We were suppose to post this up right up the Makansutra widget post a couple of weeks ago. Guess it kinda slipped my mind. IS + (pronounced as IS PLUS) was one of the app that we were commissioned to develop for SingTel’s Christmas promotion last year.

What’s the app about? Well if you’re familiar with our local KLUE magazine, they are something like that. Hit the read more link to read more about this app.

About IS+

“I-S Magazine is the No. 1 guide for busy professionals to get the most out of Singapore, distributed at more than 500 of the city’s best restaurants, bars and entertainment venues. With comprehensive and up-to-date details of what’s going on, what to do, where you should (and shouldn’t) be seen, it’s the indispensable source for fun.

The I-S+ widget on Nokia touch devices now gives you the ultimate going-out guide in the palm of your hand. Catch the coolest performances, be seen at the hippest openings, and party at the hottest bars and clubs with I-S+.

For more great recommendations from I-S Magazine, visit www.is-magazine.com.”

This widget is pretty straight forward. Basically it lists down all the latest happenings in Singapore, AND tells you how to get there using Nokia’s OVI maps. Here are some screens of the widget.

The loading screen

The splash screen, auto checks for latest updated widget

The main screen

The main screen is divided into 2 sections

We have the calendar ribbon that shows the user selected events that’s happening in the next 7 days. Right at the lower section we have the different even categories.

The submenus

Pressing on anyone of the event categories we’ll have the submenus. This will bring you to the even listings itself, see below.

Anyone remember James Ingram?

Selecting any one of the items available will load a detailed view of the said event.

Are they planning to come to Malaysia?

Here you’ll be able to call for more information or just save the contact to your phonebook. Clicking on show on Map will load up the Ovi Maps application and shows you the location of the event. You can use the map’s feature to direct you to the event.

Homescreen view is available for the Nokia N97 and N97 Mini

If you own an N97 or N97 Mini, there’s a homescreen widget as well. Basically it tells you the available events that’s happening around your area by tapping into the phone’s GPS system. As you can see, we’re pretty far away from Singapore …

In the weeks to come, we’ll be sharing a few more projects that we’ve been working on. If you know of any Malaysian content provider that would like to have their content translated for mobile consumption, don’t be shy, give us a call :)

This has been a feature that’s been asked before and we’re proud to announce that the widget has passed the Ovi Store QA process and is now available for download!

Hit the read more link to find out how you can download your copy.

KLTraffic S60 3rd Ed

The widget retains all functionalities as the touch based one.

The main screen

The traffic feed

Twitter integration, trending topic #kltraffic

Currently the widget only supports devices that has Nokia’s Webruntime 1.1. Supported devices are listed below.

1. Nokia 6700 Slide
2. Nokia E72
3. Nokia 6730 Classic
4. Nokia E52
5. Nokia 5730 XpressMusic
6. Nokia E75
7. Nokia 6720 Classic
8. Nokia 6710 Navigator
9. Nokia E55
10. Nokia 5630 XpressMusic
11. Nokia N86

We’re working to support the following phones that has the older Nokia’s Webruntime 1.0 installed.

1. Nokia E71
2. Nokia E66
3. Nokia E63
4. Nokia N78
5. Nokia N82
6. Nokia N85
7. Nokia N95
8. Nokia N96
9. Nokia 6210 Navigator

Yes, we’re disappointed too that the popular E71 and E63 are not support at the moment, we’re working on it. Do let us know if you manage to get the app running on devices that are not listed here. Do leave a comment below on how we can improve this app :)

Get the download here!

It’s the season to celebrate! Nokia came up with a top 10 list of Ovi Store apps to download over the festive season … and our KLTraffic widget is listed as no.6.

Hit the read more link to view the complete list.

