Huddle has just released a new iPhone application for customers of its enterprise cloud collaboration and content management platform. 

Built by Wavana, the app allows content to be reviewed and approved, and tasks can be created, assigned and marked completed. It incorporates Huddle Sync, an intelligent patent-pending technology that uses algorithms to determine which documents a user needs to see and syncs them for offline access. Other actions can be completed offline and synchronised later when a data connection is available.

 The app also features data storage encryption, which prevents unauthorised access to sensitive content - essential on an enterprise orientated mobile device app.

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Last year we developed the iPhone and Android apps for PayByPhone, a leading payments system provider.  The apps enabled users across the UK and North America to pay for their car parking through the applications.  This meant no more coins and users could extend parking remotely rather than having to rush back to the parking meter.

With Near Field Communication (NFC) now getting rapid user traction on Android devices we were delighted to develop this functionality into the PayByPhone Android app.  This has now launched in San Francisco and is being rolled out across the 30,000+ parking spaces there. 

This NFC functionality is a big step forward for ease of use and convenience. The PayByPhone Android app enables users to tap their NFC enabled phone against a sticker, which automatically identifies the driver and the parking location. From there, the user is then able to submit the amount of time they wish to purchase. Other features of the system include text reminders when the parking time is close to expiration, and if possible, allows the user to purchase more time.

NFC is being predicted as possibly the next big thing in mobile payments. Analyst firm Juniper Research recently predicted that consumers around the world could generate as much as USD$50 billion in sales through NFC-based mobile payments by 2014.

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We designed and developed the Employment Law Cloud app for Squire Sanders, an international law firm. It launched in September 2011 for the UK market and from day one its success has exceeded everyone’s expectations. Here are just some of its achievements:

• 40,000+ downloads, averaging around 400 every working day
• Top 5 ranking in the App Store’s ‘Business’ category
• Featured by Apple as ‘New & Noteworthy’ in the App Store and regularly featured in the ‘What’s Hot’ section
• “App of the Month” in Director, the Institute of Directors’ magazine (October 2011)
• Featured as a “hot” app in HR Magazine’s list of best HR apps

At Wavana we are big believers that apps should provide a genuinely useful function to the app’s target market. In this case, its evident that business and HR professionals love the quick reference and being kept up to date with the latest in employment law.

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Regus, the world’s largest provider of flexible workplaces, has just launched its Android app. Designed and built by Wavana, the application enables professionals to search Regus’ global business centre network.  Following the success of Regus’ iPhone app, which achieved top 10 ranking in the USA App Store’s ‘Business’ category, we were delighted to be invited by Regus to develop this app for Android devices too.  We feel it’s a great tool to access Regus’ network while on the move.

Key features: -

• Locate functionality to find the centres near to you
• Search Regus centres globally and view on a map
• Discover unique features about each Regus centre and view images
• Get directions by road, by public transport and by air
• Enquire, book meeting rooms and day offices or call
• Share Regus centre locations with your meeting delegates and clients
• Save Regus centre details to your Android contacts list

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Want to join our team?

Wavana is growing fast with a steady pipeline of existing and new client work for clients in the UK, Europe and North America.  We also actively develop our own product, always trying to push the boundaries of innovation at every opportunity.  We are always on the lookout for the most talented and enthusiastic people to join our London-based team.  Right now we have openings in the following areas:

Developers 

Whether you're working in-house, at an agency, freelancing or for yourself then we would love to hear from you.  Ideally you have already done some great iOS, Android or web apps.  We are particularly looking for developers who can both work autonomously and part of a larger team, but ultimately be part of something great in a fast growing industry.

Business development 

You may already be agency-based but are looking to be an influential member of a fast-growing independent business.  If you feel you have what it takes and are passionate about growing a business then we'd also love to hear from you.

Interested?

Please email lance@wavana.com with a short cover note, including your CV or your LinkedIn profile link plus any other links you feel would help us learn more about you, such as to any apps where you have played a key role.

