When to begin testing, is a question that always leaves development teams wondering. Ideally, testing begins at the same time as development. When developers kick start a few user stories, testers should already be preparing test cases and plans for the same. This kind of look-ahead approach keeps the developers from prematurely calling a task “done” and automatically makes it a habit for everyone to call a deliverable complete only when it has been thoroughly tested.

Testing is not just the test engineer’s responsibility, instead it is the developer’s responsibility too. This thought has led to the evolution of a popular new software development technique called Test Driven Development. Read more about Test Driven Development HERE.

Last summer our mobile solutions division teamed up with Alvarado ISD’s Director of Technology, Kyle Berger, to create the district app for Alvarado school district. Mobile Education has been a hot topic over the last few years and the chatter shows no sign of slowing down in 2012.

Mobile apps are a great tool for education in a variety of ways. Whether your providing textbooks online, engaging students in educational games, or creating additional revenue streams through in-app advertising and booster club sales, apps are a powerful way to engage teachers, students, and parents right in the palm of your hand.

This past year was a social and mobile whirlwind. From Facebook timelines and the mobile photo craze to the death of the great Steve Jobs, the social mobile landscape is changing the way tech is evolving. With 2012 predictions pouring in as quickly as 2011 went, I thought I would take a look back at some of tech’s biggest predictions from just 5 years ago, then recap the year in tech and some of the top predictions for 2012.

A Look Back: The Hottest Predictions in Tech 2006

• WiFi Expansion: from mobile hot spots to city wide “hot zones” people will have wider access to the internet, but beware…you might have to pay a small fee.
• Video Blogging: with blogging already  hitting the mainstream 2006 will introduce Vlogging. People will start incorporating video more and more into their daily posts.
• Digital Living Rooms/Video on Demand: video will start to dominate not just bloggers lives, but your personal and business life as well. Not only will videos be accessible straight from your TV, but your TV will become fully customizable. Video will start to dominate your device with accessibility straight from your iPod and phone.
• Internet Phone Service: with companies like Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft getting into the internet phone service business, you’ll start to see discounted international and long distance rates and phone to phone internet calls available for free.
• Office to the Web: companies will be able to store important documents and information for their business on the internet. This will introduce more mobility and ease of access for the employer and their employees.

Recap: WiFi has definitely seen a massive expansion from customized hot spots to free access at some of your local hangouts.

With 48 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube every minute it’s safe to say that online video has shaped the way we view content online…and I don’t see it slowing down a second in 2012.

Improving technology give us easy access to the internet from our TVs, but with a massive surge in mobile and computer technology more and more people are using their devices to view videos and watch their favorite television shows online.

VoIP has exploded beyond a prediction to a worldwide commodity. Companies in every industry use internet phone services to conduct day to day business activities with clients all over the world. To throw in a quick example, VoIP technology is installed at every workstation at our NOC and TAC service centers here at WorldLink to help our employees communicate with our customers worldwide.

Advances in Cloud Computing and mobile technology enables employees to rely less and less on a daily office space. Companies are now allowing more employees to work remotely while utilizing apps like iCloud, Google Docs and Skype to communicate.

The Top Tech Trends of 2011

Technology and advances in mobility will continue to move at a lightning speed pace over the next few years. So for a recap of the year in tech, check out this lovely Infographic from the people at GPlus. Don’t forget to check out next year’s predictions below the Infographic from Mashable’s Pete Cashmore.

Pete Cashmore, the founder and CEO of Mashable.com, has put together the follow predictions for 2012.

• Touch Computing
• Social Gestures
• NFC (Near Field Communication) & Mobile Payments
• Beyond the iPad
• TV Everywhere
• Voice Control
• Spatial Gestures
• Second Screen Experiences
• Flexible Screens
• HTML 5

What did you think the biggest trends in tech were in 2011, and what are your predictions for 2012? Let me know in the comment field below.

Say Cheese!

SorrisoOrtho, created by WorldLink Apps, is intended to WOW! the orthodontic experience for the patient, the parent, and the orthodontist. SorrisoOrtho captures your smile throughout your entire orthodontic experience and creates a fun video for you to share with your friends and family. Let the countdown begin to beautiful, pearly whites!

