Mobile games are a huge marketing opportunity
Millions of users are having fun playing mobile games every day. This creates a huge marketing opportunity for consumer brands.

Banners are not the perfect solution
The only way brands and game developers are really taking advantage of this huge marketing opportunity is through banner ads adopted from the web. The banners do add revenue for game developers, but most gamers don’t like seeing banners in the middle of their game. In addition, the banners are rarely the right tool for consumer brands and retailers to achieve positive branding, retail traffic and an increase in revenue.

Sponsored Locations
We need to find a tool that ensures that game developers make money and that brands get a great marketing tool in a way that people playing mobile games love.

CloudMade has solved this challenge by talking to leading brands and top game developers and building a service that meets their specific needs. The solution we have come up with is Sponsored Locations.

We look forward to talking to you too
If you are a game developer or a consumer brand that we have not yet talked to about tailoring Sponsored Locations to YOUR needs, we look forward to connecting with you soon. In the meantime, you can learn more about Sponsored Locations here.

Web Maps API — our JavaScript library for putting CloudMade maps online — has been a hugely popular tool that has enabled web developers to create unique map experiences like these.  Web Maps API v2 has served our users very well, being praised for its performance and ease of use. But there’s a problem: it wasn’t designed with mobile devices in mind. Last years there was an overwhelming progress in what mobile browsers are capable of thanks to technologies like HTML5. What if online maps could work as smoothly as native apps on mobile?

There’s one more thing to consider: CloudMade developer community has a lot of talented people in it that could help with the development of the library, but so far Web Maps API was not a part of our open source efforts.

Today we’re announcing the first public release of Leaflet — a new open source JavaScript library for interactive maps for both mobile and desktop browsers, developed by CloudMade to form the core of its next generation Web Maps API.

Leaflet is built from the ground up to work efficiently and smoothly on both platforms. It’s very fast, lightweight while still having a strong browser support, and really easy to use. It also has a clean, simple and readable OOP-based code, and it’s hosted on the world’s best open source collaboration platform — GitHub, so contributing is a snap.

It’s still in the beta stage of development, so it lacks a couple of features and has some rough edges, but it’s moving fast — try it and give us some feedback, either by tweeting to @LeafletJS or reporting bugs and discussing features on the issues page.

Find out more on the Leaflet official website.

This is a repost from my personal blog.

I’m starting a series on explaining how and why CloudMade uses Python. The following one explains why we ditched OSM’s stack in favour of in-house solution.

Intro

Last week at Apps World Conference and Exhibition industry experts and newbies gathered together to discuss the current state and future of mobile applications development. Even the heavy London snow didn’t prevent 2,400 people from attending the show, and it turned out as two excellent days of networking.

With three simultaneous streams (Developer, Marketing and TV, Handset and OEM) the Apps World event aimed to address the entire app ecosystem, and the challenge of development, design and delivery of apps across multiple platforms. Nick Black, CloudMade Co-Founder and Head of Products, spoke at the conference on how location is helping to create and monetize outstanding apps.

CloudMade also exhibited in Developers Zone where we were busy meeting with new and existing developers.

We are always looking for new ways to meet with developers and understand how we can help you build better user experiences and increase your revenue. You can help us by sending information about any interesting events you plan to attend to iryna@cloudmade.com

Our app gallery is growing fast, and with every new addition it’s clear that combining  CloudMade’s tools and services with great ideas and skills from developers results in some extremely powerful, compelling products. Take a look at some of  the latest updates to our gallery below:

Galileo Offline Maps is a mobile app that can be used on a daily basis or while traveling. This app allows users to import maps from a computer to an iPhone or iPad and then view them in offline mode. Being able to choose from five attractive CloudMade map styles makes the use of the app a real pleasure. CloudMade tools used to create this app include Geocoding, Routing and Style Editor.