We look forward to hearing from you.

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The PayByPhone iOS app, developed by Wavana, is currently being featured by Apple as a ‘New & Noteworthy’ app in both the UK and Canada App Stores.

We always find that features such as this help to raise awareness to captive users and are pleased that every app we have developed has been featured by Apple.

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When we created Tube Exits we realised we had to collect all of the platform exit information ourselves.  It took weeks to map out the exact platform exit information for the station exits and transfers at each of the 700 or so platforms on the London Underground.  

What we didn’t fully appreciate at the time is how often the platform exits would change with TfL’s station renovations, particularly at the busiest stations such as King’s Cross, Oxford Circus and Green Park.  We did our best to keep the platform exit information as up to date as possible and meanwhile adding new features, such as a nifty journey planner, live line status information and integrating the London Overground network.  With this hard work we have now had over 100,000 downloads and grown a fantastic user base who proactively update us on the latest exit information.  With this tremendous user support we are able to send out regular updates and continue investing time enhancing Tube Exits, which we are so pleased is being reflected in the very positive user ratings:

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Only hours after launching the PayByPhone Android app in the Android Market we were pleasantly surprised to see that Stuart Dredge had already mentioned the app in his Appsblog, his weekly roundup of new and interesting apps.

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We are very pleased to be working closely with PayByPhone, the market leading phone payment operator for car parking, to develop its iPhone and Android apps.   The app has now launched on the App Store and Android Market and is available for PayByPhone locations in United Kingdom, United States and Canada.

For some time at Wavana we have recognised that apps will play a key part in transaction payments.   We felt that simple, secure and convenient mobile app payments will ultimately replace the need to carry cash and coins.  Last year we developed Flying Flowers, which enables users to order and securely pay for flowers ‘on the go’.  Now the PaybyPhone app represents a big step forward for the convenience of no longer having to pay for parking by coins, but also enabling users the benefit of being able to remotely extend their parking if they need additional time.

We are already exploring the potential for apps that utilise Near Field Communication (“NFC”) for simplified transactions with a touch, very similar to the Oyster Card system used on London's public transport network.  NFC is already possible on some Android devices and we hope will be likely to be available on Apple’s iOS platform within the next 6 months.

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We are very pleased to be developing an app that will enable our client to engage with its clients in new and innovative ways, including providing a one touch resource to latest industry information and push notifications to keep clients up to date on the latest industry developments.  This feature alone will largely replace the need for distributing printed reference booklets, which can quickly become out of date and easily get lost amongst other paperwork.

Amongst other features, the app will also provide bespoke calculators for clients to use on the go.

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This is the final part in a series of articles looking at the alternatives to native app development for smartphones and shines the spotlight on HTML 5. This article will ask the question, if HTML 5 is so good, why bother with native development?

Why go native?

There are still a number of compelling reasons why you may want to build a native app. Here are just some of them which vary by platform: -

• providing the richest possible user experience including slick animation and graphics
• push notification (where email or text message is the only alternative on mobile apps)
• charging for apps and in-app purchase
• for Apple devices, showing iAds or integrating with Game Centre.
• integrating closely with the device such as calendar, address book, alerts, accelerometer, background processing when not active (multitasking), bluetooth for peer-to-peer connectivity, third party accessories, etc.
• complex/CPU intensive operations such as image processing, augmented reality, 3D games, etc
• accessing the camera on a device

In forthcoming articles, we'll take a closer look at technologies which support web app development such as Sencha, jQTouch and jQuery mobile.

References and further reading

• Mobile HTML 5.0 - Michael Galpin discusses developing mobile web applications. Slides from his presentation are also available.
• CanIUse - browser version compatability site.
• Chitika Research - mobile penetration statistics.
• Android platform statistics - based on traffic to Android Market
• HTML 5 the end of apps? - article discussing HTML 5 v Native apps.

