Check out This Week in Android’s interview featuring our very own CEO, Michael Schneider.  This clip starts out with a great video showing the versatility and application of Mobile Roadie apps.  The platform was selected this week as the TWiA app of the week.

During the interview Michael fields questions from the show’s viewers, discussing the difference between cookie-cutter platforms vs the level of customization that is available to customers using Mobile Roadie.  Other questions fielded include how Mobile Roadie compares to other online publishing platforms such as WordPress mobile templates, etc.  Of course, a website doesn’t really compare to a mobile app, and Michael explains that succinctly.

As a teaser, he shows off cover flow, something previously only available on the iPhone platform, and demonstrates how Mobile Roadie has ported cover flow into the Android app, making it available to all of our clients. He also discussed the reasons why Mobile Roadie has chosen to keep the CMS features between each mobile platform identical (updates across both platforms simultaneously).

The future is mobile and mobile is going to get better and faster as time goes on.  Mobile Roadie is keeping up with these trends and making plans to stay on top of the pack, leading the way for customers to use our CMS on the best mobile platforms available, from live video streams to integrated in-app sales, it’s all in the works!

Here at Mobile Roadie we are constantly looking for ways to improve our service and help our customers in as many ways as possible.  This week we finalized a project that we’ve been tossing around in our heads and we’re happy to be able to present to you the Mobile Roadie App Directory.

While the directory helps us present an organized portfolio of our work to prospective clients, it does more than that for our current clients.  Because we’ve optimized this page for search engines like Google, we’ve created a page that not only attracts visitors to our site, but also to our client’s apps, with both iPhone and Android apps being listed.  The listing can be sorted based on popularity (the default setting), release date or alphabetically.  This can help consumers find the app they are looking for.  In addition, the page has it’s own search bar, allowing visitors to search for a specific app instead of wading through our entire portfolio.

It’s all about discovery – consumers discovering our clients and their apps and our clients discovering each other.  As our service has grown over the past year, you just might be surprised to see who has an app powered by Mobile Roadie! Whether you are a current client or potential client, you’re in good company when you decide to go with Mobile Roadie for your iPhone and Android apps.

She took the Grammys by storm and now it’s time for Taylor Swift to take over the iTunes store (again) and make her mark in Android.  Starting today the much anticipated Taylor Swift app is now live and available for both iPhone and Android users.

The Taylor Swift app takes advantage of the versatility of the Mobile Roadie platform, creating an interactive experience for her fans.  The application is enabled with push notification so that any time Taylor releases new music (both to sample and to purchase directly from within the app), videos or photos (and more), fans will be instantly updated directly on their iPhones.  Fans can also see all of Taylor’s most up-to-date tour information, find and connect with other Taylor fans in their area as well as share their personal photos from Taylor shows with other fans in the application’s network.

Many of these features are easily configured by Taylor Swift and her team because they are using the Mobile Roadie content management system.  Instead of requiring each and every change to go through a series of requests, designs, re-designs, etc., we provide a simple way for our customers to modify and organize their application’s functions and menus to their specifications.  And with the Android platform now on board as well, it’s literally as easy as pie to keep your mobile app up-to-date with fresh material and to notify your fans or customers using push notifications.

Want it?  Get it here.

You’ve been asking for it, and we’re ready to deliver.  We’ve been planning on producing apps for Android users for some time, and now we can finally let the cat out of the bag. So who are the first users to have Mobile Roadie apps on both the iPhone and Android systems?

None other than Madonna, Ashton Kutcher and Dolly Parton (with Taylor Swift coming soon!). That’s right, four of the most recognizable names in the entertainment industry today are powering their online app presence on multiple platforms via Mobile Roadie.

You might say, “So what? What’s so special about that?”  Here’s the big deal – Mobile Roadie is the first platform that allows anyone to create and manage their own Android App in minutes with no programming knowledge required. Additionally, customers will be able to use Mobile Roadie’s content management system (CMS) to simultaneously make updates to both their iPhone and Android Apps.  This empowers our users to take control in a way never before imagined by everyday people, musicians and entertainers. Building a brand image on both platforms has never been easier, and now you don’t have to make a choice between one or the other.

So why does Dolly Parton use the Mobile Roadie platform?  Parton has always been a pioneer in the music and entertainment industry, and she doesn’t want to get left behind now.  In fact, she’s got fans ranging in age from under 20 to over 50 downloading her iPhone app. Who else can say that? Her plans for using the platform include sharing un-released photos and promoting her events if she decides to go back on tour.

In fact, here’s what Dolly Parton had to say about Mobile Roadie’s services:

My first phone was two tin cans tied together with string, and it worked pretty good. But now you can watch TV, download music and surf the web from your phone. Sure beats smoke signals. I never thought in my lifetime, that you’d be able to watch movies, read books and listen to music from a phone, but I guess the technology of tomorrow is here today. And to think that folks will be able to watch my Video Diaries and listen to my music on the go is just fantastic. I think it’s great that Mobile Roadie has made it so simple for my fans to keep up with everything I got going on, and who knows, I may even learn how to use it.

