So we’re ready to launch our release version of Woosabi on September 1st and we wanted to create a little video clip to show that there are real people behind the product. We think a big problem with the web is that you’re not really sure if a product is really a product or whether it’s built by someone in their bedroom. Well we definitely didn’t build Woosabi in a bedroom (much); we built it in a garage!

Anyway, here’s a couple of vids that we made to try and explain what Woosabi is all about.

it’s been a while since i’ve updated the blog from an engineering point of view. the main reason being that, yup you’ve guessed it, we’ve been engineering. we released the first 20 beta accounts this week and so far so good.

 it’s always a little strange when the project you’ve had total control over enters the public domain and out of your hands but it’s also exciting.

 i’ll keep posting here in small chunks as we move through the process and describe how the feedback comes in and gets sorted, tagged and becomes part of the refinement process and then back out into the wild.

stay tuned.

Yep! It’s exactly what you think! We’ve spent a few quid and got some T shirts printed for the team. We’ve been working hard over the winter months. Summer is here so why not do a little “unconventional marketing” while we’re sat in the beer garden celebrating our upcoming second phase of Beta trials.

So, if you spot us out and about, please come over and say ‘Hi’… and just incase you’re feeling extra nice, mine’s a ‘Brains SA’!

Guess what! We’re even thinking of getting some T’s in for our friends. So if you fancy ‘being our friend’, drop a line to hello(at)woosabi.com or even sign-up to our Beta user list. Limited number of spots available.

Walking over for a coffee this morning I spotted an opportunity to stake out the first Smart fortwo BRABUS. Not only is this car green with its micro hybrid drive (mhd) but it also packs a mighty 98bhp.

I’m a big fan of the Fiat 500 but it struck me how cool the Woosabi brand would look pasted on the side of a crystal white painted fortwo, and while you’re testing out the performance of 98bhp from the lights, those left in your dust trail would read “mind your own business” printed on the rear

Woosabi has something in common with the fortwo… small but mighty, simple to use and designed to get the job done with ease and fun.

I met with a great guy today, Mark Deloura who’s VP of Technology at GreenScreen Interactice. I told him a little about Woosabi and he mentioned that they use basec4mp a little, so it was great to get his feedback from a different industry. I said we’d get Mark a Woosabi beta account and see how we compare - eek!

We also talked a lot about my pet subject; development methodologies (I know, yawn yawn!) I mentioned that there’s a ton of methodologies andcase studies specific to application development but not a lot it seems for game development. I have a bunch of theories as to why this is the case and so does Mark. More interestingly it turns out that Mark is co-ordinating a conference later in the year where there will be a series of presentations by game developers comparing different methodologies - which obviously I find intensely exciting, YMMV!

So, we proposed a bi-partisan venture between game and application development to blog each week on a particular aspect of development and see how it differs between the two sub-disciplines which will appear each Friday.

This week’s topic: TBC

So I’m here in San Francisco, not slept in 27 hours, and only feeling slightly tired Actually, that’s a lie, I’m going to pass out. But here’s some pics I’ve take so far!

The Car! (yuk!)

outside

inside

I needed to pick a new graphics card and take Emilia (now 7 weeks old) out so I nipped into PC world. Turns out their graphics cards are literally 100% more expensive than they are online - though they have a new Mac section with internet connections so I could compare the price instore & online

Anyway, as I was wondering around I noticed a point of sale featuring the mugshot of Peter Jones along with 3 different versions of his ‘online business builder’ - each version is really a different subscription amount, 1, 3 and 12 months. The DVD case I assume contains a subscription code to be entered online. Which is how Woosabi would be sold via VARs.

What’s interesting is that the product ‘looks’ like it’s competiting with Woosabi but on closer inspection it seems it’s an online ’support’ system with some payroll and business plan makers. Here’s the website

There are two things that struck me:

Firstly, considering how much of a bully Peter Jones is on TV with regard to people ‘not having thought things through’ and how he’s constantly reminding us that he’s got a team of techies that can build websites and apps, his website’s presentation is terrible; absolutely awful. He might be ‘good TV’ but if he signed off on that site and box art I wouldn’t let him near Woosabi in a million years.

Secondly, it’s reminded me that there is great scope to provide a ‘Professional Services’ module via Woosabi to allow startups to access local accountants, legal help and HR advice.

Thirdly, we are going to release something very special that will be very big. Really!

As we always want to share “what’s occuring” (Gavin & Stacey inside joke) here at camp woosabi. All you Facebook fanatics (you know who you are!) will be pleased to hear that you can now join the official Woosabi Group on facebook and get all the new and insider goss.

Head over there now to join up and get involved with our discussion boards. This weeks topic is: ‘If you could to start your own dream business on Monday, what would it be?’.

Each time I get on to Woosabi now I get more and more excited. At first it was great to see all the hard work take shape but now I login to my account and Woosabi is doing all the hard work for me.

My ‘top tool’ at the moment is the ‘Dashboad quick notes’ I’m able to make notes during a call that are safe and secure and in a click have them converted in to jobs, contacts etc. And best of all with zero distraction to the work I was performing before the call.

With the dashboard and affiliate partnering strategies in mind I read this discussion in interactive media magazine, NMA
on the wider applications of dashboard widgets.

Have a read: Widgets.