MicroISV Digest – 05/26/2010

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MicroISV Digest – 05/26/2010

Posted on: 05-26-2010 With: 1 Comment Posted by: Bob Walsh

(Apologies to all for the six-week hiatus the MicroISV Digest took while I was working to get out StartupToDo.com Version 2 and start marketing.)

Community News:

BP and the feds may not be able to turn off the Gulf Oil Spill disaster, but maybe you can code a mobile app that will help. At least that’s the approach Jeff Haynie and the rest of the Appcelerator team is taking. Two open source apps – Oil Reporter and Oil Tracker – are in use, and the company that developed these two apps is working to connect other volunteer developers with government agencies and animal rescue organizations. More info here and especially here.
Chet Karella of Dangerous Decisions has created the perfect high school graduation gift for parents worried about their speeding sons and daughters: Save Driver Program uses the iPhone GPS and accelerometers to email you when an iPhone toting driver exceeds whatever speed or acceleration set points you want them to stay below.
Richard Nichols has released Draw 5 (iPad version). What caught my eye was when he said, “Imagine, it actually took me less time to write a full featured Draw 5 Video Poker game that it did for the iTunes reviewers to review and pass it! This was all from scratch and is fully animated with voice prompts and detailed score history. I say this because someone actually accused me of using a 3rd party game framework!” I think I’m in the wrong business. Details here.
Need to be willing to share. Besides all of the cool apps for adults coming out for the iPad (remember a mere two months ago when it was all the rage to diss the iPad? I do.), there’s plenty of goodness for the wee ones. Case in point: School Zone was among the first companies to launch titles, which parents and teachers can download for $9.99 each: “On-Track Time, Money & Fractions,” ”Flash Action Multiplication & Division” and “Flash Action Addition & Subtraction.” More info.
Steve Cholerton, Arten Science, have recently released the Multi-User MySQL Edition of their popular ContaxCRM software. Further information on ContaxCRM Cross Platform Contact Relationship Management Software can be found here.
The conference schedule for the 20th annual Software Industry Conference (SIC) has been posted. Join your fellow MicroISVs in Dallas, Texas July 15-17, 2010. Special topics include: Selling Your Product on Amazon.com, Code Signing and Authenticode, 25 Ways to Get Google AdWords Wrong, Software Update Strategies, Conversion Optimization, Essentials in Successful Software Promotions, and e-Commerce 3.0. Network with MicroISV pioneers and hundreds of your peers. See the full conference schedule at: http://sic.org/fullsched.asp. Hope to see you there!
Speaking of conferences, I’ll be giving the keynote for Deploy 2010 June 24th in Seattle – more info here. Early bird pricing ends Friday, so now’s a good time to hop on it.

Interesting Answers.Onstartups.com questions with useful answers:

News/posts for microISVs and Startups:

Leon Bambrick does great lists: 24 things to do, and 100 things *not* to do (yet) for building a MicroISV. Good luck on your new microISV Leon!
Good reading: Paul Graham on Organic Startup Ideas.
Crowdsourcing is changing the ways to launch and build a microISV or startup: The lazy CEO’s 10-step guide to crowdsourcing every business task.
Here’s ten things I need to do. How about you? 10 Marketing Resources Every App Should Provide
After reading umpteen posts saying the same thing about social media, here’s a breath of fresh air: 5 Surprising Social Media Business Success Stories
And not to bang the I-told-you-so about the iPad drum too loudly, here’s a post about the effect it’s had on one IT family: What iPads Did To My Family