Fun for the whole family

Apple has featured ‘The Hidden Park’ as part of their Apps for Mums and Dads section on the Apple website.

Woodland wonders

“The Hidden Park is an entirely new form of gaming where your local park becomes the arena and you are the star. Enter a fantasy world of trolls, fairies and tree genies where you are asked to track down and photograph the magical inhabitants of the park by solving puzzles and riddles. The Hidden Park will take the world around you and transform it into a wonderful adventure.”

The Hidden Park is a game created especially for young families. It is designed to utilise the best technological features of the iPhone to lead children into a fantasy world of trolls, fairies and tree genies – right in their local park! We are please to see such a positive write up!

A big thanks to WSP it was a pleasure working with you. And a big high 5 to Two Bulls for making it all possible.

Check out The Hidden Park creative showcase, animation sets and www.thehiddenpark.com.

Basecamp is a web-based project-management tool developed by 37signals. This highly popular software offers an adaptive solution that integrates clients, team members and projects into the one easy-to-use system. Basecamp is extremely comprehensive, covering every facet of project management while maintaining a user-friendly interface and a simplistic approach.

Basecamp boasts some great features that make it one of the best options on the market. Easily manage to-do-lists, web-based text documents, milestones, file sharing, time tracking, and all your project communication across clients and team members. Basecamp also supports many different languages, has email integration, is mobile compatible and offers a very competitive pricing structure. It is by no means perfect but then again nothing really is. None the less, we have been using Basecamp for the majority of our projects and highly recommend checking it out.

In a nutshell, the new proposal is somewhat more of a compromise trying to achieve some desirable outcome for all parties involved. Firstly, both firms still believe that web users are entitled to choose what content, applications, or devices they consume on the Internet. Secondly, both firms want enforceable probation against discriminatory practices such as prioritisation (including paid prioritisation) and the blocking of Internet traffic. Thirdly, both Google and Verizon agreed that fewer restrictions within the wireless Internet space would be necessary with concerns that any ‘red tape’ could hinder this competitive environment, for the time being at least.

Keen to shift some of the authority back to the FCC, the proposal also states that, if passed into law, ISPs would be held accountable for breaking any of the ‘open Internet’ stipulations to the tune of up to $2 million. This means that the FCC would play a more regulatory role with the ability to fine “bad actors”, as the proposal puts it, for playing up. It’s also not a surprise to see that both Google and Verizon expressed their avid support for the National Broadband Plan to replace the existing assortment of network infrastructure. The questions is – with the latest election leaving everyone up in the air just how sweet a deal will the National Broadband Plan be for our industry?

A Quick Guide…

We all know how important is for websites to load as quickly as possible, just ask your users. By taking steps to reduce your CSS files, you’re ensuring faster loading times, increased usability, higher user satisfaction and better overall website performance. This is not an article on the importance of validating and optimising your CSS files however, this is assumed knowledge. Instead, this is a quick reference to some of the best free, web-based CSS optimizers/compressors, code formatters, and validation services out there. Check them out and pick the ones that work best for you.

Validation and Checking

A CSS validator will basically check your CSS to make sure it complies with the CSS standards set by the W3 Consortium by pointing out errors, warnings and other issues. The most common web-based validation service for CSS is, in fact, the W3C’s own CSS Validation Service but there are several others. Here are the best, in my opinion.

• W3C CSS Validator
• CSS Validator Firefox Add-On
• CSS Check

Compression and Optimisation

Once you have completed checking the validity of your CSS and cleaned up any unnecessary code, it’s good practice to optimise and compress your CSS to help achieve the smallest possible file size. Although you probably strive to achieve well optimised code ’straight off the bat’ you’ll most likely won’t reach perfection first time around. These great tools will help you eliminate any bloat from your files without any tedious manual work.

• cssdrive.com
• csscompressor.com
• Robson CSS Compressor
• Clean CSS
• cssoptimiser.com
• Format CSS Online
• CSS Tidy

Enter Raphael JS a javascript vector graphics library that even works with the dreaded internet explorer (and without the use of additional plugins). Raphael JS has a multitude of uses from producing basic vector text and images to image manipulation, animation, graphing and yes AJAX loaders. There are some great examples on the website, here are two that I have been using recently (Both of these are based on one of the examples available on the Raphael web site).

Aren’t they beautiful, even better they will look great over any background and because they are created programatically it is easy to tweak them and modify them into different forms.

