Kempt Blog

Dev Required - Nice Hair Essential

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:19:00 +0000

Hiya,

Let's cut to the chase. We're an awesome games studio in Canterbury, Kent. We specialise in producing games for brands but also publish our own games. We rock.

We need an equally rocking PHP & MySQL developer with cool hair and skills in:

PHP
MySQL

As well as being hardcore in PHP/MySQL we'll give you bonus points if you can show us skills or knowledge of:

Facebook API
Linux administration
Java
HTML5
C++
AS3
Playing music, particularly drums... we've got guitar, bass and keyboards nailed.

Interested? Great, drop us a line! (We don't really give a shit what your hair looks like though.)

Another Nice Story on Kempt

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Fri, 11 May 2012 19:04:00 +0000

Thanks to the peeps at "This is Kent" for the nice story on us today (and probably the geniuses at Maxim for liaising with them, cheers!)

TBH though, "Staff Move to Kent to Keep Boss Happy" would probably have been just as accurate!

Kempt at Digibury on Weds 9th May

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Fri, 04 May 2012 20:07:00 +0000

As some of you will know, we’ve been planning to have a “housewarming party” for Kempt since we moved to Canterbury back in Feb.

Sadly, time got away from me so I decided that – rather than re-inventing the wheel – it would be better to support something cool that’s already going on here and I chose Digibury - a fantastic Canterbury event that has impressed me massively over the last few months.

So, the next Digibury is this Weds the 9th and I’m buying a few drinks to get things started and so that Kempt can officially say hello to East Kent.

Please do pop along if you can make it, the content will be great (apart from my bit…) the beer will flow and the company will be awesome.

Check it out at: http://www.digibury.co.uk/

Warm Your Engines...

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Lee) — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:17:00 +0000

For those of you who have had the opportunity to sample the Kempt GP you'll know that it's one of the best ways to spend a day's networking. We take some cars, some like-minded people and encourage everyone to release their inner Mika Hakkinen (or Kimi Raikkonen. Or Keke Rosberg...). Quite simply, it's brilliant fun.

We're in the process of planning this year's events and while the cars/cool people/fun quotient will stay the same you can expect something slightly different.

If you're interested in getting involved get in touch.

If you'd like to know more you can read up on the Kempt GP here.

50k'nth Job? What Do We Win?!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:40:00 +0000

Very pleased to see this piece about us creating the 50,000th new job in Kent in Kentonline today, although it's quite disconcerting that it appears to have been published on the 23rd and yet mentions Sir Brandon Gough's sad passing on the 26th, quirk of the Internet or prescience? Spooky.

Anyway, thanks to Kent Online, Phil Last and everyone else at Locate in Kent for the name check, very pleased to be involved, we've been blown away by all the support they've given us.

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent_business/home/2012/april/23/locate_in_kent_helps_750_firms.aspx

Another Chart Hit For Red Bull!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 10:58:00 +0000

Last week the latest iteration of Kart fighter (our hit racing game for Red Bull went live in the app-store, this time it's multi-language and has been released worldwide and so we were very excited to see what might happen.

I'm very pleased to report that Kart Fighter - World Tour is another mahoosive hit! It's already topping charts all over the world (several no. 1 app, 100s of no. 1 spots in the categories, top 25 app in 40+ stores).

So, the world appears to agree that Kart Fighter World Tour is cool, and why wouldn't they? It's Fun, free, features 13 locations with 3 tracks each, 3 different karts and awesome upgrades, it's available online, on iOS and on Android so what are you waiting for? Go play it!

Get it for iOS (iPhone, iPod, iPad).
Get it for Android (phones and tablets).
Or play now online!

IPC Rubber-Stamps Kempt?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 20:30:00 +0000

In an interesting turn of events IPC have announced the launch of IPC Play which offers the production of bespoke Advergames to clients, primarily - by the look of it - large media agencies.

