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(Guest post by Ahmed Siddiqui, Startup Weekend Bay Area organizer; Founder of Go Go Mongo)

The month of June was all about the big tech guns courting developers. Needless to say, it was busy, especially if you had tickets to the hottest developer conferences of the year, namely Apple’s WWDC and Google I/O.

But as fun as being 'dev elite' sounds, the real question is: who is giving me the most love; and by love I mean the best opportunites to make some dough? In other words, if I’m a mobile developer, which platform should I focus on? 

Well, as with anything in life (choose your poison), there are benefits and downsides to every choice. What is helpful, or so it seems, is to understand the core values from the “big three” so you can accurately assess your options. 

Let’s explore what makes each company unique, shall we?

Apple

iOS and the iTunes App store started it all. Although Steve Jobs never intended iOS to be as open as it is right now for developers, it...

In the latest installment of Hashbang TV, James and Chris talk incubators, startups in the UK, and even star gazing with Paul Smith (@Paul_A_Smith). Paul Smith is the programme manager of ignite100, an award winning writer, radio producer, a startup advisor and co-founder of mobile development agency Never Odd Or Even. 

Also, dont' forget to check out the audiocast, which includes extra footage, including stories of Paul's previous life as a radio producer. 

Sebastian Brannstrom is Lead Engineer for Lyft in San Francisco and is responsible for building and maintaining the Lyft real-time ridesharing service, including backend, iOS and Android clients. While trying to balance the needs of product design, business development and engineering, and he often wishes there were more hours in a day and more days in a week. You can find him on twitter @teknolog and on facebook. 

Tell us a little about yourself

I’m 32, originally from Stockholm. I’ve been programming since my teens.

I fell into mobile in 2006 when I got my first Symbian phone. It couldn’t do podcasts, so I had to write an app for that. I made it open source, and when Symbian itself went open source I was hired by them and moved to London.

After Symbian wound down I worked as an Android developer for a while until I was referred to Zimride by a friend, and I relocated to San Francisco last year.

I currently lead engineering for Lyft, which is sort of a...

Here at WIP, we partner with many mobile events taking place all over the world.  As a result, we are able to secure discounted registration for the WIP Community for most and sometimes even a FREE pass or two.  The next couple of months are slower than usual but still offer a few mobile events. Check out the events below and many more on our Mobile Community Calendar:

Mobile+Web Developer Conference, July 17 - 19, 2012, San Francisco, CA    MASTER iOS, ANDROID & WEB DEV TOOLS AND DESIGN    What You Will Learn: 1) Master development tools to make using SDKs easier 2) Optimize your mobile app with HTML5 & JavaScript technologies 3) Gain insight into user experience and best practices for an exceptional UI 4) Make the transition from web to mobile web 5) Learn about the latest mobile web optimization strategies 6) Maximize your profits on the app market.  WIP's own Caroline Lewko will be speaking. Discount for WIP Community.

MobileCulture 2, July 17, 2012, London, UK  ...

Allow me to let you introduce yourself

I'm Cody Powell, cofounder and CTO of Famigo, where I specialize in the development and delivery of cross-platform, mobile experiences for users of all ages.  I’m a dad and a husband, a graduate of Trinity University, an ardent supporter of the Texas Rangers and Manchester City, and I make a mean mojito.  You can follow me on Twitter at @codypo.

What is Famigo?

Famigo helps families find and manage apps.  Part of this is through our own Android app (iOS is on the way!), the Famigo Sandbox.  The Sandbox catalogs all of the apps on your phone and finds the stuff that’s safe for your kids to play.  Then we build a kid-safe play space on your device, so your kids can play the stuff they like without accidentally calling your boss or deleting your contacts.  In addition, we also have an app recommendation engine that’s optimized specifically for kids; if you’re looking for the best free educational apps for a 4 year old, we’re the people to...

Caroline and I were hosting the WIP Demo Lounge across the street from Google I/O last week, and thought the closest we'd get to the action in the Moscone was our video livestream. But then Google went crazy with the keynote, sending skydivers onto the roof of the Moscone and rappellers down its face, right across the street from us. It was certainly a buzz-worthy event and set the stage for a couple of exciting days!

Inside the lounge, we were showing keynotes and sessions livestreamed from I/O (a big thanks to the AT&T ARO team for helping us to overcome a bad Wi-Fi setup with one of their LTE USB dongles!), and had presentations and demo tables from our sponsors. The ARO scoreboard started to fill up as more and more developers got their apps' efficiency tested. There was lots of excitement around Sony Mobile's Android SmartWatch and Immersion's haptics-enabled Sonic the Hedgehog and Max Payne games, while Crittercism's critter swag was hot too! Samsung showed off their...

The latest episode of Hashbang TV has been released, with guest interviewer - Elibzabeth Varley (@evarley), CEO  of TechHub! She goes through how she arrived in London from Australia, her inspiration for TechHub, bootstrapping, working with Number 10, the appeal of London, and what’s next...don't miss it!

If you like what you've seen, subscribe to their podcast for extended interviews!