tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547152193669686182024-03-12T21:39:20.567-07:00CloudApp IT, LLCAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-64442737622755116602012-09-17T11:48:00.002-07:002012-09-17T11:48:46.501-07:00Swirlz Has Been ReleasedHelp Swirlz defeat HypnoDoc and rescue his monster friends!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gMDTqqYqKMo/UFdwdlZZ-6I/AAAAAAAAAAM/69Mb7XwobtE/s1600/216897_385846068154220_1718911016_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gMDTqqYqKMo/UFdwdlZZ-6I/AAAAAAAAAAM/69Mb7XwobtE/s640/216897_385846068154220_1718911016_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
CloudApp IT in association with Dream Saga Productions introduces their
new addictive game, Swirlz. Gameplay is simple. Just throw the colored
orbs to their matching color before they reach the end of the path.
Master the game by getting huge orb sequences, and compete with your
friends to get to higher levels. Spend 30 seconds or an hour playing this innovative new game! <br />
<div class="text_exposed_show">
<br /> Features: <br /> Story Mode - Complete missions to rescue each of your monster friends. <br /> Quick play - Jump right it and play! Get coins and get new high scores. <br /> Achievements Board - See your high score and all your other stats. <br /> Shop - Buy special items that you can use in the game. Earn more coins through gameplay to buy more.</div>
<div class="text_exposed_show">
</div>
<div class="text_exposed_show">
Go Pick it Up at the App Store</div>
<div class="text_exposed_show">
<br /></div>
<div class="text_exposed_show">
<br /></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-15132645553303511862012-01-29T09:18:00.000-08:002012-01-29T09:19:14.056-08:009 Holes - Golf and Cards in Perfect HarmonyAnd we're back.<br />
<br />
It has been a very eventful and busy past few months for us here at CloudApp IT, LLC. The best business news to come out of the past 3 months is our newest app, 9 Holes, is now available on the App Store! It replaces a card game that my wife and her family were addicted to. They'd wear out decks of cards all the time playing an 8 card golf game. Now they are addicted to the app! It has already paid for itself because there is no more purchasing and repurchasing of decks of cards. Here are some features of the app:<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gZfWHasvMjg/TyV_FfvCfAI/AAAAAAAAAGU/azjXrDF7pFA/s1600/icon@2x.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gZfWHasvMjg/TyV_FfvCfAI/AAAAAAAAAGU/azjXrDF7pFA/s1600/icon@2x.png" /></a><br />
2 - 4 players<br />
Play against the computer or other people<br />
Customized graphics to take advantage of iPhone 4/4S retina displays<br />
Optimized for iOS 5.0+<br />
Keeps a history of 20 high scores<br />
Intuitive drag and drop controls<br />
And more...<br />
<br />
My wife and I made a little tutorial video and posted it on youtube. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://2.gvt0.com/vi/qUvbSmPhx_Y/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qUvbSmPhx_Y&fs=1&source=uds" />
<param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" />
<embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qUvbSmPhx_Y&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div>
<br />
<br />
We're really excited about this app. We love to play it and we hope you will love to play it too! Click the link below to check it out on the App Store.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://itunes.com/apps/9holes" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wJUiX6tPhVw/TyV-m4j7b9I/AAAAAAAAAGM/XfB-NG3ebRQ/s320/App_Store_Badge_EN.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-75069200281028575442011-10-26T10:34:00.000-07:002011-10-26T10:34:28.073-07:00Bigger and BetterIt's been a little while since my last post because it has been a very busy past few weeks. ScoreApp has limped along to very mediocre sales, but it was a great learning experience. I've had some very high-level discussions with the board of directors (which consists of me and my wife) about the direction of CloudApp IT, LLC. We laid out goals and a business plan that will help us achieve those goals. Despite our dud on the first app, we're going to continue to focus on the App Store and it's potential. Our ultimate goal is to make this business sustain itself and be able to adequately support my family. We've got a long way to go before we get there, but here is one of the things we're going to do to start.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Our Next App</u></b><br />
<br />
We're obviously not going to be able to buy a value meal let alone support ourselves with ScoreApp. But we are going to identify some things that we did wrong as well as things we did right with ScoreApp and go to our next endeavor. Here are some key areas that we want to improve:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Genre - When you program an app, you spend a lot of time with it. When you market it, you have to spend even more time with it and really be excited about the content of it. ScoreApp was a good, fun little utility. However, it was not something that I wanted to spend all of my free time on and tell all my friends about. It was simply a learning experience. To make our next app succeed we're hoping to pick a genre and idea that will be a lot more exciting for us. We've decided to take a stab at a slightly new, slightly re-invented social networking idea that I personally think will be pretty neat.</li>
<li>Artwork - Of all the pointers that people gave us about our last app, artwork was by far the most universal negative point. Everyone who looked at our app had design pointers. And to be honest, I designed everything from a programmers point of view instead of a users point of view. I took cool little graphics which I ripped off and stuck them in my app with no thought of how they meshed with the rest of the app. I updated the app graphics a little bit with version 1.1. It gave the app a completely different look, but it still isn't going to be winning any awards. Our next app will feature some more well-thought layouts and graphics. They will probably be subtle graphics and nothing amazing, but I'll spend a little more time in UI quality assurance before releasing the next app.</li>
<li>Pre-Launch - The most important days of an app are probably the days right after launch. When you're a lowly app developer trying to break on to the scene, these first days are when your app has the most visibility on the App Store. You'll be featured in the new section of your chosen genres. You'll likely get a few looks from customers that you wouldn't get on keywords alone. So, if you generated a little bit of monmentum for you app prior to that launch day, you'll give yourself an even better chance to succeed and stay featured on the store. Before launching, we're going to have the entire infrastructure in place. Facebook page, support materials, website, contact info, etc. We hope to have all of this up and try to get at least a little bit of traffic there prior to launch. We've also made friends with a few reviewers out there and we'll try to get them on board with our app launch and see if we can leverage those relationships as well.</li>
