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		<title>App camp Greece v.2</title>
		<link>http://niobiumlabs.com/app-camp-greece-v-2/</link>
		<comments>http://niobiumlabs.com/app-camp-greece-v-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 May 2012 10:19:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>george</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://niobiumlabs.com/?p=997</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After the first App Camp in Greece held on July 2011 we are set to launch the second one. With more drive, ambition and enthusiasm the Greek startup ecosystem is going to host an event that aims at proving that with teamwork anything is possible. On top of that, we are bound to shout to the world that the Greek startup ecosystem has the guts, despite all odds, to play...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After the first App Camp in Greece held on July 2011 we are set to launch the second one.<br />
With more drive, ambition and enthusiasm the Greek startup ecosystem is going to host an event that aims at proving that with teamwork anything is possible. On top of that, we are bound to shout to the world that the Greek startup ecosystem has the guts, despite all odds, to play a vital role in the global startup community.</p>
<p>Our goal for this year's App Camp is to attract global startups and mentors and have them participate in an event that will combine business strategy, app and web development … with a little bit of sea and sun.</p>
<h2>Why code in the dark?</h2>
<p>In case you are not familiar with the concept, App Camp is an idea accelerator for internet and mobile applications. Its objective is to help developers  perform a focused code sprint  before going live. think of ot as a code resort where good ideas for apps are transformed into commercially viable products and services for the global market. App Camp is an opportunity for small development teams (2-5 persons), who have programming experience, to develop their ideas into a prototype app. Participating teams will be guided by mentors representing a wide variety of specialities and skill sets from development, design, marketing and intellectual property.</p>
<p>This year, we will be planning the event with the assistance of the students from the Panteion University Advertising and PR Lab as part of the Entrepreneurship and Social Media Course. On the first hands on seminar held at our offices today (May 2 2012) we will be discussing the basic framework for organizing the event. More specifically we will be analyzing:</p>
<ul>
<li>Communication Strategy</li>
<li>Web presence</li>
<li>Social media strategy</li>
<li>Venue management</li>
<li>Sponsorships</li>
<li>Press relations</li>
<li>Participants</li>
<li>Content and Video production</li>
</ul>
<p>Last year’s event obviously set the bar high, with noteworthy mentors, excellent participating teams but above all demonstrable results.</p>
<p><a href="http://apas.gr/appcamp/">4sqwifi </a><br />
<a href=" http://www.historiousapp.com/"> Historiuous</a><br />
<a href="http://www.parkingd.com/"> Parking Defenders </a><br />
are some of the teams that excelled.<br />
Check out last year's event <a href="http://www.appcamp.gr/">http://www.appcamp.gr/</a></p>
<p>Don’t neglect to follow <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/appcampgr">app camp on twitter</a> , <a href="http://www.facebook.com/AppCampGreece">like us on facebook</a> and keep an eye on the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23organizingappcamp">#organizingappcamp</a></p>
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		<title>Mobile and healthcare a match made in heaven! The Athens Mobile Monday theme</title>
		<link>http://niobiumlabs.com/mobile-and-healthcare-a-match-made-in-heaven-the-athens-mobile-monday-theme/</link>
		<comments>http://niobiumlabs.com/mobile-and-healthcare-a-match-made-in-heaven-the-athens-mobile-monday-theme/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:02:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>george</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://niobiumlabs.com/?p=969</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mobile Monday event on mobile health took place on Wednesday, April 25. During the first session we had the opportunity to watch presentations from the four keynote speakers, who were all involved in the mHealth sector from different positions. David Doherty @mHealthInsight  from Ireland represented @3GDoctor a company that offers mobile health services, giving patients the opportunity to create, store and manage their Personal Health Record which can be referred by their...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Mobile Monday event on mobile health took place on Wednesday, April 25. During the first session we had the opportunity to watch presentations from the four keynote speakers, who were all involved in the mHealth sector from different positions.<span id="more-969"></span></p>
<p>David Doherty <a href="http://www.twitter.com/mHealthInsight">@mHealthInsight</a>  from Ireland represented <a href="http://www.twitter.com/3gdoctor">@3GDoctor</a> a company that offers mobile health services, giving patients the opportunity to create, store and manage their Personal Health Record which can be referred by their Doctor during video consultations.</p>
<p>He underlined that the health industry should take advantage of the unique abilities of mobile devices, such as the fact that they are personal, always on, and can capture the social context of consumption.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-in-reply-to="195174326708862977"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523MoMoAth">#MoMoAth</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/MoMoAth">MoMoAth</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/3gdoctor">3gdoctor</a> illustrates how mobile is disrupting healthcare</p>
<p>— Niobium Labs (@niobiumlabs) <a href="https://twitter.com/niobiumlabs/status/195175292757745664" data-datetime="2012-04-25T15:39:50+00:00">April 25, 2012</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Sophia Salenius from Sweden, representative of Regpoint, raised the question whether patients should be approached by SMS or mobile apps. Her point of view was that since the penetration of smartphones globally is not so high, the most available and affordable way to reach patients is via SMS notifications. <a href="http://niobiumlabs.com/smart-phone-adoption-rate-in-context/">We definitely have a different point of view on that!</a></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Sophia Salenius RegPoint:develops &amp; markets wireless disease &amp; disaster manag. solutions, is 2nd speaker at @<a href="https://twitter.com/MoMoAth">MoMoAth</a> <a title="http://www.momoath.com/2012/04/momo-event-whats-up-in-mobile-health/" href="http://t.co/vPxm279t">momoath.com/2012/04/momo-e…</a></p>
<p>— Vicki Kolovou (@netWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/netWire/status/192892152781611009" data-datetime="2012-04-19T08:27:27+00:00">April 19, 2012</a></p></blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Dimitris Hagigeorgiou from SAP talked about mobile health solutions today, and how mobile technology can help doctors, nurses and patients. With the use of specialized software, doctors are able to access patients’ clinical information, place orders and receive alerts if there is an emergency situation. On the other hand, patients can use apps that remind them to take their medicines, provide them with medical information and help them to keep track of their health condition.</p>