TOP 10 OVI STORE APPS TO DOWNLOAD OVER THE FESTIVE SEASON

	1.	Christmas holidays are great for spending with family and friends but that’s not always possible with loved ones dotted all over the world. Instead, stay connected for free with Facebook, developed by the social networking giant and available on Ovi Store. With Facebook on your handset you can keep your contacts at your fingertips. Update your status, upload photos, check messages and lookup phone #’s anytime and anywhere. The app allows you to comment on friends’ statuses, RSVP to event invites and confirm or deny friend requests.
	2.	For those that can’t be with you over the festive season there’s also Qik by Qik Inc. You no longer need to settle for a picture, you can share the experience! Share live video with your friends from your device. You can also keep your friends in the know by sharing your Qik videos to your favorite social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Every video is also automatically archived for you to relive those precious moments and share with your loved ones.
	3.	Liven up any Christmas party with Spin the Bottle by Offscreen. Thanks to Ovi Store you can carry this classic party game conveniently in your pocket. Spin the bottle by touching and dragging the bottle in either direction. As the saying goes, the best kind of fun is free… as is this app!
	4.	Get in the spirit of Christmas by updating your phone’s wallpaper. Try the Blue Xmas Tree or Skiing Sheep.
	5.	While you’re at it, why not personalize your ringtone and put a little jingle in your handset with ChristmasBell by Cell Special? In the festive spirit of giving, this app is free for a limited time.
	6.	Avoid the Christmas jams this year. Use the KL Traffic app by Nerd Attack to negotiate your way around the city and avoid last minute shoppers. Hate getting stuck in traffic? Use this clever widget to view traffic conditions in Kuala Lumpur.
	7.	Are you the one rushing around on Christmas Eve for those last minute gifts or were yours wrapped months back? No matter how organized you are, Shoppy by Inova IT will help you create and manage shopping lists and even share them with people close to you. Adding new items to a shopping list is quick and easy. Shoppy also gives you the ability to include details about the item such as units or category. As you purchase items it is really easy to tick them off from shopping lists so you’ll never forget anything again.
	8.	Candle Touch by Offscreen enables you to light a candle in your device for that authentic Christmas experience. It’s just like burning a real candle. So, dim the lights and enjoy a Christmas carol or two.
	9.	Need to keep the kids entertained over Christmas? Visit the Ovi Store and download the Nightmare before Christmas by Disney. Santa’s presents have been stolen and Christmas may be in jeopardy! Help Halloweentown’s beloved Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington get them back and save the day. Featuring favourite Halloweentown characters, the game provides 100 levels of puzzle gameplay. Manoeuvre pumpkins and bottles of Deadly Nightshade out of your path and stop witch and skeleton enemies in order to recover the stolen presents.
	10.	And finally, when the festivies are over and the waist line is suffering, try the Calorie Countdown from SingHealth. This app offers calculators to help you track your health with useful tips from SingHealth on diet and weight management and how to optimize your workouts.

About Ovi Store

Ovi Store is an evolving media service that consolidates Nokia’s existing content services into a one-stop-shop for free and paid content. Thousands of the content industry’s biggest names along with independent application developers are distributing their media, applications and games through Ovi Store. Content providers and application developers can continue to sign up to distribute their content through Ovi Store by visiting publish.ovi.com.

About Nokia

Nokia is a pioneer in mobile telecommunications and the world’s leading maker of mobile devices. Today, we are connecting people in new and different ways – fusing advanced mobile technology with personalized services to enable people to stay close to what matters to them. We also provide comprehensive digital map information through NAVTEQ; and equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through Nokia Siemens Networks.

Source: Nokia Malaysia

For the past couple of months, Nerd Attack together with Longtail have been working hard to bring to you the very first Twitter SMS service for all you Celcom subscribers. If you are one of those guys who don’t own a fancy smartphone with those equally fancy twitter clients, now you can update your twitter account via SMS.

Hit the read more link to find out how you can subscribe to this service.

Celcom Twitter SMS

Normally, there should be a press release … since we’re the casual geeky chaps that we are, we’ll just blog about this. It’s pretty simple to subscribe to this service, just type T and send it to 29800 to activate the service. Upon activation, you’ll be asked to link your Twitter account to your mobile number to get started. Oh did we mention, with this service you don’t really need to have a Twitter account to follow someone.

