Mobelux

This Week @Mobelux #17

hugel — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:36:28 -0400

We’ve been hunkered down in the office completing a number of projects, planning and chatting about a few things this week.

1) Lot’s of interesting news coming out of Google I/O including Google Play Music All Access, a Samsung-less Galaxy S4, a Racer game & more immediately useful, a Gmail/Wallet integration.

2) Yahoo is reportedly in talks to invest in or acquire both Hulu & Tumblr. We’ve got our fingers crossed they don’t forget about them like they did flickr.

3) PrimeSense, the brains behind the groundbreaking Kinect sensor showed their latest creation off at Google I/O in the hopes that they can partner with a manufacturer to bring their 3D sensor to the market.

4) We joined the rest of America in watching this unfortunate brand metldown on Facebook after their unfortunate Kitchen Nightmares appearance.

5) The office has come down with a massive case of Bluth-fever with the impending debut of Arrested Development on Netflix next Sunday. Get in the spirit with Recurring Developments.

Until next week…

This Week @Mobelux #16

hugel — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:36:00 -0400

It’s a week (month/year) of team building and as we continue to grow, we’re able to improve our focus on key interest areas. As a result, here’s some of the things we’re chatting about this week.

1) In the wake of Instapaper’s sale to Betaworks, this profile on their future was an insightful read into some kindred spirits.

2) Perhaps it’s the weather, timing or the mood around the office, but we’ve gotten hooked on a few games recently. Dots is currently currently occupying most of our devices & Geoguesser occupied our browsers yesterday. Top scores & 9875.

3) As fans of the continued bizarre life of John McAfee, slashdot offered this Q & A with the man of mystery.

4) Some of the benefits of living in Richmond is that we don’t have to contend with the winners of The worst room.

5) Google once again outdid themselves with this awesome Saul Bass Google Doodle.

Until next week…

This Week @Mobelux #15

hugel — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:45:53 -0400

Amongst new employees, new projects and an appreciated recognition for our efforts, we’re soldiering on and keeping the progress up. Here’s what we were chatting about this week.

1) They say good design will change the world, so does that mean that bad design and a blatant about-face will destroy it? Follow the continued fallout from the failed rebranding of JC Penny, via Forbes.

2) Continuing the design discussion Jeff weighs in on the importance of growth & maturity in logo and console design and the disappointing statements Nintendo has released recently regarding the Wii U.

3) One of our favorite Kickstarted-innovators, Studio Neat (the Glif & The Cosmonaut) released the digital book It Will Be Exhilarating Indie Capitalism and Design Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century. You can read it, or buy it on their site.

4) There’s nothing sexy or cool about white men wearing google glass.

5) Speaking of sexy, we’re now itching to play Leviathan Warships after they released such a smooth video trailer, “It’s cheaper than a REAL boat”.

In other news:

Improve your typing with this Ludum Dare inspired typing “game” from Minecraft Creator Markus “Notch” Persson.

Until next week…

Welcome Chris Lewis to the Mobelux Team! We’re happy to...

hugel — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:00:10 -0400

Welcome Chris Lewis to the Mobelux Team!

We’re happy to announce that Chris Lewis has joined the Mobelux team as a designer. When he’s not designing he can be found riding his scooter between the Northbank/Buttermilk trails or discussing the finer points of “football” at Penny Lane.

Mobelux was well represented at the AIGA Grade 7 awards last...

hugel — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:18:00 -0400

Mobelux was well represented at the AIGA Grade 7 awards last week winning two “Best Of Category” awards for our work on the RVA Companies To Watch Awards and the updated Mobelux identity. It was an honor to be recognized amongst such great Richmond design work.

(via Photo by jeffrock • Instagram)

Welcome Justin Michalicek to the Mobelux Team! We’re glad...

hugel — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:00:00 -0400

Welcome Justin Michalicek to the Mobelux Team!

We’re glad to announce that Justin Michalicek has joined the Mobelux team as a developer. In his spare time, he plays guitar, experiments with different programming languages and likes to try exotic foods… and beers. Justin is also our lucky 13th employee, if you believe in luck.

This Week @Mobelux #14

hugel — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:30:00 -0400

The weather stabilized for long enough to get outside and breathe the fresh spring air (via a scooter side-car ride), but here’s the other stuff we had a chance to chat about this week.

1) Last week we avoided the chance to become a social media expert for $30, but are thinking twice at the chance to launch a $30 million startup for free.

2) We knew there was a reason we skipped the Google Glass wait list, because now we’re in a prime position for the Samsung Brain.

3) Wow, we are apparently making apps for the wrong reason. Check out the most amazing abuse of in-app purchasing & content plagiarism we’ve ever seen in game form via IGN.

