Small App developer for “Mini camera” awarded with a free Xperia™ Tablet S

A few weeks ago, we challenged all you developers out there to create an app that makes use of the Small Apps multi-tasking functionality in the Xperia™ Tablet S. We received a lot of interesting submissions that deserve mention, such as Muhammad Hakim A’s Al Mishbah Small App andVictor Kropp’s Board Game Dice Roller Small App. But one Small App stood out above the rest –tebaokoshi’s Mini camera . This simple, yet elegant Small App uses the tablet’s camera functionality, and has some handy options. We reached out to tebaokoshi to share the good news, and to learn more about how the Mini camera Small App was developed. Read more after the jump.

Tebaokoshi is a small company based in Japan, and Mini camera is one of the first apps being developed, with more apps coming in the near future.

Joe Padre: Congratulations on your Small Apps submission. The Mini camera was the top entry!

Tebaokoshi: We’re very happy to hear that our app has been selected! Thank you so much!

JP: What inspired you to make this Small App?

T: We hadn’t really considered publishing any apps before this, but when we heard about Sony’s search for Small Apps, it seemed like a great opportunity to work on a camera app we had in mind. And the chance to win a free Sony Xperia™ Tablet S was also a nice incentive.

Screenshot of tebaokoshi’s “Mini camera” Small app running on Xperia™ Tablet S.

JP: What does your Small App do?

T: It’s a small yet simple camera application showing in a small window. As a Small App for the tablet’s camera, you can resize the app window, or minimise it by moving to the right or lower end of the screen. Screen rotation is also supported. To take a picture, push the camera button or tap the preview image. The app also allows you to pinch zoom in or out of a preview image. Plus there are shortcuts for setting Colour Effect and White Balance.

JP: How easy was it to use the Sony Tablet SDK Add-on to create your Small App?

T: It was quite easy for us because we had the Sony Tablet SDK Add-on documentation and Small Apps code example to refer to. However, at the first step, we had a little difficulty because the Small App is not Activity, but a Service which has window.

JP: Your Mini Camera for Small Apps has several handy options. How did you decide what functionality to include?

T: The Mini camera can take photos in a small window, so we thought it would be helpful to see the photos taken in the Gallery app while taking pictures. So our app has a button to launch the Gallery (or Album) app. Also we wanted to provide standard camera functions, so we made sure to include features such as switching between front and back camera, colour effects, and white balance. In addition, focusing on a subject in such a small window was difficult to achieve in the app widget, so to compensate for it, we added the feature to zoom by pinching in or out.

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We thank tebaokoshi for the interview and the great Small App. If you want to check out more of tebaokoshi’s work, you can download a Small App called RSS Reader, which is a simple RSS news feed reader. Have fun with your new Xperia™ Tablet S!