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With the decreased video game sales in 2011 and the end of the console lifecycle coming soon, many are skeptical about the year 2012. They shouldn’t be; a bright future is ahead for gamers. For example, the May release of Diablo 3, a sequel that was highly anticipated for 10+ years, on the same day as Max Payne 3’s release, came with sales that hit the roof.

Before Diablo 3 was released, Blizzard already had over 2 million pre-orders from customers. They’ll sell even more copies in upcoming days. Another successful console and computer game, Mass Effect 3, passed $200 million in sales in just a few months. These games are only the beginning of what’s to come in 2012. Other anticipated games that are sure to sell in high numbers are: Halo 4, Assassin’s Creed III, Guild Wars 2, Borderlands 2, and CoD: Black Ops II.

The ever-expanding mobile application market is also a factor. With constant improvements on smartphone, tablets, and other devices, mobile games and apps have had a huge impact on the gaming industry. Tablets and smartphones, whether Android or iOS, have flooded the market. The increased variety and super cheap cost of available apps allows a plethora of apps to be purchased every day.

Just look at the success of everyone’s favorite app, Angry Birds. Rovio’s newest app, Angry Birds Space, got over 10 million downloads in just three days. The original game has been downloaded over 700 million times.

Constantly evolving gaming technology ensures that video games will always have a place in our lives. As newer generations of consoles and phones make their way to market, the creativity of the games we play will continue to grow. As for now, 2012 looks to be a solid year for the video game industry.

Contrary to popular belief, the beginning of spring can be very stressful, indeed!  Students are frantically studying for finals and finishing up their semester.  Families are trying to plan a summer vacation that will please everyone.  Summer event planning is kicking into high gear at work.  What we need is a little break!  Where can we find it?

This is where meditation comes in handy, but most of us don’t have an hour to spare when we feel stressed or a meditation guru on speed dial.  Luckily, mobile app developers have realized our need for some quick mental refreshment and have provided us with some tools to aid us during our hectic days.

Simply Being – $0.99
Simply Being is a guided meditation meant not only to relax, but to ground us when we’re feeling overwhelmed.  Simply Being was developed by Mary and Richard Maddux, who have been teaching mediation for over 30 years.  This is a very versatile app, with meditations lasting as short as 5 minutes to as long as 20.  Let Mary’s soothing voice clear your mind with your choice of music or various nature sounds enhancing the experience.

Mindfulness Meditation – $1.99
With meditations written and narrated by Stephan Bodian, the author of “Meditation for Dummies,” Mindfulness Meditation is especially good for beginners.  Mindfulness is more about being aware of our entire being, including our physical and emotional state and responses, rather than just our need to relax.  Bodian gently guides you through the basics of mindfulness, including breathing exercises that slow your heartbeat and melt away the stress in your muscles.  There are also 10-minute deep relaxation exercises that can help you de-stress after a long workday.

Relax Melodies – Free
For those who are looking for something a bit simpler (and perhaps free), sometimes all it takes is listening to some calming ambience.  iLBSoft was featured in People Magazine and Mashable for their app, Relax Melodies.  This app features over 40 different sounds that you can mix, match, loop and replay.  There are the cliché ocean and flute samples, but also included are a vacuum and oscillating fan.  This is the perfect app for someone who wants to practice meditation on their own or needs some white noise to help fall asleep.

Whether it’s guided or independent, five minutes or fifty, there is definitely an app out there that can help you learn to meditate and make your day a little less overwhelming.

Hey, remember Friendster? How about MySpace? Oh, they’re both still around; Friendster has refocused on social gaming and MySpace is totally about the music now. But why did they move away from general social networking?

You know the answer: because Facebook cleaned their clocks.

Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t the first to market a social website to the masses, but Facebook is currently the biggest, valued at up to $96 billion. Even this hasn’t stopped others from pushing smaller, more specialized networks. YoureSoLastYear.com caters to “Emo, Punk, Goth, Vamp, Indie or else” subcultures, while MyPraize.com calls itself the “Christian MySpace Alternative.”

All this serves to demonstrate that being first isn’t necessarily a guarantee of success. If something new is compelling enough, users will switch, and new people will come on board too.

This principle is just as true of mobile apps as it is of social networks. It’s rare to find any app category with only a single offering. Just recently we’ve covered the multiple choices in cooking, running, and comparison shopping apps. Even among the apps our own mobile application development team has helped create for clients, there’s more than one wellness logging app; both Trackin’ It Up and iLog1 survive because they take different approaches to similar needs.

If something like your business or idea is already in the mobile marketplace, you needn’t dismiss the idea of getting in yourself. There are two approaches you can take.

