Speaking at FITC Mobile 2009

I am happy to announce that I will be speaking at FITC Mobile 2009, which takes place from 12/09 till 14/09 in Toronto, Canada. My session is called ” Tips and tricks for Flash Lite optimization ” and will offer attendees a set of best practices, tips, do’s and don’t in order to optimize Flash Lite content and push beyond the boundaries of a mobile device. I will try to make it a technical and inspirational sessions that helps Flash developers getting started with killer mobile applications, using there existing skills! 

More info on my session can be found here. Feel free to drop me a line of you are also attending, FITC is known for it’s cool and late night parties, so that’s a perfect opportunity to meet up!

My thoughts on the new iPhone 3G s [ Part 2. ]

Last week Apple announced it’s new iPhone at the wwdc09 conference. In My thoughts on the new iPhone 3G s [ Part 1. ] I already gave you an insight on my thoughts of the iPhone 3G s OS3 and it’s updated features. Besides that, Apple also updated it’s SDK with more then 1000 new API’s which will allow iPhone developers to take their stunning application to a new level..

… there is an app for that!

Like the video below already mentions, there are tons of cool iPhone applications that are worth trying and add a big value to the experience. With the new API’s users will be spoiled even more it seems, according to a few demo’s Apple already showcased at the wwdc09 keynote.

Tom Tom GPS application

One of my favourite announcements is the TomTom iPhone application which will turn your brand new iPhone into a full and capable GPS device, giving you all the features a TomTom device has to offer. Route directions, maps, voice directions, .. There is even a handy car kit allowing you to use the application in landscape or portrait, recharge the battery while driving and play your ipod music over the stereo. This all is possible thanks to the new hardware API’s that are implemented in the updated sdk. Really amazing and a big value in my opinion. Not sure how much it will cost but definately worth keeping an eye on!

Bring on the kickass games

With the iPhone 3G s offering a far more better performance, existing games now load 2x faster. With the new sdk graphics API’s, games will even look more stunning than before, making the iPhone the best mobile phone to play high quality games. Where other phones take you back to your nintendo gameboy memories, the iPhone combines a good performance with stunning 3D graphics. One of the new announcements is the ability to implement in-game payments. This offers users the possibility to buy new levels and keep on gaming. A powerful way of making more money out of gaming. I really hope this does not result in games where you can only keep on having a decent experience after buying, buying, .. and buying. It sounds to me that a lot of game developers or companies will try to make the most out of it, trying to create addicted gamers to earn money from.

Notify me?

With the new notifications api, developers are now able to implement reminders or other notifications in their applications. Just like receiving an sms, the iPhone OS3 allows your application to fire off alerts. A very powerful feature that will increase the quality of certain apps heavily! The only thing I am affraid of is the spam-effect we might experience. Apps that fire notifications we do not want to get for instance. Let’s hope developers are not allowed to use this as an advertisement model because that could result in a reason to throw your iPhone trough the window.

Application promotion

Apple proudly announced that there are already over 50.000 applications submitted into the appstore. An amazing number but let’s be honest.. what a mess! They have not discussed or announced a better promotion model. It is a pain in the ass getting your application in a top 20 list, and once get in, you have to keep pushing yourself to stay there. Once you fall out of the list your application gets lost in ‘iphone space’. There is only a little percentage of iPhone developers or companies making real money ( a living ) out of the appstore. Altough it is a very big succes ( for both parties ) compared to other mobile platforms, I was hoping Apple would announce something that helps developers promote their application or optimize the rating system or something. With the new sdk API’s I think we will reach the 100.000 limit very soon, but there has to be a clear overview! There is still some (very difficult) work to do, regarding this topic.

What do you think?

Together with the first part of my thoughts on the iPhone, I hopefully did a decent job updating you on how I see things. Feel free to drop a comment to let me know what you think of the new announcements. Would you buy a new iPhone 3G s?

