Google's DevFest is coming

Google Australia has announced it will run its first developer event in the country, DevFest AU, in June.

The free event, which runs from 28 June until 2 July, will have full day sessions on topics such as Wave, Apps, Chrome, Social and Geo and will give developers access to new APIs and the latest code.

Local and international Google experts will speak at the event, including global developer advocate Don Dodge, who currently assists developers building new applications on Google platforms and technologies.

Previously, Dodge was involved in startup at Microsoft as well as Forte Software, AltaVista, Napster, Bowstreet, and Groove Networks.

Google Australia’s head of engineering, Alan Noble, said he looked forward to seeing what Australia’s “creative, ambitious, and technically savvy” developers came up with using the company tools and apps.

In related developer news, Google last week admitted it was having continued reliability issues with its Android market online store. Over the weekend developers reported that they were experiencing issues with erroneous download counts.

The company also caught some flack when a Google engineer published attack code that exploits a zero-day vulnerability in Windows XP, giving hackers a new way to hijack and infect systems.

Security experts objected to the way the engineer disclosed the bug – just five days after it was reported to Microsoft – and said the move is more evidence of the ongoing, and increasingly public, war between the two giants.