Meizu MX4 Challenge

Canonical revealed a lot of information about the upcoming Ubuntu Touch devices during the second insiders hangout. As an insider, I had the unique opportunity to attend the hangout. I am excited about the prospect of seeing a 3rd BQ device which will be the first device to be sold supporting Ubuntu convergence. These are some really exciting times to be in.

During the hangout, it was also mentioned that all insiders would get their very own Meizu MX4. I was thrilled to hear that I would be getting the Meizu MX4. A real Ubuntu Touch device has helped me a lot in the past to contribute to the core apps and few other community applications in the store. However this means that I will have 3 devices(Nexus 4, BQ E4.5, Meizu MX4) that run Ubuntu Touch.

I believe that instead of one developer having multiple devices like myself, I would rather prefer several developers owning at least one device running Ubuntu Touch to enable them to contribute to the Ubuntu Touch ecosystem. I have seen this in practice with the Pledgie by Michał Prędotka where the community helped him get a BQ device and since then there has a been quite a few apps created by him like Timer (my personal favourite) and Machines vs Machines which he helped create.

So I contacted Canonical requesting permission to give away my Meizu device to a deserving community contributor to which they have agreed! However we would like to follow the spirits of the Ubuntu Phone Insider program by giving it away to a contributor who has a track record of contributing to Ubuntu Touch and will continue to do so in the future.

Would you like to win a brand new Meizu MX4 running Ubuntu Touch? Well then read on ;)

The Challenge

We have created a challenge with the following requirements,

• Judges: Alan Pope, Nekhelesh Ramananthan
• Deadline: 1st July 2015 (~ approx. 1 month) to put developers and designers on a level playing field.
• Proven track-record of contributing to Ubuntu Touch. Just to be clear, contributions doesn’t have to necessarily be code contributions..it could also be design work. We all have seen what happens when design goes hand in hand with app development.
• If you are a developer, the challenge would be to create an awesome scope. Make something that stands out and highly requested by the community.
• If you are a designer, create some exciting visual mock-ups to improve existing UT apps or new apps that you have in mind.
• Not in possession of a Ubuntu Touch device. I want to enable those who are without a device.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me by email or in IRC #ubuntu-app-devel (nik90, popey).

Note: If you are a developer, submit your entry to the Ubuntu Touch Store while designers can host their mockups in Dropbox, Google Drive or any other sharing service. Few days before the deadline, we will have a Google Form ready which you can fill in the details of your submission.

Note: The reason why I am requesting for a track-record is to ensure that contributors who get this device don’t just win the challenge and then forget about Ubuntu Touch which is something I have noticed happen in competitions like the Ubuntu App Developer Showdown.

Originally published at www.nik90.com/meizu-mx4-challenge-2 on June 3, 2015.