Mobile Portland

When Our Devices Rat Us Out

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 19:33:59 +0000

We've moved this month's meeting up from the 28th to the 21st, due to the 28th being Memorial Day.

There will come a time when it isn't "They're spying on me through my phone" anymore. Eventually, it will be "My phone is spying on me." ― Philip K. Dick

Every day our smartphones, laptops and other devices transmit invisible bytes of data across networks around the world, leaving a deep and permanent digital footprint. Some of this data we are aware of, such as information we post on social networks, or sharing GPS coordinates with a mapping app to locate the nearest restaurant. However, there is a less visible layer of data that at first may seem innocuous, but once aggregated can provide fragments of data that can be reticulated to unveil information regarding identity, location and other potentially invasive and incriminating evidence. This information can be used to solve crimes, as well as abused. Technology is rapidly increasing the rate at which this data is being used by law enforcement, governments, hackers and advertisers alike, with many surprisingly taking advantage of the hazy gray area where antiquated laws and advanced technology meet.

Ken Westin will be presenting several real-life case studies where he has used various technologies and techniques to track down suspects and stolen devices including laptops, smartphones, digital cameras, flash drives, iPods and more. The evidence and research he has provided to law enforcement around the world has helped unveil and solve larger crimes from organized crime rings, car theft, drugs, identity theft and even a violent car jacking. He will be discussing other technologies and information that law enforcement use such as facial recognition, cell tower simulators and access to wireless carrier and ISP customer records. He will also discuss instances where corporations have have used invasive methods and technologies to gain a competitive edge at the cost of your privacy.

About the Speaker

Ken Westin

Ken Westin is the founder of the popular GadgetTrak cross-platform mobile security and data protection software. Ken launched the first GadgetTrak product in 2007, which provided a way to track media devices such as iPods, digital cameras and external drives. He was awarded a patent for the technology in early 2009, which is has since been embedded in hardware by manufacturers such as Seagate and FLIR.

In 2008 Westin launched the first tracking solution for laptops that utilized integrated web cameras to capture photos of thieves and Wi-Fi positioning for location, resulting in a number of amazing recoveries. Last year the company launched a new mobile security platform that allows users to track missing devices, capture photos and remotely wipe, encrypt and backup sensitive data. He has also recently launched CameraTrace, an innovative free service enabling people to search the web for photos taken with their camera by serial number.

GadgetTrak’s technology has been featured on Dateline NBC, Good Morning America and many top news and tech sites including the New York Times, Forbes, TechCrunch, The Economist and more. The company was recently named in Entrepreuner Magazine's "100 Brilliant Companies" and has won honors and awards from MIT, Tech America, SXSW, CTIA amongst others.

Mobile Portland Meeting

Date:

Monday, May 21, 2012 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm

What's Going on in Wireless?

admin — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:45:53 +0000

We're all experts at using mobile devices. Many of us even know how to write software for them. But do you know what is going on "under the covers" in mobile phone technology, at carriers, and in the standards development world?

Why won't the new iPad work in Australia? Why is international roaming so difficult? What do developers need to know about future networks? What interesting technology is on the horizon that could contribute to new mobile experiences?

Rob Wilcox will give you a systems level view of wireless, competing wireless standards, and wireless futures, free of the marketing and jargon which can color the industry. He'll also propose some long term trends, both social and technical, your consideration in developing new use cases.

About the Speaker

Rob Wilcox

Rob works in product research, product management, and program management to successfully bring emerging technology into everyday use. Interests include consumer technology, cleantech, and wireless. Notable accomplishments include creating the first international project on the security and reliability of electronic voting with a public interest group of computer scientists at PARC. As a result of that work, he has worked as an analyst on elections planning in Africa and the former Soviet Union.

Mobile Portland Meeting

Date:

Monday, April 23, 2012 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Mobile Demolicious

admin — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:40:11 +0000

Associated Event:

Mobile Demolicious

iBooks 2.0: Reinventing Textbooks?

admin — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 05:45:43 +0000

Associated Event:

iBooks 2.0: Reinventing Textbooks?

Mobile Demolicious

admin — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 22:43:00 +0000

At last April’s meeting, we saw five cool demos from Mobile Portland members. This month, we’re doing it again. Please join us on Monday, March 26 at 6pm to hear great demos about everything from personal fitness to Tweeting a beer to your friend.

