DevCon Summit 2013: #MobileDevNBeyond
When In Manila, it is pretty normal to use smart phones in your daily routines. Want to keep track of your jog? Use a running mate app. Bored to death? Just crush some candies and play through a hell of a lot of puzzle levels. Want to find a good place to eat or simply hang out? Fire up a mobile browser and check wheninmanila.com’s food and restaurant blog posts.
The use of smart phones in our daily lives has been so personal that it practically becomes a part of our lifestyle. However, a smart phone is not so smart without Apps. I believe it’s time to bring the limelight to the people building apps to make the world a better place: the Mobile Developers.
Last November 30, Devcon Philippines organized the event DevCon Summit 2013 with the theme #MobileDevNBeyond at SM Megamall Cinema 4.
As a developer myself, it was a perfect time to geek it up and meet other developers coming from different parts of the Philippines (even the world).
Developers line up to get their kits and freebies from the registration booth
During the Partner talks, developers were empowered by the companies to help our community by using our skills in programming. With the tagline “Hack2Help”, we were left a question of how we can help the Philippines in the times of calamity. The partners emphasized on current technologies like the SMS API.
Partner companies of DevCon Summit 2013: (L-R) Jim Ayson of SMART DevNet, Michelle Santos of Globe Labs, Calen Legaspi of Orange & Bronze, and Jun Eusebio of Mozilla Philippines
This is where the nerd-gasm starts. The talks of the speakers were really insightful for current mobile developers and for aspiring developers.
First up was Howard Dy Go of Mochibits. He talked about the “Opportunities in Mobile Development in the Philippines”. Development takes hard work but what I learned from Howard is that you have to play it smart too. You need to play your cards right because 50% of the revenue from apps sales in the App store and Play store goes only to 25 developer groups and companies. Now that’s a tough competition right off the bat! But as simple as it sounds, we just need to understand the people that’s going to use our apps. Just ask this to yourself, “What will make them use my app again and again?”
Howard Dy Go: Gaming up for Success
Next up was Brian Cu of Grab Taxi on “Solving Real World Problems with Mobile Apps”. Well, this basically is the epitome of the goal of making the world a better place. Brian shared to us his experiences on how to make getting a cab be a tap on your phone away. He also shared the effects of the app on the users such as the cab drivers and passengers, managing the demand and supply of cabs, building trust with the users, and also creating a great experience.
Brian Cu: Making the world a better place
Then, we had Micael Andrei diaz de Rivera of Sulit.com.ph sharing to us the “Essentials in Mobile User Experience”. I really enjoyed this one because he complimented his talk with his adventures travelling around the world looking for the “One”. He shared to us that to make an effective mobile app of mobile website we have to take account information regarding the users: the place where they use the app, their genders, age and even behavior. Take advantage of analytics to create better user experience.
He also shared some Easter eggs. Search for the term “Away” or “Gulo” in sulit.com.ph’s “Ano hanap mo?” bar and blast away. Too bad I did not see the Ad about the “Second Hand Cheeseburger”, though.
Mica diaz de Rivera: The backpacker searching for the “one”
Next up was Ramon Pastor of Rogomi Inc on “Trends on iOS Development”. I guess it’s no secret but the latest trend about iOS is its newest version , iOS 7. This also goes with the 64-bit support and I Beacons. Leaving the techie aspect of the site, Sir Ramon shared how Apple Inc. gained success through iOS and how the company empowered developers by releasing the iOS SDK.
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Ramon Pastor: my iOS go to guy
Following iOS trends is “Cross Platform Solutions for Mobile Applications” by Jon Limjap of Readify. Ok, first of all, cross platform is basically, “code once, run anywhere”. Apps that are cross platform ready will work whether you’re on iOS or Android. Moving on, Sir Jon shared to us events where cross platform was a bust (e.g. Facebook) but really, cross platform apps are cool. (also less effort when you need it both for iOS and Android :P)
Jon Limjap: Talking about different ways of doing cross-platform apps
Last but not the least; we had John Britton of GitHub on “Ops for Everyone”. His talk was fairly technical because it was about setting up a repository for your code projects and making it accessible and easy to set up where ever, when ever and whatever machines you have. Before I make any nose bleed, he shared to us some additional features on github that teams can utilize, like Hubot.
John Britton: the Github guru
I almost forgot, one of the best things they had: Freebies and prizes. For starters, attendees could win T-Shirts, notebooks, tumblers and mugs by tweeting. There is also a raffle where they give out great prizes. When I say great, I meant AWESOME. The prizes are 2 500 GB external hard drives, an Apple TV and an iPad Mini. You read that right, an iPad MINI!!
Oh Yeah! Great Prizes!
Congratulations to Tin Gonzaga for winning the iPad Mini at the DevCon Summit 2013!
It was really a great day to get your geek on When in Manila. I really enjoyed the summit. It’s a bummer if you missed out, but worry not for there will be a DevCon Summit again next year! See you then!
Thank you DevCon Philippines for a job well done! Cheers!
Credits:
Thank you for DevCon Philippines and David Llarena for giving me permission to use the images.
DevCon
DevCon Philippines: https://devcon.ph/
DevCon PH FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DevConPH