<li>Updates - As mentioned a little above, a lot of time goes into making an app. You have to love the app if you really hope to do it right. I'm excited for this app and have a road map of where it will go in the future. I'm excited enough about the app that I will probably update the app even if the user base never comes. I want to do it just to prove that I can and so I can use it for my own entertainment. Updates put subconcious thoughts into people's minds that the app is alive and evolving. They respond to that. They share those apps with their friends. If nothing else, they see your icon to remind them about your app when the go to perform updates.</li>
<li>Pricing - pricing models are a mystery to many people. The way you price your app could mean success or failure. I'm going to have to look at this aspect a little more thoroughly before releasing the next big thing to make sure I get it right.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Well, those are a few points that I am going to consider and improve on for our next app adventure. Stay tuned for more as we begin development on our next big thing. Until then, reach for the clouds!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-25199594703438778492011-10-10T11:52:00.000-07:002011-10-10T11:53:21.023-07:00ScoreApp UpdateA little more than a week after releasing my first app and I think I will now start to focus on other future apps. Here is a recap of what I've been up to the past few days with ScoreApp:<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
New artwork: I have added new artwork to my app. There were some definite design issues in ScoreApp 1.0. It had a really pretty wood background and some blue text that would often get washed out. There wasn't enough contrast. So I switched to a more standard background. I really like the cross-hatch grey standard Apple designed background, so I just decided to use it in my app. It cuts down the download size of my app, and looks really nice too. I also changed the look of my buttons. I stuffed some buttons in the tool bar before and some I left out of the tool bar and used a button image. For consistency, I converted all of my buttons to images of a brushed metal texture that I whipped up on Gimp. The contrast and colors were kept pretty neutral and I think they pop a lot better than before. And, of course, the icon was updated. I posted it in my last blog entry if you'd like to see what it looks like. I like it a lot more. Simple, not overly complicated. You can tell what the app does quickly by looking at the icon. It may not be absolute professional graphic design, but it is a big improvement over my last design in my opinion.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Review sites: I've mentioned review sites in my past posts. App-score.com has continued to be a very friendly site that reviewed my app. They gave my app a 6/10 rating, which honestly is about what I was expecting. I know that there are some short-comings with it, but it's a decent first attempt at the app store. Here is their review: <a href="http://app-score.com/scoreapp/">App-score.com Review</a> I've since been in contact with them and they may be doing an updated review with the new version 1.1 of ScoreApp in the coming days. I imagine that they review will appear in the same spot with the same url once it comes out. I'll keep you posted on that.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Other than these few updates, I've not really been spending too much time on ScoreApp. Sales have hovered right around a couple downloads a day, and some days those couple downloads are the promo codes that I've handed out. But, it's been a great learning experience and I'm now going to be moving on to a couple other projects. This past weekend, my wife and I sat down and wrote some 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, and 5 year goals for our business. We really want to get to the point where we can be spending our working hours on these apps. We really believe in this platform and happen to love working with it! In my next post, I'll reveal a couple of our goals and let you know how we plan to achieve them. Until then, reach for the clouds! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-52865713326798325212011-10-05T14:18:00.000-07:002011-10-05T14:18:01.887-07:00Updating my AppToday's post will be pretty quick. The app has been on the App Store for a little less than a week and it is not getting the kind of success that I would have hoped. But I have learned a ton about the App Store, about my app, and about business in general. Here are some highlights of what I have learned:
<br />
<br />
1. Appearance is everything!<br />
<br />
I've asked for feedback from many sources on my app. Without fail, the reviewers have noted that my UI and icon could use work. I am partial to the style of icon and UI that I chose to use, so I apparently had blinders on. No one else, besides my lovely wife, liked the graphic design of my app. I was humbled, but glad that people gave me this feedback. I'll look forward to more feedback that is brutally honest as I continue in the app store. I'm going to be redesigning my app and hopefully it will look somewhere in between professional (which I am not when it comes to graphics) and amateur. Here is a sample of a possible new icon: <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X4ATrWzEP5k/TozI-uvOjRI/AAAAAAAAAEs/iUotqDtxbq0/s1600/scoreAppLogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X4ATrWzEP5k/TozI-uvOjRI/AAAAAAAAAEs/iUotqDtxbq0/s320/scoreAppLogo.png" width="320" /></a></div>
2. Keywords are important<br />
<br />
It was obvious that keywords are important for apps on the App Store. My keywords were fairly obvious, or so I though. I'd but "score keeper" and "score" in the keywords. But I missed some nuances that could have helped my app launch more successfully. Things like "score keeper" return almost 100 results. "Score keeping" returns far less results and may be more effective. I'm going to revisit the keywords of my app and I'll let you know if that affects sales.<br />
3. People are old and devices are small<br />
<br />
As a developer, I always try to maximize my available real estate. I use the highest resolution settings my monitor will allow and use pretty tiny font generally. But iPhones don't have much real estate. And what real estate they do have CAN NOT be overcrowded or you will get complaints from users. People don't like clutter. They like iPhones because of the clean lines, no mess design. They expect the same from their apps. I assumed a certain amount of iPhone literacy with my design of my app, and it got lost a little bit. Rule of thumb is, if you can decide for the user, do it. If you can make something simpler, it's worth the time it takes to make it happen. Keep it simple.<br />