<p>Nikos Papachristou, a health blogger (<a href="http://twitter.com/ehealthgr">@ehealthgr</a>), talked about the reality and challenges of mHealth in Greece. He stressed that the existence of many rural areas in Greece makes the development of mHealth essential. This sector should also be promoted by the state. His session was interactive, with the active participation of the audience.</p>
<p>During the second session, a crowd-funded competition for mobile health apps took place. The six contestants presented the mHealth applications they developed and then the audience had the opportunity to vote for the winning team.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.momoath.com/2012/04/agenda-for-mhealth-meeting-finalists-for-the-app-competition/">Check out the participants at momoAthens website</a></p>
<p>The winner of the competition was <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Dialogapp">@DiaLogApp</a><br />
They have successfully implemented a gamification concept in their app tracking Diabetes.</p>
<p>Dialogapp utilizes, Leaderboards,Badges and appointment dynamics to incentivize people to track and document their medical data</p>
<p>Gamification in health is major trend that will in our opinion continue to be utilized heavily by mhealth applications</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Congrats to all the participants!</p>

<a href='http://niobiumlabs.com/mobile-and-healthcare-a-match-made-in-heaven-the-athens-mobile-monday-theme/mzl-srxycykr-320x480-75/' title='mzl.srxycykr.320x480-75'><img width="200" height="200" src="http://niobiumlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/mzl.srxycykr.320x480-75-200x200.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="mzl.srxycykr.320x480-75" title="mzl.srxycykr.320x480-75" /></a>
<a href='http://niobiumlabs.com/mobile-and-healthcare-a-match-made-in-heaven-the-athens-mobile-monday-theme/mzl-fpbxnxle-320x480-75/' title='mzl.fpbxnxle.320x480-75'><img width="200" height="200" src="http://niobiumlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/mzl.fpbxnxle.320x480-75-200x200.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="mzl.fpbxnxle.320x480-75" title="mzl.fpbxnxle.320x480-75" /></a>
<a href='http://niobiumlabs.com/mobile-and-healthcare-a-match-made-in-heaven-the-athens-mobile-monday-theme/mzl-icksoxpg-320x480-75/' title='mzl.icksoxpg.320x480-75'><img width="200" height="200" src="http://niobiumlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/mzl.icksoxpg.320x480-75-200x200.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="mzl.icksoxpg.320x480-75" title="mzl.icksoxpg.320x480-75" /></a>
<a href='http://niobiumlabs.com/mobile-and-healthcare-a-match-made-in-heaven-the-athens-mobile-monday-theme/erd/' title='mhealth'><img width="200" height="200" src="http://niobiumlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/erd-200x200.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="mhealth" title="mhealth" /></a>

<p>Check out a presentation made by students of Panteion University of Athens Advertising and PR lab about gamification in healthcare</p>
<p><strong style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;"><a title="Gamification of health 2012 - hillstudio" href="http://www.slideshare.net/athinaah/gamification-for-health-hillstudio" target="_blank">Gamification of health 2012 - hillstudio</a></strong></p>
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<div style="padding: 5px 0 12px;"></div>
</div>
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		<title>Smart phone adoption rate in context</title>
		<link>http://niobiumlabs.com/smart-phone-adoption-rate-in-context/</link>
		<comments>http://niobiumlabs.com/smart-phone-adoption-rate-in-context/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:57:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>george</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mobile]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://niobiumlabs.com/?p=946</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Did you know that the Internet just turned 20? In the States it wouldn’t even be allowed to have a drink at a bar. Did you know that youtube is five years old and still in kindergarden? Imagine that Facebook didn’t get to see the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and that Jobs unveiled the iPhone to the public on January 9th, 2007. No matter what your age is, doesn’t it...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Did you know that the Internet just turned 20?<br />
In the States it wouldn’t even be allowed to have a drink at a bar.<br />
Did you know that youtube is five years old and still in kindergarden?<span id="more-946"></span><br />
Imagine that Facebook didn’t get to see the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and that Jobs unveiled the iPhone to the public on January 9th, 2007.</p>
<p>No matter what your age is, doesn’t it feel like somehow all these always existed ?</p>
<p>These technologies have been part of our lives for the past few years, they are interwoven with our every day life and quickly have succeeded in occupying a dominant part of our time.<br />
The adoption rate was so fast that it took us by surprise.</p>
<p>As a matter of fact, the Internet was the fastest adopted technology ever, compared to older technological innovations, such as television and the telegraph.<br />
In 1992, the number of Internet-connected American households was less than 2 million. Fifteen years later, it was close to 75 million.</p>
<h2>and then came mobile...</h2>
<p>Just a few years ago, smartphones were viewed as expensive toys for geeks, bussiness people and Apple fan boys. This is no longer the case; Smartphones have become mainstream in developed markets, and are taking a growing proportion of device sales in more cost-sensitive markets around the globe.</p>
<p>In the second quarter of 2011, smartphone penetration surpassed 29% globally in Q3, 2011 according to Strategy Analytics. However, smartphone shipment penetration varies widely from nearly 65% in the USA and over 50% in Europe to 19% in Asia-Pacific, 17% in Latin America and 18% in Africa/Middle East, according to <a href="http://www.visionmobile.com/blog/2011/11/new-report-mobile-platforms-the-clash-of-ecosystems/">vision mobile</a>.</p>
<p>Some claim that <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/08/26/smartphone-adoption-trends/">smartphone penetration is not as big as we think</a> and others raise the argument that it hasn't reached a critical mass yet, in order for them to consider incorporating a mobile startegy in their marketing mix.</p>
<p>Well, that might be the case, but i'd like to highlight 2 important trends:</p>
<p>The first one is the <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/08/nielsen-soon-to-be-seniors-adopting-smartphones-faster-than-any/">adaption rate of smart phones in elderly population</a>. Seniors can take advantage of mobile technology in order to receive medical care and use applications specially designed for their needs. Smart manufacturers like www.doro.com  have noticed that trend and are allready developing easy-to-use smart phones for the elderly. Those devices will be equiped with medical apps and sensors that will be a part of everyday routine for most elderly people soon enough.</p>
<p>The second trend is highlighted by google's vision to bring the internet to the remaining 5 billion people of the developing world. This will be achieved soon enough, when under $20 Android smartphones will be a reality (other manufacturers like <a href="http://www.itworld.com/hardware/208803/nokia-readies-linux-os-low-end-smartphones">Nokia </a>will follow). The developing world will inevitably go "straigh to  mobile" without ever having used a PC.</p>
<p>The benefits mobile technology will provide for rural and low-income populations are obvious since they are in need for services such health, education and communications that cannot be provided otherwise.</p>
<h2>The point is that mobile is taking over! And it will happen sooner than you think...</h2>
