If you have every walked, driven, biked or ran through Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA, you have probably spotted those large groups of tourists being lead around by tour guides wearing straw hats and carrying signs. This is the Hahvahd Tour, and now they can say, “There’s an app for that”.
Today, a new application that we created went live into the iTunes App Store. Trademark Tours Presents: Harvard University, is a campus tour application for the prestigious institution, and is filled to the brim with great, rich content.
Creature Features
Integrated Google Maps and GPS
“Live Tour” footage
Bonus Content Galore!
Streaming Audio
Harvard Square Business Directory
Free Souvenier Map
Integrated video in the app, no buffering
Ability to jump to a stop anytime you wish
Development Insight
This application was built using PhoneGap, an open source framework that allows for developing mobile applications natively using HTML/CSS and JavaScript. The benefit of using PhoneGap over Apple’s own XCode Environment and Objective C programming, is the portability to other devices such as Android OS and Blackberry Apps.
When developing this way, you can easily develop lighter-weight “Web Apps” that actually just use the browser framework that is native to the platform, rather than writing a code base from scratch. This elevates errors, but is not without some higher performance drawbacks. While things can run incredibly smooth in the web framework of these mobile devices, any more advanced animations, gaming or hardware intense acceleration is better off inside the native language.
This app also uses JQuery along with PhoneGap to create animations and navigation. Video and audio are using HTML5 standards.
We are looking for students in the local Boston and or Cambridge areas that are interested in getting into iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch Applications. We have some current and future projects that require beta testing in focus groups, and let’s just say, we’re pumped!
Beta Tester Requirements
A college student with an interest in mobile application design/development
Have an iOS compatible device (Preferably iPhone or iPod Touch)
Access to the T or public transportation
Signing of a Non-Disclosure Agreement to Begin (this just says what you’re testing and it’s results are confidential and may not be shared with anyone except DW)
If you love apps, design, technology and “enjoying the sights” of Boston/Cambridge, then let us know. Send us a message on our Facebook Page or @dirkweiss on Twitter, or just plain email us. – mw [at] dirkweiss [dot] com
Yes it’s true that Apple has lost a little bit of their tight grip on their App store and development system. An official ruling was made recently that states that owners of such devices are fully allowed, without legal worries, to hack their device to install any apps that they wish.
Woh! Any App? So Dirk+Weiss could go and make tons of apps for these “Jailbroken” (hacked) phones? Well, sure we could, but we think it’s just not that practical at the moment. Here’s why:
Apple releases firmware updates for your device that will most likely break all the hacks. Yes, they can and will do that.
The App store is doing for apps what iTunes did for music. Yes it cost money, but damn is it easy to manage and buy.
Jailbreaking is not that tricky, but still requires some know-how beyond Apple’s plug and play attitude. So the market for jailbroken apps is much lower than the iOS market as a whole.
People want the apps they download work properly. This is not to say that the new wave of apps will be crap, but without the app store approval, its fair game for any and all despicable hackers to steal information from your device.
Apple has officially recognized that Jailbreaking is legal, but don’t show up to the genius bar with a bricked (dead, due to hacking) phone. Jailbreaking will still void your warranty.
So, we believe that this is one of many steps forward for the mobile application market, not to mention the fact that Google released a program that lets anyone make apps for Android. Mobile connectivity is growing exponentially. Facebook just hit 500,000,000 users last week, and according to them, over 25% of people access via mobile devices.
If you’re a frequent Dirk+Weiss visitor, you probably noticed something new and potentially striking about our typography. Yes, it’s true, we’re using Georgia in conjunction with our tried and true Helvetica. This combination creates a fresh and sophisticated dialog of type.
You’re looking at the brand new Dirk+Weiss website! This layout and structure is much easier to navigate and hopefully feels a little more approachable (we’re really nice guys… really). We’ve moved our blog to the front page to confront our core traffic and we have also revamped some of our copy to be a faster read and perhaps more concise. We’ve incorporated YouTube and HTML5 in various locations of the new architecture. That pesky, proprietary, and non iOS friendly Adobe Flash format is simply too clumsy.
We are using and recommending to our clients the use of the most current web standards and various JavaScripting libraries including JQuery and MooTools.
We hope that all these things will make for a more efficient, and enjoyable Dirk+Weiss experience.
If you’re asking, ‘Where is Dirk+Weiss!?’, then this may satisfy your curiosity, we hope. Truth is, we are the busiest we have ever been. Maybe a clear sign of a rebounding economy? We have been busy working steadily with our clients to provide the best solutions possible.
Since May, we have broken new ground with our website client from India, and are almost ready to launch a brand new website for them. We have also been in talks for a few new Apple iOS apps with local companies here in Boston, that range from utilities to more advanced experiential applications.
On a more technical note, we have gone 100% HTML5 and JavaScript in lieu of Flash for web and mobile based projects. While we believe flash can still have appropriate applications, the ever growing sector of mobile devices and platforms has shown it’s demand for such lightweight, open programming environments. And at the end of the day, we are looking at solutions for our clients that can range from computer screens to mobile devices, maximizing return on investment, as this is the road we are all on as consumers.
As the summer continues, we are preparing for a busy fall. We have some projects in the pipeline, and are working on what seems like a million things all the time. In addition to all the new projects that we are working towards, Matthew White of DW is working hard expanding his teaching experience over at the Art Institute of Boston @ Lesley University and Bunker Hill Community College teaching marketing and design classes.
Stay tuned to dirkweiss.com for a fresh, new, fast, efficient look coming soon. While the economy is rebounding, we all still live in an environment where trimming the economic fat is a necessity. If you’re unsure who to contact about your new design or marketing project, just give us a ring.