“CloudMade provides plenty of stylish and good-looking map styles which please even the most fastidious users.” – Evgen Bodunov, galileo-app.com

Travelers who own Macs should be really excited about Knapsack 2 app. This new version of Outer Level’s personal travel planner, built with our Geocoding and Web Maps Studio, adds interactive maps with street level detail and world-wide search. Knapsack allows you to lay out your travel plans, destinations, activities, and can be even used as a trip journal.

“Our customers wanted a searchable world map with street level detail and CloudMade was the perfect solution.” – Jon Trainer, Knapsack

iGMap proves that products created with CloudMade tools are not only really cool, but can also meet the most diverse needs. iGMap iPhone app is a virtual GPS designed for use with the desktop flight simulators. It provides a wireless hand-held moving map display to aid navigation, especially useful on VFR flights, while saving valuable screen real-estate on the desktop, and uses iOS devices to display the current position of the aircraft. The app was built with CloudMade’s StyleEditor and Web Maps API.

“CloudMade services allow a small company to deliver cutting edge mapping solutions while targeting a niche market – without the prohibitive cost.” – Fermin Fernandez, FSWidgets

Thanks to developers of Map My Tracks, outdoor sports and fitness enthusiasts have their own social network now. With this website they can easily track, review & share outdoor activities with friends & family. Map My Tracks provides a comprehensive range of tools to help better understand how your training session went and keep a central log of all your outdoor activities.

“The flexibility of CloudMade’s API mean that we can always deliver the maps we want.” – Nick Tatt, Map My Tracks

If you like Map My Tracks and plan to use it, you should really consider complementing it with this OutFront app. Not only will this app allow you to measure speed, pace, calories burned, duration, elevation gain/loss and much more for each activity you do, but it will also give you an an easy way to share information about your outdoor activities live on Map My  Tracks, Facebook or Twitter. CloudMade Map Tiles, Static Maps and iPhone SDK were used to create this app.

“Using CloudMade’s iPhone SDK made it super easy to add maps to our iPhone app. That, and reliability make CloudMade our first choice map provider.” - Nick Tatt, Map My Tracks

Cycling fans will enjoy using Bike Hub, also  called a ’satnav for cyclists’. It displays clever short-cuts and bicycle-friendly routes on OpenCycleMap, cutting journey times for many users. The feature I really like is ‘bike shop finder – a simple button that can call up UK bike shops within a six mile radius of an iPhone.  Map Tiles and iPhone SDK are CloudMade tools used in this app.

“Cloudmade API provides the slippy maps within the app and helps to fast-track the development of all the map interactions that users have.” – Carlton Reid, BikeHub.co.uk

Want to see more CloudMade-powered apps?  Check out our Application Gallery.

Inspired by these cool examples and feel that you could create something great yourself? Sign up to our developer zone and try out our free tools and services.

This fall is packed with industry events and CloudMade is making sure not to miss the most exciting ones. Here are some events we will be speaking and exhibiting at, sponsoring or just attending.

MobileAppsWorld – October 19-20, London

This two-day conference led by speakers from all parts of the mobile ecosystem will probe the latest thinking in app creation and promotion to achieve real business benefits from apps. Nick Black will be sharing his valuable insight into the future of mobile apps in a panel discussion on Day 2 – don’t miss it!

October Geomob Event – October 21, London

If you are a London-based geo or mobile developer and prefer more informal gatherings, you should definitely participate in the October Geomob in London next week. The event promises to be both informative and fun and we’ll be sponsoring it, so come talk to us.

Ad Tech New York – November 3, New York

Brands, agencies, publishers and service providers will come together at Ad Tech New York to network, learn and do business in the area of digital marketing. We will also be there to hear great speeches and check out Innovation Alley, Mobile Marketing Zone and App Exchange exhibition zones.  Send us an email if you want to meet up an learn more about our Location Based Advertising for developers, advertisers and ad agencies.

MeeGo Conference – Nov 15-17, Dublin

Another interesting event we will be attending, the MeeGo Conference, targets a technical audience of MeeGo developers, operating system vendors, original equipment manufacturers and other MeeGo project contributors. The first two days of the event will have scheduled sessions, and the third will be unconference day, with great lightning talks and wonderful networking opportunities.

