Android apps sought by DARPA

[rockymtnhigh]

Thanks to Phandroid for this one:

Android War: Real Life Use For Battles, Missions | Android Phone Fans

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (you know, the people who brought you the internet) have a call for proposals for

DARPA is seeking applications to fill a diverse set of needs, including the tactical battlefield, humanitarian missions, disaster recovery, and other mission areas. Example functionalities include command and control, reporting, mission planning, intelligence/ surveillance/ reconnaissance, real-time collaboration, geospatial visualization, analysis, language translation, training, and logistics tracking. For the initial implementation, all apps should target the Android platforms. Special attention must be paid to the apps’ user interfaces and usability functions, as well as striving towards general simplicity and ease-of-use. While some apps will function without network access (except for occasional synchronization or updates), other apps may require more consistent network connectivity. For apps that rely heavily on network connectivity, the emphasis must be placed on minimal bandwidth consumption and application robustness in spite of frequent network disconnection. In all cases, any server infrastructure requirements needed to support the apps should be included as part of the proposal.

The Defense department does not want to go through the itunes store. Score one for android and open-source.

Think about the use for those new Archos android tablets. Or even just smart phones. (Ok, I can not resist - lets hope they don't rely on AT&T's 3G network ). Seriously, this is very cool.