In fact, there are lots of apps for salty sea dogs that can make your sailing safer or faster, whether you’re out for a booze cruise on your old wooden Cornish Shrimper or competing in an international regatta on your friend’s hi-tech carbon fiber racing yacht.

I review a few of my personal favourite sailing apps in this blog:

1. Weather

Before you leave home, you’ll want to know if the weather will be suitable for your planned sailing, or if you should make straight for the bar instead. Sailboats need wind – some is better than none, and lots can be too much sometimes (especially if it’s tropical storm season). The direction the wind is coming from is useful to know as that will also affect how fast go in your intended direction. Also, do you need to smother on the sunscreen or pack the sou’wester?

A good free weather app is Windguru which displays the key data you need for your chosen location (albeit with a slightly outdated and clunky look and feel):

You do get what you pay for, and I like the PredictWind app which provides some limited weather data for free and access to more detailed forecasts and features through in-app upgrades. It has lots of cool maps, graphs and tables to pore over and help you get an edge on the competition (ie anyone else out sailing near you):

The tidal range is not huge here in Hong Kong (approx. 2.5 meters) but knowing whether it’s coming in or out can make a big difference to your performance if racing, especially in the relatively narrow Victoria harbour. My TidesPlanner app answers that question:

2. Knots

Once you’re aboard and before setting off, it’s likely that you will have to use a rope to re-attach or tie down some essential piece of equipment, like the sails, or a dinghy, or a crate of rum. Of course, as I seasoned sailor I know how to tie all possible types of knot by heart, and so I only have my Knot Guide free app as a means of easy reference for those landlubbers occasionally allowed on board…

3. Navigation

Proper nautical charts are essential for navigation as they show you things you may not be able to see but need to avoid, like the land, partially submerged rocks, wrecks, submarine cables etc. As a back-up to official paper charts, many boats these days have GPS and chartplotters installed that enable the tech-savvy sailor to add waypoints to set a safe course, and track the boat’s co-ordinates while sailing along. Navionics Marine have created a fantastic app that does all this on your iPhone (at least until your battery runs out):

Sometimes you need to record a precise bearing or azimuth to a given target or to determine a location, particularly on a point-to-point race such as the Hong Kong to Macau series. I have always eyed my friends’ sighting compasses with envy…until I downloaded my Compass Eye app!

I really like this one as it uses augmented reality to do the job (which is perfect for getting a bearing on your mobile strategy in the boardroom):

When laid down flat, the apps shows the compass overlaid on a map of your area:

4. Racing Tactics

Many races are lost or won on the start line – to have a chance you need to get there on-time, at the right end (it’s not unusual for one end to be slightly favoured due to wind shifts) and then you must head off in the right direction. This means taking note of (or trying to remember) quite a number of variables while also trying to interpret various flags and sound signals and jockeying for position with your competitors in the minutes leading up to the start.

The big budget racing crews have lots of things we don’t have, including sensors and instruments enabling them to wring out the maximum performance from the boat, and sometimes professional crews with actual sailing ability. Their slick-looking tacticians may have iPads linked up to receive data from the boat’s onboard blackboxes via NMEA/WiFi interfaces with custom applications to interpret the data.

Which is really great and all. I tend to rely on the crew’s “experience” to make the right calls…which could be why we do not have a designated sailing-trophy-polishing night in our house.

I have not tried this one yet, but must say I am getting quite excited about our racing prospects at the weekend since downloading iRegatta:

Short of actually sailing the boat and shouting Avast ye Scallywags at the crew, it seems to do everything! So grab your waterproof phone case and get mobile on the water.

