I launched a couple new freelance sites this month — one for the independent movie 6 Month Rule and the other for a Bollywood studio NuclearMango. 6monthrulemovie is made in Flash with content updated through xml files while NuclearMango was created with WordPress as a simple CMS.
A few notable things I’ve worked on between updates:
KCRW Fringe Benefits iPhone Application – Uses the iPhone’s GPS capabilities to automatically find businesses in an area that have discounts for KCRW subscribers.
Redesigned homepage and Eclectic24 – Rebranding (and reprogramming) of the 24hr KCRW online music channel by Chris Douridas. The webpage ties into various APIs such as last.fm for band info/pictures, RSS news feed, and the flash media player/KCRW track list system.
5ive Things - A new blog where KCRW personalities can share favorite things about culture in LA. Built as a custom Wordpress theme.
The official KCRW Radio App has been approved by Apple! Many thanks to Ed Wrenbeck and Jessica Cigno. Visit iTunes to download…
Features include:
Listen Live
The KCRW Radio app streams all three KCRW channels — On Air, Music and News. Music shows include real-time track lists for each show with the ability to purchase from iTunes.
Listen On Demand
The KCRW Radio app also offers KCRW’s Music, New and Talk programs for on-demand listening. On Demand content is updated with new shows daily and weekly, depending on the schedule for each program.
Listen to KCRW’s award winning programming including Morning Becomes Eclectic (with live performances), Guest DJ Project, To The Point, Left, Right and Center, Good Food, Bookworm, Le Show, The Business, and many more.
Be Tuned-In with Events
Events feature information on the latest music, news and arts happenings around town. Listings contain date, venue and time information and are updated weekly.
After much hard work, Apple finally approved a set of iPhone video applications from KCRW (for In Studio on Morning Becomes Eclectic and Good Food). Both apps cost $0.99 and proceeds go to supporting KCRW.
There were quite a few components of the project that needed to come together in very short period of time: the overall look/feel of the applications (including functionality), RSS news feeds and events, the video media, subscription section, and analytics.
Design and Functionality
Using an outside company to develop an application can sometimes limit design somewhat. We went through various iterations of the splash screen and over-all look/feel. The icons and brand recognition were particularly important — especially since there are numerous applications associated with the KCRW brand. An important aspect of the main navigation was the ease in which listeners can join the station.
News and Event Feeds
Our primary website developer created a custom RSS feed in Plone specifically for the iPhone. Users can now stay up to date with Good Food and music related KCRW events and the RSS feeds can be used for other projects.
Video Format
Media is encoded in H.264 and uploaded to our CDN at 640×480 then auto-transcoded into high and low versions. The application detects bandwidth and serves appropriate versions.
Analytics
Pinch Media provides the (almost) real-time analytics on usage and uptake.
Subscribe to KCRW
A feature that was later removed was a “join” section. All KCRW applications were to include a section for member support but it was later found out that Apple doesn’t allow this functionality built into the application. The original plan was to host this section on the KCRW servers for easy updates. I used iWebKit_4.5.3 to make the website — which would’ve eventually been integrated with a secure mobile Ecommerce solution for the iPhone. Magento was an obvious option (with an iPhone skin already available) but found the integration with non-profit CRM systems lacking.
COMING SOON: A KCRW Fringe Benifits application for members, and a tricked out media player…
While working on mobile projects/UI these past couple weeks, I’ve had to revisit a number of user experience studies — one in particular stood out. It’s a 2002 Stanford study that addresses web design and credibility. Aquick summary from the study:
The data showed that the average consumer paid far more attention to the superficial aspects of a site, such as visual cues, than to its content. For example, nearly half of all consumers (or 46.1%) in the study assessed the credibility of sites based in part on the appeal of the overall visual design of a site, including layout, typography, font size and color schemes.
For the full pdf, click here (Stanford.edu)
Recently setup an email acquisition campaign where sign-ups are verified through a two step process and users are sent an iTunes code to download the new KCRW Mix. Acquired sign-ups are exported in CSV and imported into CRM software. The system is entirely integrated into Plone (email templates and all) and the confirmation/verification emails are sent locally through white listed servers. Referrers are user inputted but also tracked based on URL.
It’s a great mix, go here to sign up and stay on top of KCRW events. All emails have an opt-out if you would like to stop receiving updates.
Our second streaming broadcast from the The Eli & Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica went off without a hitch — check out the archived show on Tuesday, April 21st at kcrw.com
Here’s a short description of the program:
“...join the charismatic team of This American Life’s Alex Blumberg and NPR’s Adam Davidson for an entertaining live stage show here in Los Angeles explaining the economic crisis in human terms.”
And check out the NPR podcast here.
So I just bought an AT&T Blackberry 9000 and figured I’d note my initial experience of debranding/unlocking the phone for T-Mobile.
I installed the MFI Multiloader software and followed readily available instructions for debranding and installing the most recent OS (I’m using 4.6.0.247 currently). I avoided using software to release the network lock and instead went with a remote unlocking service.
Somehow a side effect of using the MFI loader is that you’re prevented from using the 9000 as a mass storage device in Windows. I quickly found a fix on Pinstack (do a search for mass storage fix). The reflash worked (for me) and I can now transfer my own music, videos, images, etc. without installing the RIM Media Manager.
BTW – the Today theme by Marco (mobile link for OTA install) is super clean.
The McCabe’s at 50 Plone page I created is a finalist in the 2nd Annual National Entertainment Journalism Awards by The Los Angeles Press Club for Best Feature Online.
UPDATE: The McCabe’s page was beat by the LA Times — it’s still pretty cool to have been a finalist.
Music Blog
iPhone4
Cool/subtle reference to the KCRW application on Rollingstone.com – “Organizing all your music apps onto one screen is a time-consuming bore. The new OS lets you instantly create folders of similar apps. For instance, take your Shazam icon and drag it over your KCRW app and you’ll automatically create a folder called Music.”