WorldLink partnered with industry leading orthodontists to create an effective application that will keep you on track, on time, and in touch with your dentist during the entire process.

Orthodontists use SorrisoOrtho to give instructions to kids and parents by recording videos right from the patient’s chair! If mom can’t make the appointment – send the video.  Patients can also send treatment updates to keep dentists involved in the process.

Patient Features

• Time Lapse Smile – creates a video of your changing smile, day by day
• Smile Countdown – tells you exactly when braces come off!
• Clear Aligners – create a custom changing schedule with alerts!
• Reminders – sends alerts to your phone to keep treatment on time
• Updates – sends pictures instantly to Facebook!
• Videos – create videos about you and your smile

Orthodontist Features

• Your logo in the app when registered on www.SorrisoOrtho.com
• Powerful practice marketing
• List your referring dentists*
• Communicate with dentists* and parents in a matter of seconds at the chair
• High tech with high touch, no more letters!

Parent Features

• Track multiple kids
• Time Lapse Smile for each of your kids!
• Appointments sync to iPhone calendar
• Reminders to keep your child motivated
• Quick and easy communication with your doctor

*Doctor subscription required

Visit www.SorrisoOrtho.com for more details

Download the app HERE

There’s been a lot of chatter recently about the sustainability of social media and mobile apps. Over the last decade the term “social media” has evolved into more than a place to connect with friends, but into a vehicle to connect with brands and businesses of every size on a deeper level. Social media is more than a fad, it’s a layer of communication between businesses and their customers that is now becoming an expectation.

So where does mobility fit into the equation? Not only are your customers online, they’re browsing the web more than ever via their mobile phones.

The Mobile Landscape

Mobile usage across the US has reached an all time high and even though Smartphones have yet to dominate the mobile market, usage is seeing a steady upward climb.

Let’s revisit some mobile stats previously presented in our post Mobility & the Way We Browse the Web:

• global mobile usage has reached upwards of 4 billion
• 27% of global mobile users have a Smartphone (up 60% from the previous year)
• by 2014 the mobile internet is expected to exceed desktop usage
• one half of all local searches occur on a mobile device
• 29% of mobile users will scan a mobile tag for coupon offers
• 86% of mobile users are on their mobile device while watching TV
• 91% of mobile users access their device to socialize

The social landscape

It’s a fact that our world is more social than ever. Sharing, tweeting, searching…consumers have information right at their fingertips, and they’re using it. Brands that aren’t using social media are missing out on important conversations – conversations that could include negative or positive reviews about your products and services.

Let’s go to the numbers:

Social Media Users

• Facebook: 750 million
• Twitter: 200 million registered
• LinkedIn: 115 million
• Google+: 43 million
• Foursquare: 10 million
• Yelp: over 20 million reviews

the connection

CONNECT –> LISTEN –> IMPLEMENT

Whether or not social media is your cup of tea the fact is your customers are talking about you today! So what are you doing about it?

Let’s take an example of a small pool store who isn’t engaged in social media.

[Insert name] local pool store hasn’t been very kind to some loyal neighborhood customers. Let’s call them John and Jane for this example. John and Jane have been loyal customers for years, supporting the local pool store instead of the nationwide chain up the street. This week John went in for his usual water inspection and the store employees didn’t feel like dealing with John’s small request today. They shrugged him off and treated John like a small fish in their big pond. John demanded to speak with the owner who then came out and expressed to John that they were busy today and he wasn’t a big enough customer.

Outraged, John went home and vented his frustrations to Jane. Jane, who had also been in the store many times (to purchase merchandise), angrily grabbed her Smartphone and started tweeting, posting, and reviewing. The local pool store wasn’t listed on a very popular review site, so Jane’s review was the very first one that showed up. Soon it started to spread that the local pool store wasn’t very neighborhood friendly, and that customers might be better off at the national chain down the street. A year later the local pool store saw the review and reached out to John to please remove it because it was effecting business in a negative way.

Not only was the owner of the pool store unaware of the bad review for more than a year, but his lack of engagement in social media was actually hurting his brand in return.

So now that the importance of social media has been hammered in, what does this have to do with mobile apps? Not only are customers using mobile technology to preach about your brand, when they want to engage with you they expect you to be mobile.

Establishing a mobile  presence, albeit a mobile site or mobile app, will keep not only your brand engaged with your customer base, but it will create additional opportunities to market and promote your brand.