Paste the following meta tag into your header and marvel at the wonders of this simple piece of code.
[html] [/html]

What is the viewport meta tag?

It’s no secret that the days of the mobile web are well and truley upon us. Only accessing the Internet via your desktop or laptop is a thing of the past. According to the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association, the use of mobile phone services has continued to grow in the past year as more Australians buy internet-enabled smartphones and other mobile devices like the Apple iPad. On a larger scale, it’s forecast that by 2013 there will be more than 1.7 billion mobile Internet users worldwide, by far outweighing the number of desktop and laptop users accessing the Internet.

With those kinds of numbers in mind, understanding optimal development and design practices for mobile devices has now become a staple for people designing and developing for the web. There are many ways to tackle the challenges of designing for mobiles but this is just one simple step you can implement to ensure some cross platform and browser stability in your designs.

Most mobile platforms assume different browser settings if none are specified, which can lower the quality and user experience of your designs on these platforms. Placing the viewport meta tag in the head section of your pages can override these default values and ensure your users receive a consistent and optimised experience instead of arbitrary results. The viewport meta tag is fast becoming popular for cross-device compatibility and we recommend exploring its possibilities. It is supported on many smartphones and tablets, from iPhone to Android to webOS (Palm) to even Internet Explorer Mobile, Opera Mini and Opera Mobile. Mobile Safari first introduced the “viewport meta tag” to let web developers control the viewport’s size and scale and now many other mobile browsers support this tag, and although it is not part of any web standard it continues to grow.

So how’s it work?

The first piece of this code, content=”width=device-width, controls the size of the viewport. What we’re doing here is setting the viewport width equal to the actual width of the device so that we deliver a width in CSS pixels at a scale of 100%, instead of the default 980px. A majority of new smartphones will have a width of 320px but this can change depending on the device. The viewport width can be set to a specific number of pixels like width=400px but in most cases it’s better to use width=device-width to deliver more consistent results that are device independent.

The initial-scale property controls the zoom level when the page initially loads. The maximum-scale, minimum-scale, and user-scalable properties control how users are allowed to zoom the page in or out. Setting an initial or maximum scale means the width property actually translates into a minimum viewport width.

But wait, there’s more!

The viewport tag has more options to play with other than the width, so get experimenting:

Property	Description
width	Width of the viewport in pixels (or device-width). If width isn’t set, it defaults to a desktop size (980px on mobile Safari).
height	Height of the viewport in pixels (or device-height). Generally you don’t need to worry about setting this property.
initial-scale	(0 to 10.0) Multiplier that sets the scale of the page after its initial display. Safe bet: if you need to set it, set it to 1.0. Larger values = zoomed in, smaller values = zoomed out
minimum-scale	(0 to 10.0) The minimum multiplier the user can “zoom out” to. Defaults to 0.25 on mobile Safari.
maximum-scale	(0 to 10.0) The minimum multiplier the user can “zoom in” to. Defaults to 1.6 on mobile Safari.
user-scalable	(yes/no) Whether to allow a user from scaling in/out (zooming in/out). Default to “yes” on mobile Safari.

In short, jailbreaking is the process of hacking an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch to free it from Apple restrictions. The major purpose of this is so users can run third-party unsigned code on their devices by unlocking the operating system and allowing the user root access. Jailbroken devices are able to download many extensions and themes previously unavailable through the App Store via unofficial installers such as Cydia while still being able to use the App Store and iTunes. Apple highly discourage users to jailbreak their devices but those who do can restore their device, to their out-of-the-box state, by reinstalling original firmware through iTunes. It is estimated that around 10% of all iPhones are currently jailbroken.

Only recently did we see a U.S court rule that users who jailbroke their iPhones were not violating any laws and already we have seen a quick but modest increase of apple users breaking their devices for the installation of unauthorized third-party applications. In a nutshell, this update to the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act ensures Apple won’t be suing you for opening your device and running non-App Store approved applications. Within days of the ruling we saw a new web-based jailbreak application emerge to not only fuel an ever growing interest among iPhone users but offer a breaking method with unprecedented ease. Instead of relying on complicated hacks to break a device, users can now simply visit the JailBreakMe website via mobile safari and implement a break within seconds by literally the flick of a switch. Not only will this new web-app break your new iPhone 4, but any iPhone running iOS 4.0.1 or below and any iPad running iOS 3.2.1 or below too. Ok so jailbreaking your Apple device is now more legal and easier to do than ever before but there are still some important issues to weigh up before you rush out and break your iPhone or iPad.

