Archive for the ‘Titanium’ tag
Win $15k in Appcelerator’s Mobile Developer Challenge
This sponsored post is produced by Appcelerator.
Join Appcelerator’s first-ever Mobile Developer Challenge!
They will be awarding over $25,000 in prizes and giving the top two apps the chance to present their app on stage at CODESTRONG 2012 in San Francisco…plus, the top two apps will have the opportunity to pitch their apps to Appcelerator’s “VC Panel” at CODESTRONG!
Top prizes include:
1st Place:
- $15,000 cash
- Trip to San Francisco to join Appcelerator CEO Jeff Haynie on stage to launch their app at CODESTRONG
- Meeting to pitch your business to Appcelerator’s VC’s
2nd Place:
- $5,000 cash
- Trip to San Francisco to join Appcelerator CEO Jeff Haynie on stage to launch their app at CODESTRONG
- Meeting to pitch your business to Appcelerator’s VC’s
Box Bonus Prize:
- $5,000 cash
- Any app that uses the Box API is eligible to win this prize
- Award will favor business-oriented apps
- This prize may be stand-alone ($5k only) or may be added to one of the other cash prizes
Top 10 Apps (10)
- Nexus 7 Tablet
What kind of apps are they looking for?
Create an app that will be beautiful, addictive, and useful. Apps can be built for consumers, businesses, or for social good. They’ll judge apps on the following criteria:
Depth of Integration with Appcelerator
Does the application take advantage of the unique functionality offered by the Titanium platform? Does it leverage Appcelerator Cloud Services? Is it integrated with modules from the Open Mobile Marketplace?
Utility
Is the application useful to a consumer or businessperson? Does it achieve one of the two objectives of mobile apps (to help people make money or waste time)?
User Experience
Is the application easy to use? Is it appealing? Is it addictive?
Originality of Concept
Is the application unique and innovative? Does it bring new functionality to mobile devices?
Any new mobile application that is developed on Appcelerator Titanium is eligible for the Mobile Developer Challenge. Here are the key dates:
- Now through September 30th – Form a team (or go it alone!), come up with an idea, and build an app
- September 30th – Submission deadline (5:00pm PT)
- October 12th – 10 finalists announced
- October 23rd – 1st and 2nd place winners launch their app on stage at CODESTRONG 2012
- October 23rd – 1st and 2nd place winners pitch their app to our “VC Panel”
To help you get started, they’re holding a number of meetups around the world. These are a great place to brainstorm and discuss the feasibility of an idea with our developer relations staff, connect with others who are participating in the Mobile Developer Challange, and learn more about Appcelerator. They will also be holding webinars if you’re unable to attend in person. For a list of events, and to find all of the information that you need about the Mobile Developer Challenge, visit Appcelerator.challengepost.com.
Filed under: dev, VentureBeat 
Add FaceTime features to any iOS app, all without learning Objective-C [exclusive]
Adding video chat features to mobile apps just got a little bit easier with a new release from startup TokBox.
Here’s the deal: You can now use TokBox’s open chat tools to add video chat, FaceTime-like capabilities to iOS apps using web languages you already know — HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The magic is accomplished via new plugins for Titanium (from Appcelerator) and PhoneGap. The Titanium plugin is available now in the Appcelerator marketplace.
TokBox has been a champion for live video chat as a feature rather than a standalone apps. Earlier this year, the TokBox team rolled out their OpenTok iOS SDK. With the new plugins, the startup is trying to bring the same functionality to a wider audience of developers, including web devs who are looking for workarounds to get into mobile development.
The plugins will let users build features for mobile-to-mobile video chat as well as mobile-to-web video chat.
“In an increasingly mobile world, platforms such as Titanium and PhoneGap are critical for the rapid development of mobile apps,” said TokBox CEO Ian Small.
“Tools such as video chat, which are becoming the norm online, have been slower to deploy on mobile because of the programming language barrier. Now, if you are a developer with web skills, you can build video chat into a native app without needing to learn Objective-C.”
TokBox was founded in 2007 and in based in San Francisco, Calif. The startup has taken a total of $26 million in venture capital in three rounds since 2008; investors include Sequoia Capital and Bain Capital Ventures.
Appcelerator announces coding conference and hackathon-for-good (exclusive)
Appcelerator, maker of mobile development tool Titanium, is gearing up for Codestrong, its big code conference and hackathon set to take place in San Francisco this October.
In just three months, more than 500 developers will descend on the Intercontinental Hotel for two days of keynote talks, around 30 breakout sessions, and Hack to Help, a charity-focused hackathon.
“Last year’s Codestrong conference was amazing, and this year is going to be even better,” said Appcelerator CEO Jeff Haynie in a statement today.
