Happy Holidays, friends! It’s that time of year again, and the ThingeeDigital team has been hard at work (and play, of course, who are we kidding?) to create a seasonal surprise for you.  In the spirit of giving, we’d like to share one of our recent creations using augmented reality (AR), a form of virtual reality combining computer-generated and real world data.  The team would like to wish you Season’s Greetings from our very own virtual winter wonderland AR app, which, by the way, is our first official Thingee app in the iTunes App Store! Want to see it in action?  Just follow the link to our holiday website.

Using strpos() to search the user agent string in PHP

<?php
	$isiPad = (bool) strpos(strtolower($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']),'ipad');
	$isiPhone = (bool) strpos(strtolower($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']),'iphone');
	$isiPod = (bool) strpos(strtolower($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']),'ipod');
	if ($isiPod) { $isiPhone = 0; }

	if ($isiPod || $isiPad || $isiPhone) {
	    echo "iOS device detected!";
	} else {
	    echo "Not an iOS device!";
	}
?>

This method returns three boolean variables – one for each device. The sample if/else block simply tests if any of the three variables are set to true. You can always test for each individually. The fourth line might seem suspicious – the iPod Touch’s user agent string also contains the word “iPhone”, so it will incorrectly register as a phone. This simple if statement will take care of that oversight.

More on strpos() from the official PHP documentation.

Using index() to search the user agent string in Ruby on Rails

<%
	user_agent = request.env['HTTP_USER_AGENT'].downcase
	@user_browser = ""
	if user_agent.index('ipad')
		@user_browser = 'ipad'
	elsif user_agent.index('ipod')
		@user_browser = 'ipod'
	elsif user_agent.index('iphone')
		@user_browser = 'iphone'
	end
%>

Similar to what’s above, this method also searches the user string and returns the current device in a variable called @user_browser. If you’d prefer, you could create separate variables for each potential device. iPod is listed before iPhone as this will take care of the aforementioned issue with the iPod Touch’s user agent string.

Alternately, there is a UserAgent library that parses HTTP User Agents. You can find it on GitHub.

More on index() from the official Ruby on Rails documentation.

Using Contains() to search the user agent string in C# ASP.NET

<%
	Dim user_browser = "Not iOS"
	If Request.UserAgent.Contains("iPad") Then
		user_browser = "iPad"
	Else If Request.UserAgent.Contains("iPod") Then
		user_browser = "iPod"
	Else If Request.UserAgent.Contains("iPhone") Then
		user_browser = "iPhone"
	End If
%>

Same story. Searches the user agent string with Contains(). The user_browser variable will tell you what you’re looking for. Note that the if/else blocks test for an iPod Touch before testing for an iPhone. This is because the iPod Touch’s user string contains traces of both “iPod” and “iPhone”, so we must prioritize searching for “iPod” first. I’m just going to write that every time.

Alternately, there is a UserAgent library that parses HTTP User Agents. You can find it on GitHub.

More on Contains() from the official MSDN .NET Framework documentation.

Using indexOf() to search the user agent string in JavaScript

<script type="text/javascript">
	var userAgent = navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();

	if (userAgent.indexOf("ipad") != -1) {
		document.write('iPad detected!');
	} else if (userAgent.indexOf("ipod") != -1) {
		document.write('iPod detected!');
	} else if (userAgent.indexOf("iphone") != -1) {
		document.write('iPhone detected!');
	} else {
		document.write('Not an iOS device!');
	}
</script>

This method is not recommended – it relies on JavaScript being enabled, which is something users can disable (even on iOS devices). Search for iPod before iPhone.

More on indexOf() from w3schools.com.

Using regular expressions to search the user agent string

Generally speaking, regular expressions in web languages are computationally slow. Complicated regular expressions are a major pain to try to interpret and diagnose. Any of the methods above are much more efficient, but if you’re feeling masochistic (well, these aren’t too bad), here you go.

// Any iOS device
/ip(hone|ad|od)/

// iPad
/ipad/

// iPod
/ipod/

// iPhone
/iphone/

Don’t forget to use the case insensitive parameter for your language’s regex implementation, or these will not work.

The above strategy should cover any language of your choice. Grab the user agent string, search for the appropriate keyword, and proceed as you see fit.