This is an interesting turn of events for Kempt, on the one hand it's not ideal to have a one of our media partners turn into a new competitor (particularly when backed by a very large publishing company) but on the other hand it's quite positive. It's yet further evidence that games as an advertising medium are being taken extremely seriously which can only be good for us and for our burgeoning little industry.

I wish them the very best of luck with the endeavour but (obviously) I would be very happy to speak to any agencies who want to get an alternative point of view on their briefs :o) I'm sure we can be extremely competitive with IPC Play for a number of reasons:

Our 9 years of experience of using games as branded content means that we have a wealth of technology and knowledge to draw from allowing us to craft more sophisticated and robust solutions.
Our creative standards are a lot higher than most and we aren't confined to a house style of any kind.
Our business is not crippled by having to pay dividends to silent shareholders.
We are not affiliated to any one media partner so, when it comes to promotion, we can shop around for the best provider and deal.
We're really, really cool.

Anyway, i could go on but once again, good luck IPC and thanks for adding your seal of approval to our industry!

C

Kempt Help Red Bull to Fill Ultimate Summer Jobs

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:14:00 +0000

I’m hugely proud to announce the launch of our latest project for our amazing clients at Red Bull, this time in their quest to find five interns for the Red Bull Racing team!

Many brands would have done this the easy way, ask around the management to see if anyone had a son or daughter that wanted to do it or possibly put a post on their site, but that wouldn’t be the Red Bull way would it?! No… Red Bull wanted to turn it into an opportunity available for anybody, centred around an online aptitude test… gulp.

Last year, with much excitement (and a little trepidation), Kempt accepted the challenge to create the test and I’m extremely pleased to say that the project is an enormous success. The result is enjoyable and approachable and yet simultaneously challenging and totally credible. It’s a credit to the vision of our clients and the hard work put in by both teams.

So, one question remains: Is this Gamification? It takes a real world business challenge and applies game mechanics to solve it. I think so, and what’s more I think it’s one of the best examples I’ve seen.

Intrigued? Check out the test/application and Red Bull’s own announcement.

We Want You... maybe...

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:15:00 +0000

Great news! Kempt are hiring, check out the ad below:

Role: Digital Producer
Location: Canterbury
Salary: Dependent on Experience

Do you work in advertising/digital? Do you thrive under pressure, have a passion for producing highly creative work and yearn for projects where you can inject a bit of fun? Well you won’t want to miss this opportunity.

Who the hell are Kempt?
Kempt are an award winning producer of games for brands. We’re one of the top companies in our sector. We work for some of the coolest clients imaginable and are at the bleeding edge of the advertising and games industry. Think Advergames, Engagement, Viral, Gamification, Social Games, Mobile Games & Apps… we’re like a cheat-sheet for Buzzword Bingo! Anyway… we’re looking for a Digital Producer to join our rapidly expanding team, I wonder if that could be you?

What you need to be to apply:
You need to be an ambitious, creative, efficient, brave, wise and responsible problem-solver if you want to join our team. You need to be ready to take on a challenge and manage large projects through the studio with the support of our tightly knit and highly talented team.

More specifically, we need you to have:
• Proven production and project management experience
• Demonstrable understanding of relevant technologies
• At least 2 years relevant industry experience
• The ability to take ownership/responsibility and ensure successful delivery of projects on time and on budget
• A good eye for design and a passion for getting the details right
• An enormous sense of fun*

Got all that? Well then apply now at: http://kempt.co.uk/site/jobs/

*Not like when people say “good sense of humour required” because the boss is such an insufferable toss-pot – in this case it’s important for the work, not your sanity.

Want to help us find the very best? Share this article on Linked-In!

Kempt - Canterbury, Now Open!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

As you may know, Kempt took a big step this year, we decided to relocate our business from St Albans to the beautiful cathedral city of Canterbury in Kent. Well, I'm very pleased to announce that we're here!

Kempt: Canterbury opened its doors officially on the 6th Feb, the phones and interwebs were activated that day, we had all the furniture delivered that week, the office removal was done on the Friday, by 6pm all the computers were up and running and the network was fully operational and the entire workforce was installed at their desks and working by 10am on the Monday the 13th!

