WVU Urgent Care Now Available for iOS

This past summer WVU Urgent Care released their first mobile app for Android users on Google Play.

The WVU Urgent Care app is a great way to get the latest on the complete range of medical treatment available for minor illnesses and injuries. Check current wait times, store important health info, and learn more about their services and many others available through WVU Healthcare. Users can also use GPS navigation to locate the clinic and submit feedback regarding their visit.

The app is now available to DOWNLOAD FOR FREE on the Apple App Store.

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The Bellomy Group Presents, Landman, Now Available for iPad!

Landmen everywhere rejoice! The Bellomy Group and WorldLink Apps teamed up to present Landman for the iPad! Landman is an efficient tool that allows a user to chain mineral title, generate ownership reports, visualize ownership change through a flowchart, capture images of documents, and streamline the entire process of checking mineral title.

The first Landman App for the iPad is a useful tool that will improve the efficiency of the field and in-house Landman. The Landman App consolidates all of the tedious processes of running title and determining mineral ownership into one simple application.

You will be able to create runsheets, flowcharts, and ownership reports in a fraction of the time, allowing you to beat the competition in executing that oil and gas lease.

Click the icon to download from the Apple App Store today! 

WVU Urgent Care Now Available for Android

WVU Healthcare and WorldLink Apps have joined forces to bring you the WVU Urgent Care mobile app for Android.

The WVU Urgent Care app is a great way to get the latest on the complete range of medical treatment available for minor illnesses and injuries. Check current wait times, store important health info, and learn more about their services and many others available through WVU Healthcare. Users can also use GPS navigation to locate the clinic and submit feedback regarding their visit.

Download for free from your Android device now to connect with WVU Urgent Care!

Introducing Cedar Hill ISD: School in Your Pocket

Cedar Hill ISD and WorldLink Apps collaborated to bring you School in Your Pocket for the Cedar Hill Independent School District. With Key Features like district events, online bully reporting, school calendars, and Skyward access right at your fingertips, parents, teachers, and students are more connected then ever before.

Departmental information and touch to call makes it easier to connect with the appropriate school associate.

The Cedar Hill ISD mobile app is available to download, for free, on the Google Play app store and iTunes. Click the icons below to be redirected to the appropriate app store.

Development Tip of the Day: When do I start testing?

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.

School in Your Pocket [Video]

 

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.

The Social Mobile Movement

Keeping your customers socially engaged with mobile apps!

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.

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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

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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

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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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Photo of social media icons: credit http://www.loyola.edu/

Photo of various smartphones by Phil Roeder: credit http://agentgenius.com/ 

Photo of customers tweeting: credit http://hackettsbistro.wordpress.com/

Introducing Farmer Joe’s Fruit Harvest: Now on iTunes

I’m excited to announce WorldLink Apps’ first mobile game developed for the iPhone. For our first game we wanted to develop something that was aesthetically pleasing to the eye, challenging, and fun for all ages. Thus, Farmer Joe’s Fruit Harvest was born.

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

Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds Released on iTunes

Derived from the popular iTalk to God series, released in September of 2009, Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds is now available on iTunes for free. GTGWGD facilitates a personal and meaningful conversation between the user and Ahura Mazda. Ahura Mazda is the highest deity of worship in Zoroastrianism. The app also contains the 101 names for Ahura Mazda.

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

Mobile Learning in the Classroom

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.

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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.

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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.

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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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