One App – Many Phones

Posted by admin on Jan 17, 2012 in Blog, Services

The idea of multi-OS (offering an app on multiple operating systems, like Android, BlackBerry and iPhone) is often spoken of as an expensive dream rather than a current reality. At Asendu Mobile Studio, we’ve perfected the art of designing once, using affordable and accessible technologies, and then quickly deploying complete, native apps to each and every platform that matters. (For those of you biased against certain platforms, that even includes Windows phones, Symbian and more!)

“But wait!”, you shout, “I don’t want some crap template that looks horrible and does nothing.” Believe me, neither do we. I am talking about apps with beautiful design work, full access to GPS location, the camera, address book and more. Real, creative, unique and compelling apps – where the only difference is that we’ve figured out how to do it faster and more efficiently so that you save money, avoid headaches and have access to *all* of your customers, not just the lucky ones who own one type of phone.

Here’s the grid so you can see all of the available features side-by-side. Contact us to learn more. (Click the image to view it larger)

Vivastream – mobile is the secret sauce

Posted by admin on Sep 8, 2011 in Blog, Products

Earlier this summer, Asendu partnered up with a new startup company called Vivastream. We were introduced by referral, and almost immediately both sides saw the potential. Vivastream was building a very aggressive application that would make meeting and connecting with [the RIGHT] people at conferences or events super simple. But the key to this service is mobile – everyone’s *at* the event. Even though the Vivastream servers are crunching all sorts of relevant data, if the attendees can’t access it right where they need it then it starts to fall apart.

Multiple partners worked together to complete the entire mobile suite of apps, supporting Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile, Nokia and mobile browsers. Whew! Asendu Mobile Studio worked on the BlackBerry client and the Android version (launching later this Fall). The BlackBerry app supports all BlackBerry devices running OS v5.0 or higher, and it works perfectly on landscape, portrait, touch and non-touch screens.

Vivastream gives you the tools you’d expect at an event, like sessions and topics and so on. But the similarity to other apps ends there. Viva gets you interacting with content, with speakers and presenters and most importantly builds a list of the most important people you ought to connect with. Of course the options to connect with them are in the app, or you can stalk them old-school in person at the reception (eww, creepy). Make temporary connections, or make long-term business relationships. Now you have the tools to do it effectively.

As Vivastream continues to partner with more and more event companies, soon the next event you attend may be your most productive. Viva!

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Reward Your School (client example)

Posted by admin on Sep 8, 2011 in Blog, Products

A large consumer packaged food products company and their customer resource management firm were referred to us for some mobile app work. It turned out that their needs were pretty complex – involving multiple operating systems, support for multiple languages, backend server API’s, user account management and more. And what they were hoping was that Asendu could take the complexity, tuck and hide it away and leave the user with a simple, accessible app that they use over and over again. We delivered with “Reward Your School”.

The app was built in stages, per the client’s needs, but has just completed launching across all three major smartphone platforms. Reward Your School With Bonus Boxtops is now available on Android, BlackBerry and iPhone. The app works in English and in Spanish, and is Free for all users. Now parents have an easy way to earn Bonus Box Top money for their child’s school on products they buy every day!

Even though the app is fairly new, thousands have already downloaded it and are actively earning extra money for their local school. Users can register online at http://www.rewardyourschool.com or from within the app. The Boxtops for Education program is exclusive to the United States. Reward Your School works in conjunction with the following grocery stores: Kroger, Ralphs, King Soopers, City Market, Smith’s, Dillons, Owen’s, Fry’s, QFC, Baker’s, Jay C, Hilander, Gerbes, Pay Less, Scott’s and Fred Meyer.

Go get the app and use it. Tell other parents. Tell your school PTA/PTO organizations. Let’s get the word out for a great cause – our children’s education!

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Brand name – branded apps

Posted by admin on Aug 9, 2011 in Blog, Services

A new report by Deloitte* states that more than three quarters of mobile app users expect brand-name companies to offer a branded app. Not only that, but they expect that app to offer a more user-friendly experience than the company’s mobile website. (We won’t even mention how many of you don’t yet have a mobile-formatted website.)  From a historical perspective, the vast majority of branded mobile apps have fallen into one of two categories: Games and Utilities. Brands really can’t compete with dedicated mobile game developers and publishers in the current app environment, which means they must stake their claim in the utilities segment.