<p>This debate about smartphone penetration reminds me of advice my first boss gave me back in 1996 which I would like to share with you:<br />
“From what you hear, believe nothing; from what you see just take half, only what is in your hands is sure enough...”</p>
<p>Chances are there is a smart phone in your hand!</p>
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		<title>Thoughts on branding and entrepreneurship</title>
		<link>http://niobiumlabs.com/thoughts-on-branding-and-entrepreneurship/</link>
		<comments>http://niobiumlabs.com/thoughts-on-branding-and-entrepreneurship/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:36:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>george</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://niobiumlabs.com/?p=923</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last Saturday we had the opportunity to see the brand strategist Peter Economides @petereconomides and Business Coach Leda Karabela @LedaKa talking about entrepreneurship, branding, life the universe and everything  at Colab workspace in Athens. Both Peter and Leda have worked around the globe for major brands and had a lot to say to aspiring entrepreneurs this weekend. Peter is currently in an epic quest to rebrand Greece, while Leda joined...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Last Saturday we had the opportunity to see the brand strategist Peter Economides <a href="http://www.twitter.com/petereconomides" target="_blank">@petereconomides</a> and Business Coach Leda Karabela <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ledaka" target="_blank">@LedaKa</a> talking about entrepreneurship, branding, life the universe and everything  at Colab workspace in Athens.<span id="more-923"></span></p>
<p>Both Peter and Leda have worked around the globe for major brands and had a lot to say to aspiring entrepreneurs this weekend. Peter is currently in an epic quest to rebrand Greece, while Leda joined us just before departing for San Fransisco for new adventures.</p>
<p>The insights we got from that meeting were invaluable and  the timing was optimum  since we are in the process of branding our new Campaign Management Platform that aims to take mobile marketing to another level.</p>
<p>We came out with 3 takeways from that meeting.</p>
<p>First and foremost<br />
Peter is launching  “ginetai workshop”,  a facebook community  that aims among others to connect people with one thing in mind: it can be done.<br />
If you add to that Leda’s personal site <a href="http://www.yhesitate.com/">www.yhesitate.com</a> ...well you get the idea:</p>
<h2>There is no point in hesitating, it is doable!</h2>
<p>Our take on that is that people who say that something is impossible are usually interrupted by people actually doing it.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>"Eat like a bird shit like an elephant" by @<a href="https://twitter.com/petereconomides">petereconomides</a> or else pick ideas all over drop yours and let people find it and talk about it</p>
<p>— Niobium Labs (@niobiumlabs) <a href="https://twitter.com/niobiumlabs/status/178515546126557184" data-datetime="2012-03-10T16:19:57+00:00">March 10, 2012</a></p></blockquote>
<p>Peter  at one point shared with the audience his favorite quote, derived from a Guy Kawasaki quote taken from his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/088730995X/002-3582192-9819255?v=glance&amp;n=283155&amp;s=books&amp;v=glance&amp;tagActionCode=garrreynoldsc-20">Rules for Revolutionaries.</a> Guy suggests and Peter agrees that we should "Eat like a bird, and shit  like an elephant."  In other words, get out there, meet people, press the flesh, consume knowledge like crazy, attend seminars,  since birds do eat a lot and from different sources. Then spread the knowledge, information, and contacts that you gained around,deliver it and people will notice in the same way that you can’t avoid elephant’s shit <img src='http://niobiumlabs.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Finally, when it comes to branding you have to have one point in mind ...well actually three points that add up to a triangle:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_thyself">Know Thyself … </a> or who you are as inscribed  in the pronaos (forecourt) of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Apollo_(Delphi)">Temple of Apollo at Delphi</a> according to the Greek periegetic (travelogue) writer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pausanias_(geographer)">Pausanias</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Who do you want to become</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Who is your audience</li>
</ul>
<p>That little triangle according to Peter constitutes the basis for your branding strategy .</p>
<p>I would add a fourth element and make it a square: who your competition is.<br />
As proposed by Sun tzu in the Art of War the  decision to position an army must be based on both objective conditions in the physical environment and the subjective beliefs of other, competitive actors in that environment.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>A branding triangle: who are you, who do you want to become and who is your audience by @<a href="https://twitter.com/petereconomides">petereconomides</a><a title="http://ow.ly/i/vcmJ" href="http://t.co/nfsrFTjg">ow.ly/i/vcmJ</a> — Niobium Labs (@niobiumlabs) <a href="https://twitter.com/niobiumlabs/status/178510942345244673" data-datetime="2012-03-10T16:01:39+00:00">March 10, 2012</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br />
see the talk here</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0px none transparent;" src="http://www.ustream.tv/embed/recorded/21008736" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="480" height="296"></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Visiting the World Mobile Congress 2012</title>
		<link>http://niobiumlabs.com/the-emerging-trends-from-the-world-mobile-congress-2012/</link>
		<comments>http://niobiumlabs.com/the-emerging-trends-from-the-world-mobile-congress-2012/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:04:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>george</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mobile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WMC]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://niobiumlabs.com/?p=881</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We ‘ve just returned from the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona, Spain, the world's largest mobile congress that aims to comemorate the current state of mobile and offer a glimpse into where mobile will go next. Barcelona was the place where all the companies tried to showcase their innovations in the sector. At the forefront of the evolution stood the largest mobile manufacturing companies with gigantic booths that aimed to...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We ‘ve just returned from the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona, Spain, the world's largest mobile congress that aims to comemorate the current state of mobile and offer a glimpse into where mobile will go next.<span id="more-881"></span><br />
Barcelona was the place where all the companies tried to showcase their innovations in the sector. At the forefront of the evolution stood the largest mobile manufacturing companies with gigantic booths that aimed to attract attention to their new offerings.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Entering a mobile world <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523MWC">#MWC</a> <a title="http://twitter.com/niobiumlabs/status/174097385771892737/photo/1" href="http://t.co/25Xj4t6A">twitter.com/niobiumlabs/st…</a></p>