<br />
4. Don't get too discouraged<br />
<br />
I kept telling myself that I was not going to blow all my fortunes as soon as I earned my first paycheck from Apple. I had to prepare myself not to get too high off the awesome results. Well, the same is true on the other side of the spectrum. Low sales the first day was not the end of the world. My best days were actually yesterday and today. An even keel is always the attitude that you should have with the App Store. Keep at it.<br />
<br />
Well, those are just a couple of the things I learned the past week with my app. I'll keep you posted going forward as I prepare and update my app for the first time. Until then, reach for the clouds!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-56509897255850329702011-09-30T18:37:00.000-07:002011-09-30T18:38:08.483-07:00We're on the App Store!After all of the waiting and watching, we're finally on the App Store! Yesterday evening I was on my way to the lake to get some wake boarding in when I received the notification from iTC mobile (the mobile itunesconnect app) that my app was "Ready for Sale". And now begins another waiting game...<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I never really thought of what was going to happen once my app finally made it to the store. I tried to prepare my app, throw out some tweets, get this blog started, etc. in preparation for the app the launch, but now that it is in the store, I didn't know what to do initially. I started with iTunesConnect, trying to see if anyone had bought my app. This was a fairly frustrating morning to have an app launch though. iTunes Connect was acting very strange this morning and wouldn't let anyone see sales and trends reports. It was nuts. I went to like 5 forums and everyone had the same frustrations that I had. I had to wait from 7:00 till about 13:00 to finally be able to log in. Then when I logged in, NOTHING. The reports are lagged a day, and my app had no data yet. :(</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scoreapp/id467539997?ls=1&mt=8" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ufTcjZio2ns/ToZtpwpXX7I/AAAAAAAAAEc/QhK_zUQY7YU/s320/App_Store_Badge_EN_0609.png" width="320" /></a>As I was determined to find out if anyone had purchased my app yet, I began thinking of ways I could figure it out. Then it hit me that a last minute feature that I added to my app might help. Google Analytics. It was very easy, maybe 5 minutes of work, to add analytics to my app. Google has made it so easy to do. The only negative with including analytics is the size of the library you have to include in your app. It's a little more than 1 MB which pretty much doubled the size of my app. But oh well. It was worth it. I anxiously logged on to the analytics portal and checked out my app's activity. Low and behold there was some activity!!! We had a couple of people in Europe and a couple Americans that had sent some activity over. I was ecstatic! </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As the day went on, there was little to no new activity in analytics. I began to worry about what to do now. I've put a lot of work into the app, and I didn't want to give up that easily. So I set out to find some review sites that would take a look at my app and give some exposure and feedback. App-score.com was the first site I encountered and they seem like awesome people! Rob from app-score.com emailed me literally within 2 minutes of submitting a review request. We exchanged 3 or 4 emails and he seemed like a nice guy. I gave him a promo code and hopefully he'll review my app. That got me excited about review sites, so I went to half a dozen more sites and submitted promo codes and review requests. Hopefully that will give my app a little more exposure and it won't die within one day of releasing.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In any event, I've had a lot of fun with ScoreApp. It's been really exciting and we've still got some work to do. I'll report my success or failure with the review sites and update you on activity in my app next time. Until then, reach for the clouds!<span id="goog_1991505165"></span><span id="goog_1991505166"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-47748810032631994482011-09-23T09:07:00.000-07:002011-09-23T09:08:30.084-07:00App Store SubmissionLast night I finally submitted my application to the App Store. The process was very simple and streamlined. The hardest part of the process was writing an adequate description for my app. Although I am really trying to get things right with this app, I have kind of grown anxious and just wanted to get the app out there. Here are a couple of my experiences and how I dealt with them:<br />
<br />
<b>Artwork: </b><br />
<br />
Artwork is not my strength when it comes to making apps. I can get around okay in Gimp and Inkscape or Photoshop and Illustrator, but I don't proclaim to be a pro at any of those programs. Creating the icon for ScoreApp was an adventure that I hope turned out okay, but only time will tell I guess. I think it looks nice, so I guess that's all I can do. To create the artwork for my app, I tried to do everything I could in Inkscape. Inkscape is a free Illustrator alternative. It creates and edits SVG files, with stands for scalable vector graphics. I created the logo in that format so I could easily export it to any size that I wanted. The artwork I had in my project included the following files:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0lb7a3gJhiw/Tnyu0CNXCiI/AAAAAAAAAEY/5KBCR32yWI0/s1600/scoreApp.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0lb7a3gJhiw/Tnyu0CNXCiI/AAAAAAAAAEY/5KBCR32yWI0/s1600/scoreApp.png" /></a>
<li>icon.png - icon for iphone 3GS and earlier home screen</li>
<li>icon@2x.png - icon for iPhone 4 home screen</li>
<li>icon-settings.png - icon for iPhone spotlight</li>
<li>icon-settings@2x.png - icon for iPhone 4 spotlight</li>
<li>default.png - iPhone launch image</li>
<li>default@2x.png - iPhone 4 launch image</li>
<li>iTunesArtwork.png - icon for the iTunes version of App Store</li>
<li>screenshots.png - screenshots for the store, without the status bar included.</li>
<li>and the background, button, toolbar graphics - for in app graphics</li>
</ul>
<br />
It was the most artwork I've ever had to create in my programming career. I usually just put in requests to real graphic designers at work when I need something. But I think the resulting look and feel of the app is pretty good. Hopefully, if there are some real designers out there, you can download my app when it comes out and send me some feedback so I can improve in the future! Thanks in advance.<br />
<br />
<b>Logistics:</b><br />
<br />
