Bringing together the best in app development from across the globe to Dundee, the International App Development Conference & AppJam was proud to boast some sensational speakers that presented sessions, took part in panel discussions and provided advice to those taking part in the AppJam.
Covering a wide and varied set of skills the speakers are each industry professionals within their own right and are well deserved to have a place in our little hall of fame!
Speakers that took part were:
Mike Wharton (Waracle)
Mike Wharton from Waracle was the first speaker to take turn as the AppCon. His company has been rolling out numerous apps that support cloud based services.
The benefits of cloud based computing have been enormous for developers word-wide and allow them to build entertainment as a service. Whether it is about music services like Spotify or games like World of Warcraft. An additional benefit is that building social games is easy and it allows developers to track exactly what consumers are doing in the games.
Loretta Maxfield (Thorntons Law)
A solicitor for Thorntons IP, Technology and Media Team, Loretta enjoys working with a range of clients, from individuals to educational establishments and large multi-national companies. Loretta advises on a varied spectrum of intellectual property, information technology, regulatory compliance and media related issues including copyright, trademarks, data protection, freedom of information, software, hosting, publishing, franchising and online exploitation. Loretta has enjoyed a nine month secondment at the Intellectual Property and Commercialisation Office of a Scottish University and also sits on the Steering Committee of BioDundee.
David Hamilton (Digital Goldfish)
Jeroen Retrae & Lyan van Furth (moblio.nl)
Jeroen & Lyan formed moblio.nl in 2009 to specialise in creating and realizing iPhone applications and mobile websites for national and international companies. They developed the hugely successful Vuvuzela 2010 app as an in house independant project released publicly during the 2010 world cup. Bringing together the freemuim ethos and a simple but popular subject they threw out the book on usual business practice and started their own way of doing things.
With over 6 million downloads and a distribution that has spread across more than 100 different countries the company is growing from strength to strength!
Thomas Joos (GladiatorMobile)
Thomas is a mobile user experience designer and founder of Gladiator ( www.gladiatormedia.be ). Focussing on mobile concept & design, he always aims for the best possible mobile experience towards end-users. Combined with a strong development background ( iPhone, iPad, Flash Mobile, … ) he has proven a professional and high quality mobile minded service can be brought to even the most complex app production and build.
Thomas is very active in the community as a technical and inspirational speaker, presenting all around the world. He is also Content Manager of the Belgian Adobe Usergroup and co-author of ‘AdvancED Flash on Devices’ published by Apress. In 2008 Thomas won an Adobe Max award with Rock Werchter mobile, being the only mobile entry that made it into the European finals.
Russell Kay (Yo Yo Games)
Chief Technology Officer of Yo Yo Games, Russell was responsible for the game concept and name of the iconic game which was ported to many platforms and is estimated to have sold over 15 million copies.
DMA (which since a takeover is now known as Rockstar North) will perhaps be better known to younger readers as the creators of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Russell went on to found Visual Science Ltd who were responsible for the PlayStation version of the game.
Mark Ettle (Cobra Mobile)
Mark Ettle is the CEO and founder of Cobra Mobile, a mobile and handheld games company.
With 15 years of Games Industry, Mark has a wealth of technical, commercial, design and operations knowledge and experience. In 2007 Mark defined Omni-gaming and the opportunities unfolding across current and new platforms in the casual space.
Cobra Mobile is head-quartered in Dundee, Scotland. The company has a professional and extremely creative team focused on bringing addictive, highly playable games to the rapidly-evolving global mobile and handheld gaming markets. Cobra’s partners include, Oberon Media, I-play, Turner Broadcasting, TT Games Publishing, PlayerX, Connect2Media and Codemasters.
Cobra Mobile’s keynote strength is their recognised ability to develop and deliver the best quality products and entertainment experience for handheld and mobile gamers on all key devices. Cobra Mobile has built a reputation for being highly professional, easy to work with and always delivering on-schedule and on budget products.
Cobra Mobile is also home to the critically praised original IP of Numba, Stuck and Mouse About.
Mark is also un-recognised as one of the first people to fully complete the original Sabre Wolf on the ZX Spectrum!!!
Jon Jordon (Steel Media)
A highly respected game technology and industry journalist, Jon has previously been primarily involved with the launch and subsequent running of Steel Media’s consumer site, Pocket Gamer, but has also demonstrated a keen interested in PocketGamer.biz through regular contributions.
“The creativity being demonstrated by developers and publishers daily on the App Store is a wonder to behold,” exclaims Jon Jordan. “It’s as close to meritocracy as the games industry has seen, and as the likes of Ovi, Android Market, Windows Marketplace, BlackBerry App World, not to mention DSiWare and PlayStation Network, gain momentum – it’s safe to say innovative game developers have never had it so good. And that’s a great situation for any journalist, too.”
PocketGamer.biz was launched in July 2008 with the aim of providing the multi-billion mobile game industry with the dedicated trade media it deserves. The site focuses on insightful news, features and opinion, offering a centralised meeting place with useful resources and a genuine desire to help push the industry forward by championing campaigns and uniting the sector behind key initiatives.
Andreas Jakl (Nokia)
Andreas Jakl was supporting developers with the Nokia technology experience at events and workshops all over Europe. Before, he has been researching new ways of user interaction for mobile devices at the University of Applied Sciences in Hagenberg, Austria (examples at symbianresources.com).
Additionally, he is the founder and owner of “Mopius”, a company that released projects like the unique location based games “The Journey” and “RealReplay”, which were featured on TV, in several international newspapers and won prestigious awards. Previously, Mr. Jakl worked on mobile augmented reality games at Siemens / BenQ Mobile.
Richard Hasinki (One Thumb Mobile)
Richard is a veteran of the mobile apps industry; he began developing mobile games in 2000 when the very first games started to become available on mobile phones. During this time he was the lead developer of several bestselling mobile games including Fast and Furious: Tokyo, the multi-million selling mobile racing game, which went on to win ‘Best Racing Game’ at E3 and ‘Best Made for Mobile Game’ at the GSM awards.
Richard is the founder and director of One Thumb Mobile, a company developing high end apps and games on a large variety of mobile devices, from iPhone and Android devices to simpler Java phones. One Thumb Mobile has worked on mobile products for major brands including Honda, Visa, Liverpool FC and Star Trek. They recently had success with the number two bestselling iPhone app on the UK app store, and also achieved the fourth top grossing app. One Thumb Mobile are currently working on Highland Warrior, a massively multiplayer online role playing game for iPhone and iPad set in Medieval Scotland, due to launch in early 2011.
