Juggling a new app
Keep Up! for the BlackBerry PlayBook is now available
Today, we officially launched Keep Up! for the BlackBerry PlayBook. To download the app, visit Keep Up! at the BlackBerry App World.
Technically, the app was released along with the PlayBook on its official April 19th US/Canada launch. However, we didn’t get to test our app until today when our *free* BlackBerry PlayBook came in! We participated in RIM’s free BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet offer that awarded a developer who submitted a PlayBook application to the BlackBerry App World before March 31st, 2011.
Keep Up! was a fun, experimental, hobby project for our team. Our commitment remains to the iPad and although we didn’t want to dilute our focus, developing Keep Up! made sense for the following three reasons:
(1) The PlayBook runs Flash. Although I’m not yet a strong believer in Flash as a mobile software platform, especially for touch screens, I was excited to port my past Flash games to the device. I had written a Keep Up game for Macromedia Flash 4 (yes, I’m that old) almost 10 years ago and thought it would be fun to bring back some memories.
(2) We predicted there wouldn’t be many apps for the PlayBook at launch. We were right as recent reports say there are only 1,700 apps so far. It’s easy to be discovered on an App Store with so few apps and so if adoption of the PlayBook is high then being discovered early on will help future sales. We wanted to test the waters with this app and ride any waves that the PlayBook experiences.
(3) C’mon, a free BlackBerry PlayBook! Who doesn’t like shiey new toys?
Overall, the app was fun to build. It was fairly simple and using Flash to build it was surprisingly enjoyable. The PlayBook’s development tools weren’t great but I’m hoping they’ll improve within the next few months. I haven’t yet spent much time with the PlayBook itself but I already feel it’s quite different in use (both software and hardware wise) than the iPad.
I’m hopeful for the PlayBook and for Keep Up!. RIM has made a fairly good start but needs to continue to push (seriously, no native email?). Should be interesting to see how well the device is adopted in the coming months.
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Perfecting the wheel
Apple announces the iPad 2
Why reinvent the wheel when you can perfect it instead?
Today the iPad 2 was announced. The device looks absolutely incredible.
Most people will comment on its new front and back cameras as a major feature but that’s not where I feel the product succeeds. The iPad 2 is at the heart of what Apple does so well to stay ahead of competition; it is an improvement in aspects of the product that people value most.
With the iPad 1, Apple nailed a new form of tablet computing. With the iPad 2, Apple has nailed how to better that experience. They first invented the ‘what’, now they’re improving the ‘how.’
The iPad 2 has a faster processor, new graphics capabilities, double the RAM, new screen technology, 10hr battery life, and is both thinner and lighter – all at the same price.
We can list and compare specs but the brilliance of the iPad 2 comes down to how ‘good’ the device feels, which, in the end, is all the customer truly cares about. I truly feel that the faster processor, new graphics capabilities, and RAM increase will make the already snappy device seem flawless. I think its new light and thin form factor will make it more comfortable and natural to use. These changes are easy to list and sound fairly straight forward, but they will have profound effects when one uses the device. The skeptics will still complain about the lack of Flash, still object to no built-in USB ports, and will still criticize the so-called ‘closed’ app store, but I truly believe that once someone picks up an iPad 2, just like so many did with the iPad 1, they’ll only then understand its value and its potential.
The iPad 2 seems to be better in all the ways that matter and I think it’s going to do phenomenally well. I can’t wait to get my hands on one and I look forward to seeing how well it’s adopted.
My prediction: it’ll sell 40 million units in the first year.
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Apps worth sharing
TEDxWaterloo for BlackBerry is now available
Today, we officially launched our TEDxWaterloo 2011 app for the BlackBerry. To download the app, visit the following address on your BlackBerry device’s browser: http://www.szello.com/tedxwaterlooapp
TEDxWaterloo is the official TEDx conference for Waterloo, Canada. The conference takes place on March 3, 2011 in Kitchener at Centre In The Square. It will bring together many leaders and thought provoking speakers from the community to speak on their passions and ideas. The event will be streamed live, for more information, visit the Official TEDxWaterloo website.
We’re absolutely thrilled to have had the opportunity to collaborate with such an amazing event. It was a pleasure working with the entire TEDxWaterloo team, including Ramy Nassar (@ramynassar), Alain Gaudrault (@Gaudrault), ChristineHamon (@ChristineHamon), and Joanna Woo (@joannawoo).
There is already a lot of positive buzz on twitter, but we can’t wait to hear more feedback. For more information, visit our TEDxWaterloo 2011 app for the BlackBerry page.
We would also like to make a shout out to our friends at EndLoop, who made the TEDxWaterloo app for iPhone. They did an amazing job and it was great working with them, download their app at http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/tedxwaterloo/id419132806?mt=8
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Thank you Apps4Ottawa!
We had a great time at the Apps4Ottawa award show last night!
Apps4Ottawa, an open data contest designed to foster innovation in the city, was a great idea to motivate Ottawa’s most creative developers to build city-based apps. We were proud to be there with our app, Ottawa LibraryFind, and got the opportunity to meet a lot of cool people.
One of those cool people were Chris Wise, the creator of GoLocavore. Currently being used in Ottawa, GoLocavore, is a website to find locally grown goods from vendors in ones city including markets, farms and roadside stalls.
Besides the the Apps4Ottawa Award show being a great way to meet other developers in the city, the highlight of the night was how it showcased the potential of app developers in Ottawa and the willingness of the city of Ottawa to support those developers. Think of it this way – it’s like food. You need great ingredients and great cooks to make an amazing meal. The city of Ottawa provided all the great ingredients by being willing to open up its local data, the developers were the great cooks who were able to be incredibly creative with ways to make that data useful for local citizens. You can’t have one with out the other.
I applaud both groups and I can’t wait to see more exciting things come from the city of Ottawa and its geeks. Thanks again Apps4Ottawa!
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szello world!
It’s been quite an exciting couple of months for szello!
We’re now incorporated thanks to the wonderful people at FMC Law, our website is up in all its glory, and we’ve released our first ever app for the iPhone: Ottawa LibraryFind.
Ottawa LibraryFind
Ottawa LibraryFind was a brainchild that took place after we heard about Apps4Ottawa, an open data contest designed to foster innovation in the city. A great idea to motivate Ottawa’s most creative developers to build city-based apps.
We developed Ottawa LibraryFind to do one thing exceptionally well – allow users to find if a book, DVD, or game is available in the Ottawa Public Library. Our developers had a lot of fun working on it and we’re hoping Ottawans really find value in it. Download it FREE for iPhone 4 and iPhone 3gs here.
If you love using the app as much as we loved making it, please support szello by voting for us at the Apps4Ottawa contest! We can’t wait to hear your feedback!
Our Thanks
It’s been quite the past few months! We wanted to extend our sincere thanks to all our close family and friends who have worked tirelessly to support us. Your love and assistance has meant the world to us and we cannot wait to share our new projects with you.
Also, a big thank you to Nawshaba Zaman and NZPhotography.ca for an amazing executive profile photoshoot. Thanks also to daryl_mitchell, groovenite, and jorgeg82 for their photos too.
More to Come!
We’re just getting started and are so excited to share some of the cool apps we’ve been working so hard on! Go go gadget szello!
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