To start following someone, for example us,  just type FOLL NERDATK and send it to 29800

What about the charges? It’s only RM1 weekly for UNLIMITED usage. UNLIMITED. UNLIMITED. UNLIMITED …

You can also assign up to 5 mobile numbers to your Twitter account. Pretty handy if there are more than one person updating an account, don’t you think so?

To read up more about our latest SMS service, visit the Channel X website shown below.

http://channelx.com.my/mdp/twitter_promo.jsp

Finally, we’ve updated our KLTraffic app. This update took a while to release due to the number of outsourced projects that we undertook. There are a number of changes to the interface as well as new features that we hope you guys  be please with.

Hit the read more link to find out how you can update or download a copy. KLTraffic remain FREE as usual.

KLTraffic Update, revision 41 (internally it’s known as r41)

The main screen & new menu icons.

We’ve added new traffic cams sourced from JPBDBKL. Unfortunately, traffic cams are still constrained to Kuala Lumpur only for the moment.

Traffic feed view

Traffic feeds now have an icon letting users know where the feed is sourced from. Feeds are now from ITIS and JPBDBKL. If you see feeds not working, you’ll know where it’s sourced from, so notify the relevant authority about it :)

Twitter integration

We’ve integrated Twitter feeds into this update. You’ll be able to read crowd-sourced traffic updates straight from Twitter. We hope this is useful for the most of you … well … it’s as useful as what’s posted.

Be a citizen reporter!

You can now tweet from KLTraffic!  So if you already have a twitter account, do share with the rest of the community the traffic condition in your surrounding area. All tweets will be posted with the #kltraffic hash topic tag on Twitter. Oh and please, do not tweet while you’re driving.

Sign in to Twitter

Enter your Twitter username and password here if you wish to tweet from the widget. We do not keep your Twitter login credentials as these are kept on your phone. For the techies that are out there, we’re using BasicAuth for this, hence all tweets coming from this widget will have the ‘from API’ (see screenshot below).

from API

Yes, it would be great to have it as ‘from KLTraffic’, that is possible, however that also means we would need to use OpenAuth. There’s no mobile version of the authorisation page on twitter for OpenAuth yet. If we were to use OpenAuth, you guys will have to

1. Click on a button on the widget to authorise KLTraffic which will …
2. load a non mobile website that will generate a PIN number from your default mobile browser
3. Copy that PIN
4. Go back to the widget
5. Paste that PIN
6. Click Authorise on the widge.

My goodness, what lousy user experience. We’ll save you all the trouble and use BasicAuth instead. Enter your username and password, save it in the widget and we’re done.

Enough talk! So, how do I update?

Ah, it’s pretty simple actually. In the previous version of the widget, we’ve already built in an auto update feature which is located at the ‘About Us’ section. See screenshot below.

Update from version 1.0

Change revision log

1. Revised user interface
2. New traffic image feed from JPBDBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall Urban Transportation Department),  THANKS :)
3. Twitter integration
4. Widget will now check for new updates each time it loads, so users will no longer need to manually check for new updates

What’s in the oven next?

1. Nokia n97 and n97 mini homeview screen. We haven’t had the time to include this feature in but will do so in the new revision.
2. Road list might be too long for some and require scrolling, we’ll think of something.
3. It’s been asked for a while now … so, we’re working on a keypad version of KLTraffic. More announcement on this at a later date. We’ll be targeting S60 3rd edition devices.

We value your input!

So, if you have any ideas or suggestions in helping us improve this widget, do leave us some comments below :)

Get it here.

What? You haven’t got a copy of KLTraffic yet? Grab it from the Ovi Store now!

Note: The updated version of KLTraffic is still under QA and would probably take a while for approval, just download the old copy and run the autoupdate mentioned above.

A couple of weeks ago, we were commissioned by SingTel and Nokia to develop 2 widgets for their upcoming Christmas promotion. Particularly, for the brand new Nokia N97 mini, the Nokia X6 (yes, you’ll get it pretty soon in Singapore) and the Nokia 5230.

