The Qeo Connected Home Challenge - Fly Me To Vegas

Qeo is the software framework that interconnects devices and apps of all brands and ecosystems.
The Qeo Connected Home Challenge - Fly Me To Vegas will open up your eyes to what this has to offer.

The objective of the contest is to create an app or a service, using Qeo, in order to deliver more intelligent services based on peer to peer interactions between connected objects.  You can, for instance, develop an app that makes a television communicate with the home video intercoms or the smartphone of its family members.

There’s $72,000 Prizepool to win including 15 tickets for Las Vegas to present your project at CES , $15,000 in cash prize and a possible integration in Technicolor’s development programs.

The Challenge is not only dedicated to developers, everyone who comes with a great idea is welcome!

If you need more information, here is the official website: http://qeochallenge.com/

SRCH 2 set to change the way we search on Android

Following on from their partnership with HTC SRCH2 are now making their superior search product available for all on Google Play. Announcing at AppsWorld this morning we unfortunately missed the announcement as this could be a big milestone for mobile search :

SRCH2 Delivers Lighting Fast Search Software to Android Devices

Riding the Mobile Wave SRCH2 Arms Android Manufacturers with Search that Will Forever Alter the User Experience

LONDON, October 23, 2013 — SRCH2, provider of the industry’s leading search-as-you-type engine for e-commerce and mobile devices, unveiled its Android software development kit (SDK) and local search app at AppsWorld in London today. SRCH2’s Android SDK enables any Android developer or manufacturer to easily embed superior, instant search functionality, locally onany Android device.

Using SRCH2’s Android SDK, Android developers can run SRCH2 to deliver fantastic search locally, on the handset, without dependency on the mobile network. Users benefit from lightning-speed search-as-you-type, with error-correction, geo-awareness, configurability, and more. No network latency, no intermittency. SRCH2 delivers quick and complete access to any indexable data on the phone, at cached speeds.

“When users first see search-as-you-type on their phones, it’s an ‘Ah-ha’ moment,” said SRCH2 CEO Dev Bhatia. “Right away, they realize this is something new. Consumers have come to expect poor search quality on their phones, and when they see fantastic search quality, at speeds better than the best desktop sites, it blows them away. We recently announced partnerships with some of the largest global Android handset makers, and today’s announcement of SRCH2’s Android SDK enables any Android developer—large or small—to access and embed the same revolutionary search technology.”

Armed with advanced, error-correcting, geo-aware seach-as-you-type capabilities, Android OEMs can build universal search capabilities, so that their users can access contacts, text messages, apps, images, and music locally, and everything else on the cloud, via application programming interface (API). To demonstrate its ease-of-use and cutting-edge features, SRCH2 built a downloadable app using the new Android SDK and will demonstrate that it this week at AppsWorld in London.

“There’s no question that local search is important turf for the handset manufacturers,” said Gerry Purdy, Ph.D., chief mobile strategist with Compass Intelligence. “It’s part of the core user experience,” he added, “and potentially the gateway to all Web-based data as well.”

SRCH2’s Android SDK is available now at http://srch2.com/downloads.html. SRCH2’s Android App will be available in the Google Play store for Android on October 23, 2013.

HTC and SRCH2 revolutionise mobile search

HTC One was undoubtedly one of the boldest phones that we've seen in recent years. Operationally though there was little change from what many other Android devices had to offer. This evolution is now set to be toppled by a real revolution in how yup use your mobile with a new partnership between HTC and SRCH2 upending the way that we search on our phones:

HTC Signs Agreement with SRCH2 to Bring Instant Search to Smartphones

Collaboration Enables Lightning Fast “Search-As-You-Type” on HTC Devices

Irvine, Calif. and Taipei, Taiwan, October 22, 2013 — SRCH2 and HTC have teamed up to bring lightning-fast “search-as-you-type” to HTC devices.

SRCH2 is collaborating with HTC to provide industry-leading advanced search capability. This faster, better solution is planned to be incorporated in HTC’s next generation of market-leading devices.

The addition of SRCH2 will give users a new way to search for content, locations and people on their handsets, enabling industry-leading advanced search quality at lightning speeds.

“SRCH2’s search-as-you-type is like nothing consumers have ever seen in the handset market, and I’m sure it will be a welcome and differentiating feature for HTC’s next generation of handsets,” said Gerry Purdy, Ph.D., chief mobile strategist with Compass Intelligence. “Running SRCH2 as a universal search engine as part of the OS is a strong move for HTC, and it speaks to the vast market potential for advanced search features on mobile.”

