This has been quite a busy month for Indonesian developers with events like AngelHack and the upcoming Jakarta Startup Weekend. We just attended another one hosted by Indonesian tech website TeknoJurnal in cooperation with Intel: the first-ever Rock Star Dev competition, which promised a grand prize of IDR 80 million ($8,047).
The event was crowded with 30 apps developer teams competing as the finalists. After beating out the top 300 shortlisted applications, the top 30 app developers competed in 2 categories: 15 as ‘new rock star developers’ (new players in the industry) ແລະ 15 as ‘pro rock star developers’; the devs were also divided into six categories of apps: education, health, kids, productivity, ບັນເທີງ, and utility.
Here is the complete list of the 15 app developers in the ‘new rock star’ category along with their app submissions:
1. Chemikoz by Plombi
An Android educational game that teaches chemistry. Players will play as a witch mixing chemicals and will then be prompted with the solution created by the mix.
2. MindCook by PingPong
A cookbook where users can search for recipes and share them through Facebook.
3. Plang! by Frontine Labs
An app to find nearby points of interest such as ATMs, banks, etc.
4. Vocalita by Vocalita
A social network-music player where users can share and stream songs, as well as follow other users.
5. Sharee by Sharee
An app detailing the implementation of Sharia Law in banks and explaining the basis of the law.
6. Berpetualang di Negeri Huruf by Gobaksodor Interactive
An HTML5-based educational game to teach kids alphabets.
7. Suraja (Susun Aksara Jawa) by Necrocom
An app to teach users how to write using the Javanese alphabet.
8. Sikremut Kereta Komuter by Luminascape
An app that provides information about local train schedules based on the selected city.
9. Shoop! E-Commerce Assistant by Shoop! E-ການຄ້າ
A mobile application that enables users to post advertisements on multiple e-commerce sites and to upload images to multiple image hosting services.
10. Calorie++ by 3Wiz
A calorie tracker app with a local food calories database.
11. Nefron by App Synthesis
An SMS filtering app to block spam and scams on Android phones.
12. ChordsPlus by CodeTalk
An Android app that allows users to search for a song’s lyrics and chords.
13. Blend Brain by Blend Brain
An educational game to teach kids basic arithmetic.
14. The Adventure of Kle by Nusantara Beta Studio
A PC-based RPG game combining collectible cards with augmented reality.
15. Neil – Menjaga Hutan by Mars Studio
A story-based game for kids that teaches the importance of saving the environment.
Here are the complete 15 apps developers in ‘pro rock star’ developer category with their submissions:
1. Countastic by Aruline Studio:
A number-matching game where kids can learn about subtraction and addition.
2. Ahmad Laila Interactive Book by Badr Interactive
An interactive audio storybook that teaches moral values to children.
3. Marbel Belajar Membaca by Educa Studio
An educational app that teaches letters from scratch.
4. Bermain dengan bentuk dan warna by Garuda Games
3D games for kids to learn shapes and colors.
5. Mata2 by PT Appsindo Technology
A movie theater schedule aggregator from Blitzmegaplex and Cinema21. The application also has a push notification feature for select upcoming movies if they has arrived in the theater.
6. Panda Run by Elvengames
A panda racing game where answering math problems correctly can make you run faster.
7. Budi dan Badu untuk Android by Satria Lebah
Free subscription comic strips with weekly updates.
8. Citra Belajar Bersama by Anggi Prayoga
A game aimed at kids ranging from two to six years old that teaches them to recognize and write numbers and letters.
9. Math Sack by Floo Studio
A sack-race game for children where children can solve math problems during a race. Each level serves different math difficulties.
10. Lagu Anak Indonesia 01 ໂດຍ Pelangi Interaktif Studio
A library of Indonesian children’s songs with added animation.
11. Fun Point by Nightspade
A system of technology that enables any smartphone or tablet to become a game control device, allowing them to play custom-made games that are compatible with the controller on another device connected to the same wi-fi network.
12. Buku Sekolah Elektronik by Tata Taufik Nugraha
An electronic book reader that specifically serves the digital books provided by the Ministry of Education.
13. Gamelan DJ by Kowplink Studio
We’ve covered this particular startup before, Gamelan DJ is an Android app which combines Gamelan with some DJ turntables. Sadly, the team did not attend the final round.
14. Dongeng Pendidikan Karakter – Pak Doblang by PT Kastari Sentra Media
Did not attend.
15. Tryout UAN SD by Gadgetium
Did not attend.
Here are the winners!
Finally after a tiring seven hours of presentation, the winners had been decided. Here are the winners of Rock Dev 2013, ordered from the first rank to the fifth rank:
Category: New Rock Star Developer
1. The Adventure of Kle by NusantaraBetaStudio
2. Nefron by Appsynthesis
3. Shoop! E-Commerce Assistant by Shoop! E-ການຄ້າ
4. Berpetualang di Negeri Huruf by Gobaksadar Interactive
5. Si Kremut Kereta Komuter by Luminascape
Category : Pro Rock Star Developer
1. Marbel Belajar Membaca by Educa Studio
2. Fun Point by Nightspade
3. Bermain dengan Bentuk dan Warna by Garuda Games
4. Buku Sekolah Elektronik by Tata Taufik Nugraha
5. Budi dan Badu untuk Android by Satria Lebah
Now that the event has finished, Firman Wibisana, the COO of TeknoJurnal shared his upcoming plan to us:
Rock Star Dev 2013 is a start for our new long-term program designed to help developers, especially Indonesian developers. I can’t share the exact details with you yet, but I can say that one of the plans in our new program is we will immediately execute a massive upgrade to our online media after Rock Star Dev 2013 ended. The online media will focus even more on the developers which is aligned with our commitment to help developers.
ໄດ້ 2013 Rock Star Dev ended with the gleeful smiles of the winning developers posing in front of the camera. It will be interesting to see how they will perform in the future since the winner will also get a chance to be promoted by Intel, Vserv, and Speed Up, the sponsoring companies.
Written in collaboration with my colleague, Dewi Yuliani.
(Editing by Charlie Custer)