Here are some examples of how social media and mobile apps interact:

• E-Commerce – browse and purchase a product straight from the app
• Side by side product comparison
• Offers & coupons
• Customer Service
• In-store promotions – utilizing area based advertising to reward foot traffic

Not only is it crucial to stay socially engaged, but by providing a mobile presence to your customers you are keeping them engaged with your brand.

How has social media and mobility affected your business? Let us know in the comment section below.

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Synopsis – Help Save Farmer Joe

In a small Midwestern town, farmer Joe and his orchard farm have fallen on hard times. Last season was abundant for Joe and his family, but this year mother-nature is raring her ugly fist and causing farmer Joe great distress.

The changing winds and odd weather in the Midwest has produced an abnormal amount of creepy critters on the farm. Squirrels and woodpeckers, frogs and monkeys…even Toucans and Sloths are eating their way through farmer Joe’s crop. The orchard farm needs your help.

Harvest all 40 levels of crop to help save Joe from bankruptcy. Hurry and get started before another batch of apples fall victim to another worm infestation.

Farmer Joe’s Fruit Harvest Contest

Download the Farmer Joe’s Fruit Harvest app, then successfully play all levels to unlock the contest. Click on the Contest button after you finish the final level and accept the agreement. Each randomly selected winner will receive a fruit basket. Please review the full contest rules here>

Farmer Joe’s Fruit Harvest is available on iTunes for 99 cents! DOWNLOAD HERE

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Key Features:

• Personalized experience specific to your current feelings
• 7 categories to choose from, each with a specific prayer
• Favorites
• Post verse to Facebook wall
• Email share
• SMS text share
• App remembers last favorite viewed, displays new one
• Encouraging commentary on each verse

Requirements:

• Compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch
• Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later

Download Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds

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It’s the start of a new school year for thousands of students across the country, and 98% of returning high school students have access to a Smartphone. Instead of fighting mobility in schools it’s time to embrace it – and today’s technology leaders are doing just that. Educators from kindergarten to the collegiate level are integrating mobile technology into their every day curriculum.

Children as young as 2 years old can be seen playing educational games and increasing their motor skills on a mobile device. With the iGeneration being raised in a socially integrated, technological world, it’s a prime time for developers to seize the opportunities in mobile learning.

Here are some examples of the many ways you can use apps to educate kids, teens, and college age students alike:

Apps for Small Children

• iWriteWords is a game used to help children develop their handwriting skills. The lite version is available for free and the full version can be downloaded for $2.99.
• Peekaboo Barn is a game used to help children identity different types of farm animals. The lite version is available for free and the full version can be downloaded for $1.99.
• TeachMe is a series of educational apps that teach young children different subjects based upon their education level. There are three separate applications available for 99 cents; toddler, kindergarten, and first grade.
• Kids Math Ace is an app that teaches children how to count, add, and subtract, using visual guidance and tools. The lite version is available for free and the full version can be downloaded for 99 cents.
• Story Builder is an interactive and creative application used to help children improve paragraph formation, integration of ideas, and improve higher level abstractions by inference. The app is available for download for $3.99.

Apps for Middle to High School Students

• Flash Cards Deluxe is a flashcard app designed as a study tool for students. The lite version is available for free and the full version can be downloaded for $3.99.
• Molecules is designed to view 3-dimensional renderings of molecules with the ability to manipulate them with your fingers. The app is available for free.
• Blackboard Mobile Learn works with Blackboard’s web-based teaching and learning software. The app is free to download once your school has enabled the software.
• Star Walk turns your device into a stargazing tool to view stars, constellations, and satellites in real time. The app is available to download for $2.99.
• iHomework is a tool used to keep students organized and up-to-date with their daily homework, grades, to-do’s, and teacher information. The app is available to download for $1.99.

Colleges are also taking note of the exploding mobile market and using creative ways to interact with their students. In 2008 Abilene Christian University starting equipping their students with iPods and iPhones. Now, they are incorporating iPads into their mobile program. They have offered everything from interactive theater productions, to lecture podcasts as ways to stay in-tune with an increasingly connected student body.

