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So honored to help @appstem wish it’s best clients a happy holiday season!! Thank you again!! #appstem #bethlovespaper #customprinting #customdesign #holidaycards #corporateholidays https://www.instagram.com/p/BrPEj9Kgc_1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1d87ierl3tcp7

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10 Essentials for Getting Started on your Enterprise IoT Mobile App

More devices are connected to the internet than ever before, ranging from consumer products to industrial applications. As these Internet of Things (IoT) devices play an ever larger role in homes and offices, users will need intuitive ways to manage and interact with them. iOS and Android apps enable you to put your IoT products right into the hands of consumers on their phones. Partnering with…

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Appstem client, EmployeeChannel Raises $5M

Appstem is proud to announce that one of our clients; EmployeeChannel (formerly known as Navera) has secured $5M in Series A funding. The EmployeeChannel product team launched a new business initiative in the fall of 2015 to build a best-in-class mobile app that would provide a dedicated channel for organizations to more effectively engage with their employees.    The app was first released in the spring of 2016.

The app enables HR and Internal Communication teams to boost the impact and effectiveness of employee communication.  Employees can find and receive organizational information easier and faster, get personalized responses to requests and quick reaction to time-sensitive events.

The EmployeeChannel team worked closely with Appstem to develop the app for iOS and Android and continue to support ongoing enhancements.

Appstem is a leading design and development firm that specializes in mobile, web, and backend solutions. Over our seven-year history we’ve created hundreds of mobile apps for some of the largest companies and most recognizable brands in the world including Tesla, Kaiser, Hearst as well as numerous start-ups.

For more information about EmployeeChannel go here

For more information about Appstem visit our website here or call 415.956.7400

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Appstem Receives 2016 San Francisco Award for Software Development

Appstem Receives 2016 San Francisco Award

San Francisco Award Program Honors the Achievement

SAN FRANCISCO October 21, 2016 -- Appstem has been selected for the 2016 San Francisco Award in the Software Company category by the San Francisco Award Program.

Each year, the San Francisco Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the San Francisco area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2016 San Francisco Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the San Francisco Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About San Francisco Award Program

The San Francisco Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the San Francisco area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The San Francisco Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy.

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iPhone 7 Rumors: 3 Features we think we know

The iPhone rumor mill is in full swing and already the vaunted “journalists" of the tech industry agree that Apple’s upcoming iPhone 6 killer, known as the iPhone 7, will be the worst phone since the iPhone 5. Here’s what we think we know.

 The iPhone 7 Plus will have two rear-facing cameras

Amazing. Apple, you’ve done it again. Two rear-facing cameras that will merge two images into one image? This is revolutionary stuff. Why use one camera to take one picture, when you can use two cameras to take one picture? Our only question, dear Apple: Why stop at two cameras? Why not go straight to three cameras, or perhaps even five cameras? There’s no telling how great a photo would be if it was created with five rear-facing cameras. Alas, we’ll have to make due with only two cameras, at least until the arrival of the unannounced iPhone 8s Plus B II.

 Revolutionary Pressure Sensitive Home Button

Think different is Apple’s motto, and they are really putting their money where their mouth holes are with this new feature: a radically redesigned home button. This is what we’ve all been waiting for. How many times have you pushed down the home button in previous iPhones and it just worked perfectly? Every time? Us too. But now, according to vaunted tech “journalists,” when you depress the new pressure-sensitive home button with haptic feedback, it will also take you to the home screen. Amazing! This new home button is exactly what the world didn’t know it really needs.

 No Headphone Jack

If there’s one thing we know from watching thousands of commuters in San Francisco with Apple ear buds shoved in their ears, it’s that we obviously love listening to music on our phones. Perhaps this is why Apple is removing the headphone jack completely, so you can plug in your favorite headphones to an adapter that slips clumsily into the charging connector. Or you could just drop a couple Benjamin Franklins on new fancy schmancy wireless headphones! Apple knows your favorite $10 ear buds are a drain on the economy, and by golly, they are going to do something about it.  

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Appstem’s Top 6 Takeaways from Google I/O

Google I/O: mobile comes home 

Today at Google’s annual I/O developer conference, the search-giant unveiled everything but the kitchen sink, though, knowing Google, they probably have a kitchen sink app in the works as we speak. Google Home, Android N, Google Assistant, Google Daydream, and Android Wear — it’s all here. Let’s dive in.

Google Home 

Amazon scored a hit with Echo, the voice-activated music player that can also tell you the weather when looking out the window becomes too difficult. But Google has had its eye on the home for a long time after gobbling up Nest, and its new Google Home portable speaker can answer your deep questions about life, control your connected lights and thermostat, as well as play music and spew weather updates. Meanwhile, you’ll one day be able to book a car, order dinner, and send flowers to your loved ones, because you care. With all Google does already, it’s hard to see the Echo dominating the home-speaker-always-listening-to-everything-you-say market for much longer.

Google Assistant

Voice search is all the rage, and one day your kids will laugh at you for ever typing questions into your phone. By then we’ll all be living in the Matrix anyway, so the point may be moot. Before the machines take over, the new Google Assistant aims to make your voice queries conversational, thanks to Google’s advances in natural language processing. Go ahead and ask the Assistant for movie recommendations or how to stave off the coming cyborg invasion, and Assistant will be there.

