Great UX for product promotion via streaming video. Why? The video promo is clearly the priority for the page. It plays the second you click it (no loading… waiting… flashbacks to dial-up…) and the content is incredible (multiple customers using products, fun, great soundtrack). Check out how the video is shot and edited after to look like it is happening right on the page.

Apple builds, promotes and integrates better. If you haven’t seen it watch here MTV.com.  Then, visit your organization’s website and compare. 

Today marks a first. I registered online at Apple.com for the genius bar repair appointment. Seriously. The funny thing is I use to be one of “those people” who protested this process. I still kind of wish I could just walk on in and say “help please”, drop off my broken device and go run some other errands until I received a text or email that everything was all better.

So what processes do you wish you could ditch or are you at the point of adding new ones? If the end game is providing a better service then… fine, I’ll think about conforming.

Just released a brand new GFC App today to the Android Market. It’s in beta of course so if you find any bugs or weird happenings – leave feedback here on the blog. Also, happy to say that AppMakr.com is meeting our need for mobile content pretty well. It’s great to have a Free option to create and publish mobile apps to test the water and see where and how it would be wise to invest further. I am pretty happy with the solutions for both iPhone and Android. The Android functionality is limited to RSS feeds mostly but allows users to access our streaming media, flickr, blog posts and some social media.

By the way, publishing an Android App is about 1000 times simpler than the iPhone app. Excellent work Google for keeping things simple.

• Android & iPhone App Details & Download

Build it today, test on your iPhone today. (Release to app store 10 Days)

So I have wanted to build an iPhone app for about a year now and received several cost estimates from excellent companies SubSplash, MobileRoadie and a few others. We will most likely move ahead and invest a bit in the next year for mobile media but before we totally took the plunge I wanted to test just how popular and useful an iPhone mobile app would be.

If you have been looking for a simple way to build and fairly simple way to publish an iPhone app and really don’t want to invest thousands just yet, I would recommend AppMakr. You can design and build straight forward apps pretty quick and if you know some HTML and CSS you can push the functionality a bit.

Building is the easy part actually, it’s connecting and publishing to the Apple iTunes App Store that’s a bit complex, at least at first. I’ll outline that process in a future post. If you don’t want to figure the second part out AppMakr will publish for you at $1,000.00 (each release).

Give it a try, I think you’ll dig it. Here is the direct link to the Grace Fellowship Church app. Released today. Looking forward to checking out the stats. Have fun.

Post any questions for the contest here! Cya. Looking forward to creating your new site/logo/businesscard design!

Resource Links

LIVE Text and photos here: http://www.macrumorslive.com/
LIVE Video Stream Here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wwdc-2009-live-stream
Official after conference media here: http://developer.apple.com/wwdc/

Check out this great article on Church’s going mobile by Daniel Darnell at Collide Magazine.

Whether you’re an iPhone hater or an avid user, you must admit it is one of the most revolutionary devices of our time. With its innovative multi-touch screen, simple user interface, App Store, and Internet capabilities, the iPhone has forever changed the mobile phone market.

With this change comes a whole new way of communicating and accessing information on the go. It’s never been easier to check the weather, contact a friend, or find a cup of coffee near you. The question, then, is how the Church will respond to this easy accessibility of information?

A few churches, including LifeChurch.tv and New Hope Christian Fellowship, are leading the way by creating iPhone-friendly applications and websites. Though the idea may sound simple, the current popularity of the iPhone (and smart phones in general), along with the exponentially growing market, make the mobile Web an important tool to help reach and inform the people of your church and beyond. Apple reports that more than 10 million iPhones have been sold worldwide (not including this holiday season’s sales), while their App Store has facilitated more than 300 million downloads. The new mobile frontier holds great potential and must be utilized by the Church.

http://www.collidemagazine.com/article/177/the-mobile-friendly-church

My Top 5 Apps on the iPhone

1. Pandora – Music Streaming
2. Google Mobile – Maps, Search, GPS and more
3. Twitteriffic – for Twitter.com
4. Shazam – Music Discovery Engine
5. Where – Map gas, Starbucks, Movies and more

Design Your Own

If you think you have a good idea for an app of your own, now is the time to get started. Download the iPhone developer tools today. Our teams will be working on ideas for iPhone apps here in the next month. I have some thoughts on where we will be headed (Check back for details).

Download iPhone Dev Tools Here: http://developer.apple.com/iphone/program/

Also, TIME Top Apps: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article

/0,28804,1823107_1823513_1823586,00.html

Great job, once again to Apple. The ad featured on the New York Times site, NYTimes.com kicks some serious butt. Very very cool, very effective. Talk about creating brand awareness, reinforcement, loyalty and buzz. Hopefully this stays up for a while. Good stuff. The Internet is evolving, seriously, just turn off your computer for a few weeks then turn it back on and take note of the change. It is that fast.

http://www.nytimes.com/

Here is the list of what you will need, straight from the site:

• $0. Although Jobs relies on a team of designers to create amazing slides, you can replicate his techniques for nothing.

• 10 hours to rehearse for a new 30-minute presentation. It may sound like a lot, but if you want Jobs-style drama, you need to know your material cold.

• A Vision: If your topic can’t be summed up in 10 words or less, it’s too broad.

• A Clear Structure: An organized speech is easier for the audience to follow.

• Visuals: Eye-catching graphics form the basis of the most compelling slides.

• Dramatic Flair: A few time-tested storytelling devices help build excitement.

Link Here:
http://www.bnet.com/2403-13068_23-194984.html

Also, if you want to follow Steve Jobs on Twitter, go here:
http://twitter.com/SteveJobs