InfoBeans – Software Services

IT chiefs are typically worried about what the total cost of ownership or, as I like to see it, operations (TCO) would be when they start a new project or look at just continuing on with what they have.

Outsourcing IT, or components of your IT infrastructure is quite the norm in this day and age. What really makes IT czars restless at night is, first whether the vendor will be able to work seamlessly with his/her own organization and second, how would he/she control costs so that it actually results in a significantly lower TCO in the short and long run.

InfoBeans has devised a plan to address these concerns from IT organizations. This presentation is a starting point to seeing what is the guiding philosophy for InfoBeans when it comes to approaching software and IT outsourcing.

I will be following up with more specific and detailed aspects on our pricing options and what I refer to as performance based pricing. In the mean time, look at the presentation below and send in your comments. If you would like to know more about this, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at

salesATinfobeansDOTcom – do make the appropriate substitutions.

or call 1 888 4INFOBEANS

Indian tradition has divided the day into auspicious and not so auspicious times to start something new. This is called a Chogadia – basically a time table that tells you when to start a new, important task.

Many people, specially in business look at the chogadia to see what would be the best time to start something new – a new business deal, get into a new office or house, buy a car etc. At home, prayers are started at auspicious times after looking at the chogadia. Marriage times are fixed after consulting this calendar.

So InfoBeans brings you an app that lets you do just that. For any given date, this app tells you the best times for starting something new and important.

Download it here and let us know what you think about it. Here is a screen shot.

iChogadia

You have a cool iPhone app idea. But do not know where to start – and are specifically trying to find out if you would need to break the bank to get your idea to the Apple app store.

This presentation tries to allay some of your fears and puts together some basic thumb rules which can help you figure out whether you can really afford to get your idea to the app store. And you might be surprised. It is simpler thank you think. We help you make light of this task with our end to end iPhone app development solution. Right from building your concept to taking it to the app store.

So read on. Who knows, may be your app could feature on the top 25….

Download it here

We have an improved zip service and have fixed some bugs.

Many have talked about the lack of some features like current weather conditions, missing data etc. Please note that these are not there not because we have not put them in but because either the data coming in from the RSS feeds is inconsistent or it is entirely missing (like the 5 day forecast from Yahoo – it provides only a 2 day forecast on its RSS feed).

Please do rate it and let us know how you feel about it along with any suggestions/features etc you might want to see in the future.

A very frequently asked and relevant question.

iPhone apps are characterized by being short and mostly simple. The apps, by design, do one task in a small amount of time. And they should do this well.

This is opposed to more traditional web or desktop applications. These applications have matured over the years and now handle extremely complex business situations performing multiple things. Take your email – Outlook (desktop app) or Google (web app) as an example. Both these apps are not only email applications, they handle other tasks – calendars, document access and contact management to name a few.

Indeed, the hardware on which mobile apps are meant to run are very animals from the more traditional computing devices. Basic differences lie in processing power, network speed , memory, mobility, battery life, screen size, physical keyboard and mouse and their size, how you hold/place the device when you are working with it, geo location features and so on.

These factors mean that the apps that run on the iPhone need to be very different than apps that run on desktops.

Here are some of the parameters that we keep in mind while designing iPhone apps for our clients.

• Feature wise, they should have a very limited set of things they must do – these apps cannot be a cure all
• What they do, they should do right, in one go – there is limited scope of review and correction
• What they do, they should do in record time. If they take too long, there is a chance of losing data, if lets say a phone call comes in while the app is in use
• They should be more helpful than your average application – they should remember frequently used data and provide prompts that allow tapping/clicking than entering keyboard data
• They should keep in mind that the user would most probably using the thumb and maybe the forefinger, and not all fingers in one go
• Real estate is limited – so they should use space very wisely
• Network access might be limited at times. So they should store data locally if possible and then sync up. If that is not possible, the user should know before hand and appropriate checks should be in place to store data periodically
• The new multi touch interface allows for a brand new user experience – surprise the user to drive usability
• The hardware features like compass, GPS, accelerometer etc offer possibilities that have not existed in laptops/desktops

So this is what the lay of the land is when considering what to build for the iPhone. It certainly cannot by everything to everyone, but it surely opens up immense possibilities for great innovation.

Let us know what your needs/thoughts/ideas are and we will help you convert them into reality!

Hello world -

Just wanted to share our Indore team pictures with you. Pune and the US will be coming in another post.

Enjoy…

InfoBeans Indore Team

InfoBeans Indore Team

The iPhone is a phenomenal device. There is really no other device, than probably the iPod in recent history that has generated as much interest and sales than the iPhone. And the interest goes on increasing every day.

What is the reason for such a success?

In one word – the end to end user experience is probably what has made all the difference. Right from the point of buying one (not withstanding the lines, buying something at an Apple store is a real pleasure), to owning and operating, everything seems to work seamlessly and without flaw.

Then the actual device. The iPhone by all accounts is a wonderful device that does perfectly what it is meant to do. More than just functionality, however, what makes the iPhone stand out amongst the crowd is definitely the user experience. If you think of it, till very recently, the iPhone did not have some really basic functionality that one would take for granted in any other similar device (copy+paste being one prime example). What kept it popular thought was the user experience, the interface, the cool and sensible animation and the device’s accelerometer that really made all the difference. No other phone does what the iPhone does in similar style. The Windows and Nokia interfaces were stodgy and many features did not work as anticipated. The iPhone multi touch screen changed all of that and started a trend that many other companies have now started to imitate – but with limited or no success.

We know all of this, but this post is about how this applies to developers or creators of iPhone apps. To succeed as an iPhone app developer, one should keep the user experience paramount. Whether it is a simple app or a complex one, the user interface and then the experience needs to be exemplary. That is really what brings users back to the app again and again.

If an app does not leave a lasting impression on the user, by its user interface, one can easily forget the app and move on. Very few apps can create functionality that is totally new, but almost all apps can create a user interface and experience that at least makes sense. The really great apps create user interfaces that have subtle ways of surprising the user. Consider UrbanSpoon – the way you shake the phone to get a suggestion for a restaurant. Such small innovations are the ones that engage the user and drive adoptability.

We at InfoBeans are paying a lot of attention to the usability and user experience in our phone apps. Paying attention to usability does not mean we ignore the basic functionality of the app. In this day and age, that is a give. The app has to work. It just means that to create an app that stands out amongst the crowd, this usability will be the most significant differentiator.

I proudly announce iWeather+ an iPhone app with a difference

Have you ever found yourself looking at multiple sources of weather to determine what the weather would be like in your city?

I have found myself looking at different weather sources – there are many times when the weather from one source is just so different from the forecast from another source.

iWeather+ brings you weather from up to 3 different sources in one screen so that you do not have to go to different weather sources. Currently we support weather from Yahoo, Accuweather and MSN. We hope to increase the sources in the next release coming out soon. You can view the weather for US cities. Weather for other cities across the world will be added in future releases.

So download the app right away. And have a bright and sunny day ahead!

A very special thanks to the iPhone app practice team at InfoBeans – Abhishek Chatterjee, Arpit Jain, Shikhar Dadhich and Shweta Guru for putting this together in real quick time.

Let us know what you think of the app and do rate it. Thanks!

This time it is Prateek Garibe. Congratulations Prateek!! We are proud to have you as part of the team.