One of the content provider that we had the opportunity to work with was, Makansutra. Makan what? Makan-suuuuutra, you know? Like Kamasutra? Hit the read more link below for the full write up.

About Makansutra

The “Food Guidebook Maven”, says New York Times. CNN calls it the “Guru of Grub”. Makansutra began life in 1997 with a simple mantra – “die die must try” in its quest to celebrate Asian Food Culture. This multi-discipline food company is the brainchild of photojournalist KF Seetoh who says, “eat the food and digest the culture”, and the guide is now available for your Nokia smartphone.

Find the favourite Makansutra listings right near you, or anywhere in Singapore and beyond, and discover new restaurants and street food gems! For more information, surf over to www.makansutra.com.

There you go, that’s the official write up. This was one of the most complicated widgets that we have developed so far, with features that took advantages of the phone’s hardware.

Enough talk, here are some of the screens.

The splash screen and main menu

The loading screen

The main menu. Shake the phone here and you'll get a random eatery recommendation. Ignore the pointy finger, just to illustrate the press state of the buttons :)

Looking at the menu, ‘Our Picks’ will load 10 random recommended eateries, while ‘Listing’ will list all the food type that’s available from their guide in alphabetical order OR by photo. ‘Offers’ will show users a list of available discounts or offers from eateries. ‘Makansutra TV’ as the name suggest, will list selected video content by Makansutra. Pretty cool stuff, you get to watch food reviews on your phone!

‘Around Me’ is another feature that we took advantage of the on-board GPS receiver. The widget will display 10 nearest eateries that is around your location. ‘By Location’ will list all eateries according to their geographic location. Ahhh … too much info? You’ll get the full picture after viewing the rest of the screen I hope.

Our Picks

Shake your phone here to get another 10 random eateries

There are icons indicating the nature of the eatery, whether they are restaurants, hawker stalls or whether the establishment sells halal food.

The eatery detailed view, 213.2km, yes, we are that far away

... scrolling down ...

You’ll be able to contact the restaurant through the widget by pressing the Call button or simple save the number into your phone book. ‘Show on Map’ will basically load up Nokia’s OVI Map to show you where the eatery is. From OVI Map itself, you’ll then be able to follow the turn-by-turn guide (car, walk, cycle, flying, zorbing, scuba diving, teleporting, etc).

Listings

"Easy as abc ... 123" ... sorry, no 123.

Anyone tried African street food?

I rather look at pictures

A short writeup on the selected food type. Pretty informational.

By Location

Did you know Singapore is divided by North, South, East, West and Central? I didn't know that!

Yes, you see Malaysia there. Currently the content on the widget is heavily Singaporean, but they do have content for Malaysia, particularly for Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya and …. Penang. It’s not the full content, perhaps there will be a full Malaysian version in the future, who knows? ;)

Around Me

Around me, not you.

So, you’re in a hurry and absolutely no idea where to makan. Isn’t this a cool feature to have on your phone? Now you’ll know what recommended eateries are around your vicinity. Personally, this is pretty useful.

Oh yeah, this widget has the n97  homescreen feature.

Alright, that’s all the screens that we have. We’ve been trying to record a video walk through of the widget, these screens don’t do justice. The Nokia N97 doesn’t have auto-focus when in video mode … so, we rather not record any videos if we can’t see the details on screen. We’ll try to get hold of a video cam and do a run through of the widget in action.

Oh, how do you get hold of this widget? Well, if you’re from Singapore, the widget is preloaded on all new Nokia N97 mini, the Nokia X6 and Nokia 5230 … and is exclusive to SingTel only. We’ll keep you guys updated when it’s freely available … but since the lot of you are Malaysians, I don’t see how this is useful unless you frequently travel down to Singapore.

Any Malaysian food guide wanna do something similar? ;)

Earlier on I mentioned we were commissioned to do 2 widgets. I’ll post the other one up some time later this week. We have a few more widgets that are in the oven … but there’s only 2 handsome young men working on it so it will probably take a while before it’s properly baked and ready for consumption.