“Search-as-you-type on a handset is an industry-first, and will be an eye-popper for HTC’s millions of users,” said SRCH2’s CEO, Dev Bhatia. “They will be delighted by a super-fast, ultra-friendly, universal search experience, fully integrated into their devices. Our tools, running right on the device, will enable a plethora of new interactions with all kinds of on-device and off-device content.”

“HTC is always pushing the boundaries of design and technology to create innovative and personal experiences for consumers around the globe. We are pleased that SRCH2 could be a part of HTC’s next generation of market-leading handsets,” said Chen Li, SRCH2 founder and CTO.

SRCH2 offers search software rebuilt from the ground up to address the needs of a data-driven world. In particular, the SRCH2 feature-set serves new needs in mobile search. Some of SRCH2’s powerful features include:

• Instant Forward Search: “Search-as-you-type” functionality presents new choices with every keystroke and helps users find what they want, faster. Until now, very few search boxes offer robust, relevant instant forward search and even fewer mobile devices offer relevant instant forward search.
• Rapid GeoSearch: Localized search for places or merchandise nearby is increasingly important for mobile device users. SRCH2 treats location-search as a single-process search element, enabling super-fast, relevant, geo-aware search.
• Error Tolerance: Guess wht? Peopl make tyops. It happens. And on mobile and non-traditional devices, it happens a lot. With SRCH2, typos are not as costly because users can still find what they’re looking for. Error tolerance can be fully configured by developers.
• Ranking customization: SRCH2 enables developers to easily assign weightings to rank results, without custom coding.
• Real-time updates: Most search software has to lock or slow down inbound queries while data is being updated and re-indexed. SRCH2 software can be configured to index information as it comes in, with no lock or performance denigration.
• All-in-one: SRCH2 delivers all features in one highly configurable solution, with no custom development required.
SRCH2’s industry-leading instant forward search software is available now. For more information about SRCH2, please visit www.srch2.com.

Connecting at #Appsworld

A lucrative day of connecting with Indie developers, mobile start ups , bootstrap peers,big tech companies, Microsoft,Android, Trip Hawkins,Steve Wozniak, Microsoft Surface, Rasperry Pi man. Slashdot, Virtuix, and so much more at Appsworld. We that live in this fast paced world of mobile apps and bleeding edge technology so often lose site of the human side of all that we do.
The world is changing and the economic priniciples and learning skills that were once cherished are now making way for something new...and hopefully better. Just don't lose site of the fact that despite all of our gizmos, gadgets and tech that at the end of the day we as the human user still are that , merely human and with all the brilliance that entails.
Oh, and great to finally meet Rob Shoesmith of Medl Mobile and curse you for those two pints that were ever so tasty but cost two hours of good blogging time! Hangwithme ...

The Lumees at AppsWorld Europe 2013

Continuing our harassment of Indie game developers at Appsworld; we came across a Croydon,London based outfit who are understandably proud/possessive of their game, "The Lumees".
Coming across a a hybrid match five, side scrolling puzzler sort of the game has characters with...character and a good looking feel to it. A quick hands on showed a fun game matched by innovative gameplay and charm. The idea has apparently been a round for over five years and finally the boys from Croydon have decided to make good and bring The Lumees to the public. Envisaged more as a long term brand than just a single showing we hope their infectious ambition pays off, look to Gametrender's YouTube channel for more info on The Lumees.

What's cooler than a basket full of kittens? Appsworld 2013

A question hopefully soon to be answered in the next fifteen minutes when at the gaming expo at Appsworld the speakers will take to the stage demonstrating how sensors, NFC, cameras and more are changing our gaming landscape. Gadget and gaming geek gluttony soon to follow...
What's cool? Apps and new ways to play them.
What's not cool? More than half of Balckberries' app experiments failing due to the "hostile environment" of so many different signals floating about!
What worked: NFC running game with people powered Nerf guns as punishment for not completing a circuit fast enough ( run, tap on NFC tag to measure time between laps)
Blackberry powered drone. Sort of as it soon went rogue picking up another wifi signal.

