Stalwarts - latest NZ iOS Apps

A screenshot from <I>Save The Farley Mowat</I>. Photo / Supplied

Thanks to amazing support from the international developer community, several international developers have pledged support for the Christchurch quake victims, and along with the New Zealand apps at this link are donating the proceeds of the following apps until 5th March to the New Zealand Red Cross.

Buy any of these apps and help Christchurch - what a cool idea!

GeoOp is a small Auckland-based company with a big product helping all volunteers in Christchurch communicate for free.

Civil Defence has made VSA responsible for all non-life threatening requests for help, via the GeoOp system.

The online resource GeoOp.com launched last week in partnership with the Student Volunteer Army has become a most important tool in bringing help to the earthquake-ravaged residents of Christchurch.

GeoOp is a single access point where residents can ask for help and be assured that the 17,000 strong volunteer army will receive their request and action it as soon as possible. It has become the most effective way for people to ask for and receive help.

There are two ways to use it: go to GeoOp.com and look for Volunteer Army in the middle of the page, or send a text to 5627 with #HELPME in the body of the text then a space and your details - name, address and type of assistance required.

GeoOp automatically pools all orders for help and offers of assistance and manages the appropriate response quickly and effectively. It will now also allow the SVA to send dedicated squadrons citywide to specific requests for assistance.

GeoOp started as a mobile workforce and job management tool by SaaSilia Ltd, an Auckland-based software development company.

When the first quake hit, SaaSilia was on the phone to Sam of the Student Volunteer Army to offer the team communications system to them for free.

Normally a job is charged at 20 cents and a text through the GeoOp system at 20c each.

Civil Defence contacted Student Volunteer Army to ask what system they were using, as theirs didn't have the capability or functionality to handle the scale of volunteers.

GeoOp stepped up, adding extra servers to cope with Internet and mobile device traffic.

SaaSilia says GeoOp will remain free to EQ Student Volunteer Army and Civil Defence volunteer teams in Christchurch.

GeoOp is an online programme that has been set up in partnership with EQ.Org.

While in Wellington for Webstock, I met Layton Duncan of Polar Bear Farm. PBF was the very first iOS app developer in the world, I kid you not, starting development before the iPhone was even on sale. Principle Layton Duncan has a degree in Electrical Engineering from Canterbury University.

Polar Bear Farm concentrates on developing apps it conceives of, rather than contract jobs for others, and has two really interesting projects underway that ... I can't tell you about yet.

Right after I met Layton, he went back to Christchurch, just in time for the devastating quake. He's fine, thank goodness - by a quirk, Christchurch is also the epicentre of iPhone development in New Zealand. There's lots going on there.

Another Christchurch venture is Fix My Street, although this seems a bit extreme in the light of what's just happened in the Cathedral City.

Christchurch developer Jonathan Hunt launched it in September 2010, inspired by the UK-based FixMyStreet.com. Hunt became concerned about government accountability; after the site was built, he created a free iPhone app for it (FixMyStreet) and is working on an Android version.

The app works in any city - broken footpath, streetlight, graffiti - it's easy to snap a picture and blat the report in of anything that can be usefully reported to your council for attention. (You can also report via the site.)

You can also discuss issues on the website with others, forming a lobby the council might take more notice to.

The service is free to use, but run by volunteers, so contributions are welcome.

And here's another Christchurch venture I caught up with at New Zealand's premiere web event. Gamezon is a free online office pool for major sporting events ... such as World Cup Rugby, developed at Digital fusion.

You register your group and teams are allocated at the beginning of the event, usually two per person. The Gamezon website does the rest - tracks the matches and results, it allocates the points and maintains the leader board - all of which can be viewed via a personalised online dashboard.

The brain behind this latest invention was Phil Taylor, a web developer at Digital Fusion Limited. "I was new and looking for a way to impress the boss" says Taylor. "Initially we ran it in-house for the FIFA World Cup. I didn't win, neither did the boss. I was sure we could do better, so we ran it for the Women's Rugby World Cup and we're now in the middle of the NBL - currently I'm in first place."

Gamezon is best suited to groups of friends or workmates. "We've had heaps of fun with some in-house rivalry sparking some rather lively debates... only once did it become a bit more physical than is appropriate. We've learned never to underestimate the competitive nature of computer geeks!" laughs Taylor. "To make it interesting the boss put up travel vouchers for the players finishing first and second, but the real glory was finishing on top (or so I'm told)."

Unlike some other virtual competitions, Gamezon is all about simplicity. It's based on the rules of an Office Pool, it's simple which allows everyone to get involved, there's no need to make weekly picks or be a subject matter expert and there are also opportunities to make extra ground on your competitors with quizzes that offer bonus points.

The other big event planned for Gamezon participants is the World Cup for Rugby in September. So if this sounds like you, get your game on at gamezon.co.nz.

A NZ-developed game on the new Mac App Store has been created by a freelance game developer in Wellington.

The game promotes Sea Shepherd, the organisation that has been chasing Japanese whalers away. It's hardly 'PC' - the game equips users with a rocket launcher and plenty to shoot at.

Aaron Cross, the developer, says "What's really interesting is that one week after release, the largest market it's selling in is Japan." (The game actually references Canadian seal clubbing, though, not Japanese whaling."

The objective of the game is "to blast the droids of the Canadian military with your rocket launcher and machine gun, in order to reach the Sea Shepherd vessel impounded by the Canadians in a remote Newfoundland port."

Cross hopes to raise the profile of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which is fighting against animal cruelty in the world, including shark-finning, whaling, dolphin slaughter and sealing.