Steve Ballmer’s Keynote at Build Conference

by Michael Barr, CTO

This morning’s keynote speech at Microsoft’s Build Conference here in Redmond was none other than CEO Steve Ballmer. I’m meeting this guy so much I reckon we should go for a drink!

Steve was on top form today, bigging up Windows 8, even adding that you really need a W8 phone to take advantage of the full w8 experience across all devices. His buddy Bill even appeared on the big screen and delivered some poignant comments.

Here are some pictures I took.

Queues to get into the keynote

 

Ballmer on stage

 

Some guy Bill – know him?

Attending the track workshops now. I’ll keep the pictures and updates coming.

Michael

 

When Michael Met Ballmer

by Michael Barr, CTO

Hey guys, I’ve just left the launch event for Windows Phone 8 in San Francisco. That was a blast!

The experience really started a few days ago when Microsoft asked if I would attend a special pre-launch briefing with their CEO Steve Ballmer. It was an early start but boy was it worth it. First of all I was presented with a brand new HTC Windows Phone 8 which I fell in love with within minutes. I have an iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 7, but this is a little special compared to them all.

Before long Steve came to greet the small audience at this event, and after a chat I presented him with the customary  gift – a bright red branded TheAppBuilder hoodie! After this he chatted us through the key features of Windows Phone 8.

Private audience with Ballmer, my new phone, cool reception

Next up was the main gig, the official unveiling of Windows Phone 8 to the world. I’ve been to a few of these gigs with different hardware and software giants, but this was cool. Not only was the range of new features impressive, but  Jessica Alba joined the party on stage to talk about the new kids corner security feature – all a bit surreal!

Ballmer takes to the stage, TheAppBuilder pod, Jessica Alba

Microsoft are making a real statement with Windows 8 and the new phone operating system is no different. There are new features  galore and some great app updates including the Facebook update which will pull photos straight to your phone lock screen. Always-on Skype with no battery drain and Pandora music free for a year are great additions to the app store. I didn’t get a chance to show Steve the Ballmer app we created about him and is now available on the Windows 8 store, but as I travel to Redmond tonight for the Microsoft Build Conference our paths might cross again this week!

Facebook, Skype, Prices

Build starts tomorrow, I’ll be sure to keep you up-to-date with what’s going on.

Michael

One week, two Windows events, one excited CTO

by Marketing Mark

Are you feeling excited about Windows 8 after yesterday’s launch? We’ve been playing about with it in the office for a few months and there is a lot of love for the new tile interface, and this is saying a lot coming from a team heavy with Apple fan-boys (and girl!)

This is what Michael looks like (yeah that’s his real hair), if you see him at either event next week, say hello.

You may know that the inspiration for Windows 8 came from the Windows Phone 7 interface which was launched last year. Well, to tie in with the launch of Windows 8, Microsoft is launching Windows Phone 8 on Monday in San Francisco. Our CTO Michael Barr is currently holding in his hand an exclusive ticket to the launch.

He’ll be in the audience for this special event and will be posting photos and any golden nuggets of insight he can pick up. If all goes well hopefully he’ll return to the office with a sparkly new Windows 8 handset (or ten…try and get me one Mikey!)

As if transported by a magic bird in the sky, Michael will also be attending the Microsoft Build Conference on Tuesday thru Friday next week at Microsoft HQ in Redmond, Washington. This epic 4 day conference with a highly secretive line-up of speakers focusses on Windows 8, from building beautiful apps to selling them in the store. As TheAppBuilder was the first self-service app building platform to enable you to publish Windows 8 apps, Michael may have a few words to say at the conference (ssshhh – I didn’t mention that!).

I’ll post lots of photos from the events next week – check out our Facebook and Twitter pages to get the first scoop.

All the best,

Mark

Ballmer Fan App Ready and Waiting for Windows 8 Launch

In homage to the brilliant new Windows operating system, Windows 8, the team has put together a fan app for Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer.

We wanted to show how TheAppBuilder can be used to create a sensational Windows 8 app in minutes. When we were thinking of who to feature, it just had to be Steve. The guy is a legend who has provided us with great keynotes and also some very ‘interesting’ performances over the years (Monkey Boy being a highlight!). So Steve, we hope you enjoy your app.

Check out the preview now, and download from the store when Windows 8 launches on October 26.

Deliver your own App Building Class

by Marketing Mark,

Are you an IT or business studies teacher? Perhaps you are a lecturer or professor of marketing, business or communications. Do you want to teach your students about mobile apps, the markets they serve and their place in a modern marketing communication strategy? Would you also like to take this one step further and let your students create their own app? Then we have the resource for you!

We have been working with schools, colleges and universities to provide end-to-end app building classes which deliver the theory of app marketing and the practice of app creation. This education resource is now available for you to download for Free and use in your class.

As TheAppBuilder enables the easy creation of an app in minutes without the need for any programming knowledge, the education pack can be delivered in one class session or tailored to your requirements as needed.

Register here to receive the education pack for Free.

We are keen to hear your app building in the classroom success stories and any feedback you have on the education pack at support@theappbuilder.com or tweet @theappbuilder.

Mark

Windows 8: Is it a Burden or Breeze?

PC World had a chat with our CEO James and CTO Michael about Windows 8 App Development and asked the question: Is it a Burden or a Breeze? Check out the article in anticipation of the launch of Microsoft’s new desktop and tablet operating system on October 26.