What didn't work? Heartbeat powered music which ups or slows tempo according to the users Bluetooth band which records their heart beat. That hostile environment started off by taking no prisoners.
Experiment number 4 was some sort of audio setup , which was axed before the event due to time constraints.
Ad hoc multiplayer was a good idea with audience participation via the hub powered ssid, but signal problems soon put paid to it, and then the picture on screen went all wonky to add to Blackberry's woes.
Still they were interesting experiments and a very useful takeaway is that all the source code for them can be found on GitHub, look to our YouTube channel for the exact link.

Indie games of Appsworld 2013

Two indie games have come under Gametrender scrutiny so far at AppsWorld, and after two lengthy YouTube ready videos it came time to charge the Smartphone, because really there is just too much to see and do. Even just a short walk back to the (very handy) charging station saw us stumble upon the Microsoft stand. So much so boring for the Nokia phones and Window 8 devices on display, but we were vastly intrigued by the AlienWare/Kinect/MakerBot Replicator setup which we will certainly be Vining/blogging/Youtubing about once the devices are charged.
But this particular post is not about the 3D nous of the World's largest OS maker but the Indie games we saw.
Thanks to Francesco Palumbo of "Interactive Project" for showing off his GrandPrix Management/racing game which has been on the Playstore for a month and already has 60K downloads. The polished game hails from Italy and looks to be making a name for itself as the Football Manager of the GrandPrix World.
Ivan Kavalerov hasn't taken the need for speed to heart and has instead adopted a childhood love of chess and an adult penchant for puzzle games to develop Piggy Roll Puzzle.
Adopting heavily from a certain Jelly named game and emulating the Candy Crush Saga map the part time developer and one another have used their spare evening times over the last six months to bring their game close to completion(we look forward to the final product in a months time, that promises good natured puzzle fun and progressive levels of difficulty).

Indie game zone-Appsworld 2013

Between keynotes we naturally went off to explore the Indie Game Zone at AppsWorld Europe 2013. We were initially underwhelmed expecting a much larger showing. On reflection though the big booths and freebies would expectedly be the domain of the big players(the likes of PayPal and GM can be found here for example). The poor Indies just struggling to make themselves known were limited to a small expanse of off red carpet and we're flogging their wares from small, round tables on the periphery.
We'll try get around as many of them as possible and follow up with reviews and articles later. If you see them inhabiting an AppStore near you in the future then please show them your love.

Hardcore Gaming -Apps beyond casual pastimes-Appsworld 2013

Appropriately enough the "Future of Apps as games" keynote closed with a gambling question, providing a nice run up for Carsten van Husen's presentation on apps for hardcore gamers.
Hardcovers are an interesting source of revenue, Carsten likens them to a diner, the casual will happily eat his meal, the hardcore will see where the boundaries are...eating the table, stabbing the waiter, ummm interesting metaphor Carsten.
Interestingly enough he brought up the demographics of age and growth rates of mobile phones and gaming usage naturally.
Comparisons of Candy Crush saga were made to the hardcore contingent who according to Carsten have prolonged gaming sessions and are a.ways looking to plan their next session.
In 2011 Vampires Game was released to give their marketeers something to do, a taste of what revenue apps could bring in. Icaria was also referenced with even one attendee having played it, it's success on the web hasn't yet been followed by the mobile app. Mobile users have 10-15 minutes play on average, web users only a minute a so, he likens this to evidence of mobile playing becoming more hard core.
" I guess with games it's all kill time on the mobile" was an interesting quote that the speaker had to unfortunately close on before a localised power cut pre-emptively finished off the hardcore gamer presentation. Carsten was a banker fifteen years ago and unfortunately we think that still shows as his presentation was rather lacklustre... Although perhaps the best was yet to come, we'll never know.

