AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Apps are the hottest thing out there right now, and if you have a smart phone, you have apps. Have you ever wondered how they were made?
Pronews 7's Lucas Jefferson went to Amarillo College to take a look at one way to create an app.
AC uses Datatel administrative software, and a staff member went to conference where he learned that part of the software included the ability to make smartphone applications.
Keeping up with technology is important for the technical gurus at AC. Lee Colaw, Dean of IT Services at Amarillo College, tells us, "I think it's very important because our students expect it from us, and we also work for the tax payers of the state of Texas and they expect us to give great services to our students and that's what we try to do here."
For AC, using Datatel made it relatively simple to get the app up and running. They fill in data fields like longitude and latitude for buildings on campus, other information like important phone numbers.
The Datatel program then uses that info to populate the app.
There's more to it than that, but having that software definitely streamlines the process.
This is just the beginning for AC in the smartphone world, Terry Kleffman, AC's Director of Programming Services, says, "They're currently working on applications that would allow people to eventually register and pay through the phones, but I think that's a little ways down the road."
To check out AC's app on the iPhone or iPad, search for Mox, then pick Amarillo College as your school, and you can find maps, numbers, news, and events for AC.
Later this month it will be available for droid users, and by the end of the year it will be on Blackberries as well.
That's one way to make an app. Building one from scratch is a bit more involved. For how to build your own from the bottom up, check out this Popular Science article.
We're always looking for a better way to do things, and so is the hive mind at www.lifehacker.com.
Anyone can submit a new, or different way of doing almost anything.
They have everything from fast food recipes to make at home, to how to winterize your body. That's just a taste of the cool stuff at www.lifehacker.com.
In the future we'll have materials that are a blend of mother nature and science. Technologyreview.com says that Kraig Biocraft Laboratories are one step closer to one of the holy grail of new tech, mass produced spider silk. It's stronger than steel, and could be made into a myriad of products.
They've genetically modified silkworms to produce silk with spider-silk proteins. For more information, check out this story.
