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Category: iPhone 5c

There are 5 posts published under iPhone 5c.
24 Sep, 2014

Stories Behind the Apps – Flock

Flock-15

Tell us about your app! Flock is a messaging app for making group plans. It allows people to let their friends know of casual plans (i.e. “I wanna grab brunch in the East Village this weekend”) and then figure out the details in a group chat before confirming a specific time and location.

IMG_0703

How is Flock  different from similar apps?  There are a couple main differences compared to group messaging, which is what we see as our biggest competition. Most importantly, you can create plans in 3 taps. Check out this demo: https://vine.co/v/MnqHQ22b9jL.  Additionally, you can join or leave the conversation whenever you like. Lastly, the activity of interest is always front and center, so no more endless group chats where you forget why you started the conversation in the first place. We’re trying to get people together OFFLINE, not online.

Flock_On Green

What went into the design and UI?  We worked with a couple different people to help us with our branding and the user interface. We worked with We Are Moving Things (http://wearemovingthings.com/) to help us with our icon. We loved their simplistic approach and think they did a great job of creating a fun and friendly logo. For the user interface, we spent a lot of time trying to make the event creation process as simple as possible. We tried to minimize the taps by giving ppl suggestions for each part of the plan (what, where, and when). For the aesthetics we worked closely with Keiran Flanigan (aka Aeliox, https://dribbble.com/aeliox). He helped us update our design for iOS 7 and improve the user experience as well.

What tools did you use in building the app? Parse.com was crucial in our effort since it allowed us to offset our whole back end development.  The Facebook API worked well as a quick authentication and sign up mechanism.  As always the StackOverflow community always came to the rescue when specific coding questions arose.

What lessons did you learn during this process? Don’t rely on Facebook.  Their API changes annually modifying even the most significant portions with very short back support times.

The Problem.001

What went right and wrong with the release? We decided to become a “messaging app” too late in the development cycle and missed the growing trend of moving away from social media based registration and friend discovery. We also didn’t focus enough on making it a good experience for people that download the app for the first time and don’t have any friends on it yet.

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Who is on the team and what are your roles? Misha does iOS development, and Adam focuses on web development and product. Misha built the iOS app from scratch, while Adam helped lead the design efforts and built the app’s landing page.

What were you doing prior to creating Flock? We both currently have full-time jobs at other companies, and see Flock as a fun side project to try and solve a problem we both have. Misha is a technical consultant for Southern Company, a fortune 500 utilities co based in Atlanta, GA. Adam is a product focused developer at SeatGeek, a NY based ticket search engine startup.

What other apps inspire you? Adam – My two favorite apps at the moment are Venmo and Camoji. Venmo has made it ridiculously easy to split bills with my friends, while Camoji is a fun way to create and send GIFs to your friends via text message. Misha – Feedly is my favorite news consumption app which I use constantly. Paypal has the most convenient mobile payment system that I’ve used to date.

Head over to the App Store and download Flock! 

Hey app devs!  Wanna be featured like our friends at Flock? Click Here

Peter Ferioli
2652
15 Dec, 2013

YEC Answers: 9 Tips for Developing a New Mobile App

Considering how saturated the app market is, what advice would you give to an entrepreneur developing a new mobile app? -CitizenTEKK

The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Identify Factors

This one is simple because I am working on my own mobile app now and have been doing a crazy amount of research in this area. Basically, find the sticky factor and the viral factor. What this means is what makes the end user want to come back and add content on a daily (if not more) basis? Then, after they add their content, what makes them want to share that with their network?

Andrew Vest ( https://twitter.com/AndrewVest ), Preferling ( http://www.preferling.com )

Entrepreneur at YEC comments at CitizenTEKK

2. Gather Usage Metrics

Due to the overwhelming amount of mobile apps in the market, it is very important that you analyze your app through metrics. Services such as Mixpanel can be integrated into your app to gather important usage data, which can guide you to the compelling portions of your app. Once you identify how and what your users find value in, you can focus on those and remove underutilized features.

