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We've finally caught our breath after the Muther! of all Hackathons a couple of weeks ago in Mountain View. The event was a huge success, thanks to the 300+ attendees who showed up and all of our excellent sponsors! Almost 50 apps were presented on Saturday, and I was blown away by what the developers were able to accomplish in just 24 hours. The creativity shown, as well as the polish on the apps, was amazing.

I wasn't sure what to expect -- or what I'd gotten myself into -- with an all-night event with so many people. But I was impressed by the spirit of all the participants, the supportive, fun and focused atmosphere, and also the work of all the sponsors and the WIP team to pull it off! We had a wide range of attendees, from people just getting started in mobile development to very experienced and polished devs, and I think that we were able to create a place where they all could take something away from the event.

I really enjoyed sitting through the pitches and being...

Welcome to Cape Town for our first African WIPJam!

If you think there is a slight sense of deja-vu, well, I cannot blame you, Cape Town (in winter) has got a strong resemblance to San Francisco (all year long :D), hilly streets, misty, a bit chilly and a hungry enterpreneurial population!

This WIPJam, sponsored by Nokia, was part of Apps World Africa which was hugely successful with a great crowd and a great mix of people (thanks to an awesome networking party). The whole program of the event can be found here, but here are a few of my selected highlights.

Lesson from Windows on Nokia 2 years too early

This is a bit of nostalgia I will admit, but having Dusan from Device Magic walk us through his lessons learnt from his previous experience running .NET on Symbian was great. Dusan explored the options for enterprises when it comes to mobile software and why it makes sense to go native (because employees are consumers too, and cannot live with a sub-standard experience...

Recently at MWC2011 we had one of our classic WIPJam discussion groups. Thanks again to all the discussion leaders and here are a few interesting notes and takeaways from those discussions.

HTML5

• HTML5 still has a long ways to go in terms of its own evolution and growth
• 2 big positives that HTML5 will offer is the speed of development and it will help solve cross platform problems
• Currently there is a lot that hinders HTML5, everything from performance to battery life
• More specifically a few of the issues include Geolocation, SQL storage and there are issues with fragmentation using tools like Modernizr, Has.js, Device Atlas and WURFL. 

Cross Platform Development

With so many platforms to address now do you have to provide less functionality to your app to ensure a successful port?

This is one of the major concerns when it comes to developing across platforms, along with the learning curve each platform requires. When it comes down to it there is not...

We’ve know for a while that that apps are the key driver in the mobile industry today, driving the demand for devices and network time.  The big players in the industry recognize that too, so are constantly on the lookout for new mobile applications that meet the requirements and imagination of their customers.

There are a variety of entry points to get you and your app noticed, including the AT&T Open Call Contest whose deadline for entry is Tuesday, March 8, 2011.  Get your app in now so you don’t miss out on this opportunity.  

Here’s why we like this contest. Not only is it a great way to get noticed in front of the right decision makers at AT&T, they and some of their partners who participate in the judging (I was a judge last year and will be  again this year), offer alot of advice and connections.  So even just getting a judging/pitch time is a big win!  There are over 100 spots open – so lots of opportunity!

We had an opportunity to speak with Andrea Morton the...

The WIPJam@MWC next Thursday will feature something new for us: a Guinness World Record attempt! We are excited to welcome the Blinkendroid crew from Germany along to the jam, and during lunch, we are going to try and break the record they set for "Largest animated mobile phone mosaic" at the Google Developer Day in Munich in November. If you aren't familiar with Blinkendroid, it's some cool Android software that makes devices aware of their neighbors -- and then able to act as one giant screen for animations. Here's some video of their world record:

Definitely very cool stuff! To break the record, we need at least 73 Android devices -- but let's shoot for 100. All you need to take part is an Android device running v1.6 or better; we'll have Wi-Fi in the room to handle the data. You can go ahead and download the app from the Android Market now, or grab it on site. Either way, if you have an Android phone, join in the fun and become part of a Guinness World Record!...

You might think :

"Who has time to read this newsletter when there's so much to do before Mobile World Congress? "

And you might even utter:

 "Who has time to write a newsletter... don't you have a WIPJam to prepare? "

And a rack of tee shirts to line up! "

Yes I do and  many more things, too!! 

• Get the logistics sorted out with the WIP tips and SIM cards tips  and find new chairs as WIPJam is going XL with 100 additional seats available.
• Download the WIP Survival Guide to Mobile World Congress or even better get the mobile app version with the WIPJam app for Android,  Nokia and iPhone (visit your favourite store in the coming days and look for WIPJam)
• Sign up for some of the "cliffhanger" developer events:
  • What will Nokia announce at it's Nokia developer day on Monday ?
  • What's going to happen on the Meego front at Intel Appup Application Labs on Wednesday?
• Get my name in all the cool parties in town, using one of the zillion...

It's been in the works for a while, and I'm happy to announce that we've pushed out the first set of the new version of the WIP Connector web site. It's not fully finished, so the old site will still pop up in some places, but we wanted to get the new look out there in the meantime. In addition to a big visual upgrade, the site's organized a little differently. If you click on the "Mobile Topics" and "Frameworks" buttons in the nav up above, you'll be able to search through the our content by subject matter or platform, hopefully making it a lot easier for you to find what you'll need.

Keep in mind that this is a work in progress, so please bear with us as we hunt down and fix bugs, and roll out the new look to other parts of the site. In addition, we'll soon have some great new features and content for you too!

1 week to go till midem in Cannes!

Ever since Carlo moved to Austin, the debate has been raging within WIP as to which one of Midem or SXSW was the digital music event to be... Since my youth I had been hearing about Midem as the yearly gathering of the music industry, so you'll have to excuse a bit of partiality especially as WIP was contacted by the organizers to bring a bit of wipjam spirit to the event. 

And here started the hunt for discussion leaders! The story of which I'll cut short by just announcing the 2 London based music start-up entrepreneurs, Chris Moisan from Musicity and Greg LLoyd from Mixlr who will be help provide steering, expertise infusion, geekery, and Providing steering and their good looks. So here are the 2 sessions, in the usual WIP participative style:

Using Mobile Technologies to best Promote your Music

Sunday 23 January 2011, 3:30 PM

Speakers : Chris Moisan, Product Director, Musicity; Thibaut Rouffineau WIP

Finding it hard to stand...