Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
More and more, we’re seeing iOS development shops here in town embrace the Android platform, porting popular iPhone and iPad apps over to comparable non-Apple hardware. It makes sense. Especially as Android continues to build an impressive market share. Read More
The Northwest Major League Soccer fans, they love their technology and their startups. It’s something John Cook of Geekwire in Seattle has mentioned a number of times with regards to the Sounders fans. And the Timbers Army? They’re no different.
In fact, the Portland Timbers are so techie, they offer not one, but two mobile apps now. And the latest instantiation—the Timbers’ JELD-WEN Field in Meridian—offers a ton of interesting and useful information. Read More
Portland based Urban Airship has been leading the market in push notifications for the iOS platform on iPhones and iPads and now the Android platform.
You know me. I like to claim that Portland is the de facto hub of any number of scenes. Open source. Branch offices. Microbreweries. Strip… ahem. But when it comes to claiming we’re the de facto hub of the mobile development scene, that’s about as defensible as can be. And today, it got even more, um, defensibler.
You see, today, Portland-based Urban Airship—a company that has been leading the market in push notifications for the iOS platform on iPhones and iPads—happened to announce the availability of embedded push notifications on the Android platform. And that, my friends, is kind of a big deal. Read More
Introducing PDX Reporter, a new Android app designed to report problems directly to the city of Portland, Oregon, quickly and easily.
Portland has declared itself an open city. It has worked hard to champion open source, open its data, and look for new and interesting ways to get more involved in the open source software community.
But to report a problem to the City with a mobile app? Well, that took an iPhone—a notably proprietary system. That was, until now. Introducing PDX Reporter, a new Android app designed to report problems directly to the city, quickly and easily. Read More
The City of Portland is ready to test an app for the open source Android operating system. Got an Android device? Want to help the City test its app? Right this way.
[HTML1]Remember back when the City of Portland launched an iPhone app? Remember one of the first questions out of the gates? That’s right. When was the City going to offer apps on other platforms?
Well, the City of Portland has been working on those other platforms and devices. And now, they’re ready to test an app for the open source Android operating system. (Or maybe not so “open.”) Got an Android device? Want to help the City test its app? Right this way. Read More
[HTML1]Sure, sure. The world of mobile apps is in the midst of a veritable gold rush. It’s a market that has the potential to make individual developers and small businesses rich beyond their wildest dreams.
But just like the original gold rush, there are a few problems with getting to that gold. The primary one is a little problem people are calling “discoverability.” That is, in a world of apps, how do people find yours? The other is retention. Or once they have the app, how do you keep users using it?
Well, Portland’s Urban Airship may have just solved both of those problems—for the Android platform. Read More
While iPhone and Android app Waze isn’t Portland based, having Di-Ann working there does give us a Portland tie. And now there’s another opportunity to put Portland on the Waze map literally.
When it comes to geogeeking here in Portland, most everyone knows about Platial, one of the original social mapping efforts that was founded right here in the Silicon Forest. But what you may not know is that Platial’s cofounder and chair, Di-Ann Eisnor, is hard at work with another geolocation company called Waze.
While Waze isn’t Portland-based, having Di-Ann working there does give us a Portland tie. And now, there’s another opportunity to put Portland on the Waze map—literally. Di-Ann is inviting you to give Waze a test drive and provide feedback on the mobile. And the reward for your hard work? A free pie from the Whiffies food cart for participating drivers. Now, what could be more Portland-y than that? Read More
If you don’t think that’s the weirdest headline I’ve ever written, I’ll give you five bucks. But you have to cite the weirder one.
Portland-based Jive Software has just announced that Android, a free mobile platform designed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance, incorporates Jive’s open-source eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) library, Smack.
Recently Gato, the lead engineer for Jive’s Real Time team, came across this post from Davanum Srinivas that talks about how to use the Smack XMPP library built into Android. Smack’s inclusion in Android was news to us, but we’re honored that our work will be included in one of the most anticipated technology releases in the mobile world since the iPhone.
What’s that mean? Well, in simple terms, it means that, in the future, Jive’s contribution to the project could be helping to power instant messaging on millions of mobile phones.
For more information, see the original post about Android and Smack or the Jive posting. Paul Biggs also covers the announcement, as does Metafluence and Fast Wonder.