So what are the risks and problems?

• First and foremost to consider is that, jailbreaking your device will void your warranty with Apple and any new firmware upgrades Apple releases will erase any previous jailbreaking efforts by overwriting them.
• You may experience immediate problems with inbuilt features, apps and settings. There have been reported issues with FaceTime and MMS especially, although these can apparently be fixed.
• Most concerning of all are the potential security implications of jailbreaking a device. All apps available on Apple’s App Store have been through a vigorous and strict submission process that ensures their quality, functionality and security. When you download and install unsanctioned third-party apps however, you can’t be sure exactly what you’re getting — a handy app or malicious piece of software? Well you generally won’t know until you install it. In fact, the only two iPhone viruses ever reported have spread across iPhones that have been jailbroken.
• By jailbreaking you run the slim risk that you may “brick” your iPhone or iPad. This occurs when an unsanctioned application or software conflicts with your device and renders it actually broken (as in useless). Phones that experience this are termed iBricks and because jailbreaking voids your warranty this is surely the most unfortunate result you can achieve. Again, the chances of this actually happening are next to nothing but the issue is still worth a mention.
• No one knows your iPhone or iPad like Apple does. Apple engineer their products to work at their best (antenna issue aside) and it makes sense that by using non-approved apps that you run the risk of sacrificing functionality and user experience instead of enhancing it. Unauthorised apps may be useful but can conflict technically with your device and cause things like battery drainage for example.

Why would I ever want to jailbreak a device?

• People jailbreak their devices most commonly because of the limitations of their iPhone or the App Store. Specifically, third party apps that have been declined by the App Store can offer jailbroken iPhones a range of benefits. Some of the most popular apps include the ability to Internet tether, multitask, use custom setting controls, turn your iPhone into a Wi-Fi Hotspot and play novelty games that are considered too risqué for the App Store.
• For those who are more technically oriented, jailbreaking an iPhone can mean running a basic variant of Apple’s, Unix-based, OS X operating system. This means people can install certain Unix applications such as a lightweight Apache Web server with PHP or SSH, adding a whole new world of capability.
• Using an iPhone on different carriers can be achieved by unlocking it from the its current network through a process that usually involves jailbreaking the phone too. To unlock your iPhone and use it on any carrier, you must first Jailbreak your iPhone. Some of the Jailbreak solutions below also allow you to unlock the iPhone.

It comes down to you

At the end of the day the decision to jailbreak a device is completely up to the individual user. The intention of this article is not to push a recommendation but instead offer some information about the benefits and risks associated with jailbreaking so that readers can make an informed decision. Everyone has a different perception of these benefits and risks but it’s what you want out of your device that will ultimately sway you one way or the other. Please feel free to leave your opinions and comments, we love open discussion on these tricky topics!

Check out this video that helps explain the pros and cons!

Technically this is a native iPhone application which has a live link to a web-service which communicates to a web application. The iPhone application features in-app purchasing, maps, in-app SMS and email and utilises the BUMP API which allows easy exchange of information from user-to-user.

We really believe that this app will revolutionise the real estate industry in how buyers, sellers and people in-between communicate and interact.

Costing category: Between $30,000 & $50,000

Do you have any videos online for your business yet?

In the past few years the number of online videos has exploded with websites likeYouTube and Vimeo becoming extremely popular. In fact, according to Nielsen Online research, 4.2 million users per month in Australia are watching videos online. With statistics like these it’s not hard to believe then that viewing videos online now accounts for the largest amount of browsing activity. So what makes this format so popular? Video can offer users a better quality experience by delivering information in a format that is easily and comfortably consumed and is perfect for the impatient user, which deep down most of us are. Internet users want to research and absorb information quickly and in ways where they can interact with content, which cannot usually be achieved with more traditional formats like text and plain images.Do you have any videos online for your business yet?

To gain a competitive advantage and better communicate the strengths of a product or service, businesses are now integrating branded video content into websites and applications for mobile devices such as the Apple iPhone and iPad. Conduct now has a newly-formed partnership with a full-service film and video production company, we can now offer the following video production services to new and existing clients:

• Concept-to-script creative for promotional and viral video content
• Pre-production -- location scouting, casting, production design and management
• Production -- all digital and analogue formats, from DSLR video to 35mm film
• Post production -- offline and online editing; 2D & 3D animation and compositing; music and sound; and device-specific video optimisation for online delivery

Video examples

Here is a selection of online video content produced by our strategic partner Holscope.