Today Team Armadillo is incredibly excited to announce the launch of our very first iOS App – “The People Power App from the The International Center For Non-Violent Conflict”:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-people-power-app/id569738326?ls=1&mt=8.

Earlier this year, we were approached by members of “The International Center of Non-violent Conflict”:http://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/ to help create a unique iPhone app that would act as an aggregate for their various information outlets. The team wanted a customized app that would not only allow users to share the organizations incredible amount of unique data, but also a tool that would allow users to watch videos, download their paper _Civil Resistance: A First Look_, connect on social media networks and subscribe the latest news from the organization. The app also had to feature the upcoming redesign of the organization and their new branding scheme.

So we hand crafted an iOS app that would meet all of their goals. *The People Power App* is a unique tool that incorporates all the organization’s online identities in one single program to allow users to connect with the centre on the go. Users can see the latest news digest information, subscribe to the organization’s newsletter and learn about various non-violent conflicts across the world. Users can then share all elements of the app with friends and family to raise awareness of these crucial events and issues. The app also works across a wide spectrum of iPhone products including iPod Touch 3rd & 4th Generation platforms and of course for the iPhone 4, 4S and iPhone 5.

We are incredibly honored and excited to be apart of this project. Not only because this our first major foray into the iOS App development world, after years of sitting on the sidelines, but because this is a cause and organization that we admire. It has been an absolute pleasure working with ICNC and we look forward to continue to develop the app and improve their online presence.

*The People Power App* is now available to download. Please feel free to download and share your feed back with us.

It’s been quite the week here at Armadillo Studios, as our beloved pet project – “yycApps.com”:http://www.yycapps.com received an incredible amount of local exposure over the past 7 days.

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It all started about a week ago with a six minute interview on CBC Calgary’s the Homestrech with David Grey. We had a great conversation on the blossoming community in Calgary and I was able to feature some great local apps. (“click here to hear the full interview”:http://www.cbc.ca/homestretch/episode/2011/01/04/apps/)

Next, yycapps had a feature segment on last night’s edition of GlobalTV’s 6:00pm news. In which, we briefly talked with Tony Tighe about the project and also showcased our friends from TapForms and also Broken Kings. (See the segment below and fast forward to the 23:55 mark)

It’s been an exciting week for the yycapps project and we look forward to seeing how the project continues to grow.

This past weekend the Armadillo Team descended on the University of Calgary for the first “yyc iPhone Developer Camp”:http://calgary.iphonedevcamps.org/. Put on by Michael Sikorsky and his company “Robots & Pencils”:http://hq.robotsandpencils.com/, the iPhone Dev Camp was a 2 day _crash_ summit for the local Calgary iPhone development community. With everyone sharing ideas, information and talent.

Based on the unconference “Bar Camp”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp format that was made popular in San Fransisco, the camp was a loose introduction to the growing iPhone Development community in Calgary. During the weekend established companies from within the city revealed some of their tips and tricks in developing their apps through a series of morning segments. From presentations on viral marketing, “Cocos2D development”:http://unobservedmusings.blogspot.com/2009/10/iphone-dev-camp-keynote.html, and even some intresting rough app demos; the community really came together to showcase and connect with one another. While the afternoons were dedicated to a less formal format, where attendees broke into two groups. The first group organized a series of round tables to discuss various elements of the iPhone development process, while the second group focused on the development of a quick and dirty app for a local organization. (Which or may not be used in the near future)

I could go on and on and on about what was learned this weekend, but essentially it was an incredibly informative weekend.

More importantly, it was one which introduced us to the great development community in this city. A big thank you goes out to Michael and all the companies that shared their expertise and stories throughout the weekend. If you have a moment, please check out some of the companies that were featured this weekend (and even give them a bit of support, buy downloading their apps).

“Tap Forms Inc.”:http://www.tapforms.com/
“Broken Kings Inc.”:http://brokenkings.com/
“We’re Not Rocket Scientists (WRNS)”:http://www.wnrs.ca/
“Pho3nix Media Inc.”:http://ph03nixnewmedia.com/
“Happy App Co.”:http://www.happyappco.com/
“iKingdom Corp.”:http://ikingdomcorp.com/

… And if you’re wondering why a web design studio would be at a iPhone Development Camp, just stay tuned …

A couple of weeks ago we posted an article detailing the potential importance of the “Apple’s Iphone to our Canadian customers”:http://blog.armadillostudios.ca/article/iphone-arrives-in-canada. Well, with Mondays iPhone news at the “WorldWide Developers Conference”:http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/0806wdt546x/event/index.html it looks like the next release of the iPhone will have far more impact on your business then we thought.

In simple laymen terms, it looks like Apple is poised to take a bite out of Blackberry’s dominance on the Business Wireless Device market. With the release of iPhone 2.0 software, the iPhone will _now_ contain Enterprise software comparable to Blackberry offers. So what does that mean for your business?

Essentially, this news solidifies the iPhone’s future cultural importance and will open your business up to an entire group of _new users_ that will have a greater access to wireless Internet. In particular, it means that your *web site will need to be compatible with the iPhone’s internet browsers* or you will be missing out on a slew of vital customers.

And as one analyst has already pointed out – “we’re witnessing the birth of a third major platform, after Windows (PC) and OS X (Apple Computers)”:http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/06/liveblog-steve.html.