From the category archives:

Mobile Web

Web Professional Trends for 2013 – “Responsive Design” Interview with Tim Kadlec

by Bill Cullifer on December 6, 2012

What’s in store for 2013 for Web Professionals – Interview with Tim Kadlec, author, Web developer and conference promoter

In this ten minute interview Tim Kadlec, author, web developer, author, podcaster and the co-founder of Breaking Development, one of the first conferences dedicated to web design and development for mobile devices we learn about her perspective on the topic of Web Professional Trends for 2013 complete with an overview of the mobile device landscape, Responsive Design, opportunities and challenges for Web professionals in the New Year.

Web Professional Trends for 2013 – “Responsive Design” Interview with Tim Kadlec Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Specifically we learn:

* How Mobile changes everything
* Increasing diversity of mobile including size and platforms
* How do we keep pace with tablets and Web TV’s?
* Web design and development workflow
* Process and more agile approaches
* The need for refinement of Web design and developer tools
* The growing demand for cross training and agile methods required for Web designers and developers
* How mobile is the catalyst for discussion for workflow, content and cross collaboration among disciplines
* Advice for Web designers from a Web developer workflow point of view
* About his new book Implementing Responsive Design

More about Responsive Design

According to Wikipedia, Responsive web design (often abbreviated to RWD) is an approach to web design in which a site is crafted to provide an optimal viewing experience—easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling—across a wide range of devices (from desktop computer monitors to mobile phones).

Elements of responsive web design (RWD)

A site designed with RWD uses CSS3 media queries, an extension of the @media rule, to adapt the layout to the viewing environment—along with fluid proportion-based grids[8] and flexible images:

* Media queries allow the page to use different CSS style rules based on characteristics of the device the site is being displayed on, most commonly the width of the browser.
* The fluid grid concept calls for page element sizing to be in relative units like percentages or EMs, rather than absolute units like pixels or points.
* Flexible images are also sized in relative units (up to 100%), so as to prevent them from displaying outside their containing element.

More about Agile

According to Wikipedia, Agile software development is a group of software development methods based on iterative and incremental development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams. It promotes adaptive planning, evolutionary development and delivery, a time-boxed iterative approach, and encourages rapid and flexible response to change. It is a conceptual framework that promotes foreseen interactions throughout the development cycle. The Agile Manifesto introduced the term in 2001.

Software development process

Activities and steps

Requirements
Specification
Architecture
Design
Implementation
Testing
Debugging
Deployment
Maintenance

Methodologies

Waterfall
Prototype model
Incremental
Iterative
V-Model
Spiral
Scrum
Cleanroom
RAD
DSDM
RUP
XP
Agile
Lean
Dual Vee Model
TDD

Supporting disciplines

Configuration management
Documentation
Quality assurance (SQA)
Project management
User experience design

Tools

Compiler
Debugger
Profiler
GUI designer
IDE
Build automation

Predecessors

Martin Fowler, widely recognized as one of the key founders of Agile methods

Incremental software development methods have been traced back to 1957.In 1974, a paper by E. A. Edmonds introduced an adaptive software development process.[3] Concurrently and independently the same methods were developed and deployed by the New York Telephone Company’s Systems Development Center under the direction of Dan Gielan. In the early 1970s, Tom Gilb started publishing the concepts of Evolutionary Project Management (EVO), which has evolved into Competitive Engineering. During the mid to late 1970s Gielan lectured extensively throughout the U.S. on this methodology, its practices, and its benefits.[citation needed]

So-called lightweight software development methods evolved in the mid-1990s as a reaction against heavyweight methods, which were characterized by their critics as a heavily regulated, regimented, micromanaged, waterfall model of development. Proponents of lightweight methods (and now agile methods) contend that they are a return to development practices from early in the history of software development.

Early implementations of lightweight methods include Scrum (1995), Crystal Clear, Extreme Programming (1996), Adaptive Software Development, Feature Driven Development, and Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) (1995). These are now typically referred to as agile methodologies, after the Agile Manifesto published in 2001

More about Tim Kadlec

Tim Kadlec is web developer living in northern Wisconsin with his wife and three daughters.