My thoughts on the new iPhone 3G s [ Part 1. ]

This week Apple announced it’s new iPhone at the wwdc09 conference. Called ‘ iPhone 3G s’ Apple introduces the 3 version of the iPhone, which comes with OS3. If you are interested in watching the entire keynote, go check it out here. For those who are only interested in the new iPhone 3G s features: take a look at Apple’s Guided Tour:

iPhone OS3

Besides it’s updated SDK which allows developers over more than 1000 new api’s ( let’s not go into that for christ sake ) the new iPhone OS3 comes with a bunch of new features, all created to upgrade the iPhone experience. Let’s go over a few of my personal favourites:

MMS
Finally it has arrived, I can’t tell you how much I wanted to send photos and contacts with my iPhone! In the demo they showed of the new cut, copy and paste features, which allows you to cut, copy and paste text and images from everywhere! Browsing a website, selecting text and images and copy this into a new e-mail.. it has never been so easy. I wonder if you can copy and paste it into an MMS as well, but I would be surprised if this would not be possible. I also wonder if we can immediately save images from inside the Safari browser, but I’m affraid this is a no go. Quick work around would be copy and paste it into an email which is sended out to yourself. Then you can save the attachement right to your Library.

Improved Itunes
From now on it is possible to use iTunes not only as a musical shop. Offering the latest movies, which are for sale and also for rent, Apple improves the video experience on the iPhone. For just a few dollars I will stop waisting time on converting movies, just rent a movie and enjoy your flight! I wonder how long a rented movie is available on your iPhone though, but I asume it will be a 5 till 7 day limit.

Compass
Thanks to a built-in digital compass, google maps application can point the way. With a single tap you see in wich direction you are currently facing. No more problems finding out which way you should start your walk or drive.

Video support
I was very surprised that this feature was not implemented from the start, but along with the upgraded 3 mega pixel camera, iPhone 3G s users can now easily shoot video’s, edit them on the fly and share them on youtube or via mms with a single click. One word: finally!

Tethering
This is a feature I really like. With an iPhone 3G s you can share it’s internet connection with a laptop or pc, via usb or bluetooth. Perfect for people who are on the road a lot. Sometimes you just want a desktop experience. Just be easy on this feature if you are traveling, your roaming data plan might kill you.

2x faster
According to the latest benchmarks the iPhone 3G s performs 2x better as the previous iPhones. You might understand now for what the ‘s’ is standing. Lovely to see how quickly an application is launched. The browsing experience is also taken to a whole new level. The new Safari 4 performs a lot faster and better and it’s just amazing to see how quickly a site is launched.

That was it for Part 1, have an eye on my blog because Part 2 will be published soon! Feel free to share your thoughts on the iPhone 3G s or the keynote in general by leaving a comment.

I’m attending Mobile Design UK

Tomorrow at 6.30 pm there will be another Mobile Design UK event at London (RSA House) and very last minute I decided to attend. Just arranged travel and hotel and really looking forward to it! I’ll be taking the train and will arrive Thursday on 12.30 at London St Pancras. I will be staying at Hotel Wellington, not far from the RSA. I am planning on leaving the next day at 16.04 so this gives me some time to meet up, have a drink and/or a nice meal and maybe visit some things! If you are planning on attending as well and want to catch up, feel free to drop me line or send me a direct message via twitter ( @thomasjoos ). Matt Politt invited me to visit the ustwo studio, which sounds great! If you have any other tips or suggestions feel free to share them with me :)

I’m a mobile consultant looking for opportunities

Announcement: I am no longer with Boulevart

Last week Boulevart decided to stop pushing its mobile strategy, as a result of the rough economical situation we all are facing. It was quite an unexpected and hard decision which meant that they are letting me go. These recent developments happened very quickly, for various reasons, but I did not really see it coming. Being surprised hearing the news, my Boulevart adventure ended on Thursday 14/05. Taking a closer look on the last year, I can only say that I’m very proud of what we achieved together and that it was a blast, working with several talented people. I’ll miss being one of Boulevart’s known representatives, where winning the Max Award in December ’08 was definately one of the highlights.

Looking for opportunities

Every ending offers a new beginning, so I took a few days to clear my head and figure out in which direction I want to go from now. Although I don’t have any concrete plans I updated my linkedIn profile in order to start talking, networking and looking for opportunities. I’m planning on focussing more on mobile consult in general:

Thomas Joos is a mobile consultant who is always on the look for any mobile opportunities that could add value to a client’s online campaign, experience or communication platform. Interested in mobile design and concept, combined with a strong technical knowledge in Flash Lite, Thomas offers a wide variety of mobile consult, from technical training, sessions and workshops to brainstorm meetings, looking for mobile platform opportunities towards clients and their online strategy.