You can create your very own Windows 8 app using TheAppBuilder, ready to upload to the Windows Store. Show your customers or community that you’re ahead of game with an app for the most hotly anticipated Windows platform in years.

Silicon Valley Trailblazer Joins Advisory Board

The company behind TheAppBuilder, JamPot Technologies Ltd., today announces the news that Silicon Valley trailblazer Michael Buhr has joined the company’s Advisory Board. The company  is delighted to have added such valuable experience to its growing team. 

This is a major coup for the Northern Irish technology company which has expanded aggressively during 2012. Buhr brings a wealth of experience as a seasoned technology product executive and business leader. His previous roles have included senior positions with industry defining companies such as Apple, Adobe, Palm and eBay.

The most recent chapter of Buhr’s career has seen him create and advise high growth start-up organizations in the consumer focussed tech arena. As Senior Director of Corporate Strategy at eBay Buhr uncovered StumbleUpon, the web’s leading discovery engine, and led acquisition before taking the reigns as CEO. Buhr has subsequently advised and help lead early stage investment in companies which have been acquired by Facebook and Google.

The value of such experience was the major driver behind JamPot’s approach to Buhr. James Scott, JamPot CEO explains, “We have major expansion plans for the company and the rapid acceleration of TheAppBuilder. Michael’s success in building businesses, products, strategies, and teams in such relevant industries, along with his passion for identifying high growth consumer orientated tech businesses identified him as an ideal candidate to join the newly formed advisory board.”

Buhr is excited about joining the JamPot advisory board and affecting the direction of this emerging company and product, “TheAppBuilder represents a major opportunity to lead the self-service app creation market. Given the potential size of this emerging market and the impact which JamPot has already made with TheAppBuilder, there is no more exciting opportunity. I can’t wait to get going, bringing my experience and passion for creating great product experiences to JamPot.”

JamPot launched self-service mobile app building product TheAppBuilder at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona in March 2012. In the intervening six months more than 45,000 apps have been created, with the company recently introducing a free plan enabling anybody, no matter what their level of technical ability, to easily create a cross-platform mobile app in minutes at no cost. Individuals, organizations and businesses are all launching apps for a range of purposes. In June 2012 Microsoft named JamPot as the People’s Choice European Start-Up of the Year.

Apps World 2012 was a Blast

By Marketing Mark

Thanks to everyone who came to visit our stand this week at Apps World in London. We were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of visitors and the reception that greeted TheAppBuilder.

As well as being able to build your app on the spot we got great ideas for new features to weave into our future roadmap. Remember, the current road map has been published on the blog, and you can suggest and vote for the new features you would like to see on our  Roadmap Forum.

James was a big hit at the Microsoft Theatre, presenting on how every man, woman and child can build a Windows 8 app using TheAppBuilder.

I think the most exciting moments of the show were when people came and showed us the apps they have been building using TheAppBuilder. Everything from apps for bands, sports clubs and schools, to businesses such as restaurants, weight loss coaching, and even a haunted house were shown to us by their creators!

We’ll be on the road again soon, watch this space for an announcement very shortly. Thank you for all your support at Apps World 12. Remember, you can get in touch any time by emailing me at support@theappbuilder.com or tweet us @theappbuilder.

Mark

Customize Your Content

by Mikey, CTO

Have you ever wanted to liven up pages in your app? Perhaps with a different font, text size, text color or alignment? You’re not alone!

High on the list of feature requests from customers recently has been the ability to customize the look and feel of page content. Our new rich page editor which has just been released now lets you stick with the default presentation, or mix it up as and how you want.

One of my favourite features of the page editor is the ability to paste in html code. This really does open up the app to new possibilities. For example, instead of having my entire YouTube channel pulled into my app, I can now embed a single video in any page in the app. All I have to do is go to the video on my YouTube account, select the ‘Embed’ button under the video, copy the nugget of code it gives me, and paste this into the Paste HTML box selected from the icons in the new page editor. Hey presto the video magically appears where I pasted the code on the page of my App.

Please let me know what your favorite feature of the new page editor is, and what you have done with it by emailing me at support@theappbuilder.com or tweet me @theappbuilder.

Happy app building,

Mikey

Nested Sub-Sections

by Jonathan, Support Supremo

After a few lunchtime yoga sessions the developers in the team started to think about flexibility – not in terms of their limbs but their apps.

Until now TheAppBuilder let you build apps with a solid structure and perfectly straight backbone. However we had some requests from customers that within a section of their app they would like to mix up the content a bit. That is, maybe they would like a section with sub-sections in a range of different formats e.g. a photo gallery, news, and a specific Twitter feed relevant just to that section and not the whole app.

So with harmony rarely seen outside the yoga hall, the team set about making the structure of apps created by TheAppBuilder more flexible. The result is the recently launched Nested Sub-Sections feature.

To create a section of your app which has sub-sections all you need to do is set the section type as ‘List’ when setting it up. To add a sub-section hit the ‘Add Sub-Section’ button and select what type of content you want in this subsection, for example ‘Gallery’ if you want to create a photo gallery for the section. Then if you want the next sub-section of the section to be a Twitter feed, hit the ‘Add Sub-Section’ button again, and repeat, but selecting to set up the sub-section as a Twitter page.

In the name of flexibility, to top it all off, you can grow your nest of sub-sections as deep as you want, by creating sub-sections within sub-sections. The possibilities are endless…

Let us know how you get on by emailing us at support@theappbuilder.com or tweet us @theappbuilder.

All the  best,

Jonathan