Android N

Sweet, gooey Nutella: giving Italians diabetes for decades now. The new mobile OS from Google, as previewed two months ago, introduces Vulkan graphics API, file-based encryption, auto updates, SafetyNet which monitors malicious app behavior, a new app switcher, and more multitasking. Android N will also boast a virtual reality mode, taking aim at the Samsung Gear VR, which brings us to…

Daydream

Google’s naming department may have taken a break on Google Assistant and Google Home, but they pulled out all the stops for “Daydream,” the new virtual reality platform for VR-enabled phones. Whereas the Gear VR is a Samsung-only device, the upcoming Google VR headset, the next evolution of Google Cardboard, will most likely be supported by all upcoming Nexus phones and flagship Android phones, we’re guessing. Because when real life gets too tough, you can always slip into a daydream.

Android Wear  

The smartwatch hasn’t exactly taken off, probably because you still need a phone to use one and even Dick Tracy thinks they are a hassle. Google is taking the next step. “As long as your watch has a WiFi, Bluetooth or cellular connection, you’ll be able to make calls, send messages or launch Spotify,” said David Singleton, Google VP of engineering. Thanks Dave. That’s exactly what we wanted in the first place.

Allo and Duo

Finally, Google unveiled not one but two new apps. First, Allo, a “smart-messaging” app with smart reply build in so you don’t even have to think before you answer. It already knows if you are an LOL or a HaHa type of texter. Also, if you receive a picture of, say, tacos from a friend, Allo will automatically suggest the reply, “I love tacos.” This is GROUNDBREAKING.

Meanwhile, Google wanted its own Facetime, but one that works on cellular or WiFi, fast or slow. Enter Duo, which introduces a Knock Knock feature, so when you receive a Duo call, you can see live video of the caller before you answer. No one makes phone calls anymore, but video chat is increasingly becoming the way to call you parents on their birthdays.

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Large tech companies see the workplace as a huge growth sector

The next big market for apps: the workplace?

This is not a secret: Apple dominates the US consumer market. Odds are you probably interact with an Apple device at some point during your average day. That could be swiping furiously on Tinder on your iPhone, or penning your manifesto on a Macbook Air at an overpriced coffee house. You might swipe your credit card through an iPad at your favorite sushi burrito food truck (though, to be fair, the six other sushi burrito food trucks in the area accept mobile payments too.) Or maybe you are just one of those weirdos who use Apple Watch to text their heartbeat to ex-girlfriends. If you’re reading this Chad, please, no more.

The point is, Apple is everywhere. And after the partnership APPL announced this week with SAP, they are about to be even more everywhere. That’s right. Apple is coming to the workplace. And the answer to your question is no, no one knows what SAP stands for. It’s a mystery.

The press release said the partnership between Apple and SAP, the German software firm, will “revolutionize the mobile work experience for enterprise customers,” and we all know press releases are documents of fact. Prepare. The revolution is officially at hand. "With 76 percent of business transactions touching an SAP system, SAP is the ideal partner to help us truly transform how businesses around the world are run on iPhone and iPad," said Apple CEO Tim Cook, known to his friends as “T-Bone.”

We, as mobile app developers here in sunny San Francisco, couldn’t be happier. We say it’s about time. In fact, Apple needs to be in the workplace, or “enterprise” if you prefer, a market traditionally dominated by Microsoft. Can you believe the world really once ran on Windows? Windows? It’s because of Windows your mother calls you at 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning to ask you where they moved the start button because she needs to get the bake sale bulletin out and the start button was here yesterday, she didn’t touch a thing, she swears, and since she has you on the line how do you make a new folder, what’s this button do, why don’t you ever call, and don’t forget to mow the lawn. Thanks Windows.

Or maybe you’re simply tired of carrying around a Blackberry solely for work emails, which takes up precious pocket space alongside your personal iPhone which you use for music, maps, and, of course, email. You can’t help but feel a touch of sorrow looking at the poor Blackberry next to Apple’s sleek, shiny rectangle. It’s hard to believe Blackberry used to be the entire mobile market. The thing looks like a miniature antique typewriter. Children of future generations will look at the Blackberry and shake their heads in wonder before asking, “What are all those buttons for?”

In any case, having dedicated enterprise apps on your iPhone and iPad is going to make a lot of lives a little easier. That’s what Apple products do: they make tech easy and accessible, for the most part. Who among us hasn’t thrown up our hands in front of a blank, blue Windows monitor in our cubicle and screamed, “Why can’t we just do this on our iPhone?” before slamming Control, Alt, Delete in a fit of first-world rage?

Naturally, Apple sees the Workplace as a huge growth sector. They’ve already inked partnerships with IBM and Cisco, and some important internet people think Oracle could be next. In short, this means more enterprise apps on iOS, be it CRM, ERP, BI, BCP, EAI, or some other hallowed combination of letters. This also means enhanced security features, like Touch ID fingerprint reader, for example. Soon filing your TPS reports could be as easy as swiping right on Tinder.

Enterprise has surprisingly lagged behind when it comes to mobile. Today, some poor sap starting a new job will be handed a Blackberry by a wild-eyed IT manager wearing a Star Wars T-Shirt. This is a mathematical certainty. Thanks to Apple and deals like this, those times are a changing.