ME Awards 2010 – November 18, London

ME Awards evening rewards companies doing outstanding things in the mobile content space. The organizers have introduced  a new nomination category for the Best Location Company this year and announced CloudMade as one of the finalists. This promises to be an exciting evening and we’ll be in great company amongst other innovative location companies such as Foursquare, Layar, Rummble, Skyhook,  and Booyah.

Apps World – November 30-Dec 1, London

For those willing to become educated and inspired by the latest developments within the multi-platform apps industry, Apps World is the right event for you. There will be workshop sessions available within three different zones –  focused on Marketing, Developers and TV, Handset and Operators. One of the sessions will be led by our co-founder Nick Black and will cover the different aspects location-based applications development. Also, CloudMade will have an exhibition stand, so you are welcome to stop by and take a closer look at our products offerings.

You can also pre-arrange a meeting with us at Apps World by visiting http://www.apps-world.net/exhibitions/exhibitors/290-cloudmade and submitting your details – look forward to seeing you at the event!

Juha presented specifically on what the location landscape looks like in 2013, how location will make it into every type of app available and why companies and developers in the mobile value chain are acting now to be a part of this money train. He emphasized how over 300,000 people are crowdsourcing an incredibly detailed, rich map of the world and how this is an invaluable resource for creating the most contextually relevant content and location services possible. Here’s his presentation:

Fans of various outdoor activities will find Scout, a very useful navigation app for the iPhone. With Scout you can make use of topographic maps for hiking adventures or check out your training data with the integrated speedometer, or use it for cycling and other activities to record your route for subsequent analysis.  CloudMade services used to create the app include: Geocoding, Map Tiles, Static Maps, and Style Editor to ensure the best quality user experience.

“CloudMade is the best supplier of data for OpenStreetMap. We like their tools and services a lot. They comply with our high standards.” – Joerg Nestele, MagicMaps

Finding a place a place to live is not an easy decision.  If this is you and you live in London in the UK, then another CloudMade-powered app, Where Can I Live is just what you need. This web service is for people looking for an affordable home with an acceptable commuting distance to work. You can specify criteria such as maximum travel time, number of bedrooms and maximum price and you’ll get suggestions for properties that suit your needs displayed on a beautifully styled and convenient to use map, created with the help of CloudMade’s Style Editor.

“The Style Editor allowed us to match the map color scheme to our brand, disable unimportant map features, while highlighting others.” – M. Metten, Lokku Ltd

Small businesses, entrepreneurs and marketers who cannot afford the money and time associated with traditional market research, should really get acquainted with Ask Your Target Market (AYTM)– an online, self-service market research web application with a built-in U.S. consumer panel. AYTM uses CloudMade Web Maps API and Style Editor to integrate maps into its service.

“We are thrilled with the elegance of the CloudMade maps platform. It allowed us to customize the maps to blend right in with the overall experience of our app.” - Lev Mazin, AskYourTargetMarket.com

Polymaps, is hot off the press and now featured in our App Gallery. It has already gained huge popularity among the developers making interactive maps in web browsers. It’s a free JavaScript library that provides speedy display of multi-resolution geographic datasets with powerful dynamic styling through CSS and SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics). Polymaps can load both image and vector data at a full range of scales and is ideal for showing information from country level on down to states, cities, neighborhoods, and individual streets.

“CloudMade is the natural choice for integrating OpenStreetMap, thanks to flexible styling, realtime provisioning and friendly licensing.” – Michael Bostock, Stanford University

Living in the UK and looking for a good school to send your child to? Look no further than Schoolscope, an honest, independent, straightforward guide to how your local schools are getting on. The web site takes official Government-backed information about state schools in England and try to tease out something interesting from the dry tables of statistics – how well kids perform at school, how happy they are there. Schoolscope takes all that information and presents it in clear English, and understandable smiling faces. Its maps our powered by CloudMade’s Style Editor and Web Maps API.

