Fluxible is a new conference this September that brings user experience and design experts from around the world together for two days of workshops and talks. The team at Research In Motion® (RIM®) is especially excited that our own Dan Gärdenfors (Senior Concept Designer of The Astonishing Tribe) has just been announced as closing keynote speaker.

While I was making my way back from the BlackBerry® 10 Jam World Tour and @StartupFest in Montreal, I had the chance to speak with Mark Connolly, one of the organizers of Fluxible, about the origin of the conference, who should attend, and what the event means to the region of Waterloo.

Thanks for taking time to talk with us. Who should register for the conference?

Fluxible was conceived for UX practitioners and researchers – but it’s also a great opportunity for developers, product managers, and others who want to learn about designing front end interfaces and experiences.

I took a look at the agenda and you’re definitely taking advantage of the event spaces here in town.

Yes, we’ve had great support from Communitech. We’re starting at the Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts, which is where the main talks will be. We then move to Kitchener City Hall for a Saturday evening party, and then finish at the Communitech Hub on Sunday with the workshops. It’s very exciting.

What does Fluxible mean to the Waterloo region?

As you likely know, design has become crucial to the success of products and companies in the last several years, and the Waterloo Region has developed the same focus on design that has been visible globally. Bob (Bob Barlow-Busch) and I, as long time champions of uxWaterloo Communtech Peer 2 Peer (P2P), have seen this increased interest and awareness firsthand. To us, the awareness is another sign of the maturation of the region’s transformation into a digital economy. Fluxible is not only an opportunity to show what’s happening in Waterloo Region to the larger UX world, but also to bring the larger UX world to Waterloo Region. In addition to Dan as a keynote speaker, we have an amazing lineup of speakers who will be delivering terrific talks and workshops. Do check them out.

Definitely sounds like it’s going to be a great event.

We think so too! This is the first event of its kind in the area, and we’re really looking forward to attendees coming in from the region, the province, and around the world. It’s an opportunity to network and have a great time.

Early bird registration is open now and available until July 31. For information, check out the Fluxible site. The Fluxible conference takes place on September 22nd and 23rd, 2012.

“RIM loves developers!” That’s the general consensus from the BlackBerry® developer community according to Kitchener, Ontario-based Motek Mobile. I had the opportunity to sit down with a few members of their team to talk about the BlackBerry development advantage, porting an app to BlackBerry 10, and tips for new BlackBerry developers.

The first thing you’ll notice when you enter the offices of Motek isn’t the arcade machine, the dart board, or the skateboards on the wall; it’s the 12 employees at their computers, hard at work despite these distractions. Tyler Weichel, Wes Worsfold, Attila Schmidt and Aaron Barnes took some time away from Cascades™ to answer my questions.

From left to right; Tyler, Attila, Aaron, and Wes.

DEV BLOG: Why do you develop for BlackBerry?

Wes: “I think the most important reason is the ability of the platform to do many things that other platforms just aren’t capable of. With BlackBerry 10, we can do so much more by integrating with BlackBerry hardware and software like the camera and calendar.”

Attila: “There are over 70 million BlackBerry users, and that’s a huge market. One of the most compelling reasons to develop for BlackBerry is BBM™ and BBM Social. The ability to have our apps connect to BBM so that people can share with other BlackBerry users is unique and exciting.”

Tyler: “The potential for revenue in BlackBerry App World™ is huge. It’s difficult to make a splash on other storefronts. BlackBerry App World gives us incentive to make something compelling and monetize it.”

DEV BLOG: How is developing for BlackBerry today different than it was five years ago?

Attila: “Five years ago, the idea of “Super Apps” didn’t exist. The API’s that tied in to the operating system just weren’t available. Our more popular apps like Color ID and Screen Muncher wouldn’t have been possible. With the API’s given to us today, we can do things on BlackBerry that we just can’t do on other platforms.”

Wes: “Before BlackBerry App World came along, our ability to distribute apps was limited. Today we know what our sales channel is going to be and we can develop the app around that.”

Attila: “Today we can choose to the best way to develop, whether it’s Native, BlackBerry® WebWorks™ or Adobe® AIR®. There’s a team that’s always standing by, ready to help us via tweet, email or in person. There’s always access to experts that can answer any question.”

DEV BLOG: Tell me about your experience porting your apps to BlackBerry 10.

Aaron: “Porting to BlackBerry 10 went very smoothly. At BlackBerry 10 Jam, we got our BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha prototype devices at 8am. We found out an hour later that we were requested to pitch our app for App Circus. By 10am we had it ported successfully. Things like DPI scaling worked right out of the box, and the performance of the app on the developer device was amazing.”

