Tinderhouse - Latest news

Mobile web development just got easier

Nokia have released a few new plugins that let web developers quickly extend web content to mobile devices.

This being a Nokia initiative means that the plugins help create content for some of the most popular S60 devices on the market. Initially this covers S60 3rd edition FP2 phones which provides a very comprehensive baseline for compatibility across Nokia, Samsung, Lenovo and LG devices.

So why is this helpful?

Developing mobile content or mobile applications is not always straight forward. At least it is not as straight forward as web content. It might sound like an obvious thing to say but you might also think that because mobile web content tends to be less comprehensive or complicated in layout that it should be easier to do. Not so. Given the lack of consistency in browsers and network/carrier compatibility it makes developing mobile content and mobile applications a time consuming process.

Having access to plugins that streamline this development process can only be a good thing. If they do deliver on improvements in compatibility and development efficiency we stand a chance of bringing mobile content into the main stream. Something that I don’t believe has happen just yet due to the interaction limitations that most mobile web browsers have places on developers in the past.

Read the full press release

Formula One for kids

Over the past few months we have had the pleasure of working with the team at Formula Fun Entertainment to help bring their vision of Formula One to young children on the web.

In anticipation of the new Formula One season the new website is now live. Franco and Formula Fun brings the excitement from racetrack into the playroom and makes watching Formula One a real family experience.

Tinderhouse’s work involved capturing the spirit of Formula One and designing a site that young children can relate to and interact with. It features an interactive story book read by Murray Walker and following on from the launch of the site a range of interactive games will be added to the website to further enhance the Formula Fun experience.

The website includes:

Flash games for young children
Interactive story book read by Murray Walker
Online shop
Picture gallery for kids to share their work
and much more besides.

We’ve had great fun working on this project. Not least because we’ve been working around a subject that we are all passionate about.

Happy birthday Tinderhouse

A big happy birthday to Tinderhouse, now six years old.

It was back in January 2003 that we first opened our doors for business and started to take our first few steps on the road to building what is now Tinderhouse.

Six years on and we have been blessed with working with some great clients in a range of sectors from financial services to the automotive industry. In that time we’ve designed and developed all manner of websites for our clients and ourselves; we’ve helped to get numerous businesses working on the web and have also found the time to launch a few products of our own.

As with all companies, what we do at Tinderhouse is a team effort and what a team we have. On a personal note, I can’t praise and thank the team enough for their efforts.

A big thank you goes out to all our clients that have supported us over the past six years and we look forward to working with you over the next six years!

Nick Tatt
Managing Director

Investor's Champion now blogging

If you’re looking for some insightful comment on the financial woes of companies these days you should head over to Investor’s Champion new blog.

Following on from the new-look website, designed and developed by Tinderhouse, we were asked to incorporate a blog into the site.

In their words, the Investor’s Champion blog “provides refreshingly forthright, objective comment on small cap companies. Informed opinion, based on first-hand research, but pulls no punches in exposing management weaknesses.”

Head over to the blog and bookmark the RSS feed or register to join in the conversation.

Whitehouse Bexleyheath upgrade to Tinderhouse's dealer management system

After having first helped Whitehouse Bexleyheath target local web uses with a range of SEO services we are pleased to announce that they have upgraded to using Tinderhouse’s dealer management system.

Whitehouse Bexleyheath are one of the UK’s largest Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep main dealers and are one of the first UK car dealers to benefit from using Tinderhouse’s new dealer management system (DMS). The DMS allows Whitehouse Bexleyheath to take control of their website publishing and is specifically designed to market their cars to a local, and national audience.

The DMS provides a comprehensive suite of tools that allow car dealers to easily advertise and promote new and used car stock. It comes with a number of ways to distribute and syndicate the used car stock to key dealer portals like eBay Motors, Auto Trader, Motors and Google Base.

As part of Tinderhouse’ work a new dymanic web site design was delivered that promotes and cross sells other stock to website visitors.

For more information about this project or Tinderhouse’s dealer management system contact Nick Tatt on 01227 277832.

Tinderhouse's work for Megabuyte launches

We are delighted to announce that our work on Megabuyte new website is now live.

In their words “Megabuyte.com is an invaluable source of market intelligence for IT companies, their advisers and investors providing in-depth coverage of the corporate and financial affairs of all of the UK’s leading listed and privately owned software & IT services companies.”

The website has undergone a complete redesign and rebuild by us on top of our favourite CMS of choice, Expression Engine. The previous site had out grown its original system which was using Typepad and needed a robust platform to enter into the next phase of growth.

One of the most interesting things to come out the project is the way that content can be repackaged to add value to the offer. Very little new content has been added to the new site but we have been able to catalogue and present it more efficiently which adds value to archive of content.

You can read more about the site over in our portfolio.

Well done to all the team at Tinderhouse that worked so hard on the site and good luck to Megabuyte.

Mobile content checker released by W3C

Over the past year or so the mobile website sector has been gathering a lot of steam. With the recent launch of the 3G iPhone there is more excitement around mobile websites and mobile applications than every before.