About the Demos

miCoach - Demoed by Amy Vaterlaus and Andy Axelrod, adidas

Adidas is launching an updated version of the popular GPS fitness app to include strength and flex workouts for those who train in the gym or in the privacy of their home. Get personal training by the same folks who train pro athletes.

AppThwack - Demoed by Trent Peterson and Pawel Wojnarowicz, Trellis

AppThwack is a web service for testing Android apps on real devices. When a developer uploads an APK to the site, it is automatically run through a series of smoke tests on real and emulated devices. It can also run custom tests defined in the uploaded APK or in a secondary APK that targets it. The demo will follow an app through this flow using real devices and display the results in real time. They'll describe how it works, give an overview of the service's back-end, Trellis, and where they're headed.

Encyclopaedia Britannica - Demoed by Cale Bruckner and Charles Augustine, Concentric Sky

Encyclopaedia Britannica recently announced it will stop publishing print editions of its signature product for the first time in its 244-year history. Concentric Sky worked with Britannica to make the content of the Encyclopaedia available in iOS app. They will demo the app and talk about a few of the challenges they had to overcome.

Tweet-A-Beer - Demoed by Daniel Wood and Erik Ratcliffe, tenfour

Tweet-A-Beer is a web and mobile web application that allows you to buy a beer for a friend from any computer or web enabled mobile device, regardless of the distance between you. It is powered by Chirpify, a commerce platform for Twitter. Chirpify is the magic that connects your Twitter account to PayPal in order to pre-approve payments. When you Tweet-a-Beer, you are sending $5.00 to another Twitter user, and ultimately, their PayPal account.

CommutePays - Demoed by Mark Peden, CommutePays

CommutePays has developed a mobile app for saving commuters time and money. Time? By providing real-time traffic information, specific to a commuter's route, with alternate route guidance to ensure they are taking the most time-efficient route. Money? By providing commuters with timely, relevant, hyper-local offers and promotions along the same routes they frequent. Two years in development, they have just completed the soft-launch of their free app for iPhone and Android. Although the app works anywhere in the US, they are looking for regional feedback to fine tune the UI/UX prior to rolling out nationally in the fall.

Mobile Portland Meeting

Date:

Monday, March 26, 2012 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm

iBooks 2.0: Reinventing Textbooks?

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 06:12:31 +0000

When Apple announced iBooks 2.0, it made a bold claim that it was reinventing the textbook. Who better to judge whether or not Apple has succeeded at its goal than Mobile Portland alum and Textbook 3.0 advocate Corey Pressman.

In August 2010, Corey participated in a panel talking about using mobile technology in education. Corey talked about his efforts to convince textbook publishers to start to see the iPhone and the iPad as the foundation for an entirely new form of textbooks. He talked about both the learning theory behind why a digital textbook would be more successful as well as what would make them fun for students.

And he did it all as one of our more compelling and funny speakers. So it makes sense to bring him back to talk about what iBooks 2.0, iBooks Author, and iTunes U means for students, teachers, and textbook publishers.

Like nearly every Apple announcement, the iBooks Author announcement wasn’t without controversy—license restrictions and modification of the ePub format into a proprietary iBooks file format are at the top of the list. After Corey talks about textbooks, a small panel of expert publishers and educators will join Corey to talk about the implications of iBooks Author and the overall initiative on education and publishing in general.

Mobile Portland Meeting

Date:

Monday, February 27, 2012 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Meet Walmart Labs: Portland’s Latest Mobile Powerhouse

admin — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:10:56 +0000

The news that Walmart had acquired local iOS development agency Small Society surprised many people. Twitter was abuzz with questions like:

Walmart has an office in Portland?
Why did Walmart Labs decide to locate an office in Portland?
What is Walmart Labs and what does it do?
Why did Small Society decide to join Walmart Labs?

For those familiar with Ben Galbraith and Dion Almaer, these aren’t new questions. After many years working for companies like Mozilla and Palm and starting the popular Ajaxian blog, Ben and Dion finally struck out on their own and created a company called SetDirection.

The company operated in stealth mode making many curious what Ben and Dion where working on. But within a few months, Ben and Dion announced the SetDirection had been acquired by Walmart and that they were going to lead Walmart’s mobile efforts.