So... crazy... in hindsight is was perhaps a bit foolish to try and do it all so quickly and frankly it's a miracle that we pulled it off! I'm hugely grateful for the support of the team and I promise... we definitely won't be doing it again for a while!

Kempt Games of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Lee) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:22:00 +0000

In no particular order here are the games that have caught our attention and eaten into our social lives in 2011. Highlights include Minecraft, the beautifully blocky time sink which has given us our best multiplayer iOS experience of the year and Steel Battalion which was actually released way back in the pre-HD era (2002!). This giant robot sim is notable for its extraordinary controller (no, you can’t plug in a joypad instead) and the fact that dying in the game loses your save file (yes, that’s what the eject button’s for). In typical Kempt fashion we bought two complete set ups. Hardcore.

Minecraft
Steel Battalion
Super Crossfire
Zelda: Skyward Sword
RAGE
Portal 2
Orcs Must Die
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Escape Goat
Jetpack Joyride
NinjaTrials
Great Little War Game
Skyrim
Sword and Sworcery EP

World’s Biggest Seeding Database Goes Public

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:57:00 +0000

Kempt reveal (some) secrets of their success

In a stunning gesture of largesse, Kempt are opening up their Games Sites Database to all, offering anyone in the business of promoting Flash content a level of insight unheard of this side of a hefty comScore subscription. This list features almost every site generating significant Flash games traffic and has been regularly revised, edited & updated over many years.
So why are Kempt revealing these trade secrets? MD and owner Chris Kempt puts across the thinking behind the move:

“Clearly this information will be of enormous value to both new and established Flash games producers & promoters, however, we think the key benefit will be to the industry as a whole. Previously - and understandably - such databases have been jealously guarded, confidential business assets. The unfortunate by-product of this has been a perception that the industry is impenetrable and arcane.”

With a masterful use of spin Chris concludes,

"With this move we can finally all be totally transparent and focus on what REALLY makes a successful campaign - quality content.”

So what is the Games Sites Database?
The core database consists of listings for hundreds of games sites and portals; site-specific detail is supplied by MemeCounter’s powerful analytics as well as aggregated demographic data and anecdotal information from other games promoters or the sites themselves. The database therefore provides an invaluable tool for those who want to promote their content to the hundreds of Flash games portals that make up the browser games ecosystem.

Key features of the Games Sites Database:

Search by country or select target territories most relevant to you
Set which demographic you want to target from gender and age options
Browse results ordered by traffic volume
Drill down for more detail on each site

For more information on the Flash games ecosystem we recommend reading Chris Kempt’s theory piece from Contagious Magazine, the Games Sites Database can be accessed on MemeCounter.com

Good Grief - We Finally Won!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:17:00 +0000

*** UPDATE - In all the excitement of having actually won an award I totally forgot to mention below that we also recieved a "Highly Commended" in the Multi-Platform category (which means we were within 3% of the win!) - awesome huh! ***

Well, it's time for an admission...

In the 8 years that Kempt has been running (6 of those specialising solely in games) we've been horrifically unlucky with awards. We've had something in excess of 40 serious nominations (i.e. in proper, credible national/international awards) and, I can now admit, we've never won a single one.

UNTIL NOW THAT IS!!!

Yes, finally, the curse has been been broken! Last night we picked up our first proper award at the BIMAs for our magnum opus Red Bull Kart Fighter in the "Engagement" category. Our awards shelf now looks like this:

It would be really hard for me to overstate how much this means to me and, I hope, all of the team. Although we all love what we do and feel privileged to do it I think it's fair to say that it's been a bit of a labour of love too. Having been the bridesmaid on so many occasions was beginning to get a bit wearing on the team - despite having more nominations than we've ever had, I don't think any of them really expected us to win! So... this feels good, finally a stamp of approval from our peers that what we do is genuinely brilliant. I'm therefore hugely grateful to BIMA and the esteemed judges for giving us this recognition.