Phil Chen ( https://twitter.com/nethacker ), Givit ( http://www.givit.com )

Entrepreneur guest blogs at CitizenTEKK

3. Deliver Value

In the oversaturated startup and app market, delivering value that users can see, understand and that truly delights is job one. Your app doesn’t have to change your users’ world — but if it makes their live easier or more rich, you may be onto something.

Brendan Mangus ( http://twitter.com/bpmangus ), Colorwheel Media Consulting ( http://www.colorwheelconsulting.com )

Brendan Mangus, YEC

4. Think International

App developers have set their benchmarks on the U.S. market, forgetting how quickly Asia, South America and Europe are booming in the mobile space. Create apps that can go global and provide value in more than just one language.

Grant Gordon ( https://twitter.com/grantagordon ), Solomon Consulting Group ( http://www.solomonbi.com )

Grant Gordon of Solomonbi

5. Launch in Test Markets

Launch your app in test markets first. So much of gaining traction in the app store comes down to either being featured or being a top 25 app. The best way to game the system is to test your app out in small regional markets before you launch in the U.S. Work out the bugs and figure out what drives downloads. Don’t launch too early in the U.S.

Adam Lieb ( http://www.twitter.com/adamslieb ), Duxter ( http://www.duxter.com )

Commentator at CitizenTEKK

 

 

6. Solve Real-World Problems and Stay Committed Through the Iterations

The app market is indeed saturated. However, most of the apps are poorly built. This is the result of hopefuls building apps just to build one, and this mindset is generally wrong for an entrepreneur. Focus on solving real-world problems you are passionate about. Remember that startups and app development go through iterations. You will not always get it right the first time. Stay committed.

Gideon Kimbrell ( http://twitter.com/gideonkimbrell ), CLUBSCORE, INC ( http://www.clubscore.com )

 

7. Solve One Problem Extremely Well

Too many app builders try to solve too many problems at the same time. It’s not about how many features your app has; it’s about how well you’ve been able to perfect the one your app was built for in the first place. Build a clean, beautiful app that executes its main job extremely well. Once you deliver a great user experience, you are already ahead of 90 percent of the competition.

Juha Liikala ( http://www.twitter.com/juhaliikala ), Stripped Bare Media ( http://www.strippedbaremedia.com )

CitizenTEKK hosts discussion from YEC

 

8. Ensure a Strong PR Launch

When you launch a new app, make sure you make a splash in the media. That requires a significant amount of legwork prior to launching your app. You don’t want to have to pitch a story to media outlets about a product that has been out for months already. Hit the ground running by preparing customized media pitches for specific journalists well in advance of the launch.

Chuck Cohn ( http://twitter.com/chuckcohn ), Varsity Tutors ( http://www.varsitytutors.com )

Chuck Cohn from YEC

 

9. Research Trends

App developers should invest a lot of attention in trending technologies, particularly geo-targeted push notifications, cloud/Dropbox integration, social media sharing options, easy transactional features and light battery usage. Although some trends turn out to be just fads, these user-friendly developments are already showing strong staying power.

Phil Laboon ( http://twitter.com/#!/eyeflow ), Clear Sky SEO ( http://www.clearskyseo.com/ )

YEC entrepreneurs

Young Entrepreneur Council
1346
4 Oct, 2013

Top Startup and Tech News Today: 7 Things You Missed Today

1. Twitter Dishes Tantalizing Tidbits In IPO Treatise

 

On Thursday, Twitter released an 800-page filing that talked about its attempt to make money, its growth, and its intention to its IPO. The suspense surrounding Twitter’s decision to its IPO is heightened by Twitter’s keeping their IPO documents secret until management is ready to appeal to investors. Twitter’s lack of secrecy means that the company may start pitching to investors as early as Oct 24th. Twitter’s report referenced some key components about Twitter. The report relayed facts, such as how, when Twitter was first opened, management focused on attracting more users and making the service more reliable; Twitter didn’t even try to make money during its first couple of years. But, the company isn’t incredibly profitable; Twitter’s losses hit $69 million the first half of this year. Twitter is, however, getting more mobile than Facebook, and its market value could be as high as $20 billion.