This is the final article in this series: -

• Part 1 : Tech Spotlight: Native v HTML 5 apps
• Part 2 : Tech Spotlight: HTML 5 technologies
• Part 3 : Tech Spotlight: Why go native?

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The first article in this series looked at the alternatives to native app development for smartphones and highlighted HTML 5. This article will look at some of the technologies available.

Technologies

The overview below showcases some of the technologies available in the new standard and what they can be used for.

• Geolocation - this allows the user's location to be used within the web app, for example showing your location on a map.
• Local storage - permits simple data structures to be stored within the browser and retrieved. This could be data such as a list of favourites, user login or cached data.
• Webworkers - this allows non-instantaneous tasks that might freeze the browser to run in the background - such as downloading and parsing something from a server or processing a large image.
• Web sockets - this allows more efficient network connections between a browser and server for quicker apps and slicker user experience.
• Canvas - allows graphics drawing on a web page which enables showing things like graphics, animations, drawing apps, simple games and the like.
• CSS 3.0 - allows for better designed apps with a slicker appearance. Allows things like text shadows, rotation and styling as well as use of gradients.
• Device (camera) - allows capture of images from a device's camera
• Touch events - with obvious relevance to touch screen devices, this allows touch and multi-touch actions to be detected.
• Audio/video - media playing within the browser.
• Application cache - permits a web app to be stored within the device so it can be used when offline as well as making apps snappier to load and use.
• Meta tags - used by Apple's mobile safari browser to specify the width of content, whether the app is full screen, the colour of the status bar and home screen icons.

Adoption in browsers

Adoption of these standards is somewhat fragmented and spotty. Browsers based on "WebKit" which include Safari on desktop and mobile as well as Chrome and the Android browser are generally the most advanced in terms of support with Internet Explorer noticeable in it's lag to support them.

The table below outlines the support by browser.

To give an idea of penetration of the various browsers: -

• iOS - 99% of iOS devices are 3.0 or greater
• Android - 87% of 2.1 or greater
• Blackberry - only Blackberry Torch currently supports 6.0

In the next article in this series, we'll ask the question - why go native?

• Part 1 : Tech Spotlight: Native v HTML 5 apps
• Part 2 : Tech Spotlight: HTML 5 technologies
• Part 3 : Tech Spotlight: Why go native?

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It's 2011 and another year has passed by. But in technology the years pass like dog years. It's barely believable that the term "App Store" had not entered the technology lexicon less than three years ago. Since the Apple launched the App Store, some 7 billion apps have been downloaded - that's equivalent to one download for every person on the planet. There's simply no denying that apps have changed the way people use their mobiles.

However, before Apple created the SDK for native app development they announced that the iPhone would be able to run applications created using web standards.

“Developers and users alike are going to be very surprised and pleased at how great these applications look and work on iPhone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Our innovative approach, using Web 2.0-based standards, lets developers create amazing new applications while keeping the iPhone secure and reliable.”

This approach seems to have been lost in the stampede that followed to get into the app store, but apps created for one native platform cannot be run on another and the costs of developing a native application for each mobile platform; iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, Symbian and more can be prohibitive.

However, web standards have progressed slowly but surely and now represent a viable alternative approach to native development in certain cases with the benefit of working across multiple platforms including mobile and desktop.

HTML 5.0

HTML 5.0 is the next progression in web standards, but it's not seen likely to be finalised until 2022 - some 11 years from now. However, browsers are increasingly adopting the working standards and these features can be exploited today. It is worth noting that HTML 5.0 on it's own is not sufficient to build web apps, and both Javascript and CSS 3.0 are required to create apps. However, when developers refer to HTML 5 web apps, they are generally referring to this bundle of technologies.

In the next article in this series, we'll look at the technologies used in HTML 5 and what they do.

• Part 1 : Tech Spotlight: Native v HTML 5 apps
• Part 2 : Tech Spotlight: HTML 5 technologies
• Part 3 : Tech Spotlight: Why go native?