“Maps are a key part of Schooloscope’s identity. CloudMade Custom Map Styles gave us the flexibility and integration options we needed.” - Tom Armitage, BERG

These are just a few examples of how CloudMade is helping developers around the world create really outstanding products. We’ll be bringing your more next month so stay tuned. In the meantime, check out our App Gallery for more cool apps powered by CloudMade.

All our services and tools are free so why not get coding and see what cool apps you can come up with.   Simply sign up for a developer account here, and start building the next best-selling location app today.

CloudMade’s services include:

• Style Editor – customize your maps
• Forward and Reverse Geocoding & Local Search
• iPhone SDK and Mobile SDKs
• Static Maps
• Routing – vehicle, pedestrian and cycle navigation
• Web Maps Studio
• Data Market Place (some sets are now free)
• Navi Studio – add fully featured turn-by-turn navigation apps

Right after you sign up for a CloudMade developer account, you’ll also get LBA with revenue share and instant access to our 10,500-strong developer community to help you get started. To find out more about our mobile services and to sign up, click here. More about our web services can be found here.

Already have an ad partner or want an SLA? Get CloudMade Select

If you already have an ad partner and don’t want CloudMade ads in your app or you need an SLA then CloudMade Select is for you.

By signing up to this plan developers get a whole host of additional benefits including: guaranteed response times for support; guaranteed SLA; HTTP services access; HTTPs/SSL (coming soon); support for intranet apps and no user limits.

New Support Site Now Available

We’ve also just launched a new support site that contains FAQs, Forums and Issue Trackers – everything you need to build awesome apps.

As we all know Apple has not left developers opportunity to create frameworks for iPhone. However, there are a lot of situations when code has to be shared between different projects or even distributed to others developers.

Alternatives
There are a few approaches for the code sharing or distributing. Firstly, code can be shared/distributed as a source code. Although this approach is quite straightforward and XCode provides a good mechanism for including XCode project to another project, developers have to do some extra steps such as setup dependencies and path for headers. On the one hand it seems quite simple for the experienced developers, on the other it might be a problem for the new developers .

Second approach is to distribute code as a static library. This approach is well known and is used widely in Linux/Unix development thus a lot of developers are familiar with it. However, there are some disadvantages of using it in iPhone development which relate to dynamic nature of Objective-C. The problem is that static libraries are normally used for C/C++ code which has neither properties nor categories and so when, for example, Objective-C category is wrapped in static library a developer has explicitly to set additional linker options:

-ObjC
-all_load

If developer forgets to set the options mentioned above he will get runtime error “unrecognized selector sent to instance”

Static Framework
The most suitable alternative, in my opinion, is a ’static framework’. The idea behind is to force compiler to believe that it uses normal iPhone framework whereas shared libraries are substituted by static libraries. Thus if you have the code you want to share as a static library it is quite easy to transform it into a framework. Afterwords such framework can be added to a project without any extra efforts from the developer’s side.

How to create a Static framework
Since there is no option to build frameworks for iPhone in XCode I recommend using a static framework. To build it into XCode MacOS framework template should be used. Static framework has the same structure as a normal framework. Only a few extra steps have to be done:
link together static library for iPhone Simulator and iPhone Device
add file from the previous step to framework bundle

To make it easy we will write a shell script which does all the work. We will use a lipo utility which is distributed with XCode installation. This utility allows to link a few libraries into one file. Afterwords this file will be copied to the framework bundle and appropriate links will be created.

FRAMEWORK=”${BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR}/${PRODUCT_NAME}.framework”
lipo \”${BUILD_DIR}/${CONFIGURATION}-iphoneos/libDev.a” “${BUILD_DIR}/${CONFIGURATION}-iphonesimulator/lib Sim.a” -create -output “${FRAMEWORK}/Versions/Current/${PRODUCT_NAME}”cd “${FRAMEWORK}” && ln -sf “Versions/Current/${PRODUCT_NAME}” ./

This script should be added into a project as a build phase script through the project menu. As a result we get a static framework containing code which now can be easily shared.

LINKS

Mac OS Frameworks

lipo man page

Static Framework