Earlier this month, “we officially launched our very first iPhone App”:https://www.armadillostudios.ca/the-people-power-app-hits-the-market/. Of course this was cause for much jubilation and celebration around the Team Armadillo offices. After almost three years on the sidelines of the app industry and “promoting the local app development community within Calgary”:http://www.yycapps.com, it was great to finally dip our toe into the playing field.

So in honour of first foray into the world of iOS App development, we are dedicating this week’s edition of *Nine Banded* to our some recent apps that have really caught our eye and one app that we’re incredibly excited to see launched. (Read More…)

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.

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 …