The logistics of getting my app submitted were very straight forward and simple. After my app was complete, I logged on to itunesconnect.apple.com and requested my distribution certificate by following the easy instructions posted there. Then I installed the certificate. Then I created and downloaded my distribution provisioning profile, which was also a breeze. At any time before or after all of these steps, you'll need to set up your App in the "Manage Your Applications" section of iTunes Connect. This process is also very straight-forward. Just set everything up according to the instructions on the page. The SKU number is an internal identification number that you use for your product. You can make up anything you want there. I just put a base number in there and it accepted it just fine. After getting your app to the point the it is "Ready to Upload Binary", switch back to Xcode. In Xcode, you'll need to build your app in a different way than just running it in the simulator to get it ready to go. First, you'll need to make sure that your targeting your iOS device and not the simulator. That threw me for a loop and wasted about 15 minutes of me trying to figure that one out. In the build settings, make sure that your distribution profile is selected in the code signing section. Then from the Product menu choose Archive. Archive will be greyed out unless you select iOS device instead of the simulator. Once it finishes Archiving, the Organizer will pop up. Select your newly created archive, click "Validate...", enter credentials, click "Submit...", enter credentials, sit back and watch and then your done!! That's all there was to it for me. Quite easy, quite slick.<br />
<br />
<b>Waiting:</b><br />
<br />
Now begins the fun part. The waiting game. I came across a cool website that tries to gather statistics for how long the review process takes. Check it out at <a href="http://reviewtimes.shinydevelopment.com/">http://reviewtimes.shinydevelopment.com/</a> if you'd like. I've had my app submitted for about 12 hours now and counting. I'm pretty anxious to see how it goes, but I guess patience is a virtue. I'll keep you posted on what happens. Until then, reach for the clouds!<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-14400150914504596242011-09-19T20:17:00.000-07:002011-09-19T20:17:27.240-07:00Let the Coding Begin!Well, another week has gone by and it's time for another post. This past week has been a lot of fun!! I've been able to scrape together quite a bit of time to dedicate to things iOS and iPhone and things are going really well. I'm putting the finishing touches on ScoreApp, my first iPhone application. I'm going to be submitting it to the App Store hopefully by the end of the week or early next week. I'm treating this app as a learning experience and am getting a lot of the infrastructure that an app needs together for this app, even though I really don't think it will be the next Angry Birds. The more time I spend with Xcode 4, iOS and Objective C, the more I like it. Here are a few of the things that I've learned in the past few weeks:<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Memory management was the number one thing that I didn't like when coming from a clean, garbage collected world. I didn't like that I, as a programmer, had to be concerned with things that I thought compilers should be able to do reliably. But, as I have looked through sample code, played with Xcode and watched some iTunes U classes, memory management has started to become second nature. I don't notice that I'm doing it anymore. If I alloc something, I've got to figure out where I'm going to release it. That's about all there is to it. I mean, there are some nuances that are more complicated than that, but it's not bad at all. Xcode has an "Analyze" option and a "Profile" option in the project menu that give you some great tools that will help you detect and eliminate potential leaks. While it is still not ideal, it is a lot less painful than I expected initially. As iOS 5 comes down the pipe-line, there is a feature called ARC or automatic reference counting that will be available. I understand this to be like compile time garbage collection. You can turn on ARC and your compiler will detect and insert appropriate retain/release statements to make sure your program doesn't leak memory. This feature could be nice, but I've not used it yet, so only time will tell I guess.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C_40NUn0IPk/TngFZ5XBDXI/AAAAAAAAAEU/Iou3EtpirmA/s1600/11x06070726.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C_40NUn0IPk/TngFZ5XBDXI/AAAAAAAAAEU/Iou3EtpirmA/s320/11x06070726.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
Core Data is another feature that I wasn't quite sure of when I began my foray into iOS world. It turns out that Core Data is possibly one of the coolest and most powerful solutions for data that is absolutely awesome for the iOS environment. Core Data is a framework that encapsulates and SQLite database using a base class called NSManagedObject. You can subclass this base class to have custom objects that have any unique or calculated properties that you might want. You get started with Core Data most often by creating a mapping of your database. You create your entities, which attributes they have and what kind of relations they have. Then you can generate some NSManagedObject subclass stubs for you entities and flesh them out to your hearts content. Then, as you code your app, you use some very simple and intuitive objects (NSManagedContext) to fetch and put entities into the persistent storage. Admittedly, I'm not building large scientific databases with my applications yet, but so far the performance and ease of use of Core Data is awesome!! It's the slickest database tool for oo programmers that I've ever used. It similar to hibernate, llblgen, other ORM tools, but it's done the Apple way. Consistent and friendly messages are used to use the framework. I've really begun to like it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The app itself has been a joy to create. Right now I've got my app on a handful of beta-tester's iPhones and it has been getting pretty solid reviews so far! I'm excited to take the next steps, get a website set up (http://scoreapp.cloudappit.com), start tweeting for publicity (@ScoreAppIT) and try to give this app a chance to at least get a few downloads when it launches. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Look for my next posts to be about the process of preparing the app for submission, and hopefully I'll have some news about how the launch day went. Until then, reach for the clouds!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-2277290029222058862011-09-13T11:18:00.000-07:002011-09-13T21:28:12.342-07:00Applying for the iOS Developer Program<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’ve been reading many blogs and books about beginning iPhone and iPad development lately. I’ve found a plethora of information on the subject. There are many good blogs and forums where people exchange information on their experience as they got started in the App Store. Many of these resources that I’ve looked at lately suggest that you begin the process of applying for official membership in Apple’s iOS Developer Program. This process can be lengthy, especially for a business. There are a couple of different levels of membership in the developer programs at Apple. And there are a couple of different programs. There is an iOS Develper Program, Mac Developer Program, and Safari Developer Program. My main interest is the iOS program, and within that program there are 3 different membership “levels”. Well, 4 if you count the free version. Here is the basic breakdown between the 4 (these aren’t official names of the levels of membership, just descriptions according to what I can remember about them):</span><br />
