BBC’s Dave Lee interviews a representative from Tactus who demonstrates “what they believe to be the World’s first tactile touchscreen”. It looks pretty awesome:
Looking forward to seeing how this technology progresses…
Scribbled by Tom
BBC’s Dave Lee interviews a representative from Tactus who demonstrates “what they believe to be the World’s first tactile touchscreen”. It looks pretty awesome:
Looking forward to seeing how this technology progresses…
Scribbled by Tom
Line of Business (LOB) Mobile Apps
Businesses and organisations are ramping up development of internal and external customer-facing mobile and tablet apps which are highly specific to their industry, rather than relying on off-the-shelf packages and old-school web-apps. We can help with mobile app design, development and deployment strategy.
If you hadn’t already noticed, smartphones and tablets have become ubiquitous in daily life – you’re just as likely to see someone pull out an iPad on the tube ride into work as a copy of The Times. And you can bet the chap with the tablet is less likely to annoy his fellow commuters than the one struggling with a large, noisy broadsheet.
So with all this portable gadgetry taking on such a starring role in people’s private lives, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that we are pretty comfortable with the idea of integrating smart devices in the workplace.
Businesses and organisations are ramping up development of internal and external customer-facing mobile and tablet apps which are highly specific to their industry, rather than relying on off-the-shelf packages and old-school web-apps.
We’ve helped many software development and project management teams in a wide variety of sectors pick up the skills needed to understand and capture user requirements, create and test code, and develop and maintain a strategy for deploying Line of Business mobile apps for platforms such as Android and iOS (iPhone, iPad).
Through our custom mobile software development training sessions and consultancy activities, we’ve been involved with projects focussing on the development and deployment of Line of Business apps in areas such as:
- Sales & customer survey app for large event organiser (iPad)
- Knowledge Base front-end for major software house (iOS / iPhone / iPad)
- User Interface for roving customer reps for large CRM developer (Android)
- Business Intelligence dashboard for public sector organisation (iOS)
- GUI design and workflow for major Antivirus developer (Android)
Not everyone needs a mobile app for their business – there’s no point investing time and energy just for the sake of it. But if you are considering how your workforce and/or customers might benefit from native mobile apps with which to interact with you and your products or services, then we can help get the ball rolling, and keep it moving in the right direction.
Here are some courses you might want to check out –
- Convince to Convert: how better digital content will grow your business (Seminar / Overview)
- Mobile App Development Strategy (Seminar / Overview)
- iPhone / iPad / iOS 5 & iOS 6 App Development Training Course
- Android App Development Training Course
- Windows Phone App Development Training Course
- Java ME & Blackberry App Development Training Course
…our team of experienced mobile experts are also happy to help with consultancy services in all aspects of mobile app development and deployment, so please do get in touch if your project needs a kick-start or on-going guidance.
Scribbled by Tom
Fighting Fantasy goes mobile on iOS…Unreal!
Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, the godfathers of roleplaying games, have given the go ahead to Epic to publish four iOS titles based on their classic Fighting Fantasy books.
If I mention Fighting Fantasy, do your eyes glaze over in a haze of nostalgia?
Do you also have an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch?
If you answered yes to both of these questions, turn to page 37.
Apple quit the numbers game with new iPad
What’s in a name? How the refusal to append a ’3′ to its latest iPad signals Apple’s confidence, iPod-like dominance of the market, and goes a little way to quieting potential post-Christmas mumbles.
As with any Apple product, there was a lot of talk, speculation and rumour ahead of the launch of the “iPad 3”. When the announcement of the latest tablet from Cupertino finally came the Apple faithful were delighted and confused in equal measure when they discovered the new iPad was going to be called, simply, the New iPad.
To 3 or not to 3
Consumer technology has always had an uneasy interdependence with numbers, on one hand companies need to let the world know their new product is better than the last but, as Apple’s burgeoning sales prove time and time again, consumers are often paralysed by choice and respond instead to simplicity; you don’t choose an iMac 7, you just buy an iMac.
