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Your Feedback and Improvements to BlueVia

May 23, 2011 Leave a Comment

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Here at BlueVia, we are constantly learning from all the feedback we receive from developers using the platform. A common theme to the feedback is the complexity of the current website and our processes.

One of the key areas of confusion is the beta catalogue. Many developers do not understand the difference between the beta catalogue and the ‘Launch to Store’ process, which allows you to publish your apps directly to Telefonica’s App Stores.

Therefore we have taken the decision to remove the beta catalogue functionality from BlueVia with immediate effect.

This will not affect your use of BlueVia or affect your ability to make revenue from your apps and services. The functionality to enable you to launch your apps directly into Telefonica’s live apps stores is unaffected. Also note there is currently a free app accreditation offer running, meaning any apps or services that you publish directly to Telefonica’s App Stores through BlueVia would be free of charge to you.

If you have any further questions or feedback, please contact support@bluevia.com

Thank you for continuing to use and support BlueVia. We continue to listen to our community about how we can improve the platform, so please contact us with any other suggestions.

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Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , ,

(H)activate and Over the Air

May 19, 2011 Leave a Comment

We’re excited to announce two great events that we’re involved with over the coming months. We’ve partnered up with the Guardian for the Activate Summit to present (H)activate, a two-day cause led hack 18th and 19th of June at the Guardian’s headquarters in Kings Cross.

The ultimate aim of (H)activate is to apply the BlueVia community’s vision and creativity to areas that market forces wouldn’t normally reach. What we hope to facilitate is a meeting of minds where we challenge some of the brightest developers to construct real-world applications that can improve people’s lives.

In addition, we’re also proud to be Gold sponsors of this year’s Over the Air event on 30th September and 1st October at Bletchley Park.

Over the Air is a grassroots mobile developer event in the style of hack days and bar-camps that brings together mobile developers from across the country. Having attended in the past, we’re excited to be supporting this year’s Over the Air in a bigger way as the Gold sponsor.

For more details on (H)activate and sign up details head to rewiredstate.org/events/hactivate-2011

For more details on Over the Air and ticket release details head over to overtheair.org/blog/

Filed Under: Events

BlueVia Launches Android SDK

May 18, 2011 2 Comments

 

We’re delighted to announce the new Android SDK is available on BlueVia.com, which will help Android developers to integrate with our network APIs easily. The Android SDK joins our current BlueVia SDK portfolio: .NET, Java, PHP and Ruby.

The Android SDK works with the complete set of BlueVia APIs.  Developers will also be able to use the HTTP REST API, reducing the complexity of working directly with the API and allowing developers to speed up their integration with BlueVia.

The Android SDK is based on the client-server paradigm, using all the necessary elements and functionality to make client HTTP requests to network APIs on BlueVia. This means that developers only need to use the public interface of the SDKs, using client objects to implement requests.

This new Android SDK lets developers use the following BlueVia APIs:

The Android SDK – as with the others ones – includes a “Getting Started” guide, which includes guides for the public interface and the object model structure, most of which is generated in Doxygen. The Android SDK also includes some demos that use the API, including the configuration files needed to execute the demos inside a development environment.

The Android SDK includes an easy interface based on an object model structure, hiding the complex HTTP REST requests implementation, so that any developer can write simple calls-to-objects instead of implementing complete HTTP requests. This includes the generation of XML /JSON for requests parameters and the processing of XML/JSON responses.

Here’s an example:

//———————————————–

// Send an SMS

// 1. Create the client (you have to choose the mode (HTTP/Mock) and include the OAuth authorization values)

Token accessToken = new Token(“my_oauth_token”, “my_oauth_token_secret”);     BlueviaSmsClient smsClient = new BlueviaSmsClient(getApplicationContext(), AbstractRestClient.Mode.HTTP, “my_consumer_key”,”my_consumer_secret”,

accessToken);

// 2. Build the message

// The address and the origin address are UserId Objects

SmsMessage sms = new SmsMessage();

sms.setMessage(“This is the text to be sent”);

sms.addAddress(new UserId(Type.PHONE_NUMBER,”600010101″)); sms.setOriginAddress(new UserId(Type.ALIAS,”702319a6ab2270cf3d42a09a3f4c49bd”)); String result = null;

// 3. Send the message. try {

result = smsClient.sendSms(sms);

……

……

} catch (OtafClientException e) {

Log.e (TAG,”Error sending SMS”, e);

}

// 5. Finally close the client

smsClient.close();

The Android SDK includes a parameter checking system (the validation component shown in the above code) that avoids launching incorrect HTTP requests made by the developer due to incorrect input parameters, in order to save developer time :)

The Android SDK also supports a Debugging Mode, to allow developers to test their Android applications directly through the Android SDK. The Debugging Mode is very useful for the early stages of development to debug code without using network traffic.

Using the Debugging Mode, the library responds to developer calls with a set of predefined responses, instead of making real HTTP connections. The set of responses includes the most common error cases and the “OK” response. Developers can also use this mode by modifying just one line of their production code, as follows:

BlueviaSmsClient smsClient = new BlueviaSmsClient(getApplicationContext(),                     AbstractRestClient.Mode.TEST_OK , “my_consumer_key”, “my_consumer_secret”,                     accessToken);



We hope that you enjoy this new SDK and if you have any feedback, please let the BlueVia team know through the forum, by sending us an email to support@bluevia.com, or tweet us @bluevia.