Check out my full linkedIn profile at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasjoos and feel free to contact me if you think we might have something to offer to each other. I’m always more than happy to talk and see from there.

Multi-Mania ’09

This weekend 2M09’s registration opened up and Europe’s biggest free multimedia conference offers you a stunning list of speakers: Aral Balkan, André Michelle, Rob Chiu, Peter Elst, Serge Jespers, Scott Janousek, Sakri Rosenstrom, Rob Bateman, Niko Stumpo and many others. This year Koen and his team even organized a full day of workshops on monday 18/05, where I will be giving a 2,5 hour session on Flash Lite. It will be a technical and inspirational introduction into mobile development. We will be covering the basics like XML, Video, Audio, Twitter and Flickr integration, using webservices, saving data, … Together with tips and tricks for optimizing your mobile interface I’ll do my very best to assist you with the start of your killer mobile application!

Featured in latest DZone with a Flash lite article

It has been awfully quit around here the last couple of weeks. I’ve been away for 10 days on a snowboard trip, had a lot of fun btw, and I have been working on the new Boulevart Blog together with my colleague Erlend. This resulted in a minimal amount of free time and forgive me for doing other things than blogging to :) Nevertheless, I thought it would be cool to inform you that during my talk in Amsterdam a while ago, I was interviewed by Hans Frederiks from DZone. Together with Serge Jespers and Lee Brimelow from Adobe, I talked about Flash Lite, the iPhone and mobile in general. I even agreed doing a little photoshoot as you can see in the picture. I still have some work to do if I want to get as tough as Serge but who does not?

New Boulevart Blog online!

The last couple of weeks I have spent some time together with my colleague Erlend. Not just to have some beers, too bad, but to prepare Boulevart’s new online communication platform. Erlend did a wonderful job doing the design and together we discussed the structure, what type of articles should be on the new blog, why people should come and have a look around. This week we decided to go live, feel free to dive in to a brand new Boulevart experience at blog.boulevart.be. As you might notice it does not really act as ‘just a blog’ and that’s why we like to give it the more fancy ‘online communication platform’ title.

I already prepared 2 articles but it might be a good idea to just start at the beginning: in ‘the bigger picture’ you’ll find everything you need to know about the new blog, what it stands for, why we will be spending time on it and so on..

The bigger picture
No need to panic, labs.boulevart is not dead. We will keep encouraging our developers to share their technological expertise, covering Flash, Flex, Air, Mobile, HTML&CSS, php, .NET, … So what’s this new blog about then? On a regular base we will provide quality articles giving you front-row seats in our visions and beliefs. Next to that we’re also focussing on the latest and newest cases, you’ll get a glance at the final result and find out the ins and outs directly from those who designed, developed and managed it. Via our blog you’ll get a closer look at Boulevart: see what happens behind our scenes and how we experience everything that’s going on here.

BE TV: a mobile television guide

This week, Yannick Compernol launched a first version of Be Tv. This is a mobile television guide for Belgian Channels, including Een, Ketnet, Canvas, VTM, VT4, VijfTV, Vitaya, TMF, JIM, Prime, … He also included other European channels like MTV, BBC1, BBC2, BBC World, ARD, ZDF, WDR, France1, Franc2, CNN, …

A very rich and useful mobile application that offers an answer to ‘what’s on the television tonight’ with one click! I asume Yannick will be working on updates like ‘tagging’ a progam etc.. but it is a very good start. Try it out Be Tv (only available in the Belgian Appstore )

More info: Emmer Inc

Fanbase

Via Serge, I saw that Atlantic Records launched a mobile version of their Fanbase application. While some of you may already be reaching for their iPhones, Atlantic Records chose to built the app for the widest possible reach by picking Flash Lite as the platform. The mobile version has the exact same feature set as the desktop version. Serge recorded a quick demo of the mobile application this morning.

Atlantic Records now takes full advantage of all that content in their Fanbase application. This free application puts the latest information from artists/muscicians on to the fans desktops. The app features an audio player (powered by imeem), chat room (powered by Meebo) and a continuous feed of all the official and ‘unofficial’ news, photos and videos aggregated from all over the web. With one download, music fans now have access to all available information from one application. The application is built on top of AIR and thus runs on Mac, Windows and Linux.