He also is the co-founder of Breaking Development, one of the first conferences dedicated to web design and development for mobile devices. Tim also host the Breaking Development Podcast, a weekly podcast with a very similar focus (really, it’s just an excuse for him to talk to people far smarter than I every week) said Tim.

In addition to being a nice guy he’s very passionate about the Web and can frequently be found speaking about what he’s learned at a variety of web conferences.

Tim wrote Implementing Responsive Design: Building sites for an anywhere, everywhere web (New Riders, 2012) and was a contributing author for the Web Performance Daybook Volume 2. You can find me sharing my thoughts in a briefer format on Twitter at @tkadlec.

{ 0 comments }

Building Mobile Apps with PhoneGap – Interview with Tom Myer

by Bill Cullifer on October 11, 2012

In this twelve minute interview with Tom Myer, Web developer and author we learn his perspective regarding the power and flexibility of PhoneGap for building Mobile Applications. We also talk about his book entitled, “Beginning PhoneGap” published by Wrox press.

What is PhoneGap?

PhoneGap is an open source solution, ideal for web developers wanting to build cross-platform mobile apps without having to learn new programming languages. Using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, PhoneGap allows you to jump into the mobile world and develop apps for iPhone, Android, and the BlackBerry. PhoneGap was purchased by the Adobe corporation.

Building Mobile Apps with PhoneGap - Interview with Tom Meyer Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Specifically we learn:

* Who developed Phonegap and why
* What skills are required for building Mobile Apps with PhoneGap
* What are the pros and cons of building Mobile Apps with PhoneGap
* What Mobile Apps can you build with PhoneGap
* How does mobile frameworks like jQuery fit in building Mobile Apps with PhoneGap
* What would you recommend for designers and developers that want to get started building Mobile Apps with PhoneGap
* Beginning PhoneGap” published by Wrox press
* About the book “Beginning PhoneGap” published by Wrox press

{ 0 comments }

Mobile App or a Mobile Website – Interview with Jason Summerfield, Human Service Solutions

by Bill Cullifer on October 10, 2012

In this twelve minute interview with Jason Summerfield, Principle, Human Service Solutions a Web Development and Application development agency based in Framingham, MA we learn his perspective regarding a recent article he wrote entitled, “What’s the Difference Between a Mobile Website and an App?”

Mobile App or a Mobile Website - Interview with Jason Summerfield, Human Service Solutions Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Specifically we learn Jason’s thoughts on:

Which is Better – an App or a Mobile Website?

According to Jason, when it comes to deciding whether to build a native app or a mobile website, the most appropriate choice really depends on your end goals. If you are developing an interactive game an app is probably going to be your best option. But if your goal is to offer mobile-friendly content to the widest possible audience then a mobile website is probably the way to go. In some cases you may decide you need both a mobile website and a mobile app, but it’s pretty safe to say that it rarely makes sense to build an app without already having a mobile website in place.

Advantages of a Mobile Website vs. Native Apps

If your goals are primarily related to marketing or public communications, a mobile website is almost always going to make sense as a practical first step in your mobile outreach strategy. This is because a mobile website has a number of inherent advantages over apps, including broader accessibility, compatibility and cost-effectiveness.

* Compatibility – Mobile Websites are Compatible Across Devices
* Upgradability – Mobile Websites Can Be Updated Instantly
* Findability – Mobile Websites Can be Found Easily
* Shareability – Mobile Websites Can be Shared Easily by Publishers, and Between Users
* Reach – Mobile Websites Have Broader Reach
* LifeCycle – Mobile Websites Can’t be Deleted
* A Mobile Website Can be an App!
* Time and Cost – Mobile Websites are Easier and Less Expensive
* Support and Sustainability
* When Does an App Make Sense?

For additional details, the complete article and additional information on Jason’s organization and offerings follow the links below.

Mobile Website vs. Mobile App: Which is best for Your Organization?

- Qfuse Mobile Website Builder and QR Code Generator
- Human Service Solutions Web Services
- Jason Summerfield on LinkedIn

{ 2 comments }

Web Apps vs. Native Apps interview with Ryan Matzner Fueled.com

by Bill Cullifer on October 7, 2012

In this ten minute interview with Ryan Matzner, Lead Strategist at Fueled, an iPhone & Android app development agency based in New York, NY we learn his perspective regarding a recent article he wrote entitled, “Why Web Apps Will Crush Native Apps” for Mashable.com.

