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Director Suwipa Wanasathop yesterday said the state agency, together with Advanced Info Service, Total Access Communication, True Move and Motorola, would create the Android Thailand Social Network, whose role would be to promote activities supporting local developers to take advantage of the platform.

The social-network alliance will launch a seminar and workshops this month and next for Android special-interest developers as part of a plan to coach them on tapping the Android opportunity.

The activities will mainly prepare them to participate in the Android Developer Challenge I and II, which will award US$10 million (Bt330 million) for the best mobile applications built on the Android platform.

The Android Developer Challenge I is accepting submissions until March 3, while the Challenge II will be launched after the first handsets built on its platform become available in the second half of the year.

"We want to see our local developers be able to cash in on the Android trend," Suwipa said. "Our developers are good at designing user interface and multimedia applications. But we'll coach them on business knowledge and enable them to create the right applications and promising business models."She added that the names of Thai developers would be on the world's map if they could win the Android challenge contest.

The Android platform is software suited for mobile devices, including operating systems and key applications. Developers can create applications for the platform by using Android development tools. The platform has been developed and supported by Google and more than 30 partners, including HTC and Motorola, in the Open Handset Alliance.

Sirivish Toomgum

The Nation