<p>— Niobium Labs (@niobiumlabs) <a href="https://twitter.com/niobiumlabs/status/174097385771892737" data-datetime="2012-02-27T11:43:46+00:00">February 27, 2012</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>The congress had a rather speedy pace with many important keynote speakers and many parallel events held all over town. We focused mainly on mobile payment and geolocation solutions and had the opportunity to talk to fellow startups from all over the world as well as with important players who lead innovation.</p>
<p>It came as no surprise that the Mobile World Congress this year was dominated by smartphones and their impact on our day-to-day lives. Figures vary, but there is a general agreement that the industry has reached a tipping point; soon enough, mobile internet use, will surpass that of PC use.</p>
<p>The age of the mobile is clearly upon us. At this tipping point, cameras from mobile phones rival advanced DLSR cameras and pocket devices are more powerful than a home PC.</p>
<p>The most obvious trend in our opinion, was the burning desire of the industry to bring the mobile and broadband revolution to the developing world. This means cheaper smartphones, and more widely deployed, dense wireless networks. This was vividly highlighted in Eric Shcmidts’, (Google’s CEO) keynote where he addressed the fact that we should be actively trying to connect the remaining 5bn people to the internet. That underlines Androids’ vision of putting a smartphone in every pocket on earth. In a few- not so distant years - Android smartphones could cost less than US$20 and that vision will be realized</p>
<p>The debate regarding smartphone penetration was risen once more, but it was made clear from the presentations of industries specialists, that the shift to smartphones is cataclysmic . For instance, in the Middle East - even now- smart phone mobile penetration is unbelievably high (in some countries like Kuweit it reaches 70-80%). The developing markets, as it seems, will be using smart phones heavily in order to connect and as it appears they have skipped a generation going straight to mobile without ever having used a PC.</p>
<p>In this mobile age, another major focus is mobile payments. Whether it’s mobile banking, apps or NFC, it is clear that as smartphone use increases, so will interest in mobile payments. An impressive stand from ebay and payapal in MWC demonstrated the shift to mobile for retail and how the use of mobile devices could change commerce.</p>
<p>"Mobile commerce is changing the way people shop and pay, and the ways in which merchants of all sizes engage consumers," said John Donahoe, eBay CEO.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523wmc">#wmc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523WMC12">#WMC12</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/ebay">ebay</a> has a mobile vision for the future of commerce. Definitely going there! <a title="http://twitter.com/niobiumlabs/status/174143019036053504/photo/1" href="http://t.co/0E6ispOM">twitter.com/niobiumlabs/st…</a> — Niobium Labs (@niobiumlabs) <a href="https://twitter.com/niobiumlabs/status/174143019036053504" data-datetime="2012-02-27T14:45:06+00:00">February 27, 2012</a></p></blockquote>
<p>This year’s Mobile World Congress had a spot for app developers as well, with an entire building dedicated to application developers with each day of the App Planet being hosted by another player—Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Research In Motion and Google’s Android. App Planet provided an abundance of opportunities for developers and mobile professionals.</p>
<p>Finally we won't fail to mention mobile marketing, with three Greek companies leading the show.Presenting new offerings and beter value propositions it seems that they have understood that SMS Marketing can go so far.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>RT @<a href="https://twitter.com/drandakis">drandakis</a>: Very strong Greek presence in <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523MWC">#MWC</a> with @<a href="https://twitter.com/UpstreamGlobal">UpstreamGlobal</a>@<a href="https://twitter.com/VeltiMobile">VeltiMobile</a>and @<a href="https://twitter.com/InternetQ">InternetQ</a> Against all odds.”</p>
<p>— Niobium Labs (@niobiumlabs) <a href="https://twitter.com/niobiumlabs/status/174123935305170944" data-datetime="2012-02-27T13:29:15+00:00">February 27, 2012</a></p></blockquote>
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		<title>What we saw @ the Athens startup weekend teams. A brief review of the Athens startup weekend</title>
		<link>http://niobiumlabs.com/what-we-saw-the-athens-startup-weekend-teams-a-brief-review-of-the-athens-startup-weekend/</link>
		<comments>http://niobiumlabs.com/what-we-saw-the-athens-startup-weekend-teams-a-brief-review-of-the-athens-startup-weekend/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:37:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>george</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://niobiumlabs.com/?p=794</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Niobium Labs participated as a sponsor in the Athens startup weekend,an intense 54 hour event that aims to help aspiring entrepreneurs meet and form the basis of a new company. It all started on Friday 9/2, from around 40 ideas we had to go down to 15, so 60 seconds was all they had. Nervous but bold the participants took that time and one by one pitched their idea. There...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Niobium Labs participated as a sponsor in the Athens startup weekend,an intense 54 hour event that aims to help aspiring entrepreneurs meet and form the basis of a new company.<span id="more-794"></span></p>
<p>It all started on Friday 9/2, from around 40 ideas we had to go down to 15, so 60 seconds was all they had. Nervous but bold the participants took that time and one by one pitched their idea. There could be only fifteen so the process took its course and after an intense hour the participants self regulated the results and formed into teams.</p>
<p>The level of the ideas was surprisingly high and the commitment of the participants admirable. Most were eager to learn and adjust and took in the recommendations, proposals and critique from the mentors  <a href="http://athens.startupweekend.org/mentors/" target="_blank">(more about them)</a> blended it with their experience and transformed it into something anew.</p>
<p>And why wouldn't they? Having the opportunity to have your idea analyzed, discussed and stretch tested before you even take the first step is something that anyone starting a company should envy.<br />
Especially having your idea under the spotlight of Microsoft evangelists, world class web designers, startup consultants, proven entrepreneurs and coaches with might is an opportunity not to be missed.</p>
<p>During this weekend, we met some interesting young people with innovating ideas, we talked to them and we tried to help them by giving feedback and advice but mainly by offering a different point of view.<br />
It's remarkable how many people were receptive to new perspectives and how they would calibrate their initial ideas based on the feedback they got from all the mentors.</p>
<p>Here are the projects as we saw them,in a particular order.</p>
<h3>startupnetwork</h3>
<p>A Network that intends to bridge the gap between early stage startups and seed fund investors.<br />
A nice prospect even though it faces great established competition from day one.<br />
<img src="http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg863/scaled.php?tn=0&amp;server=863&amp;filename=8qmr.jpg&amp;xsize=640&amp;ysize=640" alt="" /></p>
<div>We took that picture, as it was the first thing we saw while approaching the team on Saturday morning.</div>
<p>Our tag line is that all that you need to build your startup is<strong> to just do it.</strong><br />