I spend a lot of time traveling, and am always looking for ways to simplify the practice of organizing essential trip information like my bookings, passes, vouchers, etc. Mobile devices help a lot. I can check in online as I’m on my way to the airport from home, show my online boarding pass with QR code to security and gate agents, and retrieve my confirmation numbers if for any reason the hotel desk has trouble finding my booking. But what if I’m in transit, at an intermediate airport, say on a layover in Helsinki on my way to Stockholm from Hong Kong? Is the answer to go online and pull up the onward flight’s boarding pass to show the security agent at the secondary screening? Or what if the layover is a long one, and I really need to locate the nearest lounge where I can make a phone call to my family, check in with my team, and download some updated documents I need for my presentation in Stockholm?

I suppose I could just switch on my mobile phone, and access the information online. Or I would have to find a WiFi hotspot? In theory, the answer is yes to either or both of those options, but roaming access prices, especially for data and even WiFi plans sometime appear like the devil you know when the moment of need arrives. When it’s sort of free, there is the process of filling out a survey for 20 minutes of free access—when I understand the language—and then having my (I promise) perfectly valid credit card rejected because I do not have a billing address with a postal code local to that airport’s country (I kid you not).

As the transition to greater and greater reliance on mobile solutions for travel information continues, one of the most important but less routine decisions a sponsor or developer of a travel-related information app can make is whether or not to support offline searching for information, and then how much to do so. The considerations are somewhat complex, but manageable:

• Footprint. Small apps and frugal use of storage is always better, especially for users with aging devices
• Update time. Large offline databases require some careful design for update. A simple full download is sometimes not practical from a bandwidth cost and delivery infrastructure standpoint
• Update management. Managing incoming data feeds from multiple sources for complex data sets is no small task, and is an ongoing cost of application maintenance. App sponsors should take care to budget accordingly, and build in the design of databases, update infrastructure and processes as an integral part of the app brief
• Evolving platform support. Various approaches exist on major mobile platforms for caching local data, from HTML local storage, local databases like SQLite on iOS and Android, to custom solutions too numerous to discuss in one blog posting. Developers who have experience building apps that can function in offline mode will have an approach and can help you tailor that approach to position your app to evolve with the technologies available

A simple example of an app that puts these considerations into action is the PriorityPass App, which I have used on more than one occasion to locate a lounge when flying in economy on an airline I use infrequently. When loading the app after a certain period of inactivity, usually since the previous use at another airport, the app asks whether or not to update the database. This process takes just a few seconds over a 4G connection, and not much longer over 3G. The cached offline data is there when it is most valuable: at the point of immediate need.

The next time you fly, think about how many times you “simply deal” with having no access to your information, simply not to pay roaming charges or simply because getting access was just “not worth it” for the layover. Was the saving worth the trade-off? What can you do as an app provider to someone traveling in of an almost always connected world to make that customer’s life easier? Could you take a special opportunity to delight the customer and be remembered for it?

SkyDrive is Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s iCloud – another cloud storage service aimed at consumers. It looks pretty nice and the user reviews on Google Play are mostly positive. In the near future, I’m guessing that one of the players in this space will get things right and we will see a shift in user behavior for file storage.

When users start storing ALL their files on the cloud in a convenient way without any worries we could call it a changed behavior. Think of it as having ALL your friends on Facebook, or sending ALL your letters electronically, sending ALL your text messages for free using mobile data, or making ALL your calls from mobile instead of landline. A changed behavior in this context is what you would call success.

Privacy, security and UX still needs tweaking before we will see a massive changed behavior, but there is one more aspect that is seldom mentioned in the product videos and descriptions – How to deal with copyrighted material?

Among the files stored locally by users one may find an image picked up on the Internet, a video, or a piece of music that is protected by copyright law. Though one of the benefits of cloud storage is the ability to easily share files between devices and users,it still creates a problem with files of this category. The complexity of this and the legal aspects around it surfaced when Megaupload was shut down recently.

The flamboyant man behind the service was of course an easy target, but the question is whether or not other providers of similar services are legally responsible for their users behavior as well? You may think it’s an extreme example but if you look at the actual functionality and the terms and conditions of Megaupload, you will find remarkable similarities to Google Drive, Dropbox, SkyDrive etc. What do you think?