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We are very pleased to see Tube Exits being featured by Apple again on the App Store again.    It is included in a special feature of “Journey Planner” apps for different types of transport.    

While Tube Exits has gained its reputation for delivering carriage exit information at every Tube station, we are very proud of the journey planner feature that we introduced since launch.  

Unlike most other Tube-oriented journey planner apps the Tube Exits’ journey planner works offline (so you can use it when you need it!) and accounts for the transfer effort for each journey.   It will recommend options based on estimated journey times and will illustrate which of these involve a simple walk across a platform or if more effort is required.  No one wants to be stuck in peak hour crowds through the tunnelled walkways, trudging up and down stairways.  This feature is particularly important for parents with prams, tourists with luggage and passengers with limited mobility.

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We are very pleased to see the recently launched Regus iPhone app already reach the top 10 free business apps in the US App Store - plus reaching the top 3 in over 20 countries!

Early coverage has included CNBC and Mobile Commerce Daily and being featured by Apple as a ‘New & Noteworthy’ app on both the US and UK App Stores.

It is a pleasure working with Regus on this project and to see in action the great benefit the app is providing to its customers.

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1100 locations. 500 cities. 85 countries.  One app. 

Global workspace solution provider, Regus (FTSE:RGU), has launched a location based iPhone application for its customers.

Designed and built by Wavana, the application enables customers to search Regus’ global network to locate centres to suit their business needs.

• Search – Users can easily locate their nearest Regus centre on the go using GPS (including filtering by facilities), locate it on a map and get turn by turn directions.  The app also includes an innovative Augmented Reality feature which overlays locations and distances of Regus offices over a real-time view from the camera.
• View – Full description of each centre, its facilities and photos are provided. 
• Enquire – A range of enquiry options include one tap calling, requesting a call back or scheduling a centre viewing
• Book – With a few simple taps users can make a booking for a meeting room or day office through the app
• Share – Share details of office locations with meeting attendees and colleagues

The app is currently featuring on the "New & Noteworthy" section of the app store and has already been received positively with one reviewer providing a glowing review: 

"As a businessworld card holder this app is fantastic for finding your nearest business lounge - how far & even pinpoints on a map!"

The app can be downloaded from Apple's App Store.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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British Car Auctions, Europe’s largest car auctions company, has launched an app for iPhone and iPod touch. 

Designed and built by Wavana Interactive, the application provides vehicle traders with live information on physical and online auction sales, vehicles and their specifications in addition to the locations of physical auction centres. The app will be invaluable to BCA customers who want to check vehicle sales available whilst not sat at their computer such as when sitting in a physical auction hall.

Duncan Emery, European Operations Director for BCA Europe said : -

"Working with Wavana helped us convert our PC-based e-commerce platform into an App which was truly optimised for the iPhone. Their approach and knowledge led to a smooth process throughout which resulted in the App being completed much more quickly than we thought possible. We look forward to working with them on future developments"

The application is currently available in English and German for sales in the Germany region. The application can be downloaded from Apple's App Store.

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Over the last 12 months it has been so pleasing to get such favourable coverage by Apple, the media and app users.  This includes being featured on iTunes, the Guardian and BBC’s The One Show.   We consistently remain in the top #15 in Travel category and hope that our ongoing support of Tube Exits will help us to remain there for some time to come.

We credit our loyal and savvy user base for making a big contribution to Tube Exits’ ongoing development, including suggesting new features and notifying us of any exit changes, such as those arising from renovation works.  Example new features include journey times, exact door precision in zone 1, showing which side of carriage to exit, adding the DLR and introducing a shortest journey calculator.

Since launching Tube Exits we have also launched Paris Metro Exits and Berlin u-Bahn Exits (including on Vodafone 360 app store ) and have plans to introduce this concept to additional cities and emerging mobile platforms,  such as Android.

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