So what are you waiting for? Find out more about our multiple-platform services by taking our tour and view all of our live apps here.  Don’t miss out on the easiest way to manage your brand image on both of the most popular smartphone systems around.

We’ve been talking about all the improvements we’ve been making behind the scenes and now we’re taking them live.  Over the next couple of days we are launching a major upgrade to the back-end CMS interface that our customers use to manage their Mobile Roadie apps. With this update, each section is laid out as simply as possible for ease of navigation. In addition, we’ve added new help message indicators and content status indicators for each section, making it easier for our customers to get an overview of each section at a glance.

This update also includes a cleaner look to the dashboards stats, displaying top level information and allowing the user to drill down into sub menus for more detailed stats – if they want to.  We’re also planning for expansion of new items in the navigation menu, so as you grow and want to add more sections, we’ll be there for you. Another important thing we did to ease the visual load on the eyes was to move the App Vitals as a subsection of Manage Content, instead of having it’s own section.  This frees up some visual space and better organizes the customer’s Apple account information.

Finally, last but certainly not least, is our new dynamic Customizer, called Appearance. This feature now allows our customers to change the colors, re-arrange tabs with a click-and-drop function and re-name sections. The best part? No more waiting to resubmit to Apple.  In fact, as this feature rolls out and becomes fully functional for all of our clients, changes made in the Appearance will appear in the apps instantly.

If you’re currently one of our customers, we hope you’re as stoked as we are about these changes.  If your not currently one of our customers … what are you waiting for?

Categorized Music Section

The music section is now organized with top level sorting based on album names, making it easier for users to navigate the music section.

Categorized Tweets

Tweets are now filtered between official tweets and mentions (# tags and @ replies), making it easier for viewers to find the content they’re looking for.

Revamped Music Player

Now you can tap the track title to go to the track detail view, and a new “close” button on the music player allows you to hide the player as normal. This should help make it easier for fans to go to, and buy, music.

The audio stream buffering was also enhanced, so playback should be smoother on both 3G and Edge networks.

Language localization support

Language localization support means that the system elements and the standard navigation will automatically translate depending on the user’s language setting on their device. Additionally, viral messages sent back to Facebook and Twitter will be translated as well. We’re currently supporting:

French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. More to come.

Enhanced Shows section

Integrated Google Maps: Link to a map within the Shows section will open up Google maps right there within the app.

Linkable Text: Our system automatically finds URLs and makes them links, that open in an in-app browser.

Buy tickets can point to a phone number: Tickets not available online? Simply enter a phone # and we’ll display with a call option in a pop up.

Upcoming and Past Shows are now divided by segment controls in the header.

Plus…

Load More button in News section and Fan Wall: We completely overhauled the News section, rewriting from the ground up to greatly increase the performance. This allows us to include a “load more” button to load archived content, thus keeping your fans engaged in your app.

Timestamps on all news items, tweets, and buzz.

Updates button (on the homepage) remains active if you leave the section, allowing you to return.

Clickable user profile images and names allow you to check out a users’ Facebook or Twitter profile.

Full RSS post in news view.

Login prompt appears when clicking “Like” or “Going.”

“Share via email” opens email message within app.

Shows thumbnail enlarges on tap.

Revised viral message phrasing on Facebook and Twitter.

Song will continue playing if a user goes into the song’s detail view.

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So that about wraps up the 2.1 update. We already have a long list of items for our next release, and would love to hear what you’d like to see from us. Feel free to leave comments if you have any suggestions, otherwise, search for Mobile Roadie in the iTunes App Store to check out our live apps!

Since March 2009 we’ve tried to be good partners with Apple, making sure our Apps conformed to their standards, looked great, and added value for the end user and our customers. We also paid attention to blogs like TechCrunch and others that shined the spotlight on specific stories of rejections, and tried to proactively adapt.

Yet, despite our best efforts, in the six months since Mobile Roadie has launched, the toughest part of the business has been explaining to our customers the seemingly inexplicable delays and reasons for rejection. Adding insult to injury, Apple was very slow to respond, or just wouldn’t respond at all, when we tried to right wrongs.

In the last 30 days, however, I’ve noticed a change. I was cautiously optimistic after reading about how Phil Schiller was becoming more active in high profile rejections. Then I got a call from a guy named Neil. Neil explained that he was reviewing one of our Apps, one that happened to have quite a few YouTube videos. He told me that 3 minutes and 42 seconds into the sixth video (which was a cartoon), that there was a scene with nudity. He politely explained that this violates Apple’s TOS and the App couldn’t be approved unless we removed the video. I logged in to the CMS and removed the video in real time, he thanked me, and less than 30 minutes later we got an approval notice.

For Apple, a company of tens of thousands of employees that is reviewing a rumored 2,500 apps a week, to call one customer about that level of detail inside one App is truly amazing.