• Be Facebook. That is, do everything your competitors do, but do it better, and add new features that attract everyone to your app. How could the user interface be better? How could users be more engaged?

• Be a niche player. Success doesn’t have to mean being the biggest or only option for your customers. Targeting a narrow demographic can build intense loyalty; your customers won’t jump ship at the next shiny app because they know you understand them.

We can help you pursue the best strategy for your app and find its perfect audience. Request a call or contact us at 603.881.9200.

It is thought, in order to maintain a successful business, you must maintain an overwhelmingly unbalanced scale of seriousness over playfulness. You are expected to stay off your personal social networks, stay away from social games, and if you are caught playing a game on your mobile device you’re in for it! Some would still argue that allowing your employees to be more frivolous would lead to a complete and utter collapse of that company’s integrity.

Well the times are changing and this isn’t Office Space; we are in a new digital world and Lumbergh isn’t the boss. Or so we hope not. As a business owner you need to look at and consider who your employees are. They are not laborers from the Industrial Age. Instead they are digitally savvy, and likely the first and second generation of video gamers. I am not talking Xbox 360, I am talking the Atari 2600 and Nintendo Entertainment System. The problem is that most American workers are just not finding the drive and motivation within their daily drudge at work. The solution? Introduce game theory into the structure of a company.

Now some business owners are looking to make a game out of their work environment to develop a system that inspires and motivates their employees. Some of those that are trying the gamify method are seeing positive results and behavioral changes in their employees.  With over 70% of American workers feeling disengaged or just emotionally withdrawn from their workplace, there is reason for concern. That is why creating software or an application that utilizes gaming methods could inspire your employees, eliminating many of those withdrawn emotions.

For example, pharmacy services provider Omnicare developed a systematic game with strong role-playing traits called OmniQuest. The intention of the game was to excite their IT service desk employees to show more enthusiasm and drive. With rewards and achievements, the Omnicare executives saw proven results, and most of all behavioral changes in the IT team. They took something as dull as password resetting for customers, and turned it into an achievement. Just one of the many badges they reward. By using gamification in their work environment, Omnicare developed a happier employee, and due to the chain effect of customer service, that happiness proved to be contagious with their customers.

To expand its existing sales effectiveness software suite, CallidusCloud is planning to launch MySalesGame by the end of 2012. Beyond the usual cash incentive of sales, MySalesGame will also reward sales representatives with a social currency that can be saved and spent towards online retail or cash rewards. The goal of the software is to create a friendly competitive environment amongst sales staff to constitute increased leads and sales.

How can you tell if enterprise gamification is something you should consider for your employees? Are meeting deadlines, accomplishing objectives, and overcoming difficult challenges important to the growth and sustainability of your business? Then introducing gaming theory into your business structure could be beneficial for your businesses longevity.

As developers of custom software, mobile and web applications, Zco Corporation can help you creatively gamify your workplace. Contact us to learn how.

A branded app helps your business get exposure, interact with customers and receive feedback on your product or service. According to an October 2011 report from Distimo, mentioned in TechCrunch, 91 percent of the top 100 brands in America have mobile apps in at least one app store. If you’re interested in jumping in to the branded app pool, make something that really catches a customer’s eye and imagination.

First, consider what the app will do. If you sell lawnmowers, an app involved with weather or lawn care makes sense. An app focused on iced coffee probably would not—unless you like to drink iced coffee when you mow on a hot summer day! You want your customers and potential customers to associate your app with your business. When customers think of BEHR, for example, they think of wall paint. That’s why the BEHR app, ColorSmart, is so outstanding. It lets users choose a color from a picture to create a color palette. Once a color is selected, the app recommends a set of paints that work well with that color. It also helps customers determine paint costs and find directions to Home Depot. The app is both fun and connected to their products. So when customers are ready to purchase paint, they play with the app to choose colors, then think of BEHR paint when they’re in the store; BEHR then gets a sale it wouldn’t have without the app.

Next, consider what will make your app different. There are hundreds of thousands of apps in the Apple App Store, the Google Play Store and all the other app stores for mobile devices. Check out what apps exist that are similar to your idea; see if there’s a lot of competition. If there is, find a feature that you can offer users they can’t get elsewhere. When you market your app, feature that benefit so users know why they should choose your business’s branded app.

How will your app make money? As mentioned in yesterday’s blog by Courtney LeClaire, there are several ways to generate revenue via app. You may see an increase in business, you can charge for each download of your app, you can sell space on your app to advertisers or you can offer extra, in-app downloads. The right app itself may well end up generating significant income on its own.

If you choose to develop a mobile app, you won’t be alone. Brands like Coca-Cola, BMW and GE who are already household names see the value in offering customers branded apps. It’s an endeavor worth considering for any business owner.