<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></div><ul><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-THe0bEgM3e0/Tm-eZyH1RLI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/Cw7bNAfesj8/s1600/sdk_hero.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-THe0bEgM3e0/Tm-eZyH1RLI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/Cw7bNAfesj8/s1600/sdk_hero.png" /></a><li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Free - download released iOS SDK, Xcode and develop/test using iOS Simulator</span></span></li><li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Paid Individual ($99) - same as free with access to pre-release SDK and software, test on your device, submit applications to the App Store.</span></span></li><li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Paid Organization ($99) - same as individual plus ability to add a team of developers to the same account. You can set up teams and administrators of teams, but there is only one Agent who does all the submitting of apps to the App Store and agreeing to terms and contracts, etc. You can set up 100 devices for testing each year of your membership.</span></span></li><li style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Enterprise ($299) - same as organization except you can also develop and deploy production applications for internal use in your organization.</span></span></li></ul><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I opted to go for the Paid Organization level of membership. This process was a little more extensive than the individual process, but it will allow for growth in the future. Right now, I’m the only iOS developer for CloudApp IT, LLC. However, that can easily change in the future. I applied for the program about 2 weeks ago online. There was a little bit of basic demographic info that I submitted. Then a few days later, Apple requested that I fax over some legal documents for my organization. I faxed our Articles and played the waiting game again. A couple days later, Apple let me know that they had received my documents and were reviewing them. My enrollment remained in this state for about 5 days. Then, this morning, I got a call from a nice lady at Apple informing me that my documents looked good an I was approved. I logged on to the member center at developer.apple.com, purchased the program, waited about an hour for a confirmation email after my purchase, and I was in. Lots of posts on blogs that I’ve read have indicated that the process of getting started with all the code signing certificates, etc. could be complicated. I found that developer.apple.com had some really nice and easy to follow how-to videos. I just watched those videos for about 15 minutes and then boom, my first app was up and running on my actual iPhone device! I’m pretty excited to get started with posting my app on the store. I’ll keep you posted on my experience in the process of posting apps to the store. Look for the next post to be about more experiences as I learn to use the iOS SDK to get my first app together. Until then, reach for the clouds! </span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-5587043841452593892011-09-08T00:09:00.001-07:002011-09-13T21:29:02.057-07:00Beginning iPhone Development<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true" DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99" LatentStyleCount="276"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}</style><![endif]--><!--StartFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">As I mentioned in my last post, I am going to be talking alittle about my experience as I’ve started to learn the ropes of iOSdevelopment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After getting set up todevelop iPhone and iPad applications there was a lot to learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I opened my new Macbook Pro I starteddownloading the bare essentials to begin my development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First thing I did was download and installLion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a great move, as Imentioned in my last post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, Idownloaded and installed Xcode 4, which requires Lion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It too is awesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the years, I have opened Xcode 3 on myiMac a couple of times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to writea few console apps in Java, but always found my way back to the confortable confinesof Eclipse as my IDE of choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ofcourse, when it comes to iOS dev, Apple has really tried to level the playingfield for everyone and create a sense of consistency in everything they’vedone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of that is requiring us touse Xcode as our IDE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Xcode 4 is, atleast on the surface, a great leap forward for Apple’s IDE. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It integrates the needed tools such asInterface Builder and a code editor into a single window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the full screen mode in Lion, Xcode is avery capable IDE and very easy to use for new comers to iOS development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After getting everything installed, I wasrearing to have a go at my first app: Hello World iPhone edition.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I learn best by doing, not reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve always hated reading textbooks andenjoyed doing projects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I began towonder where I was going to learn to tackle this new framework and learn thetricks of the trade, I naturally started looking for sample projects thatlooked interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my search I cameacross a course that was offered at Rose-Hulman University.