The Red Herring editorial team selected the companies demonstrating the most innovative technologies and business models originating from over 1000 companies from over 40 nations. These companies, representing past Red Herring Asia, Europe and North America awards, are judged on a range of qualitative and quantitative metrics, including but not limited to, technology innovation, financial performance, growth criterion, management’s execution standards, potential globalization of the strategy and market share improvement.

“Technology companies are becoming the bright spot in the economic outlook based on their increasing role within macro-economic environments,” stated Alex Vieux, Chairman of Red Herring. “2012 has confirmed the sector’s vibrant activity and its resilience to widespread economic problems. An unprecedented number of entrepreneurs are attempting to jump ahead of the competition and aspire to make a difference. Breakthroughs obsolete each other faster than ever before. Exicon has performed exceptionally in its field and strongly deserves to be singled out as one of the Red Herring Global Finalists . At this stage, we are left with the daunting task to select the best qualified companies for the 2012 Top 100 Global Award.”

The Finalists are invited to present their winning strategies at the Red Herring Global forum in Los Angeles, November 27-29 2012. The Top 100 winners will be announced at a special awards ceremony on November 29 at the event.

1) Find the play store on your device.

2) Click through to the home screen. You can search by categories, featured apps, top paid apps and lots more as you slide across.

3) There are 2 ways to search. The first is to Search by app.

3.1) If you are searching for note apps, type in note in the search bar below.

3.2) You will then be presented with all the possible note apps out there, select the one you want!

3.3) Selected app – Inkpad note app: Read the description, make the decision and Press “Install”. 

3.4) You would then be presented with the permissions pop-up. Verify everything and click accept & download. The app would then directly be installed onto your device provided that you have signed into your gmail account.

3.5) If your selected app is a paid app, for instance, jotter (for galaxy notes), install the app by clicking the price bar, in this case, it would cost you HK$ 30.94

3.6) You would then be presented with the permissions pop-up. Verify everything and click continue.

3.7) In order to complete the transaction, you need to complete your account by adding the payment method. Add in the details, get your new app and start noting!

4) The second way to search is to search by category

4.1) Select the category of your choice. E.g. Games

4.2) Or view featured games apps

4.3) Games can also be searched as top paid apps, top free apps, top grossing apps, and it continues as you slide across. Select the app you are looking for or the one that grabs your interest. E.g. Cut the rope experiments

4.4) Install the app by clicking the price bar, in this case, it would cost you HK$ 7.69

4.5) You would then be presented with the permissions pop-up. Verify everything and click continue.

4.6)  In order to complete the transaction, you need to make sure you have completed your account by adding the payment method.  Add in the method details, get your new app and start playing!

Google Android store reached more than 25 million downloads, 675,000 apps are now available! Now that you know how to get to the app store, it’s about time you start shopping and get all the handy dandy apps on your device. Step up your game and catch up in the race to go mobile.

Clearly aiming to keep up with the times the brand has launched an iPhone 5 cover to celebrate the launch. You won’t be able to get hold of these in the US – collector’s items in no time☺.

Now all I need to know is how many I have to eat before I get a free cover.

Its very easy when you are building an app to get somewhat carried away with the great images, awesome functionality, impressive developers etc. So much so that the problem of how you are going to get people to download those wonderful pieces of software is often overlooked until it is too late.

1. If you’ve done your homework you will have developed your application based upon what devices your end users use and the languages they speak.

2. Now you need to have a look at where those users go for the type of application that you have developed. Some appstores specialize in games for example, or in enterprise applications.

3. Dig into all the metrics you can about their user demographics, admittedly very difficult for a lot of stores but occasionally you get lucky.

4. Once you’ve decided which appstore you are targeting you need to think about how to categorize your application.  Seeing how competitors list themselves is one way but of course it does put them up front and center when your users are looking for you.  Asking your end customers is probably a better way. And of course on appstores that allow you to tag with everything you can so you show up in multiple categories e.g.  you might find a home automation app under utilities or under lifestyle. Most stores that allowed this in the past have struggled with relevance as customers can’t find what they are looking for easily so be warned about an appstore that allows a complete scattergun strategy.