Specifically we learn Ryan’s thoughts on:

* Should you build a Native app or a Web App with HTML?
* A side by side comparison
* Pros and Cons of Native vs. Web Apps
* Features and benefits of Native vs. Web Apps
* Hybrid (Simple apps and Web browsers )
* User Experience issues
* Build time and cost issues
* Opportunities for Web Developers
* Advice for Web Developers
* Advice for those that teach Web and Mobile Application Development

Web Apps vs. Native Apps interview with Ryan Matzner Fueled.com Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Here’s the original article:

Why Web Apps Will Crush Native Apps
Ryan Matzner
September 12, 2012

Over five years ago (on January 9th, 2007, for those of us who are counting), Steve Jobs released the original iPhone. At the time, the only apps on the iPhone were the ones that came pre-installed (think stocks, calculator and YouTube). There were so few apps, they didn’t even fill up the home screen! Apple didn’t provide the ability to create or install any add-on apps. Instead, developers were urged to create web apps that users would access through the built-in Safari web browser.

Facing backlash from developers, particularly in light of a community of hackers that figured out how to crack the iPhone’s code and build their own apps, Apple came around and embraced native apps.

Apple’s App Store contains more than 700,000 iPhone and iPad apps today. The apps available in Apple’s App Store, the Google Play marketplace, and Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace are all “native” apps, in that developers built them using technology and code largely proprietary to those platforms. An app built for the iPhone has to be almost entirely re-coded if it’s to work on a device running Google’s Android operating system (a bit like translating a book from one language to another).

Then, there are web apps.
Intro to Web Apps

Web apps are built in standards-based technologies such as HTML5, CSS3 and other modern web tech. Without any special translations, conversions or re-programming, a web app can run on pretty much any platform with a modern, standards-compliant web browser. Once a web app is launched, users on iPhones, iPads, Android phones, the Kindle Fire and Windows Phones can all access the same app and run it just as well as on any other platform.

Native apps only work on the one platform they were built for, plus they take longer and cost more to build than a web app. Why then, would anyone bother building native? Current technology makes native apps a superior experience — but this is the case only for as long as we’re stuck with current technology. A few advances here and there, and pretty soon native apps will go the way of desktop apps (i.e. there are still a few around but most users spend most of their time in the browser). A few elements explain why native won’t rule the app roost in the future.
User Experience

Native apps tend to have a smoother look and feel, more polish. Native apps are able to leverage elements of their native operating system (i.e. rubberbanding, overscroll and slick screen transitions on iOS), so they feel more deeply integrated into the phone. When it comes to aesthetics and overall user experience, it is incredibly difficult for web apps to trump native. Furthermore, native apps come with lots of elements pre-loaded and only need to fetch user data from the web rather than the entire application, making them speedier.

The web has come a long way from the days of scrolling marquee. It’s only a matter of time before the technologies behind web apps are able to compete directly with the aesthetic capabilities of native apps. Remember how marvelously advanced HTML5 seemed when it came out? Just wait ’til HTML6 or 7!

And as for having to download more data than native apps: In the future, battery life and mobile connections will be fast enough that it won’t matter. 4G download speeds are actually faster than the average U.S. broadband connection, and when was the last time you worried about the size of a website loading on your desktop?
Distribution

Native apps are easy to find and install. The Apple App Store, Google Play, etc. are great places to browse for and download apps. The hard part of building a successful app store is creating a robust developer community willing to devote the time, effort and money to build lots of great apps that users want to use. That’s a tall order, and is probably the biggest part of why Microsoft is struggling to gain traction with Windows Phone.

One caveat to this whole web app thing is competition. Apple, Google and even Microsoft must be particularly content with the great control and influence they wield by controlling distribution for their platforms via app stores and marketplaces. As web apps pick up steam and begin to threaten mobile apps, it’s likely that current stakeholders will push back against anything that devalues their native app stores. Fortunately for consumers, there’s probably not a whole lot anyone can do to stop the impending march of web apps. Robust web browsers being baked into the OS aren’t going anywhere.