 

2. iPhone 5C Price Slashed To $50 At Best Buy After Just 2 Weeks

 

Best Buy has slashed the price of the iPhone 5C in half after just two weeks. From now until October 7th, Best Buy will give iPhone 5C buyers a $50 gift card with the phone. Best Buy has offered similar deals for iPhones in the past, but this is the first time a deal has been offered for a brand-new iPhone that was only so recently launched. Analysts generally agree that Apple’s lower-costing iPhone 5C was not priced aggressively enough to appeal to consumers in emerging markets. Best Buy’s slashing of the prices in order to sell units supports this idea; we will have to wait and see if other American retailers decide to follow Best Buy’s lead.

 

3. Samsung Reports Record-High Profit for 3Q

 

Profit at Samsung hit a record-high in the 3rd quarter. This is most likely driven by large sales of Samsung’s cheaper smartphones in developing countries. Samsung said that their third-quarter operating income rose 25% over the past year to $9.4 billion. This result was slightly better than the market prediction of $9.3 billion. Third quarter sales were $55 billion. No other details of Samsung’s financial performance were disclosed.

 

There had been expectations last month of slowing growth in sales of smartphones, and while Galaxy S4 sales did plunge during the three-month period, Samsung sold more smartphones than the previous due to the sales of its cheaper smartphones.

 

4. Hackers Steal Data From 2.9 million Adobe Customers

 

Adobe Systems warns that hackers stole the credit card numbers and other information from 2.9 million of Adobe’s customers. The information stolen was believed to have included customer names, credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates, and order information. “Very recently, Adobe’s security team discovered sophisticated attacks on our network, involving illegal access of customer information as well as source code for numerous Adobe products,” said Adobe chief security officer Brad Arkin. “Our investigation currently indicates that the attackers accessed Adobe customer IDs and encrypted passwords on our systems… We deeply regret that this incident occurred… We’re working diligently internally, as well as with external partners and law enforcement, to address the incident.”

 

5. Apple Buys Cue

 

Apple has acquired Cue, a personal assistant startup app. Apple doled out around $50-$60 million for this acquisition. Cue provides mobile apps for iOS that collects relevant information from users’ email, social, and professional networking platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc.) It then displays all this on the mobile screen occasionally, letting users get all the information they want from a single app. This acquisition will help Apple integrate social networking capabilities into its operating system. Google Now has similar capabilities; it is a large possibility that Apple acquired Cue in order to play catch-up with Google Now.

 

6. Google Backs Sydney Student Startups

 

INCUBATE, an award winning startup accelerator program, has launched 16 ventures from students at Sydney University. INCUBATE has found a backer in Google and is now set to expand this entrepreneurial program to universities across Australia. “With Google’s help, we want to take the accelerator program to other campuses to create Australia’s first national network of global-thinking entrepreneurs at universities,” said program manager James Alexander said.

 

Through INCUBATE, startups receive $5,000 seed funding, a co-working space on campus, office resources, internet, printing, and mentoring from some of Australia’s most experienced business minds and industry experts. INCUBATE was co-founded in 2012 by two students and developed by the University of Sydney Student Union.

 

7. Google Acquires Gesture Recognition Startup Flutter

 

Google has acquired the gesture recognition startup, Flutter. Neither companies have disclosed the financial terms and other details of this acquisition. However, it is speculated that Flutter has been acquired for roughly $40 million. Flutter was created three years ago by Navneet Dalal and Mehul Nariyawala, and is based in India. They develop gesture recognition technology that can be used to control apps such as Youtube, Pandora, and Netflix through the webcam. CEO Navneet Dalal of Flutter was quoted as saying, “Today, we are thrilled to announce that we will be continuing our research at Google. We share Google’s passion for 10x thinking, and we’re excited to add their rocket fuel to our journey.”