This project needs to differentiate from the competition that is well established and respected. We suggested a pivot to a LinkedIn game with simple game dynamics and powers emerging from the virtual talent you acquire.</p>
<h3>Allcancode</h3>
<p>their pitch :“ Let’s create the next generation of coding talents”.<br />
This team had an interesting approach, they immediately understood that they had to build on top of competition (all can code, codecademy), they want to focus, as we understood it, on teaching the concepts and the mindset of programming rather than what is usually offered by other learn2code platforms.</p>
<p>The problem was that even though they had a prototype they chose not to present it in front of the judges and their 5 minute presentation didn't focus on the game dynamics of learning and how they would implement that.</p>
<p>We believe that focusing on a "parent -child" selling proposition with a well structured game dynamic would give their concept an edge. We loved the concept, but we strongly believe they should focus on a unique value proposition as well as a better marketing pitch.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523asw4">#asw4</a> learn 2 code with your kids<a title="http://yfrog.com/h68u0qlj" href="http://t.co/fHt9NzpS">yfrog.com/h68u0qlj</a></p>
<p>— Niobium Labs (@niobiumlabs) <a href="https://twitter.com/niobiumlabs/status/168312266326949888" data-datetime="2012-02-11T12:35:46+00:00">February 11, 2012</a></p></blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Kinect Life( 3d place)</h3>
<p>“Kinect Life is Kinect for all”<br />
Motion gestures is definitely going to be part of our lives in the near future and these guys aim at putting a hand on that!<br />
Their proposition: adjust the level of the effort needed to interact with kinect according to various profiling methods.<br />
Nice implementation and a demonstration of their project during their 5 minute pitch!<br />
We unfortunately had little to no time to talk with this team. These guys were up to their necks coding the kinect SDK into building awesome stuff. However we kinda failed to fully grasp their business model and their revenue strategy during pitch time.</p>
<h3>Orderro</h3>
<p>our first thought when we heard their 60 second pitch was</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523asw4">#asw4</a> disrupt the way we order our coffee?Let's do it</p>
<p>— Niobium Labs (@niobiumlabs) <a href="https://twitter.com/niobiumlabs/status/168022919035895808" data-datetime="2012-02-10T17:26:00+00:00">February 10, 2012</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>  Their idea is to be able to pre-order food and drinks through the use of mobile phone and skip the queues. We feel in love with the idea. We even started thinking ourselves ordering frappe next to the beach during Greece’s hot summer. Hard go-to-market but huge potential to disrupt the entire retail industry.</p>
<h3>Metoo</h3>
<p>We have to admit that we didn't fully understood that. They worked in mysterious ways, flirting with psychology, psychometric personality results and the content the user is supposed to be seeing in his social media feed. They proposed that people should get their content timeline (facebook or other) based on their personality instead of who their social circle or declared interests(facebook likes) are. They concluded with a Facebook application that performs psychometric tests and matches content between different users based on their profile compatibility and similar personality traits.</p>
<p>“I had one of the best times of my life, it was extremely fun and all the people were super, everyone was helpfull. “ said one of the team members when asked about her startup weekend experience.</p>
<p>The automated content discovery industry is super hot, which in other words means a lot of competition form startups with millions in the bank. We cannot argue on whether or not the personality profiling is an interesting twist for better algorithms since we are not experts in the field. Anyhow, this idea needs to prove it’s business case.</p>
<h3>Respondability</h3>
<p>A crowd sourced decision making platform, where corporations will be able to choose a cause of corporate responsibility based on suggestions from users and NGOs. Great idea that solves a not so tractable problem. The issue with pitching these kind of idea is how do you quantify the gain for large corporations. We suggested that the team focuses on hyper local and real time pledges, in order to be the facilitator for minimum-budget, quick-response actions that would maximize earned media coverage and community engagement.</p>
<h3>Eksipnoteros</h3>
<p>The team’s idea was that Supermarkets should bid for your shopping list. Even though it sounds like an interesting idea, we believe that it would be difficult to be implemented, mainly due to practical reasons. Interesting concept that tries to gain from arbitrage between prices in different grocery stores. However, the logistics are huge and these guys will have a pile of problems to address.</p>
<h3>Shopalyzer</h3>
<p>The idea is to create your own e-shop in facebook and start selling to your fans, without redirecting them to another website. In this way, companies can get advantage of their facebook page in order to attract potential buyers.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone" title="startupweekend" src="http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg532/scaled.php?tn=0&amp;server=532&amp;filename=74jzd.jpg&amp;xsize=640&amp;ysize=640" alt="" width="480" height="640" /><br />
The simplicity of this idea is its strong point. It has a straight forward go-to-market plan and the team is versatile and competent. We believe this can be a hit if they enhance their game concepts in order to incentivize small retail sellers as we advised.</p>
<h3>Offerme</h3>
<p>Instead of looking for offers and hotel ratings on the web, offerme suggest that clients should be able to make vacation requests and businesses can make custom offers directly. When a deal is reached, the company gets a commission.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523asw4">#asw4</a> let the vacation offers find me! With @<a href="https://twitter.com/wardroberecycle">wardroberecycle</a> <a title="http://yfrog.com/nv56bjrij" href="http://t.co/SGJbzHAU">yfrog.com/nv56bjrij</a></p>
<p>— Niobium Labs (@niobiumlabs) <a href="https://twitter.com/niobiumlabs/status/168325969638199296" data-datetime="2012-02-11T13:30:13+00:00">February 11, 2012</a></p></blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Offerme is a reverse actioning site that focused on the long tail of Greek tourism professionals. Great potential that builds on top of the strategical advantage, operating in a county that the travel industry is 20% of GDP. We advised them to go with an island hopping iPhone app, in order to have a high value marketing gimmick.</p>
<h3>SWAPMAPP</h3>
<p>Based on the old saying:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac" target="_blank">We have a lot of stuff </a>why not trade them?</p>
<p>Instead of 1 to 1 trades, the team had the idea of creating circles of multiple swaps between an unlimited number of people. They plan on focusing initially on books and games swapping.</p>
<p>We did not had the chance to talk with the team during the entire weekend, but they delivered the most consistent presentation in our understanding. The idea is simple and builds on the proven concept of economy of exchangeable goods, as AirBnB indicates.</p>
<h3>Rentareto</h3>
<p>We only saw their 5 minute pitch on Sunday. Where were you guys hiding?<br />
a platform that enables location based sharing/renting of various stuff</p>
<h3>Fashion Fairy</h3>
<p>Fashion Fairy is your personal stylist. You upload photos of your clothes and Fashion Fairy suggest the best possible outfit combinations. In addition, it recommends clothes that you should add to your wardrobe.</p>