So you have a great idea for an app? There’s more to consider in mobile application development than how many angry birds it takes to conquer a pig pile. To get a head start, ask yourself a few preliminary questions:

1. What platforms are you looking to deploy the application on? Developing for more operating systems can be more costly, but can vastly increase your market
penetration. Individuals or organizations with multiple devices may prefer a single app that can work across iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone operating systems.

2. What is the business model of this app? Is your app intended to generate revenue directly, or just increase brand awareness? A free app that drives business to brick and mortar or browser-based sales is one way to go. Games are often pay-to-download or supported by ads. In-app purchasing puts users just a click or two away from creating revenue for you. Like any expenditure, you want to examine the return on investment.

3. What will the user experience be like? Will they use buttons, menus, or gestures to get around? Will your branding be everywhere or more subtle? Is it purely business, totally fun, or somewhere in between?

4. Does the app require specific hardware access? Anything involving the camera, accelerometer, GPS, or e-commerce functionality is important to note. It can add to the development cost but also the potential appeal of the app.

5. Does your app regularly have new content? Dynamic content keeps users coming back, but may require periodic updates or a constant connection to a backend server.

6. Do you require any 2D or 3D animation? Games almost always require movement of some kind, but many apps can benefit from animated menus and videos. 3D animation can introduce another level of interactivity, and seemingly bring your product to life for its users.

7. Will you be supplying any of the graphics? Your logo or icon is just the beginning. With handheld screens, the perfect placement of every pixel is essential. You can design the interface and have us write the code behind it or let us handle the looks as well as the functionality.

8. Will the app have social media integration?  The ability to post updates from the app to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and other social networks not only adds another feature to attract users, it can help spread the word about your app and your business.

9. What is your budget? Apps can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to $1 million to develop. Animation, GPS location services, database connections, and other features can be costly to implement. The right balance will fit within your budget and implement your top functionality priorities.

10. How soon are you looking to have this in the app stores? The more complex the app, the longer it can take to get just right. Try to consider if the deadline is realistic with the goals you have in mind for the application and give yourself time to make any unforeseen adjustments.

With the right planning, an app for mobile devices can be a great way to create brand awareness, mobilize business processes or generate new revenue. Request a call today to speak with one of our mobile experts, we’d be happy to answer any questions you have!

No one can deny that computer animation in movies has come a long way since 1995’s Toy Story. Aside from looking more realistic by itself, today’s 3D animation is often tough to distinguish from the live actors, props, and sets with which it shares the silver screen.

Marvel’s The Avengers has already earned a huge $185.1 million internationally, and it opens in the United States tomorrow, May 4. The formula for the summer blockbuster goes something like this:

• Lots of action
• At least a few gorgeous stars
• Dazzling special effects

Flying metal-suited billionaires, shape-shifting vehicles, and giant explosions are easy to see, but professionals like to say that the best effect is the one you don’t notice. Ignore his size and color for a moment and see if anything tips you off that the Hulk is largely computer-generated in this still:

Even more impressive? That’s Mark Ruffalo under there. Rather than completely constructing characters, animators now use actor’s real movements to shape the character’s performance.  Probably the best-known example of this motion capture technique is Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, played by Andy Serkis.

If superheroes aren’t your style, you can still appreciate this kind of 3D animation in Men in Black III, coming out on May 25. There it’s aliens and time travel, but the principle is the same: computer animated characters interacting with – touching, pushing, pulling – live actors. Watch some of the videos Sony Pictures makes available to see the pretty much seamless combination.

Both films make use of practical effects as well – miniatures and models, people in suits and masks, that sort of thing. But dynamic, kinetic motion is best achieved with a 3D animation studio. While there are challenges matching the lighting and atmosphere of the scenes the 3D effects are used in, it’s much faster to build, animate, and correct a digital model than a physical one.

Are you looking forward to seeing these 3D films?

If you have a business and haven’t developed a mobile app, you’re missing out on a huge market. According to TechCrunch, the number of mobile devices will exceed the world’s population by the end of 2012. Mobile data traffic has more than doubled each year for the past four years. The numbers indicate that America loves its mobile devices. They’re how people stay connected to each other and to services.

A great app should have utility. That is, customers should be able to do something with it. One great example is the Pizza Hut app, launched in 2009, according to Forbes Magazine. Pizza Hut’s app lets people create pizzas with drag and drop, then have the order sent to a local store. In less than a year, it generated $1 million in sales.

An app for your business should also be fun. The number 2 app on Forbes list was the SitOrSquat app from Charmin. It uses GPS to locate local bathrooms and shows a user the features and cleanliness of each result. Useful, yes, but the app also offered a laugh for a person trying to find a bathroom on a trip.