With web apps, there’s no need to convince developers to create software for a specific platform. Instead, apps created for users on the most popular platforms will also work for users on the least popular platforms, assuming that platform has a decent web browser. In the future, app stores can be created by independent retailers rather than operating system creators. Directory sites such as BestVendor and Listio might grow to rival Apple’s App Store.
Build Time and Cost

A typical native app takes a bit longer to build than an equivalent web app would, but as developer tools and education improve, that will likely change. And as more developers become versed in the development languages and technologies used to create native apps, overall app development costs will fall.

But one thing that likely won’t change in the world of native apps is that building for multiple platforms and devices is expensive. Adding iPad compatibility when building an iPhone app can add up to 50% to the development costs of a project. When rumors began swirling that Apple might release an iPad Mini, we wondered, who has the budget to build for all these screen sizes?

Web apps will work on devices across a range of sizes by being adaptive and responsive.
Updates

This is an area where web apps already trump native. Much to the chagrin of developers, typical mobile users update their apps very infrequently. That means the user base for a particular native app is spread across multiple versions. A friend recently exclaimed his surprise that Instagram wasn’t working properly on his iPhone. It turns out he hadn’t updated the app in a while and was using an unsupported old version.

Having an out-of-date web app is virtually impossible. Think about loading a website. Each time a visitor loads a site, he or she is loading the latest version off the server. When Google updates the logo on their homepage, seeing it doesn’t require users to go and download an update to Google — the mere action of visiting the site means the user is viewing the latest version.

Web apps mean that users will never have to worry about updates.
Hardware Interfacing

One of the things that make native apps so delightful to use is their ability to leverage the phone’s hardware so seamlessly. Think about all the great apps that use your phone’s accelerometer (Nike+), GPS (Foursquare) or camera (Instagram). Of those three, web apps can only access GPS and even then, only in a limited capacity. Yes, that’s right — web apps can’t even use your phone’s camera or access photos you’ve already taken.

There’s no standard way for web apps to access hardware on mobile devices, but that’s relatively easy to change in future updates. One issue to overcome is potential security concerns, but probably the biggest hurdle is a lack of cooperation from entrenched interests that would prefer to keep a native app monopoly in place. Nonetheless, competitive pressures in the app and phone OS space will eventually force devices to become more open.
Credit Cards

Apple users are notoriously voracious consumers. Apple’s secret weapon is that it has 400 million active iTunes accounts with credit cards on file. And having a credit card on file makes app purchases a breeze — tap “buy” and enter a password — that’s it! Google and Microsoft surely have far fewer active accounts on their platforms, but those numbers are growing. The bottom line is that purchasing native apps and making in-app purchases is exceedingly easy.

There is no consolidated payment system for purchasing web apps or buying web app add-ons, but that will change over time as players like PayPal, Square, Venmo and others jump into the space.

A huge part of the success of iOS is attributed to Apple’s App Store, much as the iTunes music store is a big part of why the iPod was such a hit. And yet, the App Store’s undoing will likely be the web apps that Apple originally promoted in lieu of native apps.

{ 1 comment }

2011 Mobile Innovators Announced

by Bill Cullifer on October 7, 2011

2011 Mobile Innovators Announced at Adobe Max 2011, LA

MobileInnovators.org announced that (7) leading Mobile Innovation organizations have been chosen as the 2011 “Mobile Innovators of the Year” for their support for the Web professional community. The award winners — a combination of software, hardware and technology companies were recognized by panel of industry professionals during the annual Adobe Max 2011 conference that took place October 2-4, 2011 in Los Angeles, CA.

Adobe MAX brings together top designers, developers and business minds in the industry to celebrate, explore and shape the future of digital experiences and stay at the forefront of the multi screen revolution. “Developing Web applications provides countless opportunities for Web professionals to monetize their work, a key mission for the association of Web professionals and we are pleased to recognize these Mobile Innovator Rock Stars” said, Bill Cullifer, Executive Director Webprofessionals.org and the MobileInnovators.org education initiative.

The 2011 “Mobile Innovators” at the Adobe MAX event were chosen by a committee comprised of representatives from publishing, Web design professional training, mobile application development, academia and not for profit professional association Webprofessionals.org.

