Tyrell Mobile. It beat off strong competition to win the award commissioned by n0tice, the new location-based social media platform designed for community journalism, created by the Guardian Media Group.
Built in just 24 hours, the app retrieves hyperlocal news reports, images and events based on the current device location. These can be overlaid onto Google Maps or displayed in a scrolling list. There is also a search function to find posts by hashtag, placename or user.
LeedsHack was the first hackday experience for Tyrell Mobile, which launched in April last year.
LeedsHack organiser Dom Hodgson comments: “LeedsHack is the largest independent UK hackday outside of London. The basic idea is to put 150 developers, coders and other creative types in a room, give them food, water and wifi and see what magical thing they create over the weekend.”
Taking on the n0tice challenge was a natural choice for Tyrell, according to lead developer Alasdair Yeo: “As Android specialists we immediately spotted that there was only an iPhone app available for n0tice, so for the LeedsHack challenge we decided to even things up a bit! n0tice is a really interesting project and the potential of hyperlocal social news reporting is incredible, so we’re just happy to have contributed to it in a small way. We’re really looking forward to developing the app further in the future”
n0tice.com from the Guardian Media Group was itself developed during a previous hack day event.
Director of Digital Strategy at Guardian Media Group, Matt McAlister comments: “n0tice is an open platform for people to see and share what’s happening nearby. We designed it to work like a utility service for communities and partners, so it was great to see people using the API that way at LeedsHack. n0ticeXplorer is a very clever project, and we were really impressed by Tyrell Mobile’s tech chops and ingenuity.”
The open nature of the Android platform meant that n0ticeXplorer went live at the end of the hackday and was available to download from Google Play during the judging period. To get the official n0tice for Android app developed by Tyrell Mobile for Guardian Media Group, click here.
Developers Alasdair Yeo and Duncan Scobie gave an interview to Sarah Hartley of n0tice.com after the event. Listen to it on Audioboo here.