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found this course offered in the form of afree podcast listed in iTunes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I quicklylearned the basics of navigating Xcode (though the examples were from version3,they were easily converted to version 4).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned the basics of Interface Builder and how to quickly attachinterface elements to my code.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thisprocess is even more intuitive and painless in version 4 of Xcode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned how to make my Hello Worldapplication work on both iPhone and iPad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The course was structured in a natural and easy way to help you progressslowly but surely to master the needed techniques to be able to develop prettycool apps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With this new-foundknowledge, I am excited to now go about developing my first app to list in theApp Store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not planning anythingtoo complicated for my first App Store app, just a simple Score Keeper likeapp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll see how it goes, and I’ll tryto keep you updated as I continue to learn the ropes of the iOS and App Storebusiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until next time, reach for theClouds!<o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-82076337813218303192011-09-06T12:26:00.000-07:002011-09-06T12:27:41.819-07:00Getting set up for iOS development<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J96KIly99U0/TmZz1f5Q-3I/AAAAAAAAADw/A3qPqRR4IW8/s1600/AppleLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J96KIly99U0/TmZz1f5Q-3I/AAAAAAAAADw/A3qPqRR4IW8/s320/AppleLogo.jpg" width="273" /></a>So it begins. I've become an iOS developer. My wife and I ran over to the new Apple Store in the Fashion Place mall and picked up this beautiful laptop a little more than a week ago. We got a great deal on it and also go a free printer (with mail-in rebate). When we opened the box, I was slightly bummed to discover that Snow Leopard was installed on our new Macbook Pro instead of Apple's latest OS, Lion. This was easily remedied by downloading and installing Lion from the Mac App Store. The installation took a few minutes, but was fast and easy. <br />
<br />
Aside on Lion: I'm not going to offer a full review of Lion or anything like that. I'll leave the reviews to people more skilled at offering technical reviews on products such as an OS. But, I will say that I love Lion. It has all that awesome eye candy that Apple is known for in every aspect of the new OS. The features that I am most excited about however are the gestures that you can use to navigate through Lion. I was never a big fan of track-pads or other pointing devices besides the mouse, but with the gesture support in Lion, a track-pad or magic mouse can do wonders for your productivity. The notion of "spaces" or virtual desktops has been around for a long time and Lion makes them so accessible that it's difficult not to use them to your advantage. Mission control is very much more useful than previous iterations of expose. Lion is a polished OS that breaks traditional molds of operating systems. You can touch your way through your computer like never before. I'm excited to see where the next version of Mac OSX goes.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ERHgJu9AhyE/TmZrYgYIKqI/AAAAAAAAADs/rI-EyLUTISM/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ERHgJu9AhyE/TmZrYgYIKqI/AAAAAAAAADs/rI-EyLUTISM/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a>Now on to matters of hardware: I've had an iMac sitting at home since the first aluminum iMacs came out in August of 2007. That iMac has served me very well. It got me through computer science at the University of Utah. I've started a slideshow production business using nothing but my iMac and a printer/scanner. I've had a hard-drive failure. I've successfully performed open-heart surgery and installed a new 1.5 TB hard drive into it. I've pushed my iMac to the max and it has responded admirably. It has done everything that I've asked it to do and more. It is now more than 4 years old and it is still a slick, fast, responsive machine that has many more years of life in it. But sadly, life changes and situations call for new hardware. My iMac cannot be as portable as I would like it to be. I've been married to my beautiful wife for just over a year now and we have made many lofty goals in lots of areas of our lives including in the financial world. With the availability of public transportation, it no longer make sense for me to commute anywhere via my own vehicle. Enter the need for mobility. I now have 45 minutes of public transportation to look forward to every morning and another 45 in the evening. With this 1.5 hours a day potentially wasting away, I've convinced my wife to buy me a Macbook so that I can develop iOS apps during my commute. It's a base model 13" Macbook Pro with 4GB ram and a 2.3 GHz i5 processor. Someday, I'll write a post about my decision making process before we went with this model, but not today. This arrangement has been wonderful so far! I love the new Macbook and am loving iOS development; in fact, I am well on my way to finishing my first app for the App Store!<br />
<br />
In my next post, I'll chronicle my first few days learning to program for the iOS and let you all in on some of the plans that I have for the future. Until then, reach for the Clouds!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-10312481952265834022011-09-02T14:45:00.000-07:002011-09-02T17:14:44.098-07:00iPhone / iPad App Store<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZLVq48iwwYc/TmFI5kDuy4I/AAAAAAAAADo/Vn2TEX0YSw0/s1600/iphone4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZLVq48iwwYc/TmFI5kDuy4I/AAAAAAAAADo/Vn2TEX0YSw0/s320/iphone4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apple's iPhone 4</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hello to my regular blog readers. CloudApp IT, LLC has undergone a thorough introspection and evaluation of our core business model. We have emerged better equipped to succeed in today's economy. We are very pleased to announce that the future of CloudApp will not abandon it's roots, but rather expand into a new and very exciting landscape centered on mobile applications. We aim to stay on the cutting edge of technology and bring to our customers an expertise and knowledge that is second to none. We will continue to broaden our horizons and share what we know with the same passion and enthusiasm that we've had over the past 10 months of our existence. We are excited as we enter this new phase and hope you will enjoy the ride. <br />
<br />