On Monday, November 14th I had the opportunity to meet the legendary co-founder of Apple computers, Steve Wozniak at Rutgers University’s Entrepreneurship Day.  As the event’s keynote speaker, Wozniak gave insight of his exciting journey with Apple starting from the early days in the garage of the late Steve Jobs up to the assembly of the Apple II computer.  From an innovator’s perspective, Wozniak stressed the importance of concentrating on the taking the “gradual steps” to attain success, whether it be individually or for the betterment of your organization.  He used his early childhood as an example, putting together ham radios as a child and eventually learning how to build the complex personal computers we all use today.  Wozniak left the audience with the profound statement of becoming “disruptors of the norm” and challenging the status quo.  So on that note I would like to leave you all with a direct quote from the the man himself that I hope inspires you to make a difference, “You know, everyone grows up kind of wanting to leave some kind of mark on the world, it starts with channeling inspiration.”

CJ Banks

Thingee recently had the opportunity to work with the Corpus Christi Independent School District to develop a full-service iOS information application. Similar to our previous app made for the Mansfield Independent School District, this app gives you instant access to phone numbers, addresses, and maps for all schools and district facilities. In addition, parents can log into a secure site to check on a child’s school attendance, grades, assignments, and more. To see the entire Corpus Christi Independent School District app feature set, download it at the iTunes App Store. It’s free.

1. Create the art you want to use for the pattern in illustrator. A square format works well for patterns, so keep that in mind. I have created a simple geometric drawing (dimensions 20px X 20px) as an example.

2. Make sure the swatches panel is open. Select the artwork and drag and drop it into the swatches panel. A new swatch will appear showing a thumbnail of your artwork. (You can see it in the fourth row at the end)

3. Select the rectangle tool (or any shape you want to fill your pattern with). Choose the new swatch in the swatches panel as your fill. When you draw a shape your swatch is automatically made into a pattern.

That’s all. Hope this is helpful and saves you time on your next project!

We’ve redesigned the ThingeeDigital.com website. This streamlined version has a new look-and-feel and updated information about the range of our products and services. We’ll be adding more in the months to come. Check in often to see some of our latest developments.

This past June, team member, Rob Barra traveled down to the Lone Star State to help client Ferring Pharmaceuticals at their EUFLEXXA^® booth at the 2011 Summer National Senior Games held in Houston.  The National Senior Games Association is a non-profit member of the United States Olympic Committee dedicated to motivating senior men and women to lead a healthy lifestyle through the senior games movement.  To catch a glimpse of the action, be sure to check out the photos provided on our Facebook Fan Page. [Link]

NOTE: EUFLEXXA^® is a registered trademark of Ferring B.V.

Education is as important as ever. But keeping up with what’s going on at your child’s school can be a challenge in today’s hyper-accelerated world. To give parents and teachers an edge in the game, Thingee recently worked with Mansfield (Texas) Independent School District to develop a full-service iOS information application. The rise of “apps culture” reflects the growing shift in cell phone use. People are using their phones more and more as mobile computing devices. But you knew that already, didn’t you?

It’s no surprise then that the fastest way to keep in touch with the latest school district news is through mobile devices. Need contact info for your child’s school?  No problem. The MISD app gives you instant access to phone numbers, addresses, and maps for all schools and district facilities. In addition, parents can log into a secure site to check on a child’s school attendance, grades, assignments, and more. To see the entire Mansfield Independent School District app feature set, visit their official blog or download it at the iTunes App Store. It’s free.

So far it’s been an amazing year for Thingee. In the first six months of 2011, we’ve come through for our clients by delivering cutting edge material for web development, iOS development, and motion graphics. As we progress into the second half of the year, we’d love to show you our Motion Graphics Capabilities Reel showcasing some of our best work. If you’re not familiar with what we do, here’s your chance to find out. If you are, then catch up on our latest. In the meantime, enjoy! [Link]

Thingee’s new and improved YouTube Channel is officially live!  Our new design will make the playlist feature part of the standard user-experience.  Check out the list below to see all of the improvements we’ve made to the channel.

Look and functionality

• It’s cleaner, simpler, and easier to use.
• Information about a video is now grouped together in one place
• There’s a consistent way to get more detail when you need it.

Playlists

• There’s a new playlist interface, with the next video in the list appearing consistently in the top right. You can easily expand that list or skip ahead using a new next button in the player controls.
• We have categorized our videos into their own respective playlists, making it easier for users to navigate within the channel.

Make sure to subscribe to our channel to keep up with the latest video updates by following this [Link]