“In addition to delivering great mobile and technical content, this year we have a big focus on building a successful mobile business … [and] compelling apps for both consumers and the enterprise.”
Last year’s Codestrong did have a hackathon for mobile developers, conducted in a fairly typical hack through the night/be judged/declare the winners format. This year, the Hack to Help event will also take place overnight, but in addition to having an overall winner for the hackathon, each app will be built for the benefit of a pre-selected nonprofit organization.
Twelve teams will work around the clock to build apps for 12 charities. The apps will help each nonprofit boost their fundraising and awareness efforts. Some of the organizations that will receive apps include Stop Hunger Now, Mercy Corps, Special Olympics, and the Avril Lavigne Foundation, which supports organizations working with children and youth who have serious illnesses or disabilities.
“I am very excited that my fans will have the opportunity to give back from the convenience of their mobile phones,” said Lavigne in a statement on the hackathon.“I think an app will be a great way for them to help make a difference and to follow all the great things we do for sick or disabled children and youth. I am very grateful to all of the developers who are participating in Hack to Help, and I can’t wait to see the final results!”
Codestrong is Appcelerator’s annual mobile conference. This year’s two-day event will take place in San Francisco, Calif., at the Intercontinental Hotel starting October 21, 2012. Currently, all-access passes are available online for $599.
Top image courtesy of olly, Shutterstock
Filed under: dev 
Nike’s Big Idea: Do Things for People
Experiences are more satisfying than material purchases. Relevant experiences that help connect people in the moment are the most rewarding for brands as well.
Why? Because when we enjoy something in the present moment we’re not occupied with comparing as we are already maximizing one experience. When remembering and sharing about a happy time we’re inclined to err on the side of nicer than it was vs. re-evaluating it. Our memory is the feeling we had with it.
These are all reasons why when a brand is able to shift its marketing from product to business strategy, it’s poised to deliver a shared experience for customers and win.
Which is why Nike won the Titanium Grand Prix and also won grand prix, gold and silver across categories — Mobile, Cyber, Design, Integrated.
Nike understands the value of relationships.
It is demonstrating how successful brands win by doing things for and with people.
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Cannes: Publicis op shortlist Titanium
Publicis Amsterdam staat op de shortlist Titanium & Integrated met de ALS-campagne. Op de lijsten Film Craft en Branded Content & Entertainment komen geen Nederlandse inzendingen voor.
Appcelerator Partners With Geoloqi To Bring Location Services To Its 1.6 Million Developers
Geoloqi, the Portland, Ore.-based location platform, today announced that it is partnering with the popular mobile app development platform Appcelerator. Thanks to this partnership, Geoloqi is now available to the 1.6 million iOS and Android developers who have signed up for Appcelerator’s Titanium 2.0 platform. With this, Appcelerator developers can now easily create location-based apps on the company’s JavaScript-based Titanium 2.0 app building platform.
Thanks to the new Geoloqi module, developers can now create geo-triggered events in their applications. This, says Appcelerator, will allow its developers to create apps that make use of geofencing and can, for example, send users a push notification when they cross the border into or out of a geofenced zone. In addition, Geoloqi offers standard location tracking features as well as location analytics. While the company’s partnership with Appcelerator focused on these areas, Titanium developers will also be able to use Geoloqi’s other features, including, for example, its Wikipedia layers.
Appcelerator tells us that it also chose Geoloqi because it can smoothly transition between different location sources like GPS and WiFi triangulation, relatively conservative battery use and also because it features sophisticated privacy controls for users.
Appcelerator, as its head of Head of ISV and ecosystem partnerships Spencer Chen told me at TechCrunch Disrupt earlier today, is looking to partner with forward-looking companies that can offer best-of-breed services to its users. Just last week, Appcelerator also announced a partnership with leading mobile ad network InMobi.
About 70% of the company’s users, said Chen, currently develop consumer-focused applications like Hotel Tonight and the other 30% are working on apps mostly used internally in large enterprises. The company’s new COO Sandeep Johri was, among other things, responsible for implementing the overall strategy for HP’s enterprise business, so chances are that the company will continue to push even deeper into the enterprise market in the near future.
Appcelerator is offering developers who sign up for the Geoloqi module before June 30, 2012 a free two-month trial of Geoloqi. After that, plans will start at $19.99 per month.
Better location tools for more apps: Geoloqi is now on Appcelerator Titanium
Two of the more interesting companies on the mobile-development landscape are announcing a new deal for developers today, and will be making great tools for location-based apps available for free.
If you’re into mobile development, Appcelerator and Geoloqi are probably both on your radar.