In light of our new direction as a company, I hope to make this blog more of a daily blog. I will write about my experiences as I learn the ropes and enter the foray of the App Store for iPhone/iPad as well as the Mac. I look forward to sharing these experiences with all of you.<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-35715207951657535422011-04-08T14:50:00.000-07:002011-04-08T14:50:14.663-07:00Google App Engine Hosting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LM1UW1gw8qk/TZ-DCzUvJEI/AAAAAAAAADk/s-xZWWhJfPM/s1600/google-app-engine1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LM1UW1gw8qk/TZ-DCzUvJEI/AAAAAAAAADk/s-xZWWhJfPM/s1600/google-app-engine1.png" /></a></div>A while back, I wrote a blog post about our website going live. Well, the site has undergone a little bit of a make-over in the past 24 hours. Our old website was powered by PHP and hosted on some server space that we purchased from our domain registrar. We have now upgraded the technology that our site is built on to work with Google technologies. Leveraging the power of Google Web Toolkit, which provides many tools to make the creation of AJAX-enabled, responsive, beautiful websites very nice for Java programmers, we no longer use PHP for our website. Google App Engine now provides the environment for our website to run in and I couldn't be happier with the robustness and smoothness of this transition. Our site is now built on a platform that will allow growth and scalability that will grow with us as we continue our rise to the cloud!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-67738317861718766412011-03-29T15:24:00.000-07:002011-03-29T15:26:36.509-07:00Calendaring Done Right<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Calendaring is one of the most useful systems ever invented. From the beginning of time, people have developed and used many different types of calendars. Whether they were based on the sun, moon or stars, all calendars are centered around organizing time. A calendar can help you remember the past and plan for the future. Humanity has come a long way in our use of calendars. In modern times, people generally accept the Gregorian calendar. When I say that my birthday is on June 3rd, everyone knows exactly what I mean. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xCR7-nyrGws/TZJb9yGAbXI/AAAAAAAAADc/8BOl-JHEBu0/s1600/google_calendar_icon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xCR7-nyrGws/TZJb9yGAbXI/AAAAAAAAADc/8BOl-JHEBu0/s1600/google_calendar_icon.png" /></a></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The world of technology has historically not been quite as unified as us humans. Much like in the early years of our existence, there are many different formats and standards in calendaring software available today. Some are better than others, some are designed for specific purposes. How can we communicate and collaborate efficiently when everyone has a different calendaring system? Enter Google. They have simplified calendaring and made it accessible to one and all. They have given us Google Calendar: calendaring done right.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the bottlenecks of running an efficient business is the management of people’s time and resources. Getting teams to collaborate on projects has inherent scheduling difficulties. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people had somewhere to go to coordinate and organize people’s precious time?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, what can Google Calendar do for your business? </span></span><br />
<h2><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 18pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Easily schedule appointments</span></span></h2><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Overlay multiple calendars to see when people are available. Google Calendar sends invitations and manages RSVPs.</span></span><br />
<h2><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 18pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Integrate with your email system</span></span></h2><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google Calendar is integrated into Gmail and interoperable with popular calendar applications.</span></span><br />
<h2><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 18pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Share project calendars</span></span></h2><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Calendars can be shared company-wide or with select co-workers. A range of sharing permission controls help maintain security and privacy.</span></span><br />
<h2><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 18pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Access with your mobile device</span></span></h2><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">View and edit event details, add new events, and invite guests on mobile devices like the BlackBerry and iPhone. Even receive calendar notifications via SMS.</span></span><br />
<h2><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 18pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Publish calendars</span></span></h2><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Publicize external company events by publishing a calendar to make it searchable in the Google Calendar gallery. Easily embed calendars into web pages.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O_GarmV7n2o/TZJb-CBiHAI/AAAAAAAAADg/Yo_o_EswzAo/s1600/google_calendar_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O_GarmV7n2o/TZJb-CBiHAI/AAAAAAAAADg/Yo_o_EswzAo/s1600/google_calendar_logo.jpg" /></a></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google Calendar is setting a standard that will allow everyone to be on the same page. They’ve done calendaring better than everyone else, and they’ve done it right.</span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-24059215954353813102011-03-23T10:21:00.000-07:002011-03-23T10:21:23.636-07:00What's New in Google Apps?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-jWplPCnkasA/TYonOdFiZ_I/AAAAAAAAADU/9T-vDZ1WjcY/s1600/newspaper-o100.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-jWplPCnkasA/TYonOdFiZ_I/AAAAAAAAADU/9T-vDZ1WjcY/s1600/newspaper-o100.png" /></a></div>Google is an amazing company. The speed at which they come out with amazing, cutting edge software is incredible. They provide the most comprehensive suite of applications in the cloud that I know of. The Google way of doing things is something that I am in awe of and hope to emulate in some of my own endeavors. To take some task or idea and simplify it to the point where it is intuitive to use, yet still very powerful, is Google's forte. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-M-fW0HCocr4/TYor9Szp7fI/AAAAAAAAADY/UlvGc_QMWsc/s1600/apps-80.