Stephen's Thoughts » Stephen Downey

Developing applications for Layar Augmented Reality browser – Android

Stephen Downey — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:49:15 +0000

I finally managed to get my HTC Hero via an upgrade to Meteor. After using the phone for only a day I am extremely impressed with the applications I have used and the ability of the phone.

The one application that I was really excited to use was Layar.

Layar is a free application on your mobile phone which shows what is around you by displaying real time digital information on top of reality through the camera of your mobile phone.

Developers can create Augmented Reality layers that can be viewed in the browser. There are a few Irish examples out there like

Dublin Bikes

Dublin Bus Stops

Daft.ie

I’m glad to see there are a few Irish developer doing a great job here. This video will give you an idea of what layar can do.

Here is a presentation from Dirk Groten of Layar on how to develop Layers. You can read more about the presentation on the layar blog.

I am really looking forward to developing applications for android and some layers for the layar browser.

If you are a java developer, download the eclipse plugin for android development and look at some of the sample applications out there. You will be amazed how easy it is to move over to android development. I can really see a lot of developers moving to android in the next few years. With so many java developers out there at the moment, this could be the driving force that pushes android ahead of iPhone.

Are you looking for a house on the Shannon?

Stephen Downey — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:32:56 +0000

This is the River Shannon the end of the Garden

If you love to fishing and always wanted to see the river Shannon in Ireland then visit my dad’s new website.Â He had spent two years creating a spectactuar house on the shannon.Â He is renting the house out as a self-Catering home so if you would like to rent a house right on the banks of the Shannon in Ireland, get in touch with him.

Check out his website for more about Banagher and all of the more on the local amenities but here just a few of them.

Clonmacnoise

Birr Castle

Esker Hills Golf Club

If your in Business, get to BizCamp this Saturday….

Stephen Downey — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:46:00 +0000

This Saturday, 500 people from the Irish Business community are getting together to share their experiences and inspire each other at BizCamp. It is based on the barcamp conference style where people come together in an open forum. There are no sales pitches allowed as the rules for speakers clearly state.

I was at the first Irish Barcamp in Cork in 2006 and really enjoyed the openness of the “unconference”. It was mostly aimed at techies but Bizcamp is for people from any aspect of business. I was away for the first BizCamp Dublin so was pretty happy when I saw that registration was open for Bizcamp2.

As there are so many speakers this weekend, the time table has been already decided. You can have a look at the speaker line up here. I would advise deciding on what you want to see before you go as there are some great talks that clash with each other.

Here’s what I am going to try to get to:

10.00 to 10.45	Joe Drumgoole Startups in Ireland. Where Do we go from Here?
10.45 to 11.30	Brian Flanagan Making financial projections for a business plan Or Steve Gotz Lessons from an Unsuccessful American Entrepreneur
11.30 to 12.15	Caelen King Online business models. I will looks at the value proposition of various online application and how these map into business models and how these revenue models can be adapted to maximise revenue.
12.15 to 13.00	Amanda Webb Facebook for business
14.00 to 14.45	Panel Discussion 3 Entrepreneurs talking about taking the rough with the smooth. Kevin Traynor, Colm Lyon & Jerry Kennelly
14.45 to 15.30	Claire Boyles Twitter as a marketing tool
15.30 to 16.15	Gerard Oâ€™Brien Approaching Enterprise Ireland for the first time – what we can support, what we look for in a start-up proposition and roadmap of supports offered
16.15 to 17.00	Steve Plunkett SaaS – The Servitization of the Software Industry. The software industry is undergoing a major shift. I will explore the implications and opportunities for software businesses in Ireland

What talks are you going to?

Google Car on the N3

Stephen Downey — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:54:14 +0000

On the way into work today I saw the google street car, used to record images for Google Street maps.

Google Car on the N3 in Dublin

Some great startup advice

Stephen Downey — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:23:07 +0000

I just came across this already very successful blog tonight and can’t get over the amount of great advice on it. (Not sure how I have not seen it before.)

I have gone to many seminars and read many books on being successful and one thing they all advice is talk to someone that has already achieved what you desire.
So if your dream is to make the transition from a Software developer to software entrepreneur then start reading this blog by Rob Walling. In another example of the law of attraction, I started to read the E-myth Revisited about a week ago and Robs first tip is from Michael Gerber.

I really like the second realization in his post:

Realization #2: Market Comes First, Marketing Second, Aesthetic Third, and Functionality a Distant Fourth

I met up with a friend that works with the Hothouse program in DIT a few weeks back and he made this exact point to me. As I come from a development background, my first instinct is to get as many cool features into an application as possible. Big mistake!!! If you have no customers, your features are wasted and chances are that your customers will be able to tell you exactly what features they want anyway. Start by identifying your market and marking sure they know, who you are and what you can offer them.

I would highly recommend adding Robâ€™s blog to your RSS reader. On a Irish note, James Kennedy also has a great blog for peple that would like to generate some automated income from the Internet.