<p>Interesting idea from a very experienced and competent team, but with an open question on scaling, especially on the cloth recommendation service.</p>
<h3>Yummy Mummy (Niobium Labs mobile innovation award)</h3>
<p>The idea is to create an app that will help you find homemade food anytime, by connecting users and people who cook at home.</p>
<p>This is the most disruptive idea of the competition, therefore we have chosen these guys for the Mobile Innovation Award. We will comment in subsequent post on the concept of our verdict.</p>
<h3>USEUM (First Place)</h3>
<p>The winning team created a 2-way bridge between art lovers and artists. This web platform will help art enthusiasts discover emerging artists based on their artistic preferences. Vice versa, new artists can showcase their art to a broad audience.<br />
Useum is the typical example of a solid idea with a prototype and traction that proves the business case that was sky-rocked from a clever marketing concept. The AR art preview app that the team build over the weekend was the marketing sparkle that transformed this idea from a boring community of weird art enthusiasts into a mainstream content sharing app with a glimpse of awesomeness. We will follow their progress in Berlin.</p>
<h3>Lovechirps</h3>
<p>This team had a romantic mood. Their idea was to combine technology and romance, by enabling you sending recorder messages to your lover for Valentine’s Day.</p>
<p>What these guys pulled off in less than a weekends time is extraordinary. A fully functional service with awesome design and execution. Great product development from an awarded and proven team.</p>
<p>You can find more about the teams <a href="http://colabworkspace.com/2012/02/start-up-weekend-2012/" target="_blank">here</a></p>
<p>and something about the order: It's our suggestion if you want to enter the startup world, a suggestion based on the names and of the startups</p>
<ol>
<ol>
<ol>
<li>build your network and find people you can work with! create your personal<strong><em>Startupnetwrk</em></strong></li>
<li><strong><em>Learn to code</em></strong> or find somenone that allready knows (we suggest you start learning anyhow)</li>
<li><strong><em>Kinect Life</em></strong> = move... take action</li>
<li>Stop laying around coffe houses all day, <strong><em>orderro</em></strong> that coffee <img src='http://niobiumlabs.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </li>
<li><em><strong>metoo?</strong></em> yes you can do it too</li>
<li>You have be be responsible for your actions and have the abiliy to adapt. something like <strong><em>Respondability</em></strong></li>
<li>You may be smart, but you are not the smartest <strong><em>eksipnoteros</em></strong></li>
</ol>
</ol>
</ol>
<p><img class="alignnone" title="startupweekend" src="http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/425055_380134908668388_138782182803663_1724212_597587628_n.jpg " alt="" width="480" height="auto" /></p>
<ol>
<ol>
<li>some times simple is all you need, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_Startup" target="_blank">stay lean</a> <strong><em>shopalyzer</em></strong></li>
<li>Instead of trying to look for resources/people talk about your idea and let other people find you <strong><em>Offerme</em></strong></li>
<li>keep only the necessary. Trade away anything that you don't need <strong><em>swapmapp</em></strong></li>
<li>use what is allready out there <strong><em>rentareto</em></strong></li>
<li>Do it in style <strong><em>Fashion fairy</em></strong></li>
<li>Do that and you might win <strong><em>Useum &amp; Yummy Mummy</em></strong></li>
<li>Even if you don't succeed and end up failing, <a href="http://500.co/2011/02/23/fail-fast-often-by-design/" target="_blank">fail fast and fail by design</a> at the end of the day, love is all you need <strong><em>Lovechirps</em></strong></li>
</ol>
</ol>
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		<title>Athens Startup Weekend Entrepreneurship Forged in Fire</title>
		<link>http://niobiumlabs.com/athens-startup-weekend-had-it-all/</link>
		<comments>http://niobiumlabs.com/athens-startup-weekend-had-it-all/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:15:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>george</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Startups]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://niobiumlabs.com/?p=676</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It has been a memorable weekend for us, as we experienced two contradicting sides of Greece. On the one hand, we had the opportunity to see young people working together and producing unique ideas. On the other hand, as we all know, the protest in Athens against austerity measures lead to serious riots. Among the 'victims' of Sunday's incidents, was our office in the center of Athens. The bright side -...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It has been a memorable weekend for us, as we experienced two contradicting sides of Greece. On the one hand, we had the opportunity to see young people working together and producing unique ideas.</p>
<p>On the other hand, as we all know, the protest in Athens against austerity measures lead to serious riots. Among the 'victims' of Sunday's incidents, was our office in the center of Athens.<span id="more-676"></span></p>
<h1>The bright side - a startup weekend experience</h1>
<p><img title="startup weekend" src="http://niobiumlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Screen-shot-2012-02-14-at-6.18.22-PM.png" alt="startup weekend" width="490" height="360" /></p>
<p>Niobium Labs took part as a sponsor in the Athens Startup Weekend, where teams of inspired people put together their skills and ideas to form the basis of a business in 54 hours.<br />
As hundreds of others have in the 10 parallel held start up weekend events, (hosted in places as far and exotic as Anchorage Alaska, Mumbai India and Valencia Spain) 120 developers, graphic designers and business people in Athens worked hard during three days in order to form and present a proposal.</p>
<p><strong>The aim: </strong>Convince the jury that their ideas can be realized and become the basis of a successful business.<br />
<strong>The prizes:<br />
</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>A trip to Berlin in March to pitch at <a href="http://hackfwd.com/" target="_blank">HackFwd </a>at the <a href="https://hackfwd.wufoo.com/forms/x7x1x7/" target="_blank">Pitch in Berlin V2 event</a></li>
<li>Free mobile design &amp; development services with a pinch of  consultancy by the Niobium Labs team.</li>
</ol>
<p><a href="http://athens.startupweekend.org/2012/02/12/startup-weekend-athens-4-and-the-ideas/">Check out the 15 teams that participated </a>.</p>
<p>The fifteen teams worked hard for 54 hours and prepared 5-minute presentations that took place on Sunday evening.</p>
<div>The awarded team was the creators of Useum, a web platform where art enthusiasts can discover emerging artists based on their artistic preferences. and new artists can showcase their art, we hope to follow their story @<strong id="internal-source-marker_0.2804417791776359"> <a href="https://hackfwd.wufoo.com/forms/x7x1x7/">Pitch in Berlin V2 event</a></strong></div>
<p><strong>Niobium Labs awarded the mobile innovation award.<br />
</strong><br />
The award was free consulting development and design services for the creation of a mobile application. The winning team was Yummy Mommy, who had the idea to create an app that will help you find homemade food anytime, by connecting users and people who cook at home. We will be working hand in hand with that team over the next month to create a mobile application that will bring their vision to life.</p>
<h1>The dark side - a country in flames, our offices one of the victims</h1>