5. Each appstore has different requirements so make sure you have everything to hand when you start uploading, from text, to images, to credit card numbers and target markets.

No matter what you do you have to set up a user account for each appstore which is a bit of a pain if you are doing it hundreds of times but well worth it if you are rolling out a number of applications that you will be submitting in the future.

The real pain comes from having to submit different length descriptions of your app, different numbers of images and in different languages so some developers create one master description in multiple languages and upload it all, looks a bit messy though.

6. Know what you want to charge. The standard is USD0.99 for an app in the US on iTunes which is automatically converted to local currency for any other territories you have targeted.

However, remember that 95% of applications of iTunes downloads are free and even more interesting is that 70% of the money that developers actually make from iTunes is from in-App purchases rather than actually charging for the app itself.

And, of course, your users may be happy to see ads if they can get your app free so don’t rule that out. I know it is a ridiculously skewed number as Rovio has been so successful with Angry Birds but I think I read that they make USD600k per MONTH from advertising. Now there is a company that got it right☺

Its not quite location, location, location but it makes a huge difference if your audience is a little more diverse than a US iPhone user. Developing a really good distribution strategy will make heaps of difference, hopefully heaps of cash but, if not, at least heaps of downloads!

Tell them this: “Toss your bag filled with dictionaries, maps, tickets and travel guides into the corner! Start uploading key Hong Kong Apps.

The trick is to not repeat yourself about attractions in HK to all visitors but by learning about new things from your guests. To get them started, we picked our favorite apps for mobile travellers and business visitors in HK:

1) Sightseeing & Exploring HK
There are lots of great apps (for free) from the HK Tourism Board. They range from City or Heritage walks to 720 Degree previews of hot spots to an Augmented Reality app. We chose City Walks for you to preview below:

Discover Hong Kong – City Walks Developer:  Hong Kong Tourism
Available on: iTunes/Google play
Cost: Free
 

If you want to discover HK in a more specific way, like getting shirts made or finding a place to eat at 2am in the morning, then check out the LUXE app.

LUXE Hong Kong & Macau Developer: CSL Limited
Available on: iTunes
Cost: HK$ 48

A very different way of getting to know the city is Geocaching. It is a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game, supported by the app and using your phone as GPS-enabled device. Treasures are hidden everywhere across HK from the Peak to the Police Museum. Choose one geocache and attempt to find the treasure (container) hidden at that location. On the way, see what clues or messages other people have left for you in their attempts. Once you find the container, exchange the treasure for something fun or relating (like a coin from your country). Great for kids, but mostly used by adults!

GeocachingDeveloper: Groundspeak Inc.
Available on:  iTunes/Google play
Cost:  HK$ 78
 

2) Transportation in HK
Apart from getting to and from HK (see airport apps like Fly HK or CX Mobile by Cathay), we think understanding transportation on the ground is key. The public transport system is one of the best worldwide with lots of taxis and buses available everywhere.

We recommend two apps: One is HKe Transport where you find the means of transport, including map display, transfer location, the estimated travel time and cost, plus timetables of public transport services.

HKe Transport 香港乘車易Developer: Transport Department, HKSAR Government
Available on: iTunes
Cost: Free

The other hot transport app for HK is HK Taxi, that basically translates the western street name into Chinese. It displays big and pretty so you can show the Chinese Characters to the driver and he gets it (wearing glasses or not!).

Hong Kong Taxi Translator Developer: Triple Happiness
Available on: iTunes/Google play
Cost: HK$ 8
 

3) Cantonese Language Apps
In HK the local tongue is Cantonese! But most people speak good English. Mandarin (mainland Chinese) is mandatory for most service personnel, but not spoken on the streets.