Your app can offer customers important information. It can relate directly to your business or to the interests of your clients. The U.S. Open app let fans find out scores, schedules and news about the tournament live. American Express and IBM co-sponsored the app. Both companies advertised to customers who downloaded it.
Each app not only offers users utility, fun, or information, but it also keeps them engaged with the brands. Nestle’s Purina app, which helps pet owners locate resources to care for their furry friends, has the Purina logo up top. When a pet owner stops to purchase pet food, Purina has name recognition and may make it into the cart.

Mobile apps help you reach more potential clients, interact with customers, and can even generate revenue. Once you have one set up, you can announce promotions, get feedback, and engage in social media through your mobile device. All of these benefits are becoming hard to ignore. Have you considered developing a mobile app for your business?

Most small business owners need to stay current with technology to stay ahead in the market. According to a survey from AT&T, more than 1/3 of small business owners admit that it would be challenging to survive without mobile apps. With more than 72 percent of small business owners using mobile apps in their operations, the number of owners that find them essential is sure to increase as time goes by.

If you aren’t using mobile apps to help manage your small business yet, you’re missing out. Many tasks are made easier with the right app. Easier tasks means you have more time and will be increasingly productive. Best of all, the right apps can save you money (which any small business owner knows is a plus!)

Social Media Apps

Think of your customers and ask yourself how many use social media sites. Now ask yourself whether you’re involved in their feeds. If you’re not, you’re missing out on both a great marketing opportunity and a chance to interact with your customers. When you don’t have time to sit down at the computer and add posts every day, stay abreast of online interactions with mobile apps. Waiting for a meeting to start? Respond to comments with the Facebook app. You won’t waste as much time when you have work at your fingertips.

GPS and Maps
Get to meetings on time. Send employees to the right warehouse. Plan a route for a business trip that includes stopping at a supplier. GPS and mapping software helps you get it right the first time and will keep you from hitting traffic on I-95 and spending hours stuck. Try MotionX GPS Drive, which routes you based on traffic predictions. Many GPS programs are now equipped with real time traffic information, too.

Budgeting and Finance

Don’t wait to input that business lunch or supply purchase until the end of the day. Keep a list of what you’re spending on your mobile device so you never miss a purchase. With apps that do everything from scanning receipts to uploading data to a synced website, it’s easy to keep your finances in order with mobile apps. Try iXpenseIt, for example, if you’re interested in tracking your purchases, creating expense reports and budgeting in an app.

Time Management

Keep track of what you and your staff does to ensure complete productivity during the day with mobile apps. Salesforce, for example, can help a team keep in touch about individual progress without a lengthy meeting or presentations. The mobile app helps keep people connected without booting up a computer – and the time required to find one, access an internet connection and log on to the website.

Those are just some of the tasks made easier with mobile apps; other apps, like iShare, which lets you upload and search for documents, are also available for download. Try installing a few apps today and see where it leads your business.

What small business apps would you recommend?

Simple answer: Yes.

Apple’s famously walled garden in its App Store reduces the chance that any virus or worm could sneak onto your iPhone. It’s not impossible though, with the Web and e-mail and other possible routes of infection.

Android’s app market, Google Play, doesn’t have the stringent guidelines Apple does, so it’s generally regarded as more vulnerable to attack. In truth, both operating systems have built-in safeguards, but malware has a way of learning and spreading its tentacles. Even if your phone itself isn’t brought down, it can be a carrier for desktop infections.

Fortunately there are a number of apps specifically made to combat this kind of nastiness.

You can get more features if you pay a monthly fee of $2.99 or yearly fee of $29.99. Those features include:

• Safe Browsing, which scans every link you click;
• Privacy Advisor, which tells you just what the permissions of your apps allow them to do with your information;
• Remote Lock & Wipe;
• And Enhanced Backup for photos and call history.

AVG Mobilation – Free

There are literally dozens of other antivirus apps for Android, but AVG stands out because it’s the only one that comes close to Lookout’s nearly 300,000 downloads through Google Play. AVG has a long history of antivirus products for the desktop, both free and paid, so they earn some automatic trust.

In addition to real-time virus and malware scanning, AVG Mobilation Free offers:

• Phone location via loud ring or Google Maps;
• Remote Phone Locker and Remote Wipe;
• Safe Web Surfing;
• SMS scam filter;
• And battery & storage optimization.

Upgrade to Mobilation Pro for $9.99 and get App Backup, App Locker, and free support.

Malware may be inevitable on any widely used platform, but mobile app developers keep fighting back to keep it at bay. Do your part, and secure your device!