Free RI Nexus / Providence Geeks Joint Panel - Future of the Mobile Web - Thurs Nov. 5th 4pm - RSVP Now

Posted on October 29th, 2009
By Matt Mikula

UPDATE: A huge thank you to everyone - attendees, panelists, organizers - who made this an engaging, fun, standing-room-only evening. Please stayed tuned for future RI Nexus events.

Mobile Web

Where: RIEDC, 315 Iron Horse Way (ALCO), Suite 101, Providence Google Map

When: Thurs. Nov. 5, 4 – 5:30pm (refreshments served)

Afterward all are invited to drinks next door at Everyman (cash bar)

RSVP: Matt Mikula, matt.mikula@rinexus.com (we have a limited number of seats so RSVP soon)

FREE

For years, the "mobile web" has slowly been gaining steam. Recently, however, there are indications that a tipping point may have been reached, marking the start of explosive global growth in adoption and usage. Now then is the time to start thinking about the future of the mobile web, and positioning ourselves and our businesses accordingly.

RI Nexus and Providence Geeks have joined forces to pull together an All-State Team of fantastic mobile web thinkers and practitioners to address the questions: Where is the mobile web headed in terms of technologies, business models and user experiences? What is the best way to prepare for and take advantage of these trends?

Providence Geek Co-Founder and O'Reilly Media Senior Editor, Brian Jepson, will kick us off with a short survey of the mobile web to date, addressing the question of, how did we get to this key moment in its evolution? Twitter: @bjepson

From there, RI Nexus Program Leader and Providence Geeks Co-Founder, Jack Templin will moderate what promises to be a lively, informative panel:

Joel Evans

Joel is the CEO of East Greenwich-based Cronk Software , a firm specializing in the design and development of high-end mobile applications and games. Prior to Cronk, Joel was the Founder and Chief Geek of Geek.com (acquired 2007 by NameMedia, Inc.), and previous to that the Director of Mobile and Wireless Solutions for GTECH. Twitter: @joelgeek

Jonathan Stark

Jonathan Stark

Jonathan is a Providence-based mobile and web application strategist, speaker and author, who the Wall Street Journal has called an expert on publishing data to the web. His consulting firm, Jonathan Stark Consulting, Inc., has attracted clients such as Staples, Turner Broadcasting, and the PGA Tour. Jonathan's latest book, "Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript" will be available from O'Reilly in early 2010. Twitter: @Jonathanstark

Annette Tonti

Annette Tonti

Annette is the CEO of Providence-based MoFuse, Inc a fast growing mobile publishing platform and network, and an expert on the intersection of the mobile web and online advertising. Previously she was Co-Founder and CEO of Bluestreak, Inc., an early entrant in rich media advertising and online marketing technologies. Twitter: @atonti

Refreshments will be provided. And all are invited to join us afterward for drinks next door at Everyman Bistro(cash bar).

Space is available on a first-come first-serve basis. RSVP to Matt Mikula at matt.mikula@rinexus.com.

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Comments

sfreiman

Submitted on November 4th, 2009 - 10:49am link

In advance of the panel tomorrow -- article from CIO Magazine about the iPhone App "Goldrush"

http://www.cio.com/article/503789/iPhone_App_Prices_How_Much_is_Too_Much_

Ed M

Submitted on November 6th, 2009 - 7:54am link

Last night's panel ended with the question "what interesting applications has each of the panel members seen?". Focusing on the simple app for not-so-smart phones Brian Jepson cited [Frontline]SMS Medic. FrontlineSMS: Medic is based upon the FrontlineSMS software application developed by Ken Banks (website, blog). FrontlineSMS is "software that turns a laptop and a mobile phone into a central communications hub" and "allows you to text message with large groups of people anywhere there is a mobile signal". Ken developed the software to help out NGOs communicate in Africa and other developing countries. If I had to highlight one app it would be FrontlineSMS and the projects being developed by Ken Banks.

mattmikula

Submitted on November 6th, 2009 - 9:40am link

My favorite app that I use on my android phone would have to be Locale. It uses the phone's gps to change phone settings based on your location. I love not having to worry about turning my volume down while at work or turning it back up once I leave.

What is everyone else's favorite mobile apps?

bjepson

Submitted on November 6th, 2009 - 1:58pm link

This may sound boring, but my favorite mobile app is K-9 Mail for Android. I use it all the time to read my work email. The built-in Gmail client only handles Gmail, and the built-in IMAP/POP3 client on Android is pretty awful.

But because a lot of Android is open source, Jesse Vincent (@obra) was able to take the awful built-in mail app, create K-9 Mail, and share it with the world! Check it out, source and all:

http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/

- Brian

andrewgilmartin

Submitted on November 6th, 2009 - 10:27am link

I don't have a favorite app but I have a favorite app idea. The Agile 2009 conference, http://agile2009.agilealliance..., had a special purpose iPhone app built that enabled the conference attendees to have at hand all the conference information and to schedule their day's selection of events. The take-away from this app is that there is a huge market for this kind of single-event (and then throw it away) tool. A time-limited, disposable information appliance.

mattmikula

Submitted on November 6th, 2009 - 10:43am link

Andrew,

I completely agree. I was at the Warped Tour this past summer, which had a large amount of bands playing at different times + locations throughout the day. My friend downloaded an app for her iPhone that was made specifically for scheduling out when and where the bands you wanted to see were going to play. It made planning out our day much easier.

CoreyCantrell

Submitted on November 6th, 2009 - 12:01pm link

One of the most clever mobile apps I've came across is called Trapster. It allows users to post frequent police speed trap locations and tag intersections that have those pesky red light cameras. Another great feature is that it follows your route using the phone's GPS then alerts you as you approach a hot spot. Check it out http://www.trapster.com.

joelgeek

Submitted on November 6th, 2009 - 4:14pm link

We actually have a product that's specifically designed for Events (http://cronksoftware.com/apps/...).

As for a favorite app, my current favorite is RedLaser on the iPhone. (http://redlaser.com/). You can scan anything using the iPhone and immediately see what the best price is on Amazon and other retailers.

J05H

Submitted on November 9th, 2009 - 12:34pm link

A lot of conferences do either a custom web-app or an SMS update system to keep participants informed. The conflict is similiar to what was discussed at last Thursday's panel discussion, namely the conflict between broad-and-light access or narrow-and-deep access. SMS is a known factor - anyone attending will have it, whereas a custom application is harder to deliver and is platform-specific. This gets easier with new development tools (Flash-to-iPhone) or with a narrower known audience (easier to roll out iPhone app @ an Apple event than Mobile World Congress).

It would seem that the third "sweet spot" on this dial is to deliver nice 3G or wifi-based web sites that take advantage of generic mobile web browsers instead of specific software for specific phones.

If Cronk's Mobile Event Companion is easy to customize and deploy it would be ideal for iPhone/smartphone.