Baker: An Open Source, HTML5 Framework for iPad E-books

Nick
0
3rd November

iPad

What is it?

New to the world of mobile development comes the Baker Framework. This free and open-source solution for developing iPad E-books converts fixed-width HTML5 pages into a published E-book format ready for the Apple App Store submission process. It couldn’t be easier for mobile designers and developers to now quickly and easily push finished products through this framework.

1. Design and Develop

To design for the Baker Framework, simply build HTML5 pages with a fixed width of 768px using your favorite tools, obviously including your WebKit arsenal. Testing can be achieved on the iPad itself, using the Safari browser of course, or alternatively on a desktop browser for those without an iPad by downloading the 768px support CSS from the Baker site.

2. Package

Package your HTML5 files and any other assets into the one folder using the HPub format and Bakers easy naming conventions of 1.html, 2.html etc… This naming convention is just temporary as the HPub format is still under development and Baker state that this won’t be required in the near future.

3. Publish

Lastly, download the Baker Framework, rename the Xcode project accordingly and include your book and icon. Then all that is required is to push your E-book through Apple’s App Store submission process and, with a bit of luck and patience, your E-book will be available for iPad users to enjoy!

Get Started

For a first hand experience of a Baker-created e-book, check out this free title from Baker, 5×15 Tokyo: an Italian diary photo-book, and of course please let us know what you think. The Baker Framework is available for download on its official site, and developers can get involved with the project through GitHub.

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Categories: Innovation, Mobiles, Technology

Flipboard! Your Own Personal Social Magazine!

Nick
0
30th September

FlipboardIt may sound strange at first but the Flipboard app for the iPad really is your own personal social magazine! It aggregates normal RSS feeds from social networking sites, like Facebook or Twitter, and configures them as a magazine layout on your iPad, showing headlines, runners and the overall story from across your social media spectrum.

The brainchild of former Apple iPhone engineer Evan Doll and entrepreneur Mike McCue, Flipboard has been designed with a beautiful user interface and offers some great functionality. This clever application is perfect for someone who uses social networking on a daily basis. Users can easily organise and manage their accounts in sections and always have the freshest content without having to scroll thousands of tweets or lengthy news feeds.  Additionally, Flipboard displays Tweets about each article and allows users to add comments or share with their friends.

Version 1.0.2 has just been released too and brings with it some great updates including:  more reliable video playback, better Facebook feed fidelity, faster launch speeds, smarter page layouts, improved recommended sections and improved added custom feeds.

Oh and did I also mention that it’s FREE! Grab it now from iTunes.You can also keep up-to-date by following @flipboard on Twitter!

Check Out the Video!

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Categories: Innovation, Mobiles, Social Media, Technology

The ‘Hidden Park’ takes win in 2010 Qantm Desktop CREATE Awards

Nick
0
28th September

The Hidden Park

It appears that ‘The Hidden Park’ iPhone app is in the spotlight again! Just weeks after Apple featured it as part of their Apps for Mums and Dads section on the Apple website, ‘The Hidden Park’ has taken first place in the 2010 Qantm Desktop CREATE Awards for the best ‘Interactive and Digital’ category.

Once again, a big thank you and congratulations to WSP and Two Bulls for making it all possible.

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Categories: Conduct News, Innovation, Mobiles

Got an idea for a mobile app?

Nick
0
5th July

app-ideaAlthough it has been relatively short-lived, the mobile application market for devices such as Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platform is already growing fast. More overwhelming perhaps is the rate at which the market is expected to expand over the next couple of years as more consumers carry a Smartphone in their back pocket. According to Gartner, consumers will spend $6.2 billion in 2010 and mobile application revenue is predicted to grow to $29.5 billion by the end of 2013. These are staggering figures but should, like any market forecast, be taken with a grain of salt.

Whether you like your research salted or unsalted, this report still indicates the serious potential of this market and it makes perfect sense. Mobile’s have come a long way from the days of simple calling, texting or even accessing the internet. Increasingly, we are seeing mobile devices playing a key role in people’s everyday lives from social media use, mobile commerce (aka m-commerce), research, gaming, photos and so on. In fact with over 225,000 apps for the iPhone and 50,000 for the Android, you might be thinking that there is not much a Smartphone can’t do these days. Well the truth is that the market is still somewhat of a gold mine for those digging with clever and unique ideas.

So the question is – do you have one? With the recent introduction of tablet mobile devices like the iPad, there is even more room to throw your ideas around. It’s no secret that there is potentially big money to be made with application development. Success stories of mobile developers making fortunes off apps have emerged almost overnight. It really is an exciting time to be involved whether you’re thinking on a large scale, small scale or anything in between. So, if you have a great idea for a mobile app and you want to make it a reality we would love to hear from you. Send us an email and also check out some of our previous work with apps.

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Categories: Innovation, Mobiles

Meet iPhone 4

Simon
0
8th June

After all the hype and web banter about the new iPhone we can officially report it has now been released and scheduled to be available in July for us Australians. There are two models the 16GB and the 32GB. Some of the features we are excited about include the Apple A4 processor, app multitasking, 7 hours of talk time, a backlit 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash and 720p video recording (and iMovie), a front-facing camera for FaceTime video calls, an eye-burning 960 x 640 Retina display, an all glass and stainless steel body… and all this squashed into a 9.3 mm thick design.