DEV BLOG: Do you have any tips for developers who are new to BlackBerry?

Wes: “Go to the microsites for the platform you’re developing on; everything you need to know is there, so really make sure that you get to know those sites. Definitely follow @BlackBerryDev on Twitter®, and read the BlackBerry Developer forum and Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog. It’s a really rich resource for anyone who’s getting acquainted with the platform.”

Aaron: “Make sure to look at public Github repositories — it’s a really good resource. Look at the example code and see how other people have developed their apps.”

DEV BLOG: You mentioned the benefits of BlackBerry App World. Do you have any numbers you care to share?

Wes: “On a typical day we average between 150,000 and 200,000 downloads. We have nearly seven million daily unique users and even more if we include the themes.”

Tyler: “There’s some really interesting numbers on our website. There were 387 million Screen Munches in the past year.”

DEV BLOG: What’s next for Motek?

Tyler: “Well, without giving too much away, there will be a social component to everything going forward. Everything we build will use the BBM platform. Stay tuned for some great stuff.”

Are you an app developer and would like to be featured? Let me know in the comments!

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Check out Patrick’s interview in the video:

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Hi Antonio, thanks for taking some time to talk about the 2nd annual ARM Developer Day that took place at RIT this year. Could you tell us more about the event?
ARM produces one of the most used micro-controllers for electronics nowadays. Different semiconductor companies such as Research In Motion license ARM cores and integrate them into high performance chip systems. The ARM Developer Day was an event that focused on letting students and faculty at RIT gain hands-on experience with different platforms that use these micro-controllers. These platforms range from simple hobby-like applications to sophisticated, high level application development such as those done with the BlackBerry® Tablet OS. By exposing students to different platforms at different levels of their academic program, this type of event helps ignite creativity and gets students innovating.

How did RIM become involved in the event?
I met with representatives from the BlackBerry Academic Program during the Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) in South Dakota this year. We chatted about what kind of academic offerings are available from RIM and how we could partner to introduce students to BlackBerry application development – enter the ARM Developer Day. Since the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet contains an ARM processor, it was a natural fit for the event. RIM had a full day workshop that covered an introduction to the Native Software Developer Kit (SDK) for Tablet OS, game development using the BlackBerry® Native SDK for Tablet OS and a hands-on lab session using the BlackBerry Native SDK. They also gave away a total of 10 BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets throughout the workshops to student participants.

What impact does this type of event have on the students of RIT?
This year the event was great! It grew dramatically from last year, when it only had four workshops and a single lab. Thanks to industry participation and growing student interest, we had 20 sessions and workshops throughout the day. Students were able to pre-register for workshops of interest. We hope that getting students to attend this type of workshop will spark innovation and get them developing their own creative applications. These events are great as resume builders and networking opportunities for students to engage with industry and senior faculty.

The event wrapped up with an RIT design contest announcement. What is the contest about? What kind of projects can we look forward to?
At RIT, we are encouraging students to design the next generation of applications. Our job as educators is to provide the tools that will encourage students to apply technological applications in ways we cannot imagine. The theme of the design contest is “creating a better quality of life,” and the purpose is to have students create an application that is designed to help those in need. This could include applications for young children, elderly, disabled or underprivileged persons. This type of project prompts students to identify situations in their day-to-day lives that they may take for granted, and to take a step back to see how technological applications can help people overcome everyday challenges. One of the contest categories challenges students to create an application for the BlackBerry smartphone or BlackBerry PlayBook tablet that will interact with an embedded system to make someone else’s life easier. Proposals are set to be submitted by January 13, 2012 and designs will be completed by April 27, 2012. All final designs will be showcased at “Imagine RIT”.

These projects really create technology with heart – it seems like there is a lot to look forward to. You mentioned that the projects will be showcased at “Imagine RIT”. What exactly is Imagine RIT?
Imagine RIT is an annual festival held at RIT that allows students an opportunity to showcase their end of term design projects. Over 30,000 people from on campus and within the local community attend to see that latest and greatest in technology developed at RIT. Students always have a great time, and it gives them a chance to show off all of their hard work. We are living in a world where “The Internet of Things” is becoming a reality. We are more connected than we know. The new generation of engineers should take advantage of this inter-connectivity. This event showcases what this new generation is capable of.

Thank you for your time, Antonio!

Learn more about the BlackBerry Academic Program, and check out more information about Imagine RIT.