Even more amazing, Apple has approved nearly all of our v2 upgrades less than two weeks after we began submitting them, including approving 22 Apps in one day last week (a record for us). This is good for our customers and good for Apple to get our upgraded product in the store.

I’m glad Apple is waking up and being more responsive to developers, especially developers like Mobile Roadie that have many Apps in the store. Now, if we could just automate code base upgrades without having to resubmit each App individually…

Ever since launching v1 in March, we’ve been slaving away on tons of new updates and features. It looks better, it functions better and has a bunch of new functionality… which means a more valuable user experience for both you and your fans.

This is a long post, but it’s totally worth reading if you’re curious what new stuff you’ll get with your upgraded app. Here we go…

Customizer

The customizer is finally here! This means you can choose a color theme for your app, as well as rename and reposition the sections in the tab bar. This allows you to truly make the app a custom fit just for your needs.

Facebook Connect + Twitter integration

Fans can now login w/ their existing Facebook and/or Twitter profiles. This allows for much wider-spread viral activity, since much of the fans activity within the app gets blasted back out to their social network feeds.

New Music Player

One of the most prominent new features you’ll notice is the new, global music player. This allows the user easy access to play/skip tracks from any section of the app—so you no longer have to go back into the music section to change or pause a track. Just tap the progress bar to slide the player out of the way, and tap again to slide it back out.

Shows

You’ll notice that the Shows section has been completely overhauled to provide a much more “sticky” experience. Here are the main new features:

RSS – Pull in your tour dates with an RSS feed – finally!

Google Maps integration – add an address in the CMS and a “view map” button will appear in the app.

Going – users can click an “I’m going” button, which integrates w/ their Facebook account to show others that they’re attending.

Comments – fans can leave photos and comments within each particular show.

Add a show flyer for each show which appears as a thumbnail. Tapping this will show it full screen, thus allowing you to personalize the shows with the local flyers/posters for a more visual experience.

Our full list of features is below:

Full Screen Loading Image
The Loader image appears briefly for the initial app load, then softly fades away. It’s now totally separate from the home screen flip thru images.

Home Updates Section
The Home screen has been revised w/ a new “Updates” section, which displays all the recent activity throughout the app. This is divided up between “Official” updates (from you), and “Fan” updates, which are from the users.

Commenting
Fans can now comment on all the media and news posts in the app. This was previously limited to the Fan Wall. This further extends the viral abilities, while making the app much more fun to use. Now users can browse and leave comments while listening to tracks, reading news posts, etc. The comment threads also go 3 levels deep, so it’s easy to have a conversation.

News
The news section now separates out your Twitter feed from the main news feed. We added a section called “Buzz” that allows you to enter news tags about your band or industry. Basically, add any key words you want, and the Google reader will pull them into your app. This broadens the overall content of your app and keeps the app constantly updated, thus providing more value to the fan. If you don’t want this section, simply don’t add keywords in the CMS and it won’t appear.

Photos
Link your flickr account automatic updating.
Photos rotate w/ phone position.
Zoom into photos w/ double tap or pinch.
Huge performance boost. Both thumbnails and full size images load much faster.

Music Section
Fans can comment and “like” on each track, which appears in their Facebook Connect feed, lyrics and Notes (info) are now separate tabs, and number of track plays show when artwork is tapped.

Fan Wall
Facebook or Twitter profile pic appears when logged in.
Users can comment on Fan Wall posts — as well as comment on comments. This facilitates conversations Q & A’s, and makes the fan wall more fun.

Profanity filters. We’re taking a few steps to ensure your apps are approved by Apple in a timely manner. One way we’re doing this is by filtering out profanity on the Fan Wall and comments sections. Now bad words will appear like “f**k”.

Sharing
Users now have the option to share something they find in the app to Twitter, Facebook or email, thus increasing the viral activity.

Videos
Commenting and sharing added to videos.
Videos are now sorted between Recent and Popular – which is helpful if you have a lot of videos in your app.

Links
You can now add a background image here (identically to the More section). If you don’t add one, we’ll pull in the image you uploaded to More.

Merch
You have a new section dedicated to Merch. Just enter in a Merch URL and this section will automatically show up, opening in an in-app browser.

Feedback/Mailing List
We’ve updated the Feedback section to gather more data about your users. We’re pulling in their name, email address and allowing you to manage this from your CMS. You can also export the email list as a CSV file to add to any other email database you have.
Optional fields for Gender and Age were also added.

Performance
The overall stability and performance of the app is vastly improved.

Whew… we’ve been busy. We’re already working on a lot of great stuff for version 2.1. Let us know your thoughts, questions, and other feature requests in the comments section.

After burning the midnight oil for the last few weeks, we’re extremely excited to relaunch Mobile Roadie with version 2.0, which truly sets us apart as the best iPhone app platform available. Releasing this new version is really only a new beginning, as we have many plans to constantly roll out new functionality.

We’ll be outlining all the new features in detail in an upcoming post, so keep an eye out. For now, thanks for keeping us on your radar, and look for a lot more from us in the near future.