4) We watched a lot of hubbub around the Twitter #music launch, but surprisingly no one noticed when we did it years ago with “Tumblr Play”. Our Creative Director, Jeff Rock muses on the hidden feature in Tumblerette that could have been.

5) Since we missed out on WWDC, like apparently every other developer on the planet, we’re gonna send the whole team to Hard Fest in LA, as long as there are as many dogs as advertised there.

Until next week…

This Week @Mobelux #13

hugel — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:05:53 -0400

Roadblocks be dammed, we’ve got to keep this train moving. Amongst sickness, travel and visitors we’re still truckin’. Here’s what we’re chatting about this week. 1) Google Fiber continues its rollout, and made us & the rest of the country jealous by finally convincing HBO & Cinemax to offer their services à la carte.

2) The ongoing Cupcake crash appears to be affecting the country, and we fear for the viability of our Froyo & Taco holdings.

3) We’re amazed that the amazing FL Studio has finally made its way to Android.

4) We played this nifty accordion throughout the afternoon and schemed about what we could do with their GITHUB repo.

5) Astronauts are awesome, and one helped prove a pair of student’s science hypothesis on the surface tension of water in space.

In other news

For those who’ve always wondered about the “mystery j” in emails from your friends and family, we uncovered a potential answer.

Until next week…

This Week @Mobelux #12

hugel — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:31:00 -0400

This has been a very mobile week at Mobelux: planes, trains, NYC to Dublin, Mobelux has been a mobile group this week. And yet we still find ways to get work done and chat about stuff. Ahh the spoils of modern technology. 1) Just when we was ready to trade it it all in for a 3D Printer, the NY Times reports on Chiplets, the next potentially life-altering printer technology. Using a laser-printer-like machine they use miniature electronic circuits the size of a grain of sand to custom-print circuitry for a variety of applications. I can only image the cost of changing THAT printer cartridge.

2) Always opening our eyes to the next amazing thing, The Oatmeal presents: Mantis Shrimp. We’ve been talking about putting a fish tank in, this will be perfect for it.

3) Very interesting FourSquare, just as they release an iOS update, version 6, they announce plans to offer their data for advertising purposes on other platforms.

4) Adobe gives us all Save for Web Claws

5) We got in the spirit of spring by talking camping with Poler and their Camp Vibes:

Poler Instructional Video from Poler Outdoor Stuff on Vimeo.

Until next week…

This Week @Mobelux #11

hugel — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:20:00 -0400

Spring Is Coming!!! (That’s the saying, right?) We’re seeing growth and rebirth in our world as things warm up and new projects take shape. It’s a very fun and exciting time for us and we can’t wait to continue to build and share the projects we’re working on. Here’s what we’re chatting about this week.

1) The Square + Starbucks debacle has confused customers + employees and hasn’t proved as simple as promised, according to Fast Company. While we’re all for simplicity and the walletless world coming soon, it’s a shame that such a high-profile launch for them has been so flawed.

2) It took an april fool’s joke for someone to discover Google Map’s “Thumb Zoom”?!? How long until that becomes as ubiquitious as pull to refresh?

3) We happened upon these Leafy Beats, which was enough to blow our minds for an afternoon.

4) Speaking of new app functionality, the race is on to add deep linking and new twitter cards.

5) The always entertaining and educational Creators Project from Vice launched a series on everyone’s favorite humanoids Daft Punk as they gear up to launch a new album (and an impressive marketing campaign).

Until next week…

This Week @Mobelux #10

hugel — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:35:00 -0400

Movin’ right along… We turned our attention to fine tuning a few items this week; painting and finishing occurred around our office, an update to Elixr went out, and some ideas took more of a concrete form as we nailed down potential features. A busy week by all accounts, but please take a moment to review the following.

1) iOS megamind Buzz Anderson chated with Marc LaFountain of Elixr about making the perfect Negroni. It’s cocktail hour somewhere, right?

2) We schemed about how to put the mad genius of this tricky April Fools CSS in place before Monday. I don’t know that our clients would appreciate the “hide every other paragraph” function but it sure would be fun, right?

3) We commiserated in the shame when the tools that we are given to work with never quite live up to their amazing potential. A bunch of smart people weigh in on the iCloud debacle.

4) This unreal Fab sale of artwork from all our favorite cartoons from the 90’s stirred a passionate amongst our ranks.

5) Our mouths are agape at the news that the legendary game engine Havok is coming to leading mobile platforms for free through Project Anarchy. Perhaps this makes dipping our toe into the water that much easier.