The night itself was also a triumph, the event followed the informal format which we introduced in 2009 when I chaired the awards and gives, I think, the event a really unique edge (although I'm also sure it creates a few issues for the events team, sorry Jim).

Thanks to our good friends at Red Bull we had a special version of Red Bull Kart Fighter at the event running on a touch screen. It allowed users to pick a kart to play as and then if their kart won then £10 was donated to BIMA's schools initiatives. At the end of the night it had raised just under £800, thanks to Tim et al for that!

Finally, at the end of the night, 50-60 of us adjourned to Karaoke Box just across the road to see out the night in style (and very, very noisily indeed) This felt like a really fitting end to the evening and I was really pleased to see so many of my good friends from the industry there. I feel very grateful for having met so many amazing people through my career and to have such a large number of them in one place to celebrate with us was truly an honour, thanks to all of you that came.

Finally, my personal highlight has to be the rendition of "Rusty Cage" Mr Fryer and I belted out at about ten to three just before jumping in a cab home, job done I think, can't wait for the next one!

Hungry for more info? Check us out winning our award here. Will update with our own photo gallery soon!

Awards Nerves and Faster than an MR2!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:50:00 +0000

So... crikey... the BIMA awards are tomorrow night we knew we were nominated for five of them (actually six if you include the project that we didn't officially do!) but now we've picked up an additional nomination for the most effective campaign! We've had a few nominations in the past but never this many and, embarrassingly, we've never actually won any! I'm pretty nervous to be honest but at the end of the day, getting this number of nominations is quite a big deal for a company of our size so I'm well chuffed.

Also... in other news... I'm faster than an MR2 - which is quite a big deal given that my car (a standard Smart Roadster) has about half the power! Check out: http://www.howfast.co.uk/leaderboard.aspx for the proof.

Fanstastic Tavern - Fantastic!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:37:00 +0000

Last night I had the immense pleasure of being invited to The Fantastic Tavern, a regular event run about every 6 weeks by the amazing people at EMC Consulting and hosted by the inimitable Mr Matt Bagwell. Over the last few years TFT has taken on a wide variety of subject matters but this time round the team showed remarkable bravery in tackling "The ROI of Social"... no mean feat indeed.

It was a great event, packed with lots of intimidatingly clever people, inspiring content, great food and plenty of liquid lubricant. Highlights included the inspiring story of the socially operated mobile network GiffGaff, Freud spanking and Social Genomics (essentially a Haynes manual of the mechanics of social interaction). I'm certain to be digesting it all for quite some time to come!

The event concluded with a panel session which made a valiant attempt to tackle some of the burning issues within Social which I was invited to be part of (thanks Matt!) there was some amazing debate around such issues as how a business can move towards being more social, the power of "like"-ing and so on. The best question however was saved until last - Within a business, who should have ownership over social.

It fell to me to answer this first and, I'm slightly ashamed to admit, I made a bit of a hash of it. Unfortunately it's not something I'd ever thought about before and so I ended up mumbling some rubbish about empowering the young people in the business and that all parts of the business should have some kind of vested interest.

As I say, I'm not particularly proud of this answer, and although I still think that there is some truth to be found within it I acknowledge that it neglects much more - as was eloquently pointed out to me by the rather brilliant Jo from B&Q after the panel.

So... who should own Social within an organisation then? PR, Web, Marketing...? Unfortunately I don't actually think there's a proper answer for this... the reality is that social media can have relevancy for almost any part of a business and as such it's unlikely to ever have a standard home within one particular team. In some larger organisations this might mean that there will be a social department who have ownership over the company's social activities and act as enablers for the rest of the business's functions, in others it might mean that it's owned by one person within a particular team and in others still (such as King of Shaves) it might even be owned by the founder or one of the executives of the company, it all depends on the needs, makeup and objectives of the company concerned.