<p><img src="http://niobiumlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/429096_10150565820808692_108863283691_9152081_1561108835_n.jpg" alt="" width="490" height="316" /></p>
<p>While we were at the startup weekend event, Athens was going through hard times. Thousands of people were protesting outside the Greek Parliament against the vote for the new austerity measures. During the night, many buildings in the center of Athens were set on fire. Unfortunately, our offices suffered serious damages as a result of a fire on the ground floor of our building. On Monday morning, we came up against an unpleasant scene. Many buildings and shops in the main streets of Athens were destroyed by the fires, and people were trying to evaluate the damages.</p>
<p>Our office was covered with ash and the smell was unbearable and it looks like it will take some weeks before can get back into the office. Thankfully fellow Startups offered to help and we were immediately relocated to<a title="Colab Athens" href="http://colabworkspace.com/" target="_blank"> Colab Athens</a> to carry on with our work, delivering quality services to our customers.<br />
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-786" title="425692_384392031576009_138782182803663_1735952_267772762_n" src="http://niobiumlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/425692_384392031576009_138782182803663_1735952_267772762_n.jpg" alt="" width="490" height="316" /><br />
During this weekend we realised that it can take a few hours for new ideas to be born as long as people work together and take advantage of their creativity. However, it also takes just a few hours to destroy everything and create chaos.</p>
<h2>These are two sides of Greece. We choose to look on the bright side.</h2>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Check photos of the event on Aurelija S. flickr and photos of the disaster on our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.384382501576962.118450.138782182803663&amp;type=3">Facebook page</a></p>
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		<title>Hands on seminar on Responsive Web Design</title>
		<link>http://niobiumlabs.com/hands-on-seminar-on-responsive-web-design/</link>
		<comments>http://niobiumlabs.com/hands-on-seminar-on-responsive-web-design/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:28:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>george</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Responsive Web Design]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://niobiumlabs.com/?p=663</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On Wednesday, February 8, Niobium Labs team presented the highlights of the Responsive Web Design technique at the premises of the Greek Graphic Designers Association. Responsive Web Design was initially conceived  by Ethan Marcotte and was presented in his  famous article ”Responsive Web Design”. Resposive web design is now considered as a top trend by web designers and is evangelized by all major webdesign sites as  a paradigm. The core...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>On Wednesday, February 8, Niobium Labs team presented the highlights of the Responsive Web Design technique at the premises of the Greek Graphic Designers Association.<span id="more-663"></span></p>
<p>Responsive Web Design was initially conceived  by Ethan Marcotte and was presented in his  famous article ”<a href="http://www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-web-design/">Responsive Web Design</a>”. Resposive web design is now considered as a top trend by web designers and is evangelized by all major webdesign sites as  a paradigm.</p>
<p>The core idea of the Responsive Web Design approach is to have a website  developed and designed  in a manner that helps the layout to adjust to the user’s computer screen resolution.<br />
From mobile browsers to netbooks and tablets, users are visiting  websites from an increasing array of devices and browsers. Each one of these devices has a different screen size and image resolution, leading to a distinct user experience.</p>
<p>Through the responsive approach to web design we learn how to think and design a website in order its layout to deliver a quality experience to our users no matter how large (or small) their display. Responsive web designing has a completely different designing approach than traditional web designing, and developers must know about its pros and cons.</p>
<p>During the seminar we talked about successful examples of Responsive Web Design such as FT App [http://apps.ft.com/] and Boston Globe [http://www.bostonglobe.com/].</p>
<p>Even though responsive web design is mainly a mentality and a specific approach to web design, there are several resources available that could help beginners and experts alike familiarize themselves with the tools of the trade. During the seminar @doxaras walked us through  some of the most useful tools.</p>
<p><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/36918581?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" width="500" height="331" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>
<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/36918581">Responsive web design | fotisfxTALKS</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3116218">Fotis Samaridis</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
<p>Check out <a href="http://www.twitter.com/doxaras" title="Yiannis Doxaras">@doxaras</a>  slides from the presentation</p>
<div style="width:510px" id="__ss_11544276"> <strong style="display:block;margin:12px 0 4px"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/doxaras/responsive-design-11544276" title="Responsive design" target="_blank">Responsive design</a></strong> <iframe src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/11544276" width="510" height="426" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
<div style="padding:5px 0 12px"> View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/" target="_blank">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/doxaras" target="_blank">Yiannis Doxaras</a> </div>
</p></div>
<p>Below you can find some really well structured resources on responsive web design</p>
<p><a href="http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/09/the-ultimate-responsive-web-design-roundup/">http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/09/the-ultimate-responsive-web-design-roundup/</a><br />
<a href="http://www.netmagazine.com/features/21-top-tools-responsive-web-design">http://www.netmagazine.com/features/21-top-tools-responsive-web-design</a><br />
<a href="http://www.coreysmith.ws/blog/mobile-site-or-responsive-design">http://www.coreysmith.ws/blog/mobile-site-or-responsive-design</a><br />
<a href="http://www.netmagazine.com/features/seven-lessons-learned-responsive-web-design">http://www.netmagazine.com/features/seven-lessons-learned-responsive-web-design</a></p>
<p>On the following jsfiddle links, you can find some real life scenarios and you can freely experiment using them as a learning tool.</p>
<p><a href="http://jsfiddle.net/doxaras/fjrWn/2/">http://jsfiddle.net/doxaras/fjrWn/2/</a><br />
<a href="http://jsfiddle.net/doxaras/LeB47/">http://jsfiddle.net/doxaras/LeB47/</a><br />
<a href="http://jsfiddle.net/doxaras/CKPnJ/">http://jsfiddle.net/doxaras/CKPnJ/</a><br />
<a href="http://jsfiddle.net/doxaras/nCGUu/">http://jsfiddle.net/doxaras/nCGUu/</a><br />
<a href="http://jsfiddle.net/doxaras/RMMaJ/">http://jsfiddle.net/doxaras/RMMaJ/</a><br />
<a href="http://jsfiddle.net/doxaras/WTaKw/">http://jsfiddle.net/doxaras/WTaKw/</a><br />
<a href="http://jsfiddle.net/doxaras/T66wQ/">http://jsfiddle.net/doxaras/T66wQ/</a></p>
<p>if that doesn’t cut it you could get the book written by the man himself Ethan Marcotte <a href="http://www.abookapart.com/products/responsive-web-design">http://www.abookapart.com/products/responsive-web-design</a></p>