If a company in a diverse market has many products and options it can get very confusing, very quickly; the Sony Bravia brand is strong, but when it comes to comparing prices you’re not just buying a Bravia you are buying a Sony KDL-46EX720 and this jumble of letters and numbers needs a little decoding — the ‘46’ helpfully tell’s you how many inches your getting, but the ‘EX’ could mean anything (there are HX, NX and BX variants) and adding ‘720’ to a 1080p (not a 720p) TV is just plain confusing.
Tech-savy buyers, of course, aren’t afraid of numbers, no one batted an eyelid when the successor to the Xbox was labelled the Xbox 360, it felt right at the time, but it has left Microsoft with a digit designation dilemma — does Xbox 720 sound right? What about Windows 8? That sounds okay but Windows 9, 11, 17?
It’s an awkward and unusual misstep for Apple that from tomorrow the average consumer (someone without an eye on such things) will be able to purchase either an iPad or an iPad 2 and not really understand that the iPad 2 is the older model (the only real clue up front is the new, lower price). The iPad also seems to be locked into a March release schedule (the new iPad comes a full calendar year after the iPad 2 launch) and of the 13 million or so who got a new shiny new iPad for Christmas it’s more than likely a few are little frustrated that the iPad 2 is already out of date.
It’s hard to see why people care so much about a simple name and a number but the iPhone 4S launch last October caused a kerfuffle not because the phone wasn’t any good (it was generally seen as a great improvement over the iPhone 4) but because everyone was expecting an iPhone 5.
Perhaps dropping the number from the iPad is Apple’s way to avoid future criticism and blur the distinction between Christmas gifts that become tarnished the following quarter. But the new designation could equally be a sign of Apple’s growing confidence in and ownership of the tablet market — just as people soberly purchase ‘the latest iPod’ (not knowing when they’re released, whether they’re new or old) the same will become true for the iPad.
Of course, the real question is whether a new iPad is the right choice for you. If you’ve not yet entered the tablet market, and you’re keen to get started, it’s a no brainer. If you’ve got an original iPad and have a relative who’d be happy to take if off your hands then the iPad 3 is a compelling upgrade. For iPad 2 owners it’s not so clear.
What is clear is that Apple will continue to dominate the market, retaining a large market share and almost all the profits — and it’s an exciting time for Apple developers now that they have 4 times as many pixels to play with.
Beginners iPhone & iPad Programming Basics Training Course
Our Beginners iPhone & iPad Programming Basics Training Course is designed to take people with only a little programming experience through the fundamental steps needed to develop and publish an app that runs on iOS.
iOS 5.1 rides in on the iPad 3, iOS 6 yet to be seen
There were one or two rumours floating around that iOS 6 might be announced alongside yesterday’s unveiling of the iPad3. Alas ’twas not the case, but iOS 5 has nonetheless been given a bit of a polish and a decimal place.
There were one or two rumours floating around that iOS 6 might be announced alongside yesterday’s unveiling of the iPad3. Alas ’twas not the case, but iOS 5 has nonetheless been given a bit of a polish and a decimal place.
As a Japanophile and budding speaker of the language, I’m happy to note that Japanese is now supported by Siri (Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface) . One can’t help but smile a little childishly when one considers that “R” and “L” are essentially the same consonant in Japanese though. It’s silly, really.
Other new features of iOS 5.1 include being able to now unlock straight to the camera, improved Face Recognition algorithm, and an improved UI for the camera app itself.
There have been some tweaks to improve battery life, and the update also includes some iPad-specific love in the form of tablet-optimised audio and video.
iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch owners can grab iOS 5.1 right now via iTunes.
Scribbled by Tom
iPad 3 release date confirmed
Well that’s going to stoke the fires ;)
iCloud Storage API – Developer beta version available
Apple’s next release of the mobile platform operating system, iOS5, will include extensive integration with its iCloud online storage service.
The beta version of the iCloud Storage API gives developers the tools to enable data and documents to be pushed to and retrieved from the Cloud, from compatible devices (iPhone, iPad, iTouch with the relevant updates installed). iCloud also supports OS X Lion and Microsoft Windows users.
We’re covering the best new features of iOS5 in our iPhone/iPad app development training …
Apple’s next release of the mobile platform operating system, iOS5, will include extensive integration with its iCloud online storage service.