Jessie Yen
230
19 Sep, 2013

Top Startup and Tech News Today: 7 Things You Missed Today

1. Apple’s new iOS7 makes bold statement

 

Though two new iPhones come out this week, the more dramatic shift in Apple technology might come from the software and not the hardware. iOS7, the new mobile OS, became available on Wednesday. “It is a major upgrade,” said Gerry Purdy, analyist and consultant with Compass Intelligence.  “This is the first big thing that (Apple chief executive) Tim Cook has implemented, which puts all the software and hardware design under one roof, to have a unified experience across products.”

 

While both new iPhones have both been receiving lukewarm responses, some analysts say that the new OS is the bolder statement from Apple, designed to keep people in the Apple ecosystem. The new OS has a different look and a different feel describes Ramon Llamas, analyst with research firm IDC, who continues by saying that Apple is “asking people to make a leap of faith.”

 

Darrell Etherington of TechCrunch described iOS7 as a “visual shock… The look is bound to be controversial; Apple has opted for bright, bold colors with more clean lines and far fewer textures, shadows and gradients. There is still some depth to the OS, however, with transparency effects giving a sense of background and foreground elements.”

 

Apple claims that the new operating system has over 200 new features, including improved multitasking, sharing, new camera apps, more variation for Siri, and iTunes radio. The new software has drawn much attention, as the iPhone launch itself seems to be less grandiose than ones of the past. The iOS7 might actually hurt Apple because it allows people with the iPhone 4 or 5 to get benefits, as they can also upgrade their OS, and therefore reduces the need for people to upgrade their physical device and get an iPhone 5s or 5c.

 

2. 7 Misses in iOS7

 

  1. The wallpaper. Some wallpapers make legibility nearly impossible. You have to trial-and-error wallpapers on your phone to see if you can still read the text.
  2. Apple Calendar remains awful.
  3. Folders. You can have more than 9 now; the limit no longer exists, but regardless of how many you have, the maximum number of these apps that will be visible is 9.
  4. Photo streams are still backwards.
  5. Control Center. It’s easy to bring up, hard to get rid of. It doesn’t do well in landscape mode, and it has minimal amounts of text. Generally hard to use.
  6. Sharing stuff.
  7. The keyboard. There has been absolutely no change. Auto-correct is still as terrible as it was pre-iOS7.

 

3. Obama Petitions FCC to Legalize Cellphone Unlocking

 

The Obama administration doesn’t think that unlocking your phone and moving to a new carrier should send you to prison. On Tuesday, the administration sent a petition to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) asking it to override a law schedule to take effect on Jan. 26, 2014. This law would make it a crime punishable by up to five years in prison to unlock your cellphone without getting explicit permission from your carrier. Instead, they asked the FCC to make rules that give consumers permission to unlock their phone if they outright own it. This power also extends to tablets and other mobile devices.

 

4. When Will Samsung Go 64-Bit?

 

Apple attracted much attention when it revealed the first 64-bit chip for smartphones on Tuesday. Samsung chimed in shortly after, saying that it too, was going to go 64-bit. “Not in the shortest time. But yes, our next smartphones will have 64-bit processing functionality,” said Samsung’s mobile business chief Shin Jong-kyun.

 

64-bit ARM chips are most likely a 2014 event, according to ARM. Samsung will be hard pressed to get 64-bt chips into Galaxy tablets or phones before next year. When that happens, mobile devices will become competitive with laptops, says ARM. “It will allow tablet-like devices to go from information consuming devices to information creation devices,” ARM’s Bruce said.