The 2011 Mobile Innovators of the Year are:

* Adobe System Inc. for the acquisition of PhoneGap

* Barnes&Noble for their support for Mobile App Developers

* Sony for their $200,000 Mobile App Challenge

* Motorola for their support for Mobile App Developers

* LGAppsTV for their support for Mobile App Developers

* JamPot Technologies Ltd for their support for Mobile App Developers

* BlackBerry for their support for Mobile App Developers

Mobile Innovation, Cell phone and wireless laptop internet use have each grown more prevalent over the last year. According to Pew Research Center, nearly half of all adults (47%) go online with a laptop using a Wi-Fi connection or mobile broadband card (up from the 39% who did so as of April 2009) while 40% of adults use the internet, email or instant messaging on a mobile phone (up from the 32% of Americans who did this in 2009). This means that 59% of adults now access the internet wirelessly using a laptop or portable device.

Selection Committee

* Bret Peters, Partner/Vice President Fig Leaf Software

* Gary-Paul Prince, Artist and Marketing Manager Peachpit / Pearson Education

* Janine Warner, Author, Trainer and Web Designer DigitalFamily.com

* Mark DuBois, Professor Web Systems Program Manager Illinois Central College & Director of Education WebProfessionals.org

* Orralyn Vithyavuthi, Designer GrDesignoor.com

About WebProfessionals.org

WebProfessionals.org is a non-profit professional association dedicated to the support of individuals and organizations who create, manage or market web sites. WOW provides education as well as certification, technical, employment and member advantage services to thousands of aspiring and practicing web professionals and those that teach Web professional topics worldwide. http://webprofessionals.org .

About MobileInnovators.org

MobileInnovators.org is an online resource for Mobile Innovators and Mobile Application Developers providing daily news, podcast, interviews and hundreds of training videos for aspiring and practicing Mobile Applications Developers and those that teach. http://mobileinnovators.org

About Adobe MAX

Adobe MAX is a unique opportunity to connect with thousands of designers, developers, and business leaders as we shape the future of digital media together.

Discover how to realize the full potential of your content and applications. Find new opportunities presented by rich experiences across screens. Explore new methods for monetizing content. Learn about innovative technologies that enable designers and developers to work together more effectively

 

{ 1 comment }

Adobe MAX Keynote Day 1 – Interview with Professor Mark DuBois and More

by Bill Cullifer on October 6, 2011

Adobe MAX 2011 Focuses on Tools for for Web Designers and Web Developers – Interviews, Video’s and Event Media Coverage

To get a perspective for what the first day of the Adobe MAX 2011 event will mean for Web professionals, I sat down with Mark DuBois, Professor Illinois Central College and WOW’s Director of Education.

In this two minute interview, Mark shares his thoughts on the value proposition of the event and what it will mean for Web professionals.

Adobe MAX Keynote Day 1 – Interview with Professor Mark DuBois and More Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Adobe MAX Keynote Day 1 – Interview with Professor Mark DuBois and More Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Additional Resources

I am also enclosing some of Mark’s notes and a video’s of the events keynote.

Video of the Opening Day

Initial review of yesterday’s keynote.

Today development experience.

Absolutely pivotal and important. Content must be interactive. Developers bring content to life.
Odapod, Fluid ? HTML and development

HTML5 app stores and on web. Both Flash and HTML are cross platform technologies. Too expensive to create separate solutions for
different endpoints.

HTML innovation surging.

Adobe betting on HTML5 ? important platform. Continuing to invest in Flash. Released Flash Player 11 and AIR 3.0

These show investment in Flash. Drive expressiveness. Bring what learned into HTML.

Partners ? Google, MS, Apple. jQuery, W3C ? code contributions to webkit and jQuery. Also creating tools like Edge.
Progress on HTML5 and Flash.

