Date: 12/18/09
Following hot on the heels of releasing the More Birthdays iPhone app for the American Cancer Society, we jumped right into another iPhone app project for our friends at Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort. We are happy to say that it was approved on the first try in the iTunes app store, and was released to the public on December 18, 2009.
One irony in this story is this: December 18 (today) is the date of our Holiday party up at the Cliff Lodge at Snowbird. You can bet there will be a few extra toasts to celebrate the timing and release of this app. We were hearing rumors that the iTune app review team was slammed with an extra workload going into the holidays, and that times of getting approval had stretched out to 14 working days, which would have meant a live date after the holidays, which would have been a missed opportunity. As it stands, we went from submission to approval in 5 working days, faster than we thought was possible. Happy Holidays to you too, iTunes.
This was a project we could really get everyone on board with, since everyone here at Welikesmall is an avid skier or rider, and equally passionate about The Bird, a very special place. This is also a big step for our friends at Snowbird who run the mountain. We believe this to be the first branded iPhone app released by a Utah ski resort and published in the app store. If you want to know about all the features, download the Snowbird app from iTunes and give it a test drive. Our favorite feature is the photo uploader. Snowbird has taken a big bold step in the direction of user generated content, and the built in photo uploader allows users of the app to upload images from the iPhone's camera or camera roll to Snowbird's community Flickr Photostream. Bold move.
What do you think? What other features would be cool in a ski resort iPhone app? What are some ideas for the next realease?
Date: 12/01/09
It's been in the works for awhile, but we are now proud to announce the release of More Birthdays v1.0, an iPhone app that we conceptualized, designed, and developed in collaboration with the American Cancer Society. It went live in the iTunes app store on November 30, 2009, and you can check it out by clicking this link to get More Birthdays, or simply search for More Birthdays. It's a free app that helps you remember upcoming birthdays from your contacts and Facebook account.
Why do we need this sort of app? There are a lot of "Birthday" themed apps in the store, and ours is certainly not the first. The American Cancer Society has claimed the right to be the "Official Sponsor of Birthdays." We think their goal to fight cancer and thus promote a world with more birthdays is a pretty good cause. When first proving our concept for this app, we did a lot of research centered on how people use apps and computers to help them remember important dates. It used to be a lot simpler, but in our digital age of "friending" co-workers, neighbors, casual acquaintances, our human networks have grown thanks to computers and mobile devices. We are simply more connected than ever before, and yet it's easy to let the birthday of someone close to you get lost in the cyber shuffle.
More Birthdays uses Push Alerts to remind you of daily or weekly upcoming birthdays. This is important because you don't have to actively seek the info out in the app, your chosen frequency of alerts will ping you and tell you whose day is coming up. You can then launch the app and use it to send a quick Birthday email to a friend or contact. It was also important to us to keep redundant data entry to a minimum. Hence the Facebook Connect functionality for Facebook users. Hit the Connect button, log-in, and you can import all of your FB Friends into the same database as your other contacts.
Check it out, and let us know what you think? Any suggestions for future releases?
Date: 11/02/09
The most challenging stop in our three-city tour with Big Juan™ and his 30 Canons certainly had to be Chicago. The weather was touch-and-go, the building manager at the Tribune building tried to steal our ladders, and an impromptu demonstration from out of work labor union folks provided some extra extras for the shoot. The first planned shoot day was knocked out because of rain, but the second day proved to be more productive. After getting the shots we needed, Big Juan™ was packed up in the rental van, next stop, the outskirts of Austin, Texas.
Date: 10/28/09
It was nice to hear from our friends at Venables, Bell & Partners today, and learn that a site we built for them was featured on the Commarts website as their Web Pick of the Day. Venables' client Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) wanted to create an experiential site for their customers to interact with information about clean energy production, provide helpful tips for everyday energy conservation, all in a bilingual (English & Spanish) easy-to-navigate site. We think it's working out pretty well. Check out the Comm Arts mention for PG&E's site.
Date: 10/16/09
Day 1 of shooting in the field with Big Juan™ is in the books. Day 1 was more of a tech scout day, in terms of positioning of the rig, testing, getting set-up and calibration dialed in. The goal is to shoot an intersection in the Hyde Park district of Boise, Idaho with our multi-angle camera array, giving the image sequence a Matrix-like effect. The weather on the ground for day 2 is looking good, so we should be hearing back from the crew with some good news.
After the crew and rig returns from Boise just in time for the weekend, the crew sets out for a long road trip next week to the Windy City.
