With the aid of various members of their online community, Armadillo Studios is very proud to release to the world a new revamped version of the popular “CalgaryPuck.com”:http://www.calgarypuck.com.

As the largest online community for Calgary Flames Fans, “CalgaryPuck.com”:http://www.calgarypuck.com is a critical resource for many. On any given moment, thousands of loyal and dedicated hockey fans are utilizing their “extensive forums”:http://forum.calgarypuck.com to discuss a variety of topics and reading about the latest Flames game or draft pick on their news feed.

As a volunteer driven site, CalgaryPuck.com was in desperate need of a dramatic overhaul and web 2.0 update. With the help of the owners and members of the community; The Armadillo Team developed a customized WordPress theme which enhanced the readability of the site, while enabling a more natural navigation. This new theme also incorporates a snapshot of the activity on the popular forums and better integrates the site’s advertising demands. In addition, the Content Management System has simplified article publishing, while creating a usable RSS feed for frequent readers.

Armadillo Studios was proud to work with CalgaryPuck and is happy to contribute to this engaging community.

So after a few months as a temporary splash page, “speedspecialists.com”:http://www.speedspecialists.com is now officially live.

As mentioned previously, Speedspecialists.com is the new home of Concept 3 & Stefan Dalberg. This new site is designed to showcase the upcoming projects of Concept 3 (Commercials Production, Ice Boat Construction, & Upcoming Events) and the talents of Stefan Dalberg. It’s was built as a dynamic personal/corporate blog which incorporates embedded video clips of Concept 3’s commercial ice boating work and an easy to use picture gallery of their custom built iceboats.

Powered by the WordPress CMS, speedspecialists.com allows Stefan and the Concept 3 group to post news blurbs, add photos, and embed the latest video with ease. We’ve also added an RSS feed, a feature clip image and also a AJAX based Contact Us form.

We are proud to launch Speedspecialists.com and include it in our growing family of web sites.

Here’s a quick question for small businesses to consider; why is the news of “Roger’s decision to finally support the iPhone in Canada”:http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080429.wrogersstaff0429/BNStory/Business/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080429.wrogersstaff0429 important news for your business?

Well, ponder this. Apple’s iPod popularity over the past few years has been well document and it’s dominance on the portable music market in Canada is undeniable. With Roger’s decision to finally support the iPhone in Canada, Apple seems poised to once again alter the dynamics of the prosperous Cellular phone market. But more importantly for the iPhone to work, there needs to be a major shift in wireless cell phone data rates in Canada; thereby making it cheaper and easier for people to surf the web on the their cell phones.

It is this element of Rogers’ announcement that is critical news for your business. As data rates decreases and the technology for cell phone based web browsing grows; users will be doing more surfing away from the comforts of home or their office. Instead, users will be surfing the net waiting for flights or on their daily commute. Heck they could be checking their email while at a concert or twittering their friends about the night’s activities.

With one of the highest rates of broadband usage in the world, Canadians already spend a majority of their time surfing the net. Whether it’s at work or at home. Simply put – we are a wired nation. Now with reduced cell phone data rates, the ability to surf the net from any location will allow users more time to browse the internet. That’s where it be comes imperative that your web site is designed with cell phone browsers in mind.

No mater what type of business you run, your web site needs to be compatible with all browsers. More importantly *your web site* must be compatible with Safari and Opera browsers (The common iPhone browsers) and mobile devices in general. The best way to ensure your site is compatible is to have it developed in Web Standards or in an HTML/CSS combo. A complicated Flash web site will not function as well in mobile browser and will not provide users with the information they need. While a CSS/Web Standards based site will still provide both regular desktop users and mobile users with the information they both need.

Armadillo Studios already builds our web sites with mobile devices in mind. But as the demand for the iPhone increases we will be moving towards “enhancing our sites”:http://www.bittbox.com/general-web-design/have-a-website-its-time-to-add-a-webclip-icon/ to fully embrace mobile technology. If you are interested in adapting your web site for the mobile web, give us an email at info@armadillostudios.ca.

Two years ago, South By Southwest was sparsely attended by only a handful of Canadians. Even worse there was only a mere three attendees from Calgary and the Southern Alberta region. This year there was an encouraging boost in the number of Canadians at the conference. Even more encouraging was the dramatic increase in the number of Calgarians and viable Calgary centric corporations. Companies like “istockphoto”:http://www.istockphotos.com, “veer”:http://www.veer.com, “DigitalArts Alberta”:http://www.digitalalberta.com/, and “Cambrian House”:http://cambrianhouse.com had a strong presence at the conference.

One of the most explosive and interesting panels from Monday’s SXSW session was the “Blame Canada Panel”:http://2008.sxsw.com/interactive/programming/panels_schedule/?action=show&id=IAP060310 which explored the 7 reasons Canada is ahead in New Media Development. Containing five, top new media experts in Canada, the panel spoke to the largely Canadian audience about the advantages and disadvantages of startups in Canada. It explored the dynamics of a small population base, spread out over a large landmass. It also explored the many benefits of our strong government supported initiatives. Including the important S.R.E.D fund.

But the real fireworks came at the end of the session, when a challenge regarding Canada’s _actual industry presence_ was brought fourth. Which brought up some valid points on Canada’s percentile representation at SXSW and our representation in the Industry as a success. Many valid points were presented on both sides. By the end of the session a strong sense of accomplishment and _we can do more_ was really explored.

As a company based in Southern Alberta, it was very interesting to connect and see some of the strong activity occurring in Calgary. It was a great opportunity to meet with the people from “Digital Alberta”:http://www.digitalalberta.com and see the strong work they are doing to promote the industry in Southern Alberta.

Armadillo Studios is pleased to release “the fourth version”:http://www.music-critic.ca/wp/ of the *Music-critic.ca web site*.

Building on the growing popularity of *Music-critic.ca*, this new layout incorporates many of the latest trends in the Web 2.0 market. Including:

*A Tag Cloud* – For easier category navigation.
*Social Book Marking* – To allow users to save their favorite reviews or share them with their friends.
*A stronger WordPress integration* – For simpler publishing and control over the various elements of the site.
*AJAX* – A stronger AJAX based contest system to provide greater security.

Here at the studio we are extremely proud of the newest redesign and the exciting elements that are embedded in this latest update. We look forward to taking the lessons learned from this large undertaking and incorporating them into our latest services.

If you like to learn more about the newest features to the Music-critic site, feel free to contact us at info@armadillostudios.ca and we’d be happy to share our experiences.