Category: Events

Come join me March 12th where I will be presenting at the Toronto ALM Usergroup on how you can Test your iOS and Android apps on 1000+ devices.

Here is the session overview

Imagine that you’ve finished an app. You’ve tested on your physical device and all goes well.

You deploy. It doesn’t go well. Someone tests on a device you don’t have. It crashes.

You get one star reviews leaving you frustrated because customers are downloading your app on a device you don’t own. What if you could test on a thousand devices without spending all of your cash to get them?

With Xamarin Test Cloud you can!

Whether you are deploying an enterprise app or deploying a consumer facing app, Test Cloud allows you to test on 1000+ real iOS and Android devices to catch bugs before users do. You will avoid customers who are frustrated with low performance issues and avoid app killing one star reviews.

Let us show you what Xamarin Test Cloud has to offer, how to write and automate your tests, and potentially avoid those dreaded one star reviews.

So if you want to learn about Xamarin Test Cloud and how it can help you come join us! Pizza will be served from 5:30 – 6:00 before the presentation starts at 6:00.  Sign up here to join us for this time saving event.

And don’t forget, RedBit is a Xamarin Preimier Partner & a Xamarin Test Cloud Partner, so if you are looking to implement a cross platform solution for iOS or Android or need assistance in getting setup with Test Cloud contact us to get you going!

Throughout my whole career as a developer I have always tried to participate in various events and speak at events to share the knowledge I have learned in developing software.  With the RedBit team expanding, I get introduced to new type of events and get excited to participate.

One of those events is the Global Game Jam and the specifically the Toronto Global Game Jam and the RedBit team will be participating. RedBit as a company has also decided to sponsor the Toronto Global Game Jam. At RedBit we are building some games for customers and used tried different software such Unity and MonoGame so we should be able to get something going in the 48hrs. I will be there to help encourage people to think about all platforms including Windows Phone (it outsells iPhone in 24 Countries), think about games that can go global and think about the female demographic as I think that is an area that is overlooked (45% of gamers are female according to The Entertainment Software Association)

Personally, I’ve played games my whole life and yes I did own Excite Bike. I continue to play games with my kids be it on XBox, Phones or desktops. I have also dabbled in creating games using XNA and going through the process with my son and created ‘hello world’ type games such as Tic Tac Toe and Memory Matching games.

I always get asked what tools should you use? We have used Unity3d and MonoGame with Xamarin, both are good and both allow you to go cross platform which is key in my opinion. At RedBit we are buildign using MonoGame and Xamarin as we are a Xamarin Partner and have all appropriate licenses. If you are building a game, you want to target the widest audience possible and using tools that allow you to go Mac, Windows, iOS, Windows Phone, Android is key. Marketing is also another key factor but that is another post entirely!

I’m excited to be participating in the Global Game Jam to see what comes out of it and feel privileged to be in a position where through my company I can help sponsor the event to help support the developer community.

Will you be there? Let me know as would be great to connect with you!

This Saturday June 18 I will be co-presenting a session with Paul Laberge titled On Mobile App Design: Experiences that Don’t Suck at North by North East Interactive (or nxne-i) which is a week long conference held from June 13th-19th.

What is nxne-i all about?  (taken from nxne website)

It starts with the presentations. Three solidly packed days of presentations, both technical and creative. Presenters from around the world have been hand-picked for their skill and talent, and all are eager to share and meet you. It’s also about the networking. Being able to meet and talk to people who share your passion for this industry. Meet them at the presentations, in the exhibitor hall, or at the evening party.

I’ll be there discussing things to look out for as a designer and developer.  It’s all small things, but it’s the small things that can completely ruin a user’s experience when using your app!

Here is a description of the session.

On Mobile App Design: Experiences that Don’t Suck
Clearly, modern mobile devices have changed the way we interact with the world, each other and technology in general. What is true about this disruption is that while state of the art hardware makes it possible for people to create amazing apps, it’s the creative implementation of those ideas that really make the apps and games popular. In this session, we’ll show you how mobile app designers and developers create effective experiences for their apps and why design is absolutely essential to the success of those apps. Examples will include sample applications on the Windows Phone 7 platform and a discussion on Microsoft’s Metro design language, with the intent of showing how designing great experiences on mobile platforms is not a cookie-cutter process.

If you are attending nxne-i be sure to join Paul and I.  Here are the details

Date of Presentation: Saturday, June 18
Time of Presentation: 9:30 to 10:30
Room: Regency D/E

Hope to see you there!