Ultimately I think there's only one thing that's important - that social has a champion within the business and that the champion is someone who has the knowledge - but most of all - enthusiasm to drive social forwards within the business - something that B&Q clearly don't need to worry about.

So... embarrassingly... I stand corrected... but no worries, isn't that what these things are all about?!

Back on Board and Five Award Nominations!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:40:00 +0000

Last night was the BIMA AGM and the official announcement of the shortlist for the 2011 BIMA Awards. It was a big night for Kempt, not only did I get re-elected back on to the BIMA Exec (a role that I'm hugely proud of holding and therefore I'm hugely grateful to the membership for allowing me to retain) but also I'm hugely pleased to announce that Kempt have appear to have done rather well in the BIMA awards this year. Our smash hit iOS/Social Game - Red Bull - Kart Fighter which we released in June has been nominated no less than five categories!

The categories concerned are: Advertising, Consumer Goods & Services, Engagement, Content & Blogging, Multi-Platform, Social Media, Viral & PR. To say that we were chuffed with this would be the understatement of the decade, we all worked stupidly hard on the campaign and so this recognition means the world to all of us. We're also hugely grateful to our amazing clients at Red Bull for giving us the opportunity to work on the project.

I do have to confess to a degree of discomfort in making this announcement - given my involvement with BIMA and the fuss I've made over the last few years about ensuring the awards were as fair and impartial as possible - but I totally didn't rig it honest!

Anyway, there are loads of fantastic projects nominated this year so, if you're interested, you can see the full shortlist over on the BIMA awards site. The awards themselves are on the 10th Nov at Fabric London, wish us luck and hope to see you there!

Check out Red Bull Kart Fighter on the Red Bull site and on the UK App Store.

Massive Update for NinjaTrials - and a Clever Twist

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Lee) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:05:00 +0000

Earlier this year we launched our debut iOS game, NinjaTrials, a platform puzzler like nothing else on the App Store. It was well received, even featuring in Apple’s Hot New Games section, and the consensus from the public was “brilliant, but give us more”.

We listened, of course, and are very happy to say that a major new update has hit the App Store featuring refined controls, more levels, and some fiendish new characters and obstacles. Take a look at the trailer to see just what craziness lies in store for our apprentice ninja: http://bit.ly/nttrailer

The Twist

These new additions will hopefully confirm what a joyous game NinjaTrials is, an ethos that extends to the unique payment model. The game is now free, meaning you can play the whole game without spending a bean but after four levels something happens - something fundamental, surprising and rather magical. A small in-app purchase restores order to the game but for now we’re going to tease you as to what this is - why not try it yourself?

Get NinjaTrials for free: http://bit.ly/ninjatrials

Gamification - Inside Out Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 20:19:00 +0000

This morning I was hugely pleased to receive a copy of the article that I contributed to for "Inside Out" - the (rather brilliant, as you might expect) magazine published by the Institute of Internal Communication. I think it's a brilliant piece and I'm hugely excited about the potential in the area of internal comms - particularly as that's where this all started 12 years ago! Anyway hope you enjoy the article, I'm off to try and find a way to get my head through the door...

Success for Red Bull Speed Jam!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 19:08:00 +0000

Well, after months of hard work the big day came, Saturday (3rd Sept) saw a host of Red Bull Athletes, some of the UK’s top karting talent, oh… and 15,000 spectators descend on Cardiff Bay for Red Bull Speed Jam.

The day kicked off with a spectacular aerial display by the Red Bull Matadors and then we were treated (for example) with displays featuring The Red Bull F1 Car, Nascar, motorbike stunts, burnouts by the bucketful and of course the semi-finals and final of Red Bull Kart Fight (on which Kart Fighter is based), as you might expect the event was non-stop adrenaline from beginning to end.

All in all it was a wonderful day. I for one can’t wait until next year!