</div>
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		<title>An attempt to build SIRI from scratch in an afternoon at the National Technological University of Athens</title>
		<link>http://niobiumlabs.com/build-siri-from-scratch/</link>
		<comments>http://niobiumlabs.com/build-siri-from-scratch/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:50:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>george</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPhone/iPad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mobile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hackathlon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NTUA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SIRI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wolfram Alpha]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://niobiumlabs.com/?p=645</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We recently came across this question on Quora:How hard would it be to build Siri from scratch? http://www.quora.com/Siri-software/How-hard-would-it-be-to-build-Siri-from-scratch In an attempt to answer that question on Friday, January 20 NiobiumLabs team partnered up with the students of the National Technological University of Athens in a creative and challenging workshop. Our aim was to build Siri from scratch in an afternoon. During the workshop, the students had the opportunity to see...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We recently came across this question on Quora:How hard would it be to build Siri from scratch?<br />
<a href="http://www.quora.com/Siri-software/How-hard-would-it-be-to-build-Siri-from-scratch">http://www.quora.com/Siri-software/How-hard-would-it-be-to-build-Siri-from-scratch<span id="more-645"></span></a></p>
<p><strong>In an attempt to answer that question on Friday, January 20 NiobiumLabs team partnered up with the students of the National Technological University of Athens in a creative and challenging workshop. Our aim was to </strong><strong>build Siri from scratch in an afternoon.</strong></p>
<p>During the workshop, the students had the opportunity to see and participate in the application development.</p>
<p><strong>The tools</strong></p>
<p>In order to create the application we used  <a href="http://www.politepix.com/openears" target="_blank">http://www.politepix.com/openears</a></p>
<p>OpenEars an open-source iOS library for implementing round-trip English language speech recognition and text-to-speech on the iPhone. Unlike Siri, which handles the requests server side, OpenEars is capable of local recognition on the iPhone of vocabularies with hundreds of words depending on the environment and other factors, and performs very well with command-and-control language models.</p>
<p>Combining that with the Wolfram Alpha API we have managed to emulate Siri user experience, emphasizing on the artificial intelligence part of information retrieval process. On the educational side, we showcased the basic steps needed to build an iOS project and some common practices in structuring your app, such as:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li>Including third party libraries to your project</li>
<li>using retina &amp; non retina sliced images to create custom UI elements</li>
<li>using custom fonts</li>
<li>retrieving data from disc</li>
<li>building your views both programmatically and by using Xcode's Interface Builder</li>
<li>memory management</li>
<li>making asynchronous HTTP calls</li>
<li>XML parsing</li>
<li>using UITableViews with varying cell size and dynamic content retrieved asynchronously from the web.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Drawbacks</strong></p>
<p>Although Open Ears is fast and reliable, it unfortunately suffers the problems all client side NLP software packages have, which is limited vocabulary references.</p>
<p><strong>The code</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://github.com/NiobiumLabs/Siri-Wolfram" target="_blank">https://github.com/NiobiumLabs/Siri-Wolfram</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>get the results and tell us what you think, keep in mind that this project was primarily created for educational purposes.</p>
<p><strong>The learning experience</strong></p>
<p>as <a title="antonis kalipetis" href="https://plus.google.com/106416995866374841185/posts" target="_blank">Antonis Kalipetis</a> on of the participating students pointed out:</p>
<p>"The workshop was quite a nice idea, in universities you learn a lot, but you don't get to know how the industry works and possible problems you might face there.<br />
In the workshop, someone could see the whole process for making an application, in a few and easy steps. Catching the idea, starting development and choosing the best external libraries to use, integrating your designer's icons and deploying it. Mobile is a really nice field for development and workshops like that open the doors for doing something on your own, which is really awesome!<br />
Let's hope for more workshops like this one, or other mobile platforms!"</p>
<p><iframe src="http://www.flickr.com/slideShow/index.gne?group_id=&amp;user_id=52347483@N06&amp;set_id=72157629097158693&amp;text=" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" align="center" width="524" height="524"></iframe></p>
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		<title>Join us on building Siri from Scratch at National Technology University Athens</title>
		<link>http://niobiumlabs.com/join-us-on-building-siri-from-scratch-at-ntua/</link>
		<comments>http://niobiumlabs.com/join-us-on-building-siri-from-scratch-at-ntua/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:56:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>yiannis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[iPhone/iPad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mobile]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://niobiumlabs.com/?p=615</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Niobium Labs is hosting a hands-on coding session at the most prestigious technical university in Greece, showcasing usage of Wolfram&#124;Alpha platform to develop high-level products and services with their API integrated with OpenEars, an open-source iOS library for implementing round-trip English language speech recognition and text-to-speech. Do not miss it! Today at 16:00 at Multimedia Auditorium, NTUA central campus. If you want to build something awesome with us just join us.  Check our jobs...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: left;">Niobium Labs is hosting a hands-on coding session at the most prestigious technical university in Greece, showcasing usage of <a href="http://products.wolframalpha.com/developers/">Wolfram|Alpha platform</a> to develop high-level products and services with their API integrated with <a href="http://www.politepix.com/openears">OpenEars</a>, an open-source iOS library for implementing round-trip English language speech recognition and text-to-speech.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span id="more-615"></span></p>
<p>Do not miss it! Today at 16:00 at Multimedia Auditorium, NTUA central campus.</p>
<p>If you want to build something awesome with us just join us.  Check our <a href="http://niobiumlabs.com/careers/">jobs section</a> cause we are in a massive round of new hires!</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://niobiumlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/presentation.png"><img class="aligncenter  wp-image-619" title="presentation" src="http://niobiumlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/presentation-1024x943.png" alt="" width="590" height="543" /></a></p>
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