Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
« Older EntriesLSF regional pages on Facebook
Monday, February 1st, 2010
We just added LSF regional pages to Facebook to help you keep ut to date with you local region. Here they are:
LSF Main Page
LSF Birmingham
LSF Bradford
LSF Cardiff
LSF Edinburgh
LSF Glasgow
LSF Leeds
LSF Liverpool
LSF London
LSF Manchester
LSF Sheffield
Tags: facebook, local sale finder, lsf pages
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Adding pages to Facebook is painful
Friday, January 29th, 2010
I just spent about 4 hours adding a series of pages to Facebook and it was very painful. Here are my complaints:
1. Navigation is not consistent and is impossible between owned pages without search
2. Adding multiple apps to multiple pages works well for some apps (such as RSS Graffiti) but non-existent for others (FBML)
3. Creating new tabs can be very painful until you learn how to hack (thanks FBML)
4. There are so many apps that do the same thing and the reviews are not helpful so I had to use 3 or 4 of them to get a good one and then kill the rest
5. The permission system for apps reminds me of the Vista process for adding an application…”are you sure?”…”are you really sure?”…”are you really, really sure with cherries on top?”
6. Overuse of ajax means I can’t use iMacros to productionise work (although this is probably not a bad thing)
Anyway – main page is here
Tags: facebook, pain
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
iPad should have GPS as default
Friday, January 29th, 2010
After bashing the iPad I have read that not all models will have GPS. Now I’m going to bash it even more.
As a standard rule, from now on, every device should have GPS squeezed in. It is an absolutely obligatory piece of kit which, in tandem with a web connection, has made my life so much better: find things close to you, get directions, reduce the amount of paper you have to carry (I used to print a lot of maps) and so on.
To not include GPS is to neuter a huge number of practical applications for the device and, based on the feedback the iPad has generally had, that is not a good thing at the moment. The iPad must have GPS at the lowest cost point in the 1st gen release.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
iPad – call us cynical but….
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
So the iPad is upon on us (or it will be soon – quick get the SDK and scale up your iPhone apps) but i) who is it for?, ii) what function or problem does it solve?, and how on earth does the form factor work?
The iPhone took an existing problem (smart phones were a pain to use and had ultra-limited functionality) and turned them into the computer in your pocket. This is exactly what they did for MP3 players: took an existing product, slightly changed the form factor and created an amazing UI called the iPod + iTunes. The iPhone is such a success that most iPhone users, given a choice of which key function they could live without, would probably remove the phone.
So has the iPad taken an existing product and turbo charged it? IMHO: no. Net tops are a flash in the pan as their low cost point has been targeted by cheap laptops which means the current device that the iPad tackles is the laptop (Google Chrome OS not looking so clever is it?). Laptops have a great form factor: keyboard with a tilting screen which means no neck ache and two hands free. Lots of available peripheral devices and an unlimited raft of software. The iPad seems to fail on both accounts as it seems to need to be hand controlled and you need to bend your head to face it while, despite what Apple say about a stuffed app store, the software volume is limited.
So can the iPad fit some other kind of use case? Perhaps it can be used while travelling instead of a lap top? There is no way I will carry this in tandem with a smart phone. The smart phone is small and fits in my pocket. The iPad is bigger, heavier and doesn’t fit in my pocket. I’d rather just take a lap top.
Time will tell but I think that a slightly larger (i.e. longer and wider but not thicker) iPhone with multi-tasking would have been a better call. The Technorati say that the iPhone derived from the original iPad (tablet) project. Perhaps that was the logical conclusion? and the iPad is actually a step backwards?
Tags: apple, ipad, ipod, itunes
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Local Sale Finder sponsors Geek Foosball
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
LSF has just added itself as a sponsor of the London Geek Foosball event happening on Feb 11th in Shoreditch.
So if you are part of the Silicon Roundabout Technorati then buy a ticket and come watch us get annihilated by the GumTree people who have their own table(s). Co-sponsors BookingBug, Ubervue & Clearleft are also shoving some cash behind the bar.