Kempt Enter Kart Fight!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:25:00 +0000

By now you’ve hopefully seen our recent game “Kart Fighter” for Red Bull (if not, grab it from the App Store or play at redbull.co.uk now!). What you might not realise is that the game is only one part of a much bigger campaign which centres on the Kart Fight championship - currently being run at Kart centres around the UK. Today I took a team of five drivers to the Teamsport track in North London to chance our arm as it were.

The Teamsport staff were amazing throughout our visit, however they were slightly surprised when we informed them that we wanted to enter the competition since we’d have to do pretty well to beat the qualifying time of 26.5 seconds and none of us had ever been there before. It was with a little trepidation therefore that we made our way out onto the track for our first session.

15 minutes/30-ish laps of good (and largely clean) racing later we came in to inspect our performance. Staggeringly, every one of us had beaten the qualifying time by a pretty decent margin. It was with much gusto therefore that we went out for our second, third and fourth sessions! Session by session our lap times were improved, by the end of it even our slowest entrant (me) was a whole second faster than the target time (no mean feat with my weight on board!), three of us managed to get under 24.5 and our fastest time overall was 24.28, set by the amazing Mr Fryer.

So… unless there are some staggeringly good drives over the weekend it looks rather like some/all of us will be in the semi-finals and with a little luck one or more of us will be competing at the Kart Fight final in September! You can grab tickets by playing the game, hope to see you there!

Play the web game here: http://redbull.co.uk/kartfighter
Download the App from: http://bit.ly/kartfighter
Check out the chart success at: http://bit.ly/VCKartFighter

Manshead Highly Commended at SDC.

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:30:00 +0000

As I mentioned in my previous post, last week was a big week at Kempt, it featured top 10 apps, conference attendance, public speaking slots (Alex at the Fantastic Tavern) and a hell of a lot of Red Bull!

Top of my personal list though was the final of the BIMA Schools Challenge which was held at C4. Two of the schools that we mentored were in the final five - Manshead Upper in Dunstable and Aylward Academy in Edmondton. Both teams did brilliantly so huge congratulations to both of them but in particular to the team from Manshead who walked away with the Highly Commended award and presented brilliantly.

Both teams have said that they'd like to continue with the project next year but we're certain they won't need much help from us this time around, in fact... it won't be long before they're after our jobs!

Awesome stuff eh?! If you'd like to find out more about the 2011 BIMA SDC check it out at the BIMA site: http://www.bima.co.uk/future-talent/2011-final.asp. or alternatively check out the Manshead mSlup project here: http://mslup.wordpress.com/

Top 10 App for Red Bull

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 17:44:00 +0000

Whoa what a week it's been at Kempt HQ! We had the BIMA schools challenge final where our schools came second and fourth, we've been at the very excellent Children's Media Conference in Sheffield and to top it all off, our new game "Red Bull Kart Fighter" which we released on monday has stormed straight into the charts and is currently sitting pretty in the top ten! It's a great game, grab it free now from: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/red-bull-kart-fighter/id443752900?mt=8

Wot no iPhone? No problem, you can play the flash version over at the Red Bull site: http://www.redbull.co.uk/cs/Satellite/en_UK/Speed-Jam---Kart-Fight-Game/001243037847705

Enjoy!

Urban Computing

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Today I realised just how far mobile computing has come in the last 12 months. This time last year I was on my way to the GameHorizon conference in Newcastle as I am now. The trip was memorable for a number of reasons but in no small way because I'd recently bought an iPhone and the trip was the first time I'd had a chance to sit down and spend some serious time with it. It was at that point that the penny dropped for me and I realised what the device was all about, I still maintain there are much better... well, phones... out there but the thing with the iPhone and iOS/iTunes generally, is the flexibility they provide their user with. It really comes back to a Swiss army knife thing, there are almost always better tools for the job but if they're not to hand then the knife is a brilliant alternative. It's the same way with iOS.

Anyway, while waiting on the platform at Peterborough I happened to spot the scene pictured here, Sara (I introduced myself afterwards!) perched on a yellow bin at the end of the platform, touch-typing like a dervish in her iPad.

