Date: 2012-04-13 Category: News

The iPhone app, named ‘Dee Valley Tourist Guide’, raises the profile of tourism in Llangollen, Chirk, Corwen, Bala and areas including the World Heritage Site centred around the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.

A5 Multimedia owner Aled Morris Brown, attended the four day iPhone Development CPD training course at Bangor University back in January, offering existing developers with no experience of iPhone programming the chance to build applications to run on the iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad.

“For me I was fulfilling a life-long dream, as I have been a fan of Apple since 1989,” said Aled Morris Brown of A5 Multimedia. “Even though the course was free, it was still a risk as I had to take time out of the office during the worst financial conditions in many years. However, I worried for nothing as the course was amazing. The hands-on nature of the course meant we could learn from our mistakes as a group and they never left anyone behind. By the second day they would demonstrate something and then ask us to create it. That really pushed everyone to learn quickly.”

During the course the participants also had opportunities to create user interfaces for apps, integrate complex data and explore the different API’s that exist for handling swipes, sensor data and interacting with the network.

“I have added respect for many more apps on the iPhone than I did before,” said Aled. “Many have taken a lot longer to produce than you would expect from a first glance and to think that many apps are free or only cost 69p to purchase amazes and frightens me in equal measure. The CPD training rolled out by SAW definitely gave me the confidence to go on and create the ‘Dee Valley Tourist Guide’ app and I won’t be looking back – one day I hope I can work full-time on apps."

The app, which went on sale on 26 March 2012, is helpful to locals and tourists in the Dee Valley area as it contains useful information about towns, villages, places of interest, tourist attractions and things to do, with over 150 picturesque photographs. For further information visit www.deevalley.com/app or visit Apple iTunes App Store and search for "Dee Valley". The app is compatible with iOS 5.1 on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. 

Like Aled Morris Brown of A5 Multimedia, if you live or work in a Convergence area of Wales, you are entitled to access Part-Funded CPD Training with Software Alliance Wales. All training is highly specialised, and is determined by and specific to the industry's requirements. The topics covered will change through the lifetime of the SAW project as new requirements in this rapidly changing technology field emerge. Predominately delivered through short courses, the skills developed are recognised by the ICT industry and are highly transferable.

Forthcoming dates for Level 4 CPD Training:
ISEB- ISTQB (Software Testing Foundation)- 30th April - 2nd May 2012, Swansea
Android Development - Dates TBC, Bangor

SAW are also offering an Introductory Level 3 ‘taster’ Workshop:
Android Development – 25th May 2012, Swansea

For more information on SAW CPD Training, visit www.softwarealliancewales.com, email info@softwarealliancewales.com or call 01792 295881.

 

Notes to editors
About Software Alliance Wales
Software Alliance Wales supports innovation and growth amongst the ICT and Software Sector within the Convergence areas of Wales. It creates a platform for developers across the region to network and share best practice, and to promote Wales as a key driving force in Software Development. For more information visit www.softwarealliancewales.com.

About A5 Multimedia Ltd
A5 Multimedia offers all web and app development services. They can design your identity, your online presence and build it to the latest CSS3 and HTML5 accessibility standards. For more information visit www.a5multimedia.co.uk or contact Aled Morris Brown at aled@a5multimedia.co.uk, 01978 821222.