Mobile apps ? Ben Forta

Skills there to build native apps ? DW CS 5.5 with PhoneGap demo ? HTML, CSS, JS (including jQuery)
Building native .apk using PhoneGap.
Adobe acquiring PhoneGap
Andre Charland ? PhoneGap
Travelocity app demo
Orbium game using canvas element
Untapped ? social network for beer drinkers
PhoneGap build ? compile in cloud ? http://build.phonegap.com
Included in creative cloud description.
Flash based apps ? touch apps ? built in Flash ? great examples of what you can do.
Gaming ? in browser app ? Machinarium
Day app deployed on app store ? number one app. Being deployed on Droid ? no code changes at all
Business apps ? Johnson Controls
Social example ? USA Network ? 70% of tablet viewers are surfing web as watching show ? share experiences as watch show
Built in Flash and AIR ? build on one platform and push out to multiple. All about cost and time. Reach more devices.
AIR 3 ? captive runtime ? download runtime and install apps. Smaller app with shared runtime. iPhone ? embedded in app itself. Droid also
want ability to choose. Now a checkbox in build process.
Native extensions ? want to take advantage of what hardware manufacturers provide. Wrap AS class around native code.
Sony P tablet ? two screens ? use each screen differently.
Flash Builder 4.6 prerelease available
Targeting Windows Metro in future.
WWW ? deliver best tools for web development
Edge for animations.
Flash Player 11 ? next generation of web ? Paul Gubbay ? VP of engineering, web and design
So many technologies and frameworks ? where to get started.
Great browsers, great frameworks, great tools ? need all three
Tools ? Edge prototype last year. Web Standards. Got it out early and define feature set. Preview 1 on Aug. 1 ? 50,000 downloads.
150,000 downloads ? preview 3 of Adobe Edge available today. Mark Anders ? Adobe Fellow

Rain Interactive ? released game ? Run Kitty Run, the adventures of Timmy.
Frameworks ? jQuery and jQuery Mobile ? had team contributing to jQuery Mobile. Also working in DW
Theming model ? robust CSS. Visual tool ? Theme roller for jQuery Mobile.
Fireworks ? update pack for FW ? get control to icons used in jQuery mobile.
CSS Regions and CSS Exclusions discussed. Hidden costs pie chart demo.
IE 10 supports CSS regions
When can I use? Ian Ellison?Taylor at Google
CSS regions appealed to everyone. Obvious need. Pushed through in Chromium browser. Can use today.
Flash ? Pixel Bender in browser using CSS ? CSS shaders
CSS shaders studio ? just submitted to W3C
2D 3D graphics and animation ? Emmy Huang ? group product manager Adobe Gaming
Leverage GPU across devices.
Starling ? leverage low level API calls. Flash Professional (Reuben)
Create Sprite Sheets directly form within Flash

{ 1 comment }

Mobile JavaScript – Interview with Christopher Schmitt

by Bill Cullifer on September 4, 2011

Mobile JavaScript – Interview with Christopher Schmitt Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mobile JavaScript – Interview with Christopher Schmitt

Mobile JavaScript – Interview with Christopher Schmitt, Heatvision.com
The Mobile web is growing eight times faster than the desktops and Smartphone sales will surpass PC sales in 2012 says Christopher Schmitt at Heatvision.com

In this eighteen minute interview with Christopher Schmitt, author, Web standards advocate, designer and principle at Heatvision.com, a small new media publishing and design firm from Austin, TX, Christopher shares his thoughts and perspectives on the mobile JavaScript frameworks, mobile design and mobile best practices.

We also discuss his thoughts on why Markup and Scripting is important for Web Designers, some of the takeaways from a upcoming HTML5 Cookbook he is collaborating on and a totally online Mobile JS Summit that he has planned complete with discounts for WOW members as well as a number of other events that he has planned.

I continue to be amazed and impressed with just how incredibly intelligent and down to earth Web professionals like Christopher Schmitt are and I’d like to give him, his co-authors and his collaborators on the following events for Web professionals. It’s a great time to be a Web pro and I’d highly recommend that you learn more about Christopher and his support for the Web professional community.

* Mobile JS Summit – http://mobilejssummit.com/
* Accessibility Summit – http://a11ysummit.com/
* UX Web Summit – http://uxwebsummit.com/

Discount code for Mobile JS Summit 20WOW (Good for 20% off, and good for all three events)

{ 0 comments }

Future of Web Design 2011 Conference – Day 2

by Bill Cullifer on July 14, 2011

Future of Web Design 2011 Conference – Day 2 Overview and take aways with Abbey Tosic

As you may recall from previous podcast, Abbey Tosic participated in the Future of Web Design 2011 conference that took place in London 16th – 18th May 2011 and has graciously offered to share her thoughts and send back a few interviews of some of the more notable speakers. For today’s WebProfessionals.org podcast we’re pleased to be sharing the following interviews and links to the following speakers from Future of Web Design (FOWD) 2011 London.

