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Let's talk quickly on timely topics to elevate your web strategy. Fellow developers will be addressed as well, but in small doses, and wherever possible, in common-speak.

Archive for the ‘Mobile Web’ Category

More Smartphones than PC’s in 2 years? Is your website ready?

November 10th, 2009
Author: Andrew

Bolstered by an article showing that 400 million smartphones will be shipped and active in 2011, the smart money is starting to drift in the right direction of building sites to succeed on the mobile web.

The rapidly increasing number of web-enabled smartphones makes them an attractive alternative to PCs. Consumers are proving to be more willing to forego upgrading their existing PCs in favor of upgrading to the new generation of mobile devices. Even with the new, lower-priced netbooks increasing in popularity, subsidized smartphones are often more economical, not to mention more portable and personal.

We have placed a strategic bet in this area ourselves, and plan to announce the launch of HomeSafari.us, a web based mobile real estate portal next month, right as the awareness of the mobile web starts to hit a flood of new verizon droid owners. Home Safari is a partnership of CGI with Realty Pro of Vancouver Washington.

Now, what does this mean to you? Or, as I like to say, “What does this spark in your imagination?” It should spark a sense of opportunity in having your website ready now. You can web enable your field personnel to report over the mobile web on task completion, GPS based location tracking, etc. You can have your customers ping you regarding their needs on a customized app WITHOUT having to build a native iPhone or Android app. You can be THE go to source for mobile video and information in your industry and market, and we can help you in both the production and marketing needed to establish your business in a leadership position here.

If your imagination is not sparked by this, then imagine the dread of ignoring yet another key market/technology trend. If you wait two years, your web presence will in the minority of sites that is not optimized for today’s smartphones. Smartphone users will have already passed you by and bookmarked your competitors. Google and other search engines will marginalize you for not keeping up in this area. Smartphones are indeed going to outsell PC’s in two years, and this is not a fad, it is a movement toward a more personal and portable online experience.

Contact us today about ways to prepare you for the future. Now is the time to have your site optimized for the new screen, and it does not have to be as expensive as you might think.

SimpleFoodie iphone frame in for the web

July 12th, 2009
Author: Andrew

Hello. This is a rough representation of what our iphone web app for SimpleFoodie looks like. I wish there were more established ways for iPhone apps to demo on the general web, but this method works great to demonstrate a mobile web app, provided you are not on IE.

If you are using Safari or Firefox to see this, all the rough functionality of the app should work just fine. Of course, you should just go to http://simplefoodie.com on your iphone or android phone to get it installed instantly and you will see it styled with the webkit extentions for CSS3. Take the quick tour of the app here and watch for more iPhone / android webkit safari apps for real estate and cellecast in the very near future.

If you are on MSIE, run away now, or if you are a fellow developer, give me some tips on how to make this work smoothly on all browsers, as one goal is to make future single apps we created that have iPhone usage at the core, also have most of their web functionality piped into blog posts like this. Any advice is appreciated.

New Year, New Challenges, New Web 2.0 Services

February 13th, 2009
Author: Andrew

In case you haven’t already heard, there is a new recession in town. Just kidding. Well, what you probably haven’t heard is that until recently, CGI has been protected from the storm by a client with a huge language learning project called Echolearn. Unfortunately, for the time being, we have had to suspend that project even though it is 95% complete! Sad.

Well, the good news is that we are back on the market with a new set of wicked skills that can really give you the edge in your web presence this year. I am confident that once we let the cat out of the bag on our various combined business, marketing and programming skills, getting new clients will be no problem despite the shortfall in investments.

Now, some would say that getting new business is just too hard these days, no matter what your skills. To that I say, ‘horse hockey’! Smart businesses are not categorically suspending investment at all, but actually they are spending wisely on new ways to streamline their productivity for starters. This gives us great confidence, because this is our strength. We are experts in web-enabling processes that take up a lot of personnel time. Since the headlines are all about layoffs, companies need our services to close gaps in the operation created by these layoffs. We like to come into an operation, identify areas of inefficiency in workflow processes, and provide a quick solution. We can eliminate 2-3 FTE’s of waste in companies as small as 12 people.

Of course there are companies that spend well into 6 figures on these kinds of upgrades to their operation, but that is not necessary. Since CGI is a smaller operation, with long-term commitments to a short list of clients, we can perform at a much higher level of efficiency than our competitors, which translates into a better ROI for you. I will personally oversee your project and build a custom solution that fits your company values and mission. My team is available around the clock for support, but remains small and dedicated, which gives you direct access and zero bureaucracy.

Now, stay tuned for the next post that highlights our updated skill sets related to the media industry, mobile web, and data feed management. Plus, take a look at our recent SEO triumphs in getting 3-4 positions on the first two pages of a google search for Mobile Talk Radio. look for cellecast.com and fourthspeaker.com links there.