13 months ago this scene would have been unthinkable, true very occasionally you might have seen a stressed-out salesman swearing at a battle-worn Thinkpad, but a smart, attractive female... much less likely.
Such is the change that iOS devices have sparked in our way of life, they're allowing us to fill every last minute of our lives with correspondence, media consumption and play (at least until the batteries run out) and what's more, for the first time, it's socially acceptable - even fashionable - to do so.

Whether this is a good thing I can't say for sure so I'll have to leave you to decide that, It's a long journey and I've got a film to watch and email to reply to...

Location:Peterborough,United Kingdom

Blackberry Playbook - First Impressions

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 17:05:00 +0000

We had a very nice surprise this morning, we received a shiny new Blackberry Playbook from our dear friends at Rim, thanks chaps! (I'm sure we'll earn it!)

There's always a little bit of a buzz around the un-boxing of a new bit of tech that comes into the office but it was particularly noticeable this time...

As you'll presumably know if you're reading this, Kempt primarily make Flash games (although we're now also making iOS games too!). What makes the Playbook interesting for us is that Rim and Adobe have put a lot of work into making sure that the Playbook is as "Flash-Friendly" as possible and, whilst we love our iOS devices, I'm sure that even Stevie-baby would understand why we'd be excited about this bit of kit. The potential to be able to release 8 years worth of hard work and some of the most successful flash games ever produced on a new device with minimal work... pretty compelling I'm sure you'll agree. So... we un-boxed the device and entered the unknown...

We've spent a little bit of time with the device now and the first thing to say is that it's a good deal smaller than we were expecting, the screen is about half the overall area of the iPad's. Having said that, I don't think the device suffers for this, in fact if anything it appears to be a benefit. As a result it's easier to hold and use and since the screen is higher resolution than the iPad's graphics look crisper - more like they do on the iPhone's retina display.

The user interface is nicely put together and very usable and intuitive (if a little patronising in places - please let us skip the tutorials Rim!) I won';t bore you with a full review however the thing I found most interesting was what Rim's solution to not having a home button. On the Playbook the area outside the screen is also touch sensitive which allows you have "frame gestures", the concept is simple: swipe up from the frame to access the home screen, down from the top to access the options/menu for a given program and swipe left and right to switch applications (as shown here) it's a really remarkably fluid way of navigating the device.

Outside of that there's plenty more to say about the device... If I was a Blackberry user I'd definately be a big fan of Rim's rather clever solution to email/contacts (Blackberry Bridge essentially gives you a remote view to your blackberry but can be severed on demand meaning that important work emails don't get deleted by little fingers!) and frankly being able to load files and photo's directly on to the device via windows explorer (the device offers itself as a SMB share on the network) is a real breath of fresh air after having fought with iTunes for so long. But... enough of the device review... how does flash perform? Drum roll...

Really rather well actually! We've now tested out about 10 or so of our games and - ignoring obvious issues like the lack of a keyboard for input - generally they run pretty well. We're seeing frame rates of around 20fps on most of the games without any optmisation at all so I'm pretty confident that, with a little bit of tweaking we can get most of them to run really nicely on the playbook (although it remains to be seen what effect deploying them as air apps has - hopefully we'll see an improvement from that too!)

In summary then, I'm really rather excited about this device. Not because I want to see Apple unseated from thier dominence, but because it solves a lot of problems for me. Personally, I hope that Apple take a leaf out of Rim's book but - for our friends at Rim - I hope that it takes them a little while to get around to!

Manshead School are finalists, whoohoo!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Kempt) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:44:00 +0000

I had some rather brilliant news last night, both of the schools we worked with on the BIMA Schools Challenge reached the shortlist and one of them, Manshead School, has reached the final three!

We now have nail-biting time of it until the beginning of July when the final event is and decision will be made... crikey... If you haven't seen the site then check it out here: http://mslup.wordpress.com/ please do tweet/post/whatever to wish them luck.

Cheers

C