So to help mobile website developers like Tinderhouse the W3C have recently released a handy little mobile checker.

I’m sure this tool will go a long way towards getting some standards introduced for mobile websites. If there is one thing that we have learnt from our own experience is that, at present, there is no one solution that fits all. The boundaries between a mobile website and a mobile application are often blurred and deciding which one is best often is project specific decision.

Nevertheless, we’re looking forward to using the mobile checker.

Map My Tracks to sponsor Musto Skiff UK Nationals 2008

Update: Replay of races available at Map My Tracks

Tinderhouse’s live GPS sports tracking service ‘Map My Tracks’ is sponsoring this summer’s Musto Skiff UK Nationals to launch its live events tracking service. The event will be the first time that live GPS tracking has been used in a non-Olympic dinghy event and is yet another first for the innovative Musto Skiff class.

The event, to be held at Whitstable Yacht Club from 12-15 June 2008, will be among the first to benefit from Map My Tracks live event tracking. Map My Tracks was launched in February 2008 and turns most mobile phones into live sports tracking tools, providing map and performance data in real-time to sailors, live tracking on the internet and a range of website track analysis and replay tools.

Map My Tracks works with normal mobile phones with built-in GPS or with external GPS receivers, bringing the technology within reach of amateur sailors worldwide. The service lets spectators watch live race action on the big screen back at race headquarters and provides an easy way to broadcast event progress live on the internet to spectators anywhere. It is ideally suited to sports, such as sailing or distance running, where the action takes place away from the race headquarters.

Relaying live races to a global internet audience is an important part of bringing sailing to new audiences beyond broadcast television. Events like the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta 2007 have demonstrated the potential for live GPS tracking to do this, but have relied on expensive dedicated GPS equipment only available to professional sailors. Map My Tracks works with normal mobile phones with built-in GPS or with external GPS receivers, bringing the technology within reach of amateur sailors worldwide.

As well as enhancing the race experience for spectators onshore and on the internet, Map My Tracks also provides each competitor with a breakdown of their performance and a print-out of their tracks. The website’s analysis tools include being able to compare tracks side-by-side to help see where races are won and lost.

Musto Skiff Class Association Chairman Simon Reynolds said “The Musto Performance Skiff class has innovated in a number of ways in the past and is delighted to continue this through the partnership with Map My Tracks for this event; it represents a first for the class and non-professional sailing to offer such live event tracking”.

About Map My Tracks

Map My Tracks uses GPS technology to accurately track a boat’s position in real time, displaying useful live information including heading, time and distance elapsed. Map My Tracks shows live tracks as well as allowing sailors to replay and analyse tracks to see where races are won or lost, and show useful information like average speed, maximum speed and distance covered.

No expensive or complicated equipment is needed to get started using Map My Tracks – the service works using a mobile phone with built-in GPS or with an external GPS receiver. Find out more at www.mapmytracks.com or see a video of the service.

About Musto Skiff class

The Musto Performance Skiff is a lightweight one person trapeze dinghy with wings, trapeze and asymmetric spinnaker. The class is sailed in 17 countries world wide by men and women, the boat supports a wide range of bodyweights. The class achieved Full ISAF Status in 2007. The class is marketed world wide by Ovington Boats and there are dealers based in 18 countries. In 2007 the class held its first World Championships, following ISAF ratification, which attracted 86 entries from 13 nations.

Visit Map My Tracks Event services for further information about live event tracking and contact the event team at Map My Tracks.

Mass portfolio update

During the first quarter of this year we have had the pleasure of working on a diverse range of client projects ranging from investment management firms to musicians. Amongst this work we continue to develop our first location-based product Map My Tracks.

To celebrate this work we have updated our portfolio to showcase some of the recent work.

These include:

Map My Tracks – Design and development of website and mobile application for location based service
Fundamental Asset Management – Corporate website design and development for investment management firm
Chris Cohen Music – Promo website for musician
Water Hall Group – Basic AIM Rule 26 website for quarrying and waste management company
Head Hand Heart – eCommerce website for careers development company
Investor’s Champion – Subscription website for financial research publisher

More information about all these projects and our involvement is in our portfolio

Map My Tracks now out of beta

Over at Map My Tracks we are excited to be officially out of beta and open for all to start tracking – in real-time.

Map My Tracks is all about training smarter and improving sporting performance. It’s about sharing your sporting passion with the others in real-time and making training fun.

It’s done by turning your mobile phone into a personal tracking device. With Map My Tracks Mobile installed on your phone you are able to track your progress LIVE and allow friends, training partners or coaches to watch your progress online as you go.

The past month or two has seen some fantastic progress by the team to get Map My Tracks where it is today. Our first official release of Map My Tracks Mobile is the result a lot of work to ensure that it is compatible with as many mobile phones as possible. As a Java Midlet it is compatible with a vast range of Java-enabled handsets currently on the market.

Interest? See some screenshots of Map My Tracks Mobile or sign up FREE and give it a go.

Event tracking

Have an event that you would like tracked LIVE? Get in touch with Map My Tracks to find out out your event can be brought to life with Map My Tracks Events.