 

5. No Internet? No Problem: Youtube Getting Ready To Let You Watch Videos Offline, On Your Phone

 

Youtube streams more than 6 billion hours of video per month; soon, this video giant will be available to people regardless of their web connection. Next month, Youtube will let viewers save clips on their phones and other devices for up to 48 hours; these videos will be able to viewed regardless of internet. The videos will still be free and Google will still run ads on these clips.

 

Youtube announced this via blog post and said it would allow uploaders to opt out of this offline feature. The practical benefit for viewers is that they can now watch videos in places where internet is inaccessible, such as a plane or in a car. This should boost viewing for the site. But, this puts pressure on Youtube’s ads rates because they open up more inventory. Here’s a snippet of Youtube announcing the move:

 

“We’re always exploring ways to bring more viewers to your content. As part of this effort, later this year we’ll launch a new feature on YouTube’s mobile apps that will help you reach fans — even when they’re not connected to the Internet…

 

This is part of our ongoing updates to give people more opportunities to enjoy videos and channels on YouTube mobile. Check out the YouTube blog when this launches in November for more details on how this will work for viewers.”

 

6. Verizon accused of violating FCC rules by blocking Nexus 7 from its 4G LTE network

 

Verizon has been accused of ignoring the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) rules. Jeff Jarvis says that Verizon refused to hook his unlocked Nexus 7 tablet to its LTE network because the device wasn’t “part of [their] lineup and can’t be activated.” This violates the regulations the FCC placed on Verizon in 2008.  (For a quick recap: in 2008, Verizon was slapped with a mandate that made it allow any devices to connect to its LTE network and barred it from blocking any applications on its users’ devices).

 

The notes given by the FCC are very clear and offer little to no leeway. “So this is not a matter of anything Verizon cannot do,” Jarvis writes. “This is a matter of what Verizon will not do. And that is what makes this a violation of FCC regulations and Verizon’s assurances.”

 

Verizon says that the Nexus 7 is not yet “Verizon 4G LTE certified” and that it will let customers know when the device passes through certifications. But, the Nexus 7 was launched two months ago, and it’s hard to believe that Verizon is just getting onto it.

 

7. New Internet Explorer Is 30% Faster Than Other Browsers, Microsoft Says

 

Though the number of browsers available keep rising, and though Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome keep expanding their consumer base, Internet Explorer is still the most popular web browser. On Wednesday, Microsoft released a “preview version” of IE 11 which, they claim, runs 30% faster than all other browsers.

 

IE 11 supports multi-touch gestures for touch PC’s. This will be helpful for those buying new Windows 8 touch PC’s and “downgrading” them. They also feature some new tools for developers, like support for developer tools, and a Web standards called WebGL for 3D graphics.

Jessie Yen
5479
10 Sep, 2013

iOS7 Revolutionizes the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c

The rumors floating around the release of Apples new iPhones, 5s and 5c, have been clarified with today’s press release.

 

Hardware-wise, the iPhone 5c is essentially a slightly improved version of the iPhone 5, sporting a “beautifully, unapologetically plastic” case, a higher capacity battery, and shares a new front facing camera with that of the 5s; the iPhone 5s, however, offers a greater revamp with faster processors, fingerprint security, and a better camera.  

 

Underneath its aluminum shell, the iPhone 5s houses the new A7 chip and an M7 motion coprocessor, which work together under the faster 64-bit architecture and allows for maximal use of motion sensing apps. A more advanced security feature is included in the form of a fingerprint identity sensor, providing access only to the owner and to whomever they wish to share the device with.

 

While the display remains the same, the camera and video recording capabilities of the iPhone 5s exceeds that of all other iPhones. The camera uses a true tone flash, adjusting to lighting conditions, instead of the previously used, monotonous LED flash. Additionally, it allows for burst mode photography for when you want to find the perfect picture of a moving target. The front facing camera is 1.2 MP and allows for 720p HD video recording with a backside illumination sensor—a vast improvement from the VGA quality camera from previous iPhones.