* Abbey Tosic, FOWD Overview Day 2
* Ian Stewart, ThemeShaper.com talking about WordPress
* Josh Clark, Global Moxie talking about Mobile Design Strategy
* Sarah B Nelson, Hot Studios talking about improving collaboration, supporting creativity, and encouraging innovation

Special shout out Ian, Josh and Sarah for their time and insights. I encourage you to check out the videos, their bios links below to learn more about their writings and extended presentations. Super cool people with lots of great stuff to share for Web professionals interested in designing with WordPress, Mobile design strategies and improving collaboration strategies.

Future of Web Design 2011 Conference – Day 2 Abbey Tosic Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Future of Web Design 2011 Conference – Day 2 Ian Stewart Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Future of Web Design 2011 Conference – Day 2 Josh Clark Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Future of Web Design 2011 Conference – Day 2 Sarah Nelson Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Abbey Tosic, Online Design & Usability lead at 3M Headquarters in St Paul, MN and blog, Dotcom Girls.

Ian Stewart, ThemeShaper.com
Ian Stewart is a Theme Wrangler for Automattic, the folks behind WordPress.com, and has had a hand in creating some of the most popular WordPress themes around. He’s super-passionate about beautiful design, semantic HTML, and making the web better with WordPress.

Josh Clark, Global Moxie
Josh Clark is a designer, developer, and author specializing in mobile design strategy and user experience. He’s author of the O’Reilly books “Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps” and “Best iPhone Apps: The Guide for Discriminating Downloaders.” Josh’s outfit Global Moxie offers consulting services and workshops to help creative companies build tapworthy mobile apps and effective websites.

Sarah B Nelson, Hot Studios
Sarah B. Nelson is the Principal of User Experience at Hot Studio. She has nearly 15 years of experience in interactive media, designing kiosks, mobile, and online experiences for clients in a variety of industries. Sarah has a particular passion for practice development, conducting research into methods for improving collaboration, supporting creativity, and encouraging innovation. Sarah brings a unique blend of creative vision and technical expertise to her work. Her research-focused approach to interaction design has produced successful results for her clients. At Hot, Sarah has worked with Palm, Nike, Gilt Groupe, Linden Lab, Zvents, and the Yerba Buena Center for the Aets

{ 0 comments }

Adobe MAX Receives 2010 Mobile Innovators Award for Innovation

by Bill Cullifer on October 27, 2010

Adobe MAX Receives 2010 Mobile Innovators Award for Innovation – Event Breaks New Ground for Technology, Creative and Business professionals

WebProfessionals.org, the membership supported association for Web Professionals, and MobileInnovators.org, an online resource for Mobile Application Developers, announced today that Adobe MAX 2010 Los Angeles is the winner of WebProfessionals.org annual Mobile Innovators Award, recognizing the Adobe Corporation and its annual Max Conference, the leading event for technology and creative professionals for its leadership in using cutting-edge information technology and Rich Internet Applications (RIA) tools to drive mobile application development innovation, jobs and for improving the consumer user experience.

Mobile Innovation, Cell phone and wireless laptop internet use have each grown more prevalent over the last year. According to Pew Research Center, nearly half of all adults (47%) go online with a laptop using a Wi-Fi connection or mobile broadband card (up from the 39% who did so as of April 2009) while 40% of adults use the internet, email or instant messaging on a mobile phone (up from the 32% of Americans who did this in 2009). This means that 59% of adults now access the internet wirelessly using a laptop or cell phones

Adobe Max Keynote

“User expectations and experiences are evolving rapidly, and Adobe has long taken the lead in creating the tools and services to design for the future.” said Bill Cullifer, Executive Director WebProfessionals.org. “Adobe’s RIA product, Air 2.5 system for example will allow application developers to be able to design a single piece of code and then utilize it in multiple ways across a wide range of devices that delivers innovation that fuels jobs for Web professional’s and expands the user experience.”

