Sevnthsin wants you… if you’re a backend developer, that is. We’re looking to expand our team and want to meet enthusiastic, experienced backend developers looking to work with our fun, flexible team here at Sevnthsin.
More over at: http://jobs.sevnthsin.com
TechCrunch has a great article today, citing new numbers from the team over at Opera. regarding the usage of their mobile browser and how that number consistently skyrockets over the previous months number. They’re currently reporting over 35.6 million people used Opera Mini last month, serving approximately 500 million page views PER DAY. That’s a pretty staggering number. But what we find additionally a little staggering is how stunned people are by these reports.
What are the first two things that come to mind when you think of big changes over the last 10, say even 15 years. I know the first things I think of are 1. the unveiling of the world wide web (yes, yes, yes… I know someone out there is going to go off about how the whole internet thing was invented by Al Gore… I mean, originally conceived way way back when our parents were young, but I’m talking about the days of Yahoo!, Webcrawler, Mosaic, Prodigy, 50 Free AOL hours on CD and even the birth of Netscape) and 2. the real commercialization of the mobile/handheld device (hether that’s the cell phone or the PDA is somewhat irrelevant, as they were both heading to the same place anyway). So it was only a matter of time before those two things crossed paths and really got it right. We’re there right now. Today, almost every device to hit the market is utilizing some sort of real time web browser with actual modern day capabilities, and with the unprecedented growth of devices like the iPhone and the Android operating system, does it really come as a surprise to anyone that people prefer to get online from the comfort of their own palm? Its pretty straight forward. Who wouldn’t want to take something out of the den or the home office and just have it with them as they roam the mall? The entire world has come to our fingertips and that’s a pretty universal phenomenon. People of all generations are on board (yes, even my parents are popping open their little touch screen phones and pulling up Google Maps to find a restaurant on the other side of an unfamiliar town, or uploading photos to Facebook of their kids’ activities… no matter how old their kids are these days).
So why all the surprise and ’shocking reports of increased mobile usage?’ I think it has to do with how FAST it all happened. We all know how fast things move these days, but lets really look at how its changed. 2004 we had roughly the equivalent of text based browsing on tiny screens. By 2005ish we were using IE on Windows mobile to view some slightly enhanced pages. The beginning of 2007 the entire game changed and the real web (not just tiny mobile optimized text versions) were browsable via the iPhone. By the first quarter of 2009 we now had hundreds of different devices from iPhone to Nokia to HTC to Palm to Blackberry, etc etc, running modern browsers and accessing the web over 3G networks on virtually every carrier worldwide. We went from cell phone with text GPRS browsing to highspeed computer in your pocket in around 3 years. That’s some pretty impressing movement.
So yes, look at the numbers, mobile web usage is skyrocketing month after month. But does that really surprise anyone? Not here anyway.
More: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/27/mobile-web-usage-keeps-on-growing-and-growing-and-growing
So we all still hear souch about the iPhone these days. The hype of the first big Android releases came and went as three phones (G1, myTouch & Hero) hit the US market over the last 12 months. So where does that leave the device everyone seems quick to call both a ‘flop’ and ‘just another iPhone wannabe’? Well, while everyone has been caught up in the bad PR the iPhone has been getting lately, primarily because of the exclusive carrier they’re locked into, the Android platform has been secretly multiplying like a Gremlin you accidentally dropped in the fointain at the mall. T-Mobile was the first of the new announcements, adding a third device to their line, the Motorola Cliq, expected in time for the holidays. Verizon was right on their heels with their new device they’re trying to play secretive with their DroidDoes.com commercials, making them the third US carrier to the playing field. Up next is every other major carrier and device maker, as AndroPhones.com breaks down the next 10 devices expected by January 2010 and the anticipated 40+ to hit the global market by next holiday season.
That’s some pretty impressive stuff, and we all know Google’s no slouch. They may not be the ‘Hare’ in this tale, but we all know how that turned out. With their open development platform, reskinnable GUI and the ability for any device maker to utilize their OS, it’s going to make for one interesting mobile future, something we here are excited to see play itself out. Afterall, unique competition will only create genious innovation.
So go Google, go! It’s about to get interesting.
Link: AndroPhones.com
Pabst Art, our first project with new client PBR went live today. The annual fan submitted artwork competition brings submissions from all over the country, ultimately awarding four winners with the prize of a lifetime. This year, we helped PBR create an experience that allowed them to accept, vote, rank and award prizes all online. Additionally, we created a gallery structure that allowed site visitors to view all the work submitted over the past few years as well as the new work being submitted this year or even submit ‘found art’ photos they’ve taken or found online. And, if you’re REALLY into it, you can use their online “Art Hacker” tool to create a glorious PBR piece of your own to share with friends or print out and hang on your cubicle wall.
As they say, “Life is art. Art is passion. Passion tastes like PBR.”
So go check it out over at:
PBRART.COM
Adobe made a big announcement Monday. One we’ve all been waiting for… kind of. Flash is now available for the iPhone… HOWEVER, not as we’d all first expected it. Adobe has now made it possible to develop iPhone apps from within Flash. Pretty interesting concept, indeed. The whole world of App development will now open about a million times wider, which could be both a good and bad thing. Ultimately, I think it will bring a whole new world of app capabilities that may make for some interesting new progression in the technology.
Either way, the new functionality will be available in the beta version of Flash CS5 due out sometime before the end of the year. Still hoping for an actual Flash Player for the iPhone, but this sounds like they’re starting to make progress on the device now. Maybe player will come in ‘10.
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashcs5/appsfor_iphone/#demo
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