[PRIME] Android Phone PAX App Isn't Coming This Year, Sorry

jonxp

If someone wants to take the reins of a BB app, feel free. The API is planned to be completely open, however work is going slow enough that I think it may not get made this year.

Rius

Bump! I'm looking to get a G1 before PAX and I remembered this thread. The OP seems to indicate that it's been published; is that the case, did it get finished, etc etc?

jonxp

The countdown only. Sorry, the rest is currently still in pipe dream status due to it being way too much work for a side product. I'm continuously working and perhaps I'll get something out in time, but I'd look toward next year being the target.

oyasumidesu

I have the white G1 and i am seriously looking foreward to this app XD i hope it makes it to the marketplace XD

Houn

Jon, you should edit the OP.

Jeppy

Wow... this really sucks but I understand about being very busy. I wish I knew how to write code. I really should learn.:rotate:

The_Reflection

that sucks Jon, but it's understandable.

One question though, Do you think, after PAX this year, before you try and make it again, you could update the app to be a countdown to PAX Prime 2010?

VThornheart

Aye, none of us who wanted to do it really had time to this year =( For a while Jon was trying to push it along, but it was really too much effort required for one person with no time on his hands to begin with. =( Hopefully I'll be able to contribute more this next time around, this year's been pretty much a wash for me in terms of doing anything of use outside of work. =(

Houn

I also apologize for being so flaky; though, let's definitely set what we want to do next year, and I'll start actually learning it now.

Jeppy

What programming language is used for this? I want to learn how to write code so no better time than the present. Shit I already work in a NOC so... why not add to my resume of things I can do?

Jeppy

VThornheart

Well, the web services we were going to make with Django (which is a Rails-like framework for Python), and Android apps have to be written in Java (Java that's meant to run on the Dalvik VM, not the traditional Sun VM).

Head here to learn more about web services and Django!

Head here to learn more about programming for Android with Java!

orbdep

Edited for reading, YAY for reading.

jonxp

Actually, I moved the backend code to Ruby and Rails. As much as I wanted to learn bigtable, it just wasn't working out.

nathos

It's almost time for the Penny Arcade Expo, a magical time of year when gamers can gather and bask in the joys of geek culture. Rufo and I have been surfing the PAX Forums and noticed a couple of threads talking about & wishing for a mobile app, but those plans seemed to fizzle.

We deemed this situation unacceptable, so over the past two weekends we set to work. Today we're proud to announce ExpoJunkie PAX 09 Edition:

We wanted PAX attendees to have a complete event schedule & map listing right on their mobile devices. ExpoJunkie features easy-to-navigate panel & gaming schedules and scrollable/zoomable maps for the convention center.

We also wanted iPod touch & iPhone users to be able to load the app and run it offline. By using some of the cool new features in iPhone OS 3, we can cache a lot of data on your iPhone/iPod touch. Once you 'install' the app to your home screen, the database & maps will be cached on your device for offline access. If you are online, the app will automatically check for updates & download as needed.

If you have an Android device or Palm Pre, good news! You can use the app too. It probably won't be able to cache data like the iPhone, but should work pretty well with a data connection. Please let us know if you run in to major issues on your Android devices, we'll see what we can do. (Neither of us have an Android device, so we've been checking it out in the SDK simulator)

We still have a few kinks to work out and possibly a few more features to add, but for now visit:

http://pax.expojunkie.com

on your mobile device. We'll call it 'beta' for the moment -- some features may not be fully enabled. We should have things squared away by the time PAX starts.

Follow us here or on Twitter for service updates.

If you'd like to check out a few screen shots, please head to our blog. Thanks, and we'll see you at PAX! :mrgreen:

jonxp

Heh, I should have read this already.

The caching should work right out of the box if you guys are using window.applicationCache, just remove the iPhone only limit. Android supports that (as do the other major Webkit browsers).

If you want to bump it up to work with Google Gears, I'll gladly volunteer my time for that. I'm a professional rails dev myself, and have been itching for a good excuse to making a caching plugin.