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Categories: Innovation, Mobiles, Technology

iPhone OS 4.0 offers over 100 new killer features!!

Simon
0
6th May

We are very excited about the latest up and coming update from Apple. This is no minor update, the iPhone OS 4.0 update is going to be huge. It has over 100 new features, and most importantly it supports multitasking.

“create apps that are even more powerful, innovative, and amazing”

Although we are excited about the improved UI and UX we are more excited about what the new update means to application developers. It seems Apple have kept a very keen ear to the ground and listened to all of our requests. Available to developers is a new software development kit (SDK) which offers over 1500 new APIs -- and in Apples words, ” create apps that are even more powerful, innovative, and amazing”.

While Apple has not announced any release date for iPhone OS 4.0, it is reasonable to guess that they will release it some time in June 2010. Last year Apple released the iPhone 3.0 update in June 17, during WWDC 2009 so we can expect them to release it close to the same time this year as well seeming this years WWDC just got announced for the 7-11 of June.

APIs Conduct is especially excited about…

Calendar Access Apps can now create and edit events directly in the Calendar app with Event Kit. Create recurring events, set up start and end times and assign them to any calendar on the device.

Video playback & Capture You now have full programmatic control over video playback and capture, using new APIs in the AV Foundation framework.

In-App SMS Compose SMS messages from within apps, similar to the Mail compose sheet added in iPhone SDK 3.0

Map Kit Improvements Mapping applications can now include overlays that can identify regions on a map. Draw routes with annotations for customized directions and other functionalities.

Photo Library Access Applications now have direct access to user photos and videos with the Media Library APIs.

Quick Look Applications can now present previews of documents, like attachments in Mail, using the new Quick Look APIs.

Now is the time to realise that great idea you have! let’s talk

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Categories: Innovation, Mobiles, Technology

Sydney band Lost Valentinos augmented reality video clip

Simon
0
4th May


The Lost Valentinos deliver an ingenious slant on augmented reality – augmented reality video clip where fans can download and print out black and white square markers. The online application recognises these markers once placed in sight of a webcam, and overlay images of band members dancing and playing their instruments.

This is a clear example of how modern technology engages users to interact with content and instill individual ownership. Once users have finished making their unique film clip they can upload it for the world to see – hence building a community. This campaign has viral potential written all over it.

I would love to see this integrated into an iPhone application… I will be sure to keep an eye on this project.

You can view this in action and even create your own film clip – www.lostvalentinos.com

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Categories: Creativity, Innovation

Conduct gets their hands on Apples newest toy: iPad

Charlie
0
15th April

iPad Coco HeadsI was fortunate to have my first demo of the iPad at this month’s Coco Heads gathering. Everything about the funky little device exceeded all of my expectations!

It had a great weight to it, the screen was amazingly clear, the GUI was beautiful and completely intuitive making me feel right at home and comfortable.

Apple have definitely leveraged off the great attributes of the iPhone. The iPad offers an amazingly simple UI maintaining a great balance between functionality and design.

I played around using keynote and explored how easy it was to use. I especially liked the pop up keyboard, it was extremely responsive and very easy to touch type like on a normal keyboard.

Overall Apple has demostrated superior foresight, leadership and creativity. This is yet another positive move foward for mobile computing – the commercial possibilities for this device are endless!

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Categories: Business, Innovation, Technology

Wired Magazine interview Conduct and featured AR.Drone gaming concept

Charlie
1
13th March

Conduct was recently interviewed by Wired Magazine and asked to submit a gaming concept for the amazing Parrot AR.Drone

The AR.Done is one sweet rig and fulfills any man/child dream of having a remote control toy!

We’ll post the concept once the Magazine Issue comes out on the 18th of March 2010, page 55.

Conduct have been contacted by Parrot who were excited by Conduct’s concept and would like us to develop the idea further. Conduct can’t wait to push the ideas and collaborate with the Parrot team located out of Paris.

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Categories: Blog, Creativity, Industry Trends, Innovation, Technology

We can’t stop playing with this exciting open source CMS by Concrete5

Simon
0
13th March

I was sent a link to Concrete5 by a close friend of mine based in London. He told me to stop what I was doing and to setup a trial account… now!

“you have to check this out, it will blow you away!”.

Well what I can report is yes, this did blow me away! I have spent over 5hrs straight playing around with the free hosting demo available here – www.concrete5.org/about/trial/

What’s so good about it? Where to start… Concrete5 have employed a very different approach to traditional online content management – they enable a true front-end editing experience through a intuitive 2 button UI. ‘Add page’ – ‘Edit page’ That’s it!!!

I have seen many attempts to achieve this but none of them are as well thought out as Concrete5.

Round up… Concrete5 is easy for developers to extend, even easier for end-users to update. If you’re sick of working with confusing systems like Drupal and Joomla, give concrete5 a try and I’ll bet you never turn back.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories: Innovation
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