“With the exponential growth of mobile use, companies are facing increasing demands from customers who want to connect anytime, any place and on any device,” said Brett Cortese, president of Universal Mind, an Abode Max show participant and four-time Max Award nominee. “Adobe MAX is the leading event for mobile application designers and developers, so it’s great to see both the show and Adobe recognized as the winner of the Mobile Innovators Award.”

About WebProfessionals.org

WebProfessionals.org is a non-profit professional association dedicated to the support of individuals and organizations who create, manage or market web sites. WOW provides education as well as certification, technical, employment and member advantage services to thousands of aspiring and practicing web professionals and those that teach Web professional topics worldwide. http://webprofessionals.org .

MobileInnovators.org

MobileInnovators.org is an online resource for Mobile Innovators and Mobile Application Developers providing daily news, podcast, interviews and hundreds of training videos for aspiring and practicing Mobile Applications Developers and those that teach. http://mobileinnovators.org

About Adobe MAX

MAX is a unique opportunity to connect with thousands of designers, developers, and business leaders as we shape the future of digital media together.

Discover how to realize the full potential of your content and applications. Find new opportunities presented by rich experiences across screens. Explore new methods for monetizing content. Learn about innovative technologies that enable designers and developers to work together more effectively.

Benefits of Adobe Air

For Developers

•Benefit from a consistent, flexible, and visual development environment for applications on multiple platforms and devices such as TVs, smartphones, smartbooks, tablets, netbooks, and PCs.
•Accelerate development with code reuse and an intuitive visual environment for multiplatform development.
•Create consistent and immersive applications that deliver expressive and interactive user experiences across multiple screens.

Businesses

Adobe AIR offers an exciting new way to engage customers with innovative, branded applications, without requiring changes to existing technology or processes. From conducting business transactions to managing music, Adobe AIR delivers applications that are easier, more powerful, and more fun to use.

{ 0 comments }

Adobe MAX 2010 – Adobe Air and Mobile Apps

by Bill Cullifer on October 26, 2010

Adobe MAX 2010 – Adobe Air and Mobile Apps Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Adobe MAX 2010 – Adobe Air and Mobile Apps Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Adobe MAX 2010 – Adobe Air and Mobile Apps: Interview with Joe Johnston, Senior user experience specialist, UniversalMind

Universal Mind just posted about their experience developing an app for the RIM PlayBook using the Adobe Air SDK and their announcement at Adobe MAX 2010 taking place this week in Los Angeles, CA.

In this six minute interview, I caught up with Joe to get his take on the project, his take on the Adobe MAX event and opportunities for Web professionals developing Mobile Applications with Adobe Air.

RIM PlayBook SDK Offers Smooth Development

According to the UniversalMind Blog, the team had the privilege to be one of the first companies to develop an app for Blackberry’s new tablet—the RIM Playbook. Here are some of our initial thoughts on developing in this environment:

The app we developed was a Fantasy Football application—the goal was for it to be both fun and easy to use. It was entirely built using Adobe Flash Builder and the BlackBerry SDK. The workflow allowed us to deploy a working tablet application in days with full touch and gesture interactions that you would expect in a tablet device.

The framework SDK is integrated into Flash Builder which made for a very familiar dev environment. Compiling the application and deploying it to the PlayBook Simulator is quick and easy with multiple ways to see your application in a working environment. Without a actual device in hand we relied on the Simulator to test all the interactions, so it was a key piece of the workflow.

We also reused several pieces of code, which made creating interactions even faster. The SDK controls made creating interactive lists a snap: all the kinetic interactions are built into the controls, like pulling on a list and getting the elastic snap that many users are familiar with. Integrating video is seamless with the built in video controls, which also allowed for customization. The framework also allows developers to create consistent applications using the array of controls that are built into the OS.

Since their SDK utilizes Adobe AIR, you can create tablet applications without the need to learn a new development languages. Taking existing AIR applications and deploying them to a tablet device couldn’t be easier.

With the BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK you can now take those engaging applications and deploy thing seamlessly onto a BlackBerry Playbook with minimal code changes. Integrating those applications into the powerful BlackBerry network of information and integration.

{ 0 comments }

← Previous Entries