According to a report created by onlineeducation.net, 38% of college students can’t go more then 10 minutes without connecting to an electronic device. Students will continue to expect mobile programs in their daily curriculum while veering further away from the old days of pen, paper, and textbooks.

6 Positive Results of Tablets in the Classroom*

1. Tablets are an optimum way to show textbooks
2. Students expect the technology (classrooms are ready)
3. The devices fit students’ lifestyles
4. Tablets have the software to remain competitive
5. Tables have the ability to integrate with current education IT trends (i.e. cloud computing)
6. Tablets are becoming more and more available (extending beyond the iPad)

90% of college students who own tablets feel like the devices are a more efficient way to study.

Technology is only moving forward. Educators who embrace the technology to enhance involvement and learning will benefit students and the younger generations entering their school age years.

*Resource – mashable.com

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Mobile apps aren’t just for check-ins and increasing revenue streams, they’re also monitoring your blood pressure and even mapping out a detailed view of your skeletal system.

The app industry has catered to everyone from gamers and music lovers, to the avid traveler and everybody in between since the inception of the app store in 2008. Over the last few years we’ve seen some amazing applications use some incredible technology, and the medical industry is no different.

According to Research2Guidance 2010, 500 million smartphone users worldwide will be using a health care application by 2015.* According to those stats it should come as no surprise that nearly 72% of physicians have tossed their beloved beepers for a Smartphone. With the mobile health market expected to hit $9.6 billion by 2012 there’s no doubt we’ll continue to see an increase in mobility for physician and patient use.

Here are just a few examples of how the medical industry can utilize mobile technology to assist physicians in day-to-day tasks:

• Epocrates is a drug reference resource for thousands of prescriptions. Features include clinical information, BMI & GFR calculators, drug interaction checker, and many more. The initial download is free with the option of a premium service upgrade.
• Skyscape Medical Resources is a decision-support tool that includes drug information, medical calculators, and clinical information on more than 850 topics. The initial download is free with the option of a premium service upgrade and in-app purchases.
• Mobile MIM provides wireless and portable access to medical images for those using SPECT, PET, CT, and MRI systems. Mobile MIM allows you to store, share, and view images using MIM specialized workstation software. The app is free.
• iChart EMR is an electronic medical record system used to track and manage patients. Some of the features include the ability to write prescriptions, track labs and studies, and look up CPT4 and ICD9 codes. The app is $139.99.
• 3D4Medical.Com’s suite of apps utilizes 3D technology to showcase some incredible imagery of the human body. 3D4 Medical has over 15 apps on the iPhone and iPad giving in-depth views of the Musculoskeletal, Nervous, Digestive, and Cardiovascular systems. Apps range from free up to $6.99.

Medical apps aren’t just for aiding patients. You don’t need a doctor to check your symptoms if you aren’t feeling well, or even to track and monitor your diabetes. Mobile apps are keeping patients informed while leading them down the path to better health.

Here are a few examples of how medical apps impact the lives of the everyday mobile user:

• WebMD was released in 2008 and has been downloaded over 5 million times. Key features include symptom checker, drugs & treatments, pill identification tool, local health listings and many more. The app can be downloaded for free.
• What to Expect is a series of apps geared towards pregnancy and parenthood. From fertility to birth What to Expect lets you log, track, and get informed on your unborn child or new addition to the family. There are 4 apps in the series; baby, fertility, pregnancy, and baby name. All of the apps can be downloaded individually, for free.
• iTriage is a symptom checker, doctor finder, and medical reference tool. iTriage guides you throughout the entire process of pin-pointing the illness, finding a doctor, directing you to the location, and even showcasing the ER wait times for particular hospitals. The app can be downloaded for free.
• Blood Pressure Monitor – Family for iPad is a health tracking app that monitors and tracks blood pressure, weight, and heart beat rate. The app also utilizes iTunes file sharing to import your existing medical information into the app. Blood Pressure Monitor has a free version as well as a Pro version available for $1.99.
• Diabetes Buddy – Control Your Blood Sugar helps you manage your diabetes by tracking, monitoring, planning, and sharing your data with a health care professional. The food database houses over 200,000 food recommendations as well as a customized food feature, search, and recipe builder. There is a free and paid version for $4.99.

What are some of your favorite medical/health apps? Let us know in the comments field below.

Resources: FDA News Release, July 2011

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