Appcelerator helps developers make all kinds of mobile apps on a variety of platforms, and Geoloqi brings mobile devs powerful, simple location features, such as proximity information and geofencing.
The two companies have been cozied up for a few months already. Now, they’re giving devs a two-month trial to test drive Geoloqi on Appcelerator’s Titanium 2.0 platform. In a word, this means better location tools will be available for more kinds of apps, and they’ll be easier to use for a wider range of developers.
Titanium lets devs work quickly to get apps live on Android and iOS devices natively, as well as on the mobile web. With Geoloqi plugged in, devs will also have a complete location toolkit (including true geofencing), battery management features, and real-time data storage and analytics.
“Appcelerator customers have been asking for a true, dependable geolocation solution and location-based analytics platform, and we found one in Geoloqi,” said Jeff Haynie, CEO of Appcelerator, in a statement this morning.
“It’s the first geolocation platform that enables individualized geo-triggered events within an application. This powerful toolkit is an essential addition to our app development marketplace, and we’re excited to offer Geoloqi technology to our customers.”
Geoloqi, which was founded by cyborg anthropologist Amber Case, was intended originally and primarily as a tool for large enterprises and government organizations. But Case told us earlier this year that the startup fully intended to bring its tools to the masses via partnerships such as this one.
“Appcelerator has been a fantastic partner, with a very impressive set of tools,” Case said in a release today. “We are thrilled to be enabling their developer base with the power of next-generation location services for their applications and look forward to unleashing the power of the creative commons with powerful, easy-to-use location features.”
To date, Geoloqi has raised $350,000 and is seeking future rounds of funding to continue growing its offerings, client base, and partnerships. Current clients include government and security teams.
Image courtesy of rangizzz, Shutterstock
The Titanium Kung Foon Spork Combines Every Dining Utensil into One Portable Eating Tool [Stuff We Like]
When you’re home you probably have a decent cache of dining utensils, but when on the go you run the risk of being unprepared. If you’re looking for a way to eat while traveling, camping, or just anywhere that doesn’t provide the necessary tools, the Kung Foon Spork will have you covered. It even comes with an aluminum case for safer portability. More »
Titanium Backup Updates, Adds Box.net Syncing for Your Backups [Android Downloads]
Android: If you managed to pick up 50GB of storage with a Box.net account and your Android phone, now here’s one way you can make use of it. Titanium Backup, our favorite backup app for Android has updated to support Box.net accounts, so any backups you take of your device can be automatically uploaded to the cloud. More »
Fueled by mobile madness, Appcelerator acquires Cocoafish
As long as consumers are crazy about mobile apps, developers will build them — and as long as developers are cranking out mobile apps, companies like Appcelerator will continue to flourish and snap up companies like Cocoafish.
In a nutshell, both Cocoafish and Appcelerator are in the business of making mobile development a lot easier, and the latter has just announced its acquisition of the former. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Appcelerator is a mobile platform company, and Cocoafish provides a suite of APIs for mobile infrastructure. Together, the combined entity will include even more tools for developers to quickly churn out feature-rich and engaging applications for smartphones and tablets.
“Nearly all of our developers and customers have been manually adding cloud service functionality to their mobile applications since we launched Appcelerator’s Titanium Platform three years ago,” said Appcelerator CEO Jeff Haynie in a release.
“Cocoafish is by far the most complete mobile cloud solution, and combined with [Appcelerator's] Titanium Platform, Appcelerator is delivering everything a developer needs to build rich, connected applications.”
Cocoafish’s cloud-based products include more than 25 mobile features such as including location, push notifications, photo editing, and social and sharing features.
Also, Appcelerator said it will publish iOS, Android, JavaScript, and REST SDKs so app developers using Objective C, Java, PhoneGap, Sencha, and HTML5 can build instantly scalable server-side backends, add network features without writing code on the server side, and deploy apps with a single click.
By the end of Q1, these features will be integrated into Appcelerator’s current offerings. The acquiring company expects to launch Cocoafish as “Appcelerator Cloud Services” (ACS) early in the second quarter. At that point, the Cocoafish features will be integrated with the Titanium Platform with cross-platform SDK support for non-Titanium developers. The cloud services will be priced according to usage in a tiered system.
Appcelerator has been on something of an acquisition spree lately. Late last year, the company bought Particle Code, the HTML5 mobile platform that turned heads (and won official recognition) at DEMO in 2010.
The company also acquired Aptana in January 2011, which brought an enterprise-grade IDE into the fold.
It’s worth noting that Appcelerator closed a $15 million round of funding just a few short months ago; we’re sure the extra cash was helpful for making this strategic acquisition.
Image courtesy of Monkey Business Images, Shutterstock
Filed under: deals 