 

The spec improvements are not the only things that make the new iPhones amazing; the new iOS7 that they come equipped with blow everything else out of the water. All the improvements are made to maximize both the efficiency and user interface of the phones. There are 10 major features attributed to iOS7 : control center, multitasking, Safari, Air Drop, iCamera, Siri, iOS in the car, app store, music & iTunes Radio, and the activation lock.

 

Previously, users have had to tap on the settings icon and rummage through different categories in order to tinker with the display, WiFi connection, volume, etc. The addition of the control center allows users to simply swipe up from anywhere and having immediate access to all the main parameters available—there’s no need to go through a list of items to change what you want.

 

Multitasking works to conserve as much energy as possible while being as pragmatic as possible. On the energy conservation front, it adapts to network conditions and coalesces updates. In terms of practicality, it essentially learns the usage patterns of each app and performs background cycles accordingly. For example, if someone were to open Facebook every evening and their mail every 3 hours, the new iPhones will learn to recognize the pattern and get the most updated info from these apps early evening and every 3 hours, respectively. Together with the usage pattern recognition, iOS7 will also open an app and keep it in the background when it expects you to use it.

 

Safari gets a new interface and new built-in functions from its predecessors. It now has a smart search field, looking for the top URL hits, Google searches, and bookmarks that match the phrase. The search histories have also been cached so that sideways swiping allows you to switch between histories.

 

Air Drop acts similarly to NFC (near field communication), but less mechanical and more efficient. Normally, NFC requires tapping phones together or creating one-on-one wireless connections for file sharing between devices. The addition of Air Drop allows you to instantly share a file to all proximal friends of your choosing at the same time. The recipient will simply receive an icon and can choose to accept the file or not.

 

The iCamera app comes with new filter and management features. With a variety of filters available, they can be applied to a picture and alter the ambience, which is all fine and dandy. What it can also do is apply filters before the image is taken, so you will know what it will look like under each filter beforehand. iCamera can also organize photos based on time and location—instead of a stream of images inundating the phone screen, the separation of images offers a sense of meticulousness.

 

Siri also gets a few nifty upgrades. Its voice changed from her monotonous tone to a more engaging one. Also, Siri can also become a “he!” Users can now switch between female and male voices in various languages, the list of which will be included as time passes. The new Siri will understand a wider range of commands than it previously did allowing for more hands free action. Along with the increased commands, it now integrates Wikipedia and Bing results when being consulted.

 

iOS7 will be able to work seamlessly with cars with built in screens. One can basically have iOS7 on the car screen. That, coupled with Siri, users can experience a completely hands and eyes free car experience with the new iPhone 5s and 5c.

 

The app store now includes 2 new categories for searching apps: age range and location. The “age range” category is self-explanatory; it shows apps that are appropriate for different ages from children to teens to adults. The app store can also suggest popular apps based on location, taking the physical environment into account to maximize the user’s experience. Additionally, apps will no longer have countless update notifications—they will do so automatically!

 

The music app gets a revamp and now has iTunes Radio built in. The main improvement is that it can now access music from the iCloud as well as your music library. iTunes Radio offers a myriad of station suggestions, including trending songs from social media such as Twitter.  Similar to Pandora Radio, one can also create stations based on a song, artist, or genre.

 

Finally, the activation lock is added for increased security. It works off the “Find My iPhone” app. One of the worst fates of an iPhone user is that their phone is stolen, wiped clean and refurbished for the use of others. With activation lock, this will no longer be the case. In the unfortunate chance that this happens, anyone who turns off “Find My iPhone” or wipes the phone clean will still have to log into the iCloud before being able to reactivate it.

 

The new iPhone’s iOS7 is, as Tim Cook says, the “biggest change to iOS since the iPhone.” Is his comment befitting of the technological titan? Let us know your thoughts!

Dat Mai
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