Until next week…

This Week @Mobelux #9

hugel — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:24:00 -0400

As we’ve watched Elixr grow and take-shape, we’ve had to look further down the road and kick off quite a few projects that will keep us excited and occupied over the next few months. Here are a few things we chatted about this week. 1) We’re pretty excited about The Amazing Audio Engine!. We’ve used Core Audio before, and The Amazing Audio Engine by Audiobus developer Michael Tyson allows you to leverage the greatness of Core Audio without having to jump knee-deep into the vastness of it. Will come in handy for some rapid prototyping or at the next Hackathon.

2) 9 to 5 mac reports that some awesome person released a Nintendo Gameboy Advance Emulator to the App Store under the guise of an “Awesome Baby Names” app. Did no one at Apple think it strange that the names were Wario, Link & Diddykong?

3) We enjoyed the (animated & illustrated) story of an app from Christoph Niemann for the New Yorker, which told the story of the development of his iOS app Petting Zoo.

4) &yet talks to Cabel Sasser + Steven Frank of panic about their process (and some guy randomly does pushups).

5) Lethal coffee? Here’s the disclaimer from (Deathwish Coffee)[http://www.deathwishcoffee.com/]: “This is not your regular morning coffee. This is not your store bought coffee. You will not find this coffee at your local diner or at your sissy ‘Starbucks. Death Wish Coffee is the most highly caffeinated premium dark roast organic coffee in the world.”

In Other News:

We may be picking up these subpac “portable, tactile, audio technology” so we can really feel the music the next time we go out.

Until next week: Google Image Search now supports gifs

This Week @Mobelux #8

hugel — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:41:00 -0400

Launched! It’s out, done, finished forever! We’re typing this from an exotic locale sippin’ margaritas with no salt (NO SALT!). No, of course that’s far from the truth. Truth is, our office is still under construction, and we’re working long shifts to keep things running smoothly and ensure that regular updates allow us to keep Elixr on your home screen and look to continue our journey. Here’s what we found time to talk about this week:

1) Elixr. OK, so we’ll reserve a bit of self promotion for months of hard work. We hope you’ve taken a moment to check out Elixr. We put a lot of love into it, and hopefully some features that will be discovered and loved over time. We really appreciate the overwhelming support we’ve gotten already.

2) Ergos Ventures released the mind-bending Cycloramic Panoramic Photo App, which gives your phone a mind of its own. This is how it starts…

3) Kent Sutherland released a hefty update to his helpful KSImageNamed Plugin, which should help us save a little bit of sanity with each project.

4) We debated making an Epic & Honest development ad for Mobelux based on this Rhett & Link classic.

5) In building an app that relies on data from other platforms, we put a good amount of thought behind how user data would work once it reached our platform. Sexy pigeon took Path to task for their reliance on quality avatars for the optimal user experience.

Until next week…

Elixr: Today, we’re proud to announce the release of...

jeffrock — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 08:47:34 -0400

Elixr:

Today, we’re proud to announce the release of Elixr. It’s an iPhone app and social network that celebrates the pleasure of sharing a great drink, like a cocktail, spirit, beer, or wine, with friends.

We’re thrilled to finally release Elixr. The Mobelux team designed and built a polished iOS experience coupled with a custom-built social network and we couldn’t be happier with it. Read a little more about the idea behind Elixr at The Next Web, check out the details on the official site and, most importantly, download the free app on the App Store!

This Week @Mobelux #7

hugel — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 16:57:00 -0500

Delays… Frustrating & disappointing, but sometimes things are just out of your control, and it’s worth taking the extra time to ensure things are done right. Until then…

1) We’ll be following the SXSW action remotely this year, but from all accounts the promotional machines won’t disappoint to enthrall, confuse and engage on an even larger scale this year.

2) Thanks to quick thinking & wit by Visual Idiot, we’ve got Mailappapp: “Revolutionizing the way you revolutionize email.”

3) We waited and watched in horror what has happened to the much hyped Sim City launch.

4) Thanks to Rosie Siman’s Tuesday Ten we have a new favorite thing: giphy: for your GIF searching needs.

5) We watched this loop of a new Daft Punk sample + Ron Swanson dancing with a tiny hat on a loop.

In Other News:

We just found our next work outing!!!

Until next week…

This week @Mobelux #6

hugel — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:35:00 -0500

We’re feeling a bit out of sorts this week due to construction underway at the office, but luckily we’re still rollin’ right along and after a busy few weeks things MIGHT start getting back to normal soon. Hopefully we’ll have more to share within the next week.

1) Apparently in Japan, Fujifilm has been working on thermoelectric conversion material, that could turn human body temperature into energy; fears of the Matrix coming true are unfounded as of yet.

2) We brainstormed on the Jedi tricks we’ll be able to perform when we get a Myo.

3) Our security advisor is an idiot. How do I give him the information he wants? gave us a great laugh.