Google Glass Keynote-Appsworld Europe

Naturally Google Glass was going to come up during AppsWorld Europe! The keynote is ongoing as we write and it's promised that by the end of the half hour we'll all be able to go off and "Be a Glass Developer"!
For developers and non devs alike the keynote is riddled with useful factoids about Google's next toy. The aspect ratio for example will appear in the users field of view as "credit cards used".
Stock actions will take place on the card sized timeline(look to Google Now for examples of this card type timeline".
Now as the speaker points out and Google labours on about, "Can you really enjoy a concert through the screen of your phone?"
"Humans are brilliant at facial recognition", says the speaker, a self apparent fact that leads your timeline contacts to be represented by faces not text. All in the name of Google's want to speed up your interactions.
Java script object notation (Jason?) is to be used.
User actions,notifications,events,subscribe to Google services ( while waiting for more platform based user kits "GDK" is what we as devs can play around with in the meantime.
And now that we're "sold on developing for Glass"...
Android developers will have a head start and be heavily familiar with the tools eg. android Developer Studio and Eclipse, under development is the Glass Developer Kit and the API is apparently available... The Explore plan will be ready midway though 2014.. What is best for a Glass Developer at the moment ...
Be encouraged to start developing right now with the Mirror API because effort you put in now will pay off when the GDK is released Why... same size screens, similar capabilities "Overall Design principles will be the same"
http://developers.google.com/glass/playground is Google site that you can use right now to jump into glass development. H263 and 64 are the codecs for videos.
Different templates can be used in playground, you can even use the css.
A new experience... But some immediate touchstones for familiarity, still the ROBOTO font is the topography used in glass, flat icons...free icon set that are existing assets. The iconography is flat icons( can be recognised faster than 3d rendered objects... Glass interactions are all about speed.) So Android Asset Studio can be used with Glass.
Visual cues and prompts...eg. Turn down corner, the CSS is clever enough to make text flow. Using the ideas behind Perceived Affordances... Jump straight to interactions and bypass higher reasoning!
They want less clutter and design ideas to speed up the users interactions.
Get into Glass Dev now...because after the keynote we are all apparently experts!

Why we're going to Appsworld Europe

A love of new Android toys and apps, a chance to learn more about app monetisisation and perhaps even speak to Wozniak! Appsworld Europe in two days is going to be a networking fiesta, here's what the organisers have to say:
With over 6.8 billion mobile subscribers (which is about 87% of the world’s population) and over 56 billion app downloads predicted for 2013 – the audience is raring to go and there are still plenty of apps waiting to be developed.

2.

Localytics found that one in four apps are never used again once downloaded, so how can you make sure your app isn’t one of them?

3.

Application-to-person (A2P) messaging is predicted to take over person-to-person messaging by 2016 according to Juniper research, an industry that will be worth more than £44bn. Will this be the answer to lost SMS revenues?

4.

71% of smartphone users that see ads on TV, in magazines or online do a mobile search. One is seven searches is now mobile – how is your mobile strategy going to make sure your customers find you and not your competitors?

5.

Analysts estimate that app revenues will hit $25 billion in 2013 and could triple by 2017. How can you ensure you're getting your share? 

All of these reasons are why Gametrender and hopefully you will be meeting up at Appsworld. So you won't learn much about a snowboard rack wall ,but will really get to grips with what is coming up with future apps. 

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How can social media improve your app downloads?

By no means is this a case study of the insane marketing of GTA V (that's been Don in myriad ways by other sources), but just some observations that you might find beneficial to your own game/app downloads.
Googling a random question out of meandering curiosity (in this case "What age is Trevor Phillips GTA V"? a) early 40s) I stumbled across Trevor Phillips' Twitter Account and Facebook page.
Now it seems that RockStar are still having a lot of fun playing with their creations and the Twitter account of GTA V's  Trevor especially is filled with the type of narcissistic, crazed, sociopathy of the "real" Trevor. They've broken/blurred the boundary between a fictional character and real world social media, now of course that's not the formula for Rockstar's success, but just like Ridiculous Fishing's Byrdr social media campaign the continued use of real world accounts with a fictitious game universe shows a coherent dialogue between developers and players. Of course with its violent stigma you'd think that RockStar would be adverse to blurring real world boundaries too much in case ( and this is certainly an odds on medical chance with all of its sales) one of its players takes the literalness too far...
So how does your app/game use social media to enhance the narrative with your end users?

Does my mobile health app need regulation?

If you're a developer starting to look into the growing demand for mobile health apps and have a great idea for one, you're probably going to eventually have to look into regulatory questions about making your own mobile health app.
Unlike traditional medical routes like hospital care, mental health etc. the new frontier of mobile health apps have not really been subject to any legislation.
There's two sides to his argument as to whether med health apps should be more tightly controlled, on one side as an app entrepreneur you don't want to have your brain child sit through years of FDA approval and countless medical regulatory hoops, on the other you don't want, either as a dev or a consumer to have an app promising medical benefits and either not delivering or even worse being harmful.
Many(most?) people use a smartphone or tablet to access the web nowadays, and many health apps (such as WebMd) are often consulted, for the ease and convenience that mobile apps bring.
Whichever part of the mobile health spectrum you're on, consumer or creator, here's some guidelines for what can and can't, would or could be done:
Not falling under regulations: Wellness Apps
When is an app a wellness app? Quite simply when no danger is posed to the user the app will fall out of the FDAs remit( beyond advice or request level) and fits the following criteria:

• The app can :Self-manage a disease without delving into suggesting treatments.
• Organize and track health conditions.
• Gain easy access to health information.
• Document potential medical conditions for healthcare providers.
• Are the rough criteria for a non regulated wellness app.