The brands that can pull it off pose a serious threat to the present app store status quo. Discovery remains the leading challenge facing mobile software developers. With nearly 500,000 applications in the iTunes App Store alone, it’s virtually impossible for consumers to find apps with unfamiliar names or titles created by poorly promoted developers. Branded applications don’t suffer from that dilemma. Plug a familiar consumer brand keyword into an app’s name and its discoverability explodes. It’s sort of like search engine optimization, only optimized for the app stores instead. Consumer brands also enjoy the kinds of marketing opportunities and advertising budgets that startups can only dream about. They can promote their apps in their television commercials, print ads and billboards, in direct marketing efforts, in stores and on the labels of their products.

The way forward for brands is to release apps that have real functionality, solving a problem for users or providing features that are genuinely meaningful. Pizza Express’ iPhone app, which enables people to book tables and pay for their food, falls into that category. Tesco Groceries is another: in fact, most of the large retailers’ apps have majored on functionality rather than pure brand messages. While Carling’s iPint novelty app success seems attractive, they are definitely the exception and not the rule.

Do you have a well-known and beloved brand? Online and mobile apps are what your fans are expecting, and Asendu Mobile Studio can deliver the right solution for you. Contact us to learn more.

* The Deloitte report was based on analysis of apps published on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry by big healthcare and consumer brands. Deloitte says that less than 1% of these apps have been downloaded more than one million times, and that only 20% had been downloaded enough to be considered for its survey. Or, to put that latter stat another way: 80% of branded apps analyzed by Deloitte had been downloaded less than 1,000 times. This, despite the fact that every month, the three stores in the study generate 1.6bn downloads – 1bn for Apple’s App Store, 500m for Google’s Android Market and 90m for Research In Motion’s BlackBerry App World. ”Brands view apps as a golden opportunity to communicate directly with consumers and in a more meaningful, long term manner,” says Howard Davies, media partner at Deloitte. “When brands get it right, the returns can be huge.” The problem appears to be that most are getting it wrong.

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Complete mobile app development team

Posted by admin on Jul 6, 2011 in Blog, Services

Asendu Mobile Studio is a full service development company focused on serving and advising our clients, long-term relationships and amazing mobile, social and browser apps! Over 90% of our clients come from referrals, and nearly 100% of those have returned for repeat business. We have a skilled development team that has worked on pretty much every mobile feature, function or option available. We’ve done mobile payments, in-field data capture, real-time messaging, data feeds, Twitter and Facebook integrations, other 3rd party integrations, user accounts, leaderboards, gaming, coupons, barcode scanning, mobile web sites, mobile web inside of apps, app distribution, publishing, promotion and so much more.

From iOS (including iPad, iPhone and iPod) to Android phones and tablets to BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, mobile browser and beyond. Our team is here to meet your needs. We’ll tell you when something else will fit your requirements. We don’t build it unless we would build it that way for ourselves. So you get the best possible app and best possible price with the most possible experience backing it up (the CEO has over 13 years of mobile experience, from back in the 2-way pager days, but don’t tell him we told you how old that makes him!)

Contact us today to see how Asendu can get you from here to mobile. info @ asendu . com (without the spaces of course)

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Full APP capability, tiny WEB pricing

Posted by admin on Jul 6, 2011 in Blog, Services

Asendu Mobile Studio has perfected a merger between the rapid, cost-effective web design process and true, native mobile apps that can be submitted to the app stores! If you were thinking about building an app – for your company, your product, your brand campaign – and have held off due to complexity or cost or confusion, then wait no longer. We can take existing web content, create new content and even design an entire app (yes, an app with location, video, graphics and more) and then package it up to be submitted. The user sees a full app, content is available as soon as the app is launched – unlike inside the web browser – and you can build-to-launch quick and even often if you want.

You get to launch on practically every device type and app store immediately. We support iOS (iPhone & iPod), Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian and more. We can support regional languages and multiple variations and builds. Contact us today to get your app onto the app stores right away.

info @ asendu . com

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Announcing Mobile Payment Options

Posted by admin on Jul 5, 2011 in Blog, Services

Asendu Mobile Studio has added a director of mobile payments to our team. This person was responsible for building the first BlackBerry mobile Point-of-Sale solution, and also for the creation of Apple retail’s EasyPay mobile iPod Point-of-Sale solution (the same one you’ve probably been checked out on at any Apple store worldwide). These solutions have transacted hundreds of millions of dollars in retail business to consumers. They are also used in transportation, charity, food service, hospitality, field service and so many more industries.

And now your company can integrate these same payment components into existing or new mobile solutions. If you have an app idea, or one that already exists, the Asendu team can help you get to a reliable, secure deployment. We can add or insert any component of mobile credit, debit, cash and check transactions or point-of-sale management into your applications.

Contact us today to find out more about mobile payment options: info @ asendu . com.

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