See you there.
Tags: bookingbug, clearleft, foosball, shoreditch, ubervue
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Nearly 5000 hotel discounts on Local Sale Finder
Friday, December 18th, 2009
We are delighted to announce that we have just added nearly 5000 new hotel discounts to Local Sale Finder iPhone app.
It doesn’t matter if you want to get a last minute deal for a weekend break or to book a room 6 months in advance, you will always find the best offers.
Discounts on hotel prices range from 10% up to 60% and you can redeem them while booking a room directly from your iPhone.
You will find the closest hotels to your location while traveller ratings and hotel star ratings help you refine your search.
So, enjoy your savings without compromising on quality.
Tags: book hotel, hotel discounts, iPhone app, special offers
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The top 10 best shopping iPhone apps by T3
Friday, December 18th, 2009
Local Sale Finder was named as one of the top 10 Best Shopping iPhone apps by the gadget website T3.
We can’t disagree with T3 – it is completely true that with our app you don’t have to wait while you receive vouchers in your inbox. Moreover, you don’t even have to print them, just show on your mobile screen. So, download Local Sale Finder and hit the shops for your Christmas gifts.
For all savvy shoppers we recommend to catch up with the rest of the top shopping iPhone apps, also not to miss tips for secure online shopping and gadget gifts ideas.
Tags: Christmas vouchers, discounts, iPhone app, shopping
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The browser wars
Monday, November 16th, 2009
The browser market is a strange one so here is my diary of browser usage illustrating strengths, weaknesses and idiosyncrasies because of my computer and demanding use cases:
Jan 2009
Thank all merciful God, we move to a new office and I can start downloading whatever the hell browser I want without IT lock down. Working for a web company that insists you use IE6/7 seems a bit like working for a movie-making firm that insist you only watch in black and white. With one eye closed. Through cataracts. I give in, install Google Chrome (GC) and then uninstall because I don’t like it. Am mostly running FireFox (FF).
Feb 2009
God damn it I hate QA. But I am now head of QA, and project management, and a few other things as this is a start-up and that’s what you do. Anyway, I am now testing with latest versions of IE/FF combo on my box and using a native install of IE6 on a spare box. We develop for a standards compliant browser (i.e. FF and then test in everything else). I am mostly loving FF.
Mar 2009
So I have now installed GC again. Still sucks.
Apr 2009
GC is growing on me.
May 2009
Must. Not. Use. Another. Google. Product. Borg. Skynet.
Jun 2009
Using 50/50 GC FF but GC is beginning to win usage for no discernable reason other than it managed to set itself in my start list without me spotting what I was agreeing to.
Jul 2009
FF is now unusable. It takes about 10mins to restart itself which is so long I switch it on and forget I have done so only to be reminded when I look at what programmes are running and see FF struggling away in the background.
Aug 2009
Slowly but surely GC is beginning to annoy me. FF takes ages to start-up but GC page file interactions mean I go back to a tab and expect it to respond and it takes 5 mins followed by a 50/50 fail outcome. I appreciate the reasons for setting each tab as a seperate process but I’d rather the entire browser crashed than this experience where no tabs work.
Sep 2009
I am now using IE (8 probably) as, while it may take ages to create a new tab, it wastes significantly less of my time than FF/GC.
Oct 2009
Still IE. However GC still used quite a bit in a tie for 2nd with FF. Am I the only person in the world with Bing set as the default search engine in GC and Google as the default in IE?
Tags: browser, chrome, firefox, ie6, ie7, ie8, QA
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Our app was added to Apptism
Friday, November 13th, 2009
From now you can also find Local Sale Finder on Apptism. We featured them on a previous post about iPhone app promotion.
If you missed that post and our recommended list of app review sites, don’t worry – you can find it here.
Tags: app promotion, app review, app review sites, apptism, free app, iphone, local sale finder
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