There are several Apps for Cantonese, we recommend the one below as one can can quickly and effectively learn the language through music. Words are anchored deeply into your memory by gentle repetition to music.

Rapid Cantonese Volume 1Developer: Earworms Ltd
Available on: iTunes
Cost: HK$ 78

4) Communication
In case you want to call mum at home, make sure she is using Skype or its competitors. Common local text messaging tools used are WhatsApp (used to be free, now paid), and WeChat (free, but not so frequently used in HK as on the mainland). Check out our travel apps blog!

5) Food & Beverages
Hungry in a city that never sleeps? Check out what people recommend and like to eat on OpenRice:

OpenRice Hong Kong 開飯喇
Developer: Openrice Group Inc.
Available on: iTunes/Google play
Cost: Free
 

Taking it a step further is the Dining Concepts app, making restaurant reservations for you. With a similar interface, we would love to see an OpenTable app for Hong Kong.

Dining ConceptsDeveloper: Prophet Visual Communication
Available on: iTunes
Cost: Free

But if you are really fun and flexible, download Open Bar. It tells you what places offer happy hours, ladies nights, instant coupons topped-up with a friend finder and live photos.

Open bar Developer: Mercury media
Available on: iTunes
Cost: Free

Hope you enjoy your HK trip and find all the apps useful!
Please feel free to share with your friends, family and colleagues! If you have any other interesting apps we missed out on, share them on our facebook page and give us a ‘Like’.

Qualcomm, the platform provider for Windows Surface RT, is the sugar daddy of the contest and as part of the Qualcomm Windows RT developer program will be splashing out money over the next few weeks to worthy developers.

That’s an interesting play by Qualcomm to help drive sales of their Snapdragon chipset and continues to show the importance of high quality apps as the driver of the ecosystem. More quality apps for Windows RT (not to be confused with Windows 8 which runs on a different platform) should translate into more demand Windows Surface RT tablets that then should translate in to more chipset sales for Qualcomm pushing up demand for more apps and so forth.

Key message is quality matters to everyone in the app chain. By endorsing winners like AllJoyn, Qualcomm is trying to help their chance of winning in the much longer game.

1. Nothing is private
Everything is public, at least this is the way you need to think. From your phone conversations, to your hotel room, your posts, your encounters, everything is “recorded” in some form or fashion.

2. Contracts don’t count for anything
Other than being an excuse to bring two parties together around a common topic it is the start of a relationship and nothing else. You need to work the relationship going forward. Don’t rely on the contract to stipulate your working relationship. You need to commit resources and people and time to make China work for you, not the contract.

3. Propaganda Ministry trumps all
Remember that China is still a one party country. National pride is very high and the media (web, TV, print, mobile) are still very much centrally controlled. The propaganda ministry owns all. Play everything you do to the major national macro policies and interest and you should be OK.

4. Goal posts are always moving (and so is the playing field)
On a more micro level, the rules of the game seem to change every day, but in reality these are just speed bumps. Whilst at the time they can seem very distracting and huge, in reality it usually isn’t such a big deal. Stick to the major China objectives and you should be OK playing by those rules. However be prepared to expect the unexpected. One thing you can always count on; a curve ball from somewhere sometime.

5. The market is BIG
Geographically China is the size of the US, population wise 3-4x that. There are more millionaires in China than Australians on the planet…you just need to find them.

6. Time breeds loyalty
Relationship and trust is very important in China. It just takes time to build the trust. But there is definitely loyalty and that builds over time, like anywhere, but in China memories last a lot longer.

Be prepared when investing in China with financial and especially human capital. You need to work the relationship and commit regularly to travel there and meet with your partners. Also be prepared for the last minute notice to meet over the weekend.

You don’t need to do it all the time, but you will get a call on Thursday to meet on Saturday somewhere in China. When that happens, just do it occasionally it shows tremendous commitment and builds loyalty. Not all the time, but every now and then just say yes.