The beta version of the iCloud Storage API gives developers the tools to enable data and documents to be pushed to and retrieved from the Cloud, from compatible devices (iPhone, iPad, iTouch with the relevant updates installed). iCloud also supports OS X Lion and Microsoft Windows users.
We’re covering the best new features of iOS5 in our iPhone/iPad app development training course.
Please do get in touch if you have any questions.
Scribbled by Tom
iOS news – new features of iOS 5
Short article covering some interesting features of the new version of the iOS operating system (iOS5) for the iPhone and iPad.
We’re very keen on our smart-phones here at Framework Training – although I should disclose at this point that a current poll suggests Android is currently our favoured operating system (albeit by a small margin!).
A few of the reported new features that we like are:
Reminders
Improved to-do list functionality including due dates and location information, iCal compatibility and will talk to Outlook and iCloud. The location tie-in sounds pretty nifty – the example given is a shopping list reminder that automatically appears the next time you visit the supermarket.
For those like me that immediately go into a fugue-state when entering a shop, this could be a real time(and possibly life)-saver!
Notification Center (sic!) – improved alert functionality
Swipe down from the top of the screen to display the Notification Centre. You’ll be immediately informed of the arrival of new emails, texts and social networking requests, and apparently weather and stock ticker changes can also be included.
Face recognition
As of time of writing this feature is still a rumour, but Apple’s purchase of Polar Rose last year would strongly suggest that face recognition functionality will be available in as a public developer API if not in a pre-loaded App. More info at 9to5mac.com here.
iMessage – text messaging for iPad and iPod touch users
Unlimited text messages can now be sent over 3G or wireless connections from iPads and Ipod touches to other iMessage users, avoiding the cost of sending an SMS message. From the screen-shots available it seems photos and videos are integrated into the thread-style display. Tracking features are also included; delivery and read receipts and a messenger-style function to indicate when your correspondent is typing.
One issue, however, is the proprietary nature of the iMessage system which means that you won’t be able to send an iMessage to your pals if they have a Blackberry or Android device – the missive is automatically converted to SMS.
Newsstand – magazine and newspaper app subscription organiser
It displays your current subscriptions as a virtual magazine rack, plus alerts to inform of the arrival of new issues and a one-tap link to App Store for new subscriptions.
Full Twitter integration with a single sign-in. Tweet directly (including location) from Photos, Camera, YouTube, Maps and Safari.
Camera
Improved camera functionality – new features include the ability to open the camera app from the lock screen. Also now includes grid lines, pinch-to-zoom gestures, single-tap focus and exposure locks, iCloud Photostream integration and volume-up button as the shutter control.
Safari
Safari improvements include a Reading List for saving articles for later consumption, iCloud integration across multiple devices and tabbed browsing for the iPad. Some third-party reports suggest that the performance is significantly increased across all devices.
Multi-tasking gestures (iPad)
Some new moves and shortcuts – using four or five fingers, swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar, pinch to return to the Home screen, and swipe left or right to switch between apps.
AirPlay Mirroring (iPad 2)
AirPlay is now supports video mirroring on the iPad 2. This allows secure wireless streaming from an iPad 2 to an HDTV via Apple TV and supports portrait/landscape rotation. This could be a very useful feature.
PC Free
Finally there is now no requirement to own a Mac or PC to set-up and update your mobile device. Not sure how many of us don’t actually own a computer, but maybe there are a few people out there who have an iOS device and nothing else.
What will iOS run on?
Current compatible devices are iPad and iPad 2, iPhone 3GS and 4 and 3rd and 4th gen iPod touch.
Our iOS 5 course plans
Rest assured we’ll be making sure that access to all this nice shiny new functionality will be included in our iOS developer training courses.
Here is our current iPhone iPad App Development training course
Scribbled by Tom
Flash & AIR Development for iOS, Android & Blackberry Training Course
Our Mobile App Development with Adobe AIR Training Course is aimed at bringing software, web and mobile app developers quickly up to speed with this game-changing new platform, with lots hands-on exercises and lively discussion, lead by one of our expert mobile app development instructors
020 3137 3920