Archive for October, 2009

Layar wins the eComm Application Award

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Layar wins eComm Communication Application AwardToday Layar won the eComm Application Award. We feel extremely honored to have received this prestigious award and are grateful for the recognition of Layar as a valuable and promising addition to the communications industry.

We are proud of our team who made this possible and thankful to the community of developers who never cease to come up with ground-breaking ideas for new layers!

The award was presented by Lee Dryburgh, founder of eComm and the World’s SS7 Expert.

Winner of the eComm Technology Award was Google with ‘Google Wave’, an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A revolutionary platform and a well deserved win!

Support for video and audio in Layar

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

We’ve pushed a new version of Layar (2.2) to the Android Market and iTunes App Store (2.1) a few days ago.

Besides some bug fixes and preparations for the upcoming releases of Android 1.6 and 2.0 (with many new devices), there is one change that is relevant for our developers: The POI actions now support video and audio! Also links to other native applications (intents/URL schemes) are supported.
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Layar at ISMAR 09: Dirk Groten reflects on his visit

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Layar is a young company. I’ve joined the company as CTO only 4 months ago. So the people in the world of Augmented Reality are entirely new to me and everyone at ISMAR was a new face. It’s funny to think that after 3 days of ISMAR I already feel part of the club! It’s a small world, so running around the Marriott hotel with a Layar badge quickly got me acquainted with almost everyone at ISMAR. Everyone knew Layar, many knew me by name and wanted to talk with me, showing how much the new startups of 2009 like Layar have captured the minds of people and given a new impulse to Augmented Reality as a whole. And many presentations started by mentioning Wikitude and Layar as the companies that created a paradigm shift in AR for 2009, moving it in the eyes of the general public away from the marker-based 3D football players that you could see last year.
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Developer Fredrik Davidsson shares his code for PHP driven Layers

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Fredrik Davidsson, developer of the WAYD layer, has shared his code with the developer community! This code enables you to create a content Layer with PHP. Now PHP developers don’t have to reinvent this wheel.
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New Projectmanager

Monday, October 26th, 2009

This morning Maurice Groenhart started as our new project manager. He will be responsible for a variety of projects in the upcoming months. Maurice graduated two month ago and was searching for the right job since. Last week we hired him and this morning he started his first official day at Layar. Maurice will introduce himself in the few sentences below:

“My name is Maurice Groenhart and I’m 27 years old. For the past 4 years I was a student at the Hogeschool Utrecht where I studied Digital Communications. During my study I got very interested in technology, innovations and (online) marketing. After my thesis about Mobile Advertising and my graduation it was finally the time to look for an interesting job. I found this job at Layar where I can combine my interests and ambitions in my new job as a project manager. In my spare time I like to read and enjoying the good things in life like friends, good food, a little bit of sport and formula 1. I’m really looking forward to my period at Layar.”


With this post we want to welcome Maurice (@groenhart) on board. Good luck.

Cool layers

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Up until now 167 layers have been published worldwide. Below are five of our favorite layers:

Golf – Golf clubs and courses in the US (over 16.000) and the UK (over 2.000)
These layers also provide the number of holes, course type and satellite views of each golf course. So you can check out the course before driving there.
Developer: Howard Ogden, www.AugmentReality.co.uk
Mobnotes – short for “mobile notes” – allows you to share your preferred places with your friends
A simple way of telling where you are and what you do, even with photos and videos. You can register for Mobnotes in Layar and directly start sharing your notes with the rest of the world. Mobnotes has 80.000 users so far.
Developer: Gino Micacchi, www.mobnotes.com
Bankinter – Find Bankinter offices and ATM’s in Spain
Bankinter is the first bank in Spain to make a layer!
Developer: José Millares, www.signo-geo.com
Peaks – Peaks in Switzerland and the rest of the world
This layer shows the name and the height of mountain peaks. The geo-data for the layer is taken from www.geonames.org which is a public service that works in a wiki-like way. Everyone can easily add mountain names and heights. So, if you see that your favorite mountain is not in this layer yet: add it!
Developer: Josias Thony
Tim Hortons – Tim Hortons coffee stores in the US and Canada
This layer shows you where to get a cup of good ol’ Tim Hortons.
Developer: Brad Leege and Mathijs Gajentaan, www.winvolve.com

Come work for Layar

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Want to be part of a great team and help make something amazing? Layar is looking for the following people. Maybe you fit the bill? All jobs are based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Mail your resume (link or pdf) and motivation to

  • Android Engineers
    The Android Engineers maintain the Layar Android client application(s) and develop exciting new features.
  • Creative Director
    The Creative Director inspires and takes a leading role in the creative processes within the company. This is truly a unique opportunity to make your creative mark in one of the most innovative mobile companies in the world.
  • Mobile Modeler and Architect
    You will be responsible for modeling and architecting the new features of the platform and the browsers. You support the organization in new feature development and validate it with smart design, documentation and test scenario’s. You engage actively with our developer community, helping them with technical support and integrating their feedback in our product. Key is your understanding of mobile networks and mobile platforms in combination with modern web technologies.
  • Project Manager
    The Project Manager successfully manages Layar’s development projects, taking into account the visions of all parties involved.
  • Distribution Business Manager
    The Distribution Business Manager manages and cultivates relationships with mobile operators and mobile device manufactures to develop and ensure the best distribution of Layar.

Layar is in the iPhone App Store!

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

We have waited a long time but it is finally there! Layar arrived in the App Store. It’s free and available globally. Below some screenshots of the App.

funda_housegreenbookings-map-view-nlapartments-search-usbrightkite-list-view-nlpopular-layers-us

Let us know what you think of the App.. We really like it!! ;-)

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Changes to publication site and new minor release of the developer APK

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Today we deployed a new version of the publishing site. Accompanying this change is version 2.1.1 of the developer APK. You need to install the new APK if you want to use some of the new features of the developer site. There is no change to the market version, as we’ll come with a new version with end-user features later on. Read on for the changes.
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See Layar at ISMAR09 – The Augmented Reality Conference

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

picture-3ISMAR is the place where all augmented reality people will meet. Researchers and entrepreneurs. Come and meet the Layar CTO Dirk Groten who will be attending. The event is in Orlando, Florida and takes place from October 19 till 22.

Get a 23% discount
Use the code “”LAYAR2009″ when you register and get a 23% discount.

Program
The program consists of workshops on monday (we recommend the Mobile Magic Wand workshop) and much more. View the full program here or the summary:

>>>
- On Monday we are offering six research and commercial workshops and one Tutorial on Tracking. You may sign up for only one full-day workshop or tutorial.

Registration includes admittance to the post-workshop ISMAR Expo reception on Monday evening where you will be able to mix with diverse disciplines and sectors of the ISMAR community.

Monday’s Keynote will be given by Mark Mine, Creative Technology Director for Disney Imagineering.

-Tuesday is the start of the 3-day ISMAR conference where you can choose one of three options:

1) the traditional Science and Technology research program,

2) the new Arts, Media and Humanities program or

3) Pioneer Tutorials continue, taught by ISMAR pioneers.

Tuesday Keynote will be given by Natasha Tsakos,  Performance artist converging dreams and technology

Conference registration also includes the conference reception Tuesday night, keynote presentations, exhibition pass and the Wednesday night awards banquet.

Wednesday Keynote will be given by Pattie Maes, Director of the Fluid Interface Lab, MIT Media Lab.

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