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-M-fW0HCocr4/TYor9Szp7fI/AAAAAAAAADY/UlvGc_QMWsc/s1600/apps-80.png" /></a>Keeping up with all of the latest and greatest features of Google Apps is not easy. Many people ask me questions all the time about new features they notice in Gmail or Google Calendar. The beauty of having these applications living in the cloud is that you and I are always on the latest release of the software. These powerful, new features are instantly available as soon as they are ready for prime-time. The move to the cloud eases the burden on IT departments everywhere. Time and resources saved in pushing updates to all of your organizations' workstations alone can add up quickly. But how can we stay on top of all of these updates that Google is offering? Google has taken that complex task and simplified it the Google way.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://whatsnew.googleapps.com/home">What's New in Google Apps</a> is a new website dedicated to letting us know about the new features in Google Apps. It provides resources for staying on top of everything Google Apps including a release calendar, update feeds, release guides, and materials for users to get accustomed to the newest features. This is a great place to visit often to see what is going on in the Google Apps world!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-79383226877748074512011-01-12T11:27:00.000-08:002011-01-12T21:39:44.123-08:00Move IT to the Cloud<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bdwHKOXB804/TS391iO-FUI/AAAAAAAAACY/9JQBcgYbU-8/s1600/textlogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="81" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bdwHKOXB804/TS391iO-FUI/AAAAAAAAACY/9JQBcgYbU-8/s320/textlogo.png" width="320" /></a>One of the most common questions people ask when I talk to them about the services that CloudApp IT offers is, "Why should we move IT to the cloud?" This is a great question that deserves a simple answer that points out some of the many benefits, as well as some of the drawbacks, to moving IT infrastructure to cloud based solutions. After a few minutes of thought about the question, here is a list of pros and cons that I've come up with for moving yourself and your business to the cloud:<br />
<br />
Pros<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Mobility - access your data anywhere at any time</li>
<li>Affordability - cloud services are a fraction of the cost as on-premises infrastructure</li>
<li>Collaboration - teamwork is king in cloud computing</li>
<li>Integration - cloud based services often integrate with each other much better than desktop counterparts.</li>
<li>Scalability - a cloud can expand and contract along with your business effortlessly</li>
<li>Administration - less local infrastructure means less maintenance</li>
<li>Business speed - deployment becomes less of a burden and businesses can change technologies quickly to keep on the edge of their industry</li>
</ul><div>Cons</div><div><ul><li>Overwhelming - the cloud is a new technology that offers a new paradigm to solving IT problems that can seem new and unfamiliar</li>
<li>Limitations - the cloud has limitations, like bandwidth or performance hits, that make certain applications inappropriate for the cloud </li>
</ul></div><div><br />
</div><div>Both a pro and a con</div><div><ul><li>Reliability - you become dependent on someone else keeping your business going, but you're often in good hands (Google Apps for Business guarantees 99.9% uptime)</li>
<li>Security - web security risks will always be present, but, as with reliability, you often have smart people working to keep you safe (Google Apps for Business is SAS 70 type II certified, very secure)</li>
<li>Migration - while migration of smaller, manageable projects to the cloud is easy and robust, sometimes migration can be a bottleneck that will hinder a smooth transition to the cloud. </li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bdwHKOXB804/TS4AaU-F1EI/AAAAAAAAACc/jMD1cTV1va4/s1600/googleapps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bdwHKOXB804/TS4AaU-F1EI/AAAAAAAAACc/jMD1cTV1va4/s1600/googleapps.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>I've tried to be completely objective as I've attempted to make a quick list of some of the advantages and disadvantages associated with moving your business to the cloud. We here at CloudApp IT believe that the move to the cloud is the best decision your business can make to take advantage of the amazing technology available. The advantages of moving to the cloud, especially at this time, provide such a competitive edge. Collaboration, mobility, scalability, reliability, affordability... now is the time to move IT to the cloud!</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-80194627620051351042010-12-21T12:32:00.000-08:002010-12-21T12:32:18.620-08:00CloudApp IT, LLC on the web<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>CloudApp IT, LLC has been working diligently for the past few weeks to get everything in place to open its doors for business. One of the areas that we've been working on lately is our website. I've spent a little bit of time putting together a skeleton website so that people can get an idea of the types of services we offer. This page will serve as a home base for all things CloudApp now and in the future. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bdwHKOXB804/TRENb4Y2aFI/AAAAAAAAAB4/mfhwEiq2qNc/s1600/website.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bdwHKOXB804/TRENb4Y2aFI/AAAAAAAAAB4/mfhwEiq2qNc/s320/website.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.cloudappit.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">We're really excited to start helping small business make the jump into the world of enterprise class email and productivity suites. Click over to our website at <a href="http://www.cloudappit.com/">http://www.cloudappit.com</a> to see a little bit more about us and what we can do for you!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854715219366968618.post-36271019081058912042010-12-16T09:56:00.000-08:002010-12-16T09:56:54.726-08:00Welcome to the CloudCloudApp IT, LLC was founded this month by me, Dave, my wife, Chelsea, and my two brothers, Chris and Mike. We're excited as we start building relationships with our customers and offering enterprise class IT solutions to smaller businesses that may not be currently taking advantage of all the technology available to them. In my past ventures into the small business world, my companies have always used Google Apps and the infrastructure that Google provides for our IT needs. We've thought that this service was so great and helped our productivity so much that we decided to start extending a hand to other small businesses that might have the same needs that we had. Google Apps gives us the big IT infrastructure with none of the headache or worry about hardware. We can show you how to get the most out of Google Apps and how its enterprise services can help your business without the enterprise cost.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745487785281054221noreply@blogger.com0