- Ruben Mellado (BlueVia Head of Product & Technology)
- Enrique Velez (BlueVia SDK Development Team)

Filed Under: APIs, Apps, Events, Mobile, News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

New WAC Webinar: The Essentials

May 11, 2011 1 Comment

Our friends over at WAC will be holding holding the first in a series of webinars on May 17, called “WAC: the essentials”.

Here are the details:

What is it about?

The seminar will give you an insight into what WAC is, where it’s going, an overview of the roadmap, together with a step-by-step guide to developing a simple web application for the WAC distribution platform.  It’ll be done in an interactive, workshop-style format, with time for questions and answers throughout.

When is it and how do I register?
They’re running two identical sessions, due to a high demand for places:

- May 17 at 16:00 UK time
- May 17 at 17:00 UK time

Register for the 16:00 slot at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/251163262

Register for the 17:00 slot at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/338570966

Who will run it?
Terence Eden - the guy who looks after the WAC SDK and other tools.
Tim Haysom – the guy who looks after WAC developer marketing.

Who is it for?
Those who are interested in WAC but don’t know much about it, want to understand more, and want to see how easy it is to develop a web app.

Anything else?
You’ll be connected via VOIP.  Unfortunately the webinar system being used for this first one doesn’t support Linux.

Filed Under: Events, Mobile, News Tagged With: , , ,

BlueVia continues to grow

May 6, 2011 1 Comment

 
 
Following on from BlueVia entering Open Beta last week, we are delighted to let you know the next release of the platform (version 1.2) has gone live today, with new countries and APIs added.

The 1.2 release contains the following enhancements:

  • * Movistar Colombia and Chile added to BlueVia
  • * New Multimedia Messaging (MMS) API added, with a risk free revenue generating business model
  • * The addition of the O2 Germany Application Store, providing you with a frictionless path to reach O2 Germany customers with your apps
  • * Enhancements to the existing Advertising API to ensure customers do not need to authorise the Advertising API via the BlueVia Connect customer facing portal

With the release of 1.1.2, the BlueVia API table is now as follows:

As more countries from across the Telefonica group are integrated into BlueVia, it opens up vast opportunities and markets for developers. Take a look at the current growth of the web and mobile in Latin America for example:

  • * With the addition of Columbia and Chile to the platform you can now reach over 100 million Telefonica customers through BlueVia.
  • * There are an estimated 204,689,836 internet users in Latin America, representing 34.5% of the population (Source: Internet World Stats)
  • * Latin America, as a region, has some of the highest adoption rates of mobile devices in the world and overall mobile phone user penetration of 55.4% (source: eMarketer)
  • * 2011 penetration in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico will be 77%, 54% and 52% respectively (source: eMarketer)
  • * Carriers are beginning to accommodate the need for data by offering users unlimited access at rates between $0.30 and $1 per day (source: eMarketer)

Besides these new features and capabilities, there are also a lot of performance improvements and bug fixes, so your BlueVia experience should me more seamless than ever.

Of course we would love to know what you think of the latest release. Please leave us your thoughts here, by emailing support@bluevia.com or via Twitter on @bluevia.

We’re working hard to bring you even more API goodness in the future, so stay tuned for more.

Filed Under: APIs, Apps, Mobile, News Tagged With: , , , ,

New App Challenge Invites You to “Think Green”

May 5, 2011 1 Comment



Do you have an app that is part of the next wave of green innovations? Then take a look at the Green ICT Application Challenge and be in for the chance to win $10,000.

The  brainchild of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and supported by Telefónica and RIM, the aim of the Challenge is to develop applications to turn our activities greener and to protect the environment and the planet through a mobile phone or the web. The apps can be designed for energy efficiency activities or the reduction of CO2 emissions, both in the home and in the workplace.

Not sure where to start with your green app? Then here are some ideas that might get you thinking outside of the box of what issues your green app could address:

  • improve the transport systems in your country
  • identify new ways to turn off the lights in your house
  • establish a way to supervise or measure weather conditions in the area you live
  • create warnings in real time if a hurricane is coming
  • assess the environmental quality in one city compared to others

And if that doesn’t help inspire you, there’s even BlueVia’s very own James Parton’s (@jamesparton) idea of Environmental consumer labelling for mobile apps:

If you think these are good ideas or you’ve got an even better one, then we invite you to “think green” and submit an app for the challenge.

Not only will you receive a $10,000 cash prize if you win, but you will feel the satisfaction of working on something different that will contribute to solve a global problem: climate change.

But that’s not all. The winning developer will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to present their app at the Green Standards Week of ITU that will take place in the Rome, Italy in September 2011.  All the “green” gurus of the ICT sector will meet at the event, giving the app an instant invite to the world stage.

Finally, the winning app  if developed could be presented during the climate change conference COP17 in Durban, South Africa in December 2011. COP is the most important and high-profile climate change event worldwide, where thousands of climate experts come together once a year.

You can take part in the Green App Challenge with apps for any web-based tool, software or game compatible with a computer or mobile device.

The deadline for submissions is 17th June 2011. You can get more information on how to apply for the Green App Challenge and see the rules here.

Good luck to all those who enter – your apps could help change the world!

Filed Under: Events, Mobile, News Tagged With: , , , , ,
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