Now what mobile health apps should be regulated?

Criteria for Mobile Health App needing FDA approval:

• You'll need to seek FDA approval for your mobile health app if your app fulfills any/all of these criteria:
• Transforms the handheld device into a mobile medical application.
• Is meant to be used in a medical capacity.
• Could cause danger to the patient if the app malfunctions.
• Displays, transfers, stores and converts patient medical data from a connected device.
• Connects to a medical device or tool to control the operation, function, or energy source of that tool.

Of course if you're a professional developer of apps for healthcare and do fit these criteria these hoops can also be seen as a good way of legitimizing the credentials of your med health app. We're sure that you want to be seen as above board and don't just recommend a deep tissue massage in chicago  for every ailment so would probably welcome FDA approval of your app!

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Gametrender going to Appsworld Europe

We're just a few days away from Apssworld Europe 2013 and looking forward to what the likes of Trip Hawkins and Woz will be proselytising about in his fast moving mobile world.
It's not just mobile apps that will be represented though as monetisisation concerns, app/tv interfaces, programming concerns and even gadgets (with hopefully a chance to try out Google Glass) are among the many things on the cards.
We've been invited to a multitude of interviews with CEOs and devs but are waiting out to see all options. If you're a long term reader and want any specific insider info on any part of this year's AppsWorld, then please leave a comment over the next few days and we'll try to accommodate you.

Meet Guitar 2.0

We're no guitar historians,nor music experts so we can't tell you how long the guitar in its present form has been around. But what we do know is gadgets and tech, so head on down to Kickstarter today,and for the next couple of weeks and put your cash towards the world's first(?) Titanium guitar.
Based on a Gittler design the minimalist, bodiless and fretboard lacking guitar 2.0 made from aircraft grade titanium is,if the makers are to be believed, the evolution of what a guitar should be.
If the near 4000 dollar Kickstarter pledge is out of your league then keep things traditional and

• save on hart dynamics drums.

Are you ready for the Internet of things?

The Internet of things, home connectedness and the quantified self are massively gaining headspace among tech geeks in recent times. While a Pebbl smartwatch is still very much on our wish list we're also looking to the Fitbit Force to take care of our fitness and sleep monitoring needs. What's on your Internet of things/quantified self wish list?
Internet of Things at Home
Philips Lumi
Nest
Any product taking advantage of BLE
The Internet of things on your wrist 
Pebbl
Jawbone Up
Samsung Galaxy Gear
Up coming IWatch
The Internet of things in your pocket
This new way of quantifying and controlling ourselves and our environment is going to be massively spearheaded by many of the apps that we use for this purpose, as these become more synced with specialist tools and data connectivity (the new iPhones m7 processor is a good example of this) a new wave of quantified and "healthy" apps will become available . We expect the likes of these to be massively changed as the Internet of things truly takes off:
Run keeper
Noom
Chronos
Move
Goodreads

Help for Heroes App

Continuing on their brilliant charity work for the Armed Forces ,Help for Heroes is making a big push to be the fastest downloaded app in British History.
The charity has enjoyed overwhelming support over the years for its great work with the forces so on 10 October join Jeremy Clarkson and Lorraine Kelly in bringing out the Help for Heroes game:

Users of the game will guide two Help for Heroes bear mascots as they hold a stretcher carrying a third bear across an obstacle course. With the nostalgic military tune The Colonel Bogey March playing in the background, the aim of the app is to collect as many tokens along the route while jumping over gaps, changing levels and squeezing through gaps.

They expect help from all quarters (yes, we're looking at you  www.reidsupply.com/ ) so join The Help for Heroes Game in making British charity app history!

Free PS4 game?

Well if you're an Android or IOS user you will sort of get a free PS4 game in the form of the soon to be released companion game for upcoming Sony title "Knack".
The mobile puzzle game shows a mind shift for Sony to start releasing free games to promote their upcoming PS4 titles, so when will Sony see the light and release the PS4 version of the XBOx glass app?