Mobile Portland Meeting

Date:

Monday, January 30, 2012 - 5:30pm

Mobile Marketing Panel

admin — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:25:49 +0000

Associated Event:

Mobile Marketing Panel

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 22:27:39 +0000

Despite the massive growth in usage of mobile devices, mobile marketing is still a small percentage of the total marketing budgets of most companies. eMarketer found that Americans spend 8.1% of their media time on mobile devices, but mobile only represents 0.5% of the total advertising spend.

So mobile marketing remains under the radar, but not for long:

Google CEO Larry Page announced this month that mobile advertising revenue “has grown 2.5x in the last 12 months to a run rate of over $2.5 billion”.
Banner Ads on Mobile Devices See Higher CTR Than On PCs
10% of Search Ad Clicks From Mobile
Local Advertising Revenues In Mobile Will Grow To $2 Billion By 2014
82% Of Brands Plan To Boost Mobile Budgets Over Next 12 Months
Gartner projects mobile advertising to be $20B worldwide by the end of 2015

We’ve assembled a diverse panel to take a closer look at mobile marketing to answer questions about what works, what doesn’t, and what people should be thinking about as they start to ramp up their mobile marketing campaigns.

About the Speakers

Jeff Lorton, Co-Founder, LynkSnap

Jeff Lorton is co founder and managing partner at LynkSnap Mobile Marketing Solutions. Both a visual artist and a mobile marketing disciple, Jeff has adapted his love of design, iconography and symbolism to the new medium. Along the way his firm LynkSnap has forged closet ties with the US mobile barcode leader Scanlife/Scanbuy and the Canadian scan to pay developer Mobio ID.

Today, LynkSnap specializes in creative mobile marketing concepts that create unique and interactive brand experiences that combine conventional lifestyle print, outdoor advertising and digital media with advanced QR code functionality or what Jeff simply calls QR 2.0.

Recent local clients include the Portland Timbers and the Oregon Wine Board.

George Kurtyka, Head of Entertainment Partnerships and Business Development, Nokia

George is a seasoned wireless, online & digital media professional with extensive experience in partner management and business development on 4 continents.

George is responsible for global, regional and local content partnerships and cross platform, integrated marketing programs. Head up all Partnership and Business Development activity for the Entertainment vertical globally.

Sean Roy, Founder Matua Media, co-Founder DialogHealth

Sean is the founder and principal of Matua Media, a successful consulting firm who helps businesses of all sizes leverage technology to achieve their organizational goals. He develops mobile strategies, innovative products, and launch plans for companies in a wide range of industries including healthcare, automotive, advertising and analytics.

Sean has more than 12 years of experience leading marketing technology products and has implemented solutions for both entrepreneurs (such as OneCommand and author Robert Shemin) as well as internationally recognizable brands like Vodafone, BP, Jaguar, Burger King, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, and Saatchi & Saactchi. He also led the development of the award-winning, cloud-based mobile marketing platform of Run the Red, a leading mobile marketing company in Australasia.

Sean has recently co-founded Dialog Health, a company who specializes in mobile solutions for the Healthcare industries.

As much as Sean loves to geek out and talk about Mobile…it’s all lost when someone starts talking about Rugby, Wine or the St. Louis Cardinals…and not necessarily in that order.

Daniel Timothy Wood, Digital Strategy Director, tenfour

Daniel T Wood (@dtwood) serves as Digital Strategy Director at tenfour with the fortunate charter to guide the concept and creation of mobile and social programs for Toshiba, Hawaiian Airlines, Parallels, Air New Zealand, Cisco, Tektronix, Intel, Dell, IBM, Draftfcb, DSI, Best Buy, and Staples.

He's spent an equal number of years in software start-ups as advertising agencies and enjoys seeing the lines merge and business models blur.

Daniel finds that coffee shops are his creative sanctum and dry erase markers - his weapon of choice.

Mobile Marketing Panel

Monday, October 24th, 6pm
Doors open at 5:30
Urban Airship / Cloud Four
334 NW 11th Ave.
Portland, OR 97209
RSVP | Map

Thanks to our Sponsors

Thanks to azad, Urban Airship and Cloud Four for helping sponsor Mobile Portland this month.

Mobile Portland Meeting

Date:

Monday, October 24, 2011 - 6:00pm

Mobile Analytics: Who? What? When? WHERE?

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:46:45 +0000

Associated Event:

Mobile Analytics: Who? What? When? WHERE?