Where have we been?

It has been a very busy and hectic couple of months for utopia 365.

We've seen a couple of websites launch which include some pretty clever back-end admin, a couple of iPhone Apps which include the lovely Second Shootr, email templates for our usherto service, a few bespoke RoR jobs on behalf of some design agencies we partner with, and some bespoke development for a great client of ours.

On top of all of the above we were dedicated to a project for a few weeks, but it's one of those we're not allowed to talk about. Shame.

We're now diving head first into a 'top secret' project (Shhhh - but hopefully we'll be able to tell you about it soon) and also getting a new version of MyChristmas with some great new features over to Apple.

We can say in the last 10 weeks or so we have learnt more about running a business than we did in the 1st year we operated, and it's great on reflection.

The blog may have been quiet but we're still around and working hard. We'll try and keep it a bit more updated in the run up to Christmas.

Welcome 2009

We've been a bit quiet lately on the Blog but that's mainly because we have been enjoying Christmas!

Anyway, role on 2009! 

We are working on some cool projects that should see release soon.

We're also busy working on some bespoke apps for customers. If you are after an iPhone App then drop us a line and we'll see what we can do.

Liquid Lush

What a great idea - so simple and yet so useful. Wow.

Yep, that is Liquid Mongoose. If you have not seen it, or tried it then head on over to their site and start creating.

Home users, businesses etc. could all make use of the service.  Designers can design for it and CD/DVD racks all around the world can slim down.

Hoorah for Liquid.

Mastersparesonline going strong

It has been a few weeks since the launch of the new Masterspares website (http://www.mastersparesonline.com).

The site provides hundreds of spares and accessories for various Domestic Appliances, along with many finished goods including top brands like Dualit and Miele.

Utilising the functionality of ruby on rails along with a very clean design the site is becoming popular with consumers. Mastersparesonline enables people to repair and update their appliances rather than dispose of them - saving money and being environmentally friendly.

Given that there are literally hundreds of thousands of parts and accessories it's very important for Simon (the owner) to be able to quickly add items onto the site when they become available, or if someone contacts him for a part.  Using a custom designed admin tool enables Simon to do just that, even optimising the output for Google to aid in SEO.

A nice feature for users was the 'Search as you type' facility implemented into the main site search. As customers enter a product or model/part number the search instantly starts to display the top results directly below.

You can find out more, or better yet shop online at http://www.mastersparesonline.com.

A busy week ahead

A busy week ahead for us.

iChoose should be released any day now. We received correspondence from Apple asking us to 'tweak' a couple of the images as they did not meet their terms & conditions. This has been done and the latest version uploaded.

utopia Solitaire development continues with some lovely and unique features being put in by Andy. We hope to release this week.

I will be cycling to Paris from London from Weds in aid of The Rose Road so that will have me busy for a few days!

My skydive which I was due to do last Saturday was cancelled due to bad weather. It is re-scheduled for a couple of weeks.

Keep an eye on this Blog for the latest news!

Enough of the 'Killer' Blogs

Sigh......

Google announce their new Google Chrome browser....hours later blogs are filled with the 'same-old-same-old' stories....

"....Is THIS the IE Killer......Will Chrome KILL Mozilla, IE and Safari..." etc. etc.

NO - it won't. It introduces choice. People will always choose different things, like different things, say different things, go different places, talk in different ways, use different software and so on, and so on...

We've seen it with new operating systems, we've seen it with the iPhone, with Android, iPods, Zune, Wii, PS3 etc. etc. 

Enough with the 'Killer' stuff.....please.