Yeah, we know it’s been a while … but we’re hard at work on several awesome projects at the moment. Due to the NDAs we signed, can’t really talk about the nature of it.

Anyways, here’s an update for KLTraffic that we’ve been working on. We’re still putting minor touches to it and hopefully it should be up and running sometime soon (hopefully). Hit the ‘read more’ link for some feature update and screens.

KLTraffic Update 1.2

Reworked interface and new icons for new features. Yes, that's twitter there.

Yeap ... Twitter.

Here's the main screen where we use crowdsourced information on Twitter :) Sharing is caring, right? Oh, ignore the tweets, fake *cough*

... and you'll be able to tweet traffic conditions through the widget now

Now, the question that is probably on your mind is … will there be MORE traffic feeds? Well, that’s a Yes and a No. We’ve added in more feeds for KL (close to 20+).

But what about the rest of Malaysia? :( Aha! We’re working on something, so hang in there.

Update: The new update is now live, read it here.

I realised that a press release was a little too formal as we’ve always been the informal nerdy guys that we are. I’ll attempt to disseminate this piece of news. We were privileged to be invited into Forum Nokia Pro. Basically this is a program that will allow us access to technical, business and marketing support. Excellent, just what a fledging company like ours need.

Well, what other goodies do we get? Device loans :) Now we don’t have to beg our buddies (ahem) for their mobile phones so that we could test the apps we are making. Hence, we’ll be saving a lot of time by having test devices on hand. This program is valid for a year, so we’re going to make the best of it.

And now, for the boring and formal press release …

NERD ATTACK IT CONSULTANCY JOINS INDUSTRY LEADERS IN FORUM NOKIA PRO

Wireless Developer Gains Exclusive Access to Nokia Technical Resources and
Business Development Support

SUBANG JAYA, 14 OCT, 2009 –Nerd Attack IT Consultancy, a leading mobile application and web solutions provider, today announced that it has become a member of Forum Nokia PRO, a program that provides advanced technical, business development and marketing support to selected mobile software companies. As a member of Forum Nokia PRO, Nerd Attack IT Consultancy has the opportunity to further strengthen its relationship with Nokia, gain early access to Nokia technology and take advantage of specialized service and support provided by Nokia to help Nerd Attack IT Consultancy stand out in the marketplace.

Forum Nokia PRO provides specialized support for advanced developer companies creating the next generation of software based on the Series 40, S60 and Series 80 platforms from Nokia. A select number of companies worldwide who demonstrate industry leadership are chosen as Forum Nokia PRO members. By becoming a Forum Nokia PRO member, Nerd Attack IT Consultancy is better positioned to ensure the close integration of its software with Nokia’s devices and benefit from Nokia’s extensive worldwide software distribution channels.

Member companies are also invited to participate in valuable co-marketing activities with Nokia. These can include opportunities to demonstrate applications in Nokia’s booth at industry events and inclusion in Nokia-published software catalogs, distributed to Nokia internal business groups, mobile network operators and content aggregators worldwide.

About Forum Nokia

Nokia’s global developer community, Forum Nokia, connects developers to tools, technical information, support, and distribution channels they can use to build and market applications around the globe. From offices in the U.S., Europe, Japan, China, and Singapore, Forum Nokia provides technical and business development support to developers and operators to assist them in achieving their goal of successfully launching applications and services to consumers and enterprises.

Thanks for the support, we’re working HARD on *hint* one app that should be VERY useful *hint* everyday app *cough*

Ladies and gentlemen, our very first Nokia widget is now live on the Ovi Store! You can download it for free! Grab it from the product page and click on the “Download from Ovi” button.

Download KLTraffic widget

We hope to make further improvements to this widget in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more widgets from us!

Oh yes, when the opportunity does arise, we do branding as well! Such is the case when we were approached by a long time client and friend to design a logo for their brand new blog. The requirements were pretty simple and straight forward.

“Need it in blue & web 2.0-ish”

Here’s what we came up with. Hit the read more link!

What do you think?

Different logo variations

Oh hey, if you’re looking for someone to create a brand for you, why not hit us up? :)