4) Apparently SnoopDogg shares our belief about the importance of teaching kids to code.

5) We BRIEFLY considered getting more ergonomic chairs for our new office.

Until next week…

This week @Mobelux #5

hugel — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:32:00 -0500

Holidays, weather & actual work occupied most of our time this week, but we found a few bits of time to talk about a couple of things.

1) Like many others we anxiously watched the Sony PS4 Announcement. Then like many others we wished there had been more to see, and “what does it all mean?” This old ONN clip rang true.

2) The monster-maker in all of us checked out Autodesk’s 123D Creature App. If it’s this easy, we’ll have a game out by fall.

3) This Pulp Fiction Easter Egg blew our minds. Can Tarantino be THAT good? Also, this.

4) You Had One Job.

5) Our current favorite task & note taking utility, Folding Text is getting extensions and an extensions API, so here’s to adding Folding Text support to future Mobelux apps. Love this quote “This release brings FoldingText one step closer to “Plain text productivity platform for geeks.”

Until next week…

This Week @Mobelux #4

hugel — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 11:30:00 -0500

We’re inching closer to the release of a new project in between updates to a few of our client projects. A lot of gadget talk this week as some tech news got us excited and optimistic about the future. Here’s what we’ve been chatting about this week…

1) The “Netflix Model” continues to be an area of discussion and debate. As data nerds ourselves we can see how Netflix might base some of their programming decisions on viewing habits of customers, but we wouldn’t go quite as far as Salon does here to infer they have nefarious purposes. However it was fun imagining a show dictated by the minute on the fickle demands of consumers. And if their programming means we have to binge ourselves on all 14 episodes of Arrested Development come spring, so be it.

2) Square, one of our favorite tech companies and payment methods, found it’s way into one of our favorite coffee stops. in SF & NYC, Blue Bottle. There’s nothing quite like the thrill you get when you can pay and tweet about it without having to dig back into your pocket. What, just me? Just in time for some upcoming NY trips.

3) We shared the joy of Valentines day with some help from McSweeney’s and their list of Rom.Coms. We’re particularly partial to “He’s Just Not That Instagram” & “Defriending Sarah Marshall”

4) We imagined the simplicity (and SPEED) the Almond+ would give us if we could implement it at the Corrugated Box Building… Of course we’d need Fiber coming in first, but that’s no sweat.

5) Eclectic Method released another hit with Multipad. We just wish they’d featured fellow Mobelux developer Aaron’s SampleLab.

In other news:

We learned the dangers of not closing your H3 tags
We released updates to some of our recent client work: timer+ for Android, ActilLife Universal iOS, and Parkspot.

Until next week…

This Week @Mobelux #3

hugel — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:04:00 -0500

Another busy week, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps this time next week we’ll have something a bit more exciting and personal to whet your appetite with. Until then here’s what we’ve been up to this week…

1) Bonobo’s video Cirrus caught our eye and our ear, and seemed to sum up a week at Mobelux perfectly.

2) We dreamed of buying the complete History of Videogames, but seeing as how our Xbox is only fired up once a month, the more than 6000 games might be a bit overkill for us right now.

3) We had our minds blown after learning about fractional adjustments for brightness & speaker controls on the mac shift+alt+volume keys.

4) With launching apps on the mind, we signed up and bought into the Mailbox App hype. There was a great article on Venture Beat with some insight into their approach to the launch and the hype-building queue system. Seventy-one thousand, three hundred and ninety-one bottles of beer on the wall…

5) Kent Sutherland released a handy plugin named KSImageNamed that could help save time when wiring up images in XCode.

In other news:

We also passed some time dreaming things we could do with Apple’s cash in our upcoming workspace expansion.

Until next week…

This Week @Mobelux #2

hugel — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 12:02:00 -0500

Another busy week at Mobelux filled with photoshoots, redesigns, development and new projects. Luckily it wasn’t all work and no fun, we got to check out some of Richmond’s latest spots for drinks & food (Rappahanok Restaurant & Pasture). Looking forward to showing off the fruits of our labors shortly, but until then, enjoy this roundup.

1) The Atlantic gave us a terrifying look into The Wolf Man, who has raised more than 70 animals on his sanctuary over the past 40 years. Talk about running with the wolf pack.

2) With all the continued Star Wars excitement from last week, we found a way to tighten up our home stereos thanks to THX and uncrate

3) Twitter acquired a tool we use a bit for tracking crashes, Crashlytics. I mean, not that we ever have crashes.

4) We got inspired for a photoshoot with the classic Awkward Family Pet Photos

5) Where was MyScript Calculator when we were in Calculus II? I guess we wouldn’t have gotten so good at TI-82 Snake if we had it.

In other news:

We found a another new Tumblr

Until next week…