July 2010 Summaries

Google has developed SaaSy Voice for the Google Apps Marketplace, a suite of features that simplify phone number management and call handling within Google Apps. The platform offers a range of functionalities, including number provisioning, extension assignment, voicemail configuration, and call forwarding, as well as call activity review capabilities for administrators. This development is notable due to its integration with the Google Mail interface, making it an attractive solution for users who already rely heavily on this platform. The initiative was made possible by Twilio's collaboration with Google, showcasing the potential for integrations between different technologies and platforms.

Abine, a privacy-focused Firefox extension, has won Twilio's Firefox Extensions Developer Contest, earning $100 in Twilio credit and a netbook. Abine aims to provide regular users with control over their online privacy, using basic web technologies such as Javascript and encryption components. Rob Shavell, the team leader at Abine, used Twilio due to its cost-effectiveness, scalability, and ease of use, which was superior to other communication platforms he had tried. The integration process with Twilio was straightforward and allowed Abine to launch its first version in just a few days.

The Twilio Developer Contest is now open until Sunday, August 1st, with the "Anything Goes" category allowing developers to submit any project that uses the Twilio API, OpenVBX, or Stashboard. The grand prize winner will receive a Netbook and $100 in Twilio developer credit. Developers can enter as many times as they wish but can only win one prize per contest. To get started, check out past contest categories for inspiration and explore resources such as the Twilio Docs, Resource Center, and Ahoy community hub for guidance on building communications and digital engagement experiences with Twilio.

The Social Apps Workshop at Heroku's new HQ brought together 150 Ruby developers with experts from Heroku, Apigee, Twitter, and Facebook. Jeff Lawson gave a talk on Twilio and performed a live coding demo of building a conference calling app that can also call back all participants. To help Ruby developers get started with Twilio, resources such as the Twilio Ruby gem, Twilio Ruby Toolkit, Trails (Twilio on Rails), and tutorials are available. Additionally, Heroku users can find simple examples of how to create a Twilio app using Heroku and Sinatra at twilio.heroku.com. The Twilio community hub offers best practices, code samples, and inspiration for building communications and digital engagement experiences.

The key to success in Startup Weekend Mobile SF is maximizing productivity while managing expectations and building a culture that launches. To achieve this, individuals should bring their own internet connection, use free tools like WordPress and Google Apps, recruit developers first, focus on getting proof of concept fast with minimal features, pick an idea they know how to build, get customers right away, and start planning presentations early. By following these principles, teams can create a productive environment, manage expectations, and ultimately launch a successful product.

Diner Connection is a new platform that aims to make restaurant paging systems more affordable and integrated, with the ability to market special offers to customers over the phone. The company won the Twilio developer contest earlier this year, which led to an influx of requests from restaurants for a more robust option, driving them to create Diner Connection, which has already seen great interest and success.

Volunteer Kansas`, an organization that connects people with volunteer opportunities, aims to make Kansas the top state for volunteerism by adding 70,000 volunteers annually. The group partnered with Twilio to build a social media application that utilizes digital communications to expedite announcements and site communication, ultimately driving more people to get involved in volunteering. With the help of Twilio's API, Volunteer Kansas is already seeing success and plans to launch its app on August 2nd, with exciting features such as two-way communication for volunteer events. The organization is leveraging a range of technologies, including PHP, MySQL, Javascript, AJAX, and scalable cloud servers, to bring this vision to life.

Twilio Meetups are events where developers can showcase their projects, get help with the API, and network with others in the Twilio community. These meetups are happening across the US and can be organized by anyone to promote innovation and collaboration. The events will feature a variety of activities such as demos, hackfests, and games, allowing attendees to learn from each other and have fun. To organize a meetup, it's easy to find a venue, set a time, and promote the event through social media and local channels. Twilio is also offering support to help with logistics, including sponsoring food and drinks.

Twilio has open sourced its status dashboard, Stashboard, which can be downloaded and customized for any hosted service or API, allowing developers to host their own status page without relying on Twilio's infrastructure. The code is written in Python and runs on Google App Engine, providing a generic status dashboard with features such as customizable status messages and icons, historical status display, and a full REST API for getting and setting status information. Stashboard also has rich client or basic rendering architecture options, making it suitable for various use cases, including integrating real-time data into web applications.

The Twilio Developer Contest is currently open until July 25th, 11:59pm PST, where developers are challenged to create Firefox extensions that utilize the Twilio APIs. To participate, developers can use Mozilla Labs Jetpack or Builder, and can find inspiration by leaving a comment on the page or joining a conversation in the forums. The contest allows developers to submit multiple extensions but can only win one prize, with the first place winner receiving a netbook and $100 in Twilio developer credit.

PagerDuty, a company that launched a year ago, has received funding from Y Combinator and is officially out of beta, partnering with Cloudkick and launching its API after winning the Twilio developer contest in November for alerts and notifications.

Twilio is a cloud communication platform that enables developers to create real-time communication applications using its APIs, SDKs, and sample apps. The company encourages users to go green by raising awareness, informing others about eco-friendly initiatives, saving resources, and automating processes through phone calls and SMS group messaging. To get started, developers can build and submit their own Twilio-powered app that promotes environmental sustainability, with a chance to win a netbook by the deadline of this Sunday at 11:59PM PST. For more information and inspiration, users can explore Twilio's resource center, developer community hub, API reference documentation, SDKs, helper libraries, quickstarts, tutorials, ebooks, industry reports, webinars, best practices, code samples, and digital engagement experiences.

The Seattle Ruby Hack Night was held at Vivace Café in a cozy room where around 10 people gathered to work on various projects including Ruby tutorials and MacRuby Cocoa apps. I spent some time writing code samples using the Twilio API, which will be published soon. Additionally, I showcased non-Ruby specific tools like WebMadeMovies and Jetpack Add-ons Builder.

Jonathan Kressaty won the OpenVBX Plugin Contest for his Applet Scheduling Plugin, which allows users to schedule appointments based on their availability. Chad Smith won the OpenVBX Community Contribution Contest for his Poll Plugin, which enables easy creation of voice- and SMS-based polls within the OpenVBX flow editor. Both winners have received recognition and are being rewarded with a netbook. The community is now invited to participate in a new contest where users can submit their own ideas on how Twilio can be used to save the planet, with a prize package including a netbook and $100 in Twilio credit.

This is a call for developers to participate in a contest using Twilio voice and/or SMS to improve the environment. The goal is to come up with unique, powerful, or creative solutions that demonstrate the value of what's built and could become a business someday. Developers can submit their projects and receive feedback from the Twilio community through forums or by emailing [email protected]. Previous contestants who didn't win are eligible to resubmit with improved projects for another chance at winning a prize, including a Netbook and $100 in developer credit.

The Mozilla Summit was a highly successful event that brought together around 600 Mozilla community members from over 40 countries for an invitation-only gathering in Whistler, Canada. The theme of the summit was "Be More Like the Web" and featured a range of keynote speakers, sessions, and activities including Drumbeat projects, HTML5 demos, and a hackathon. Attendees included hackers, localizers, testers, marketers, and individuals formerly known as 'users', all working together to improve the open web. The event showcased the diversity and creativity of the Mozilla community and provided opportunities for networking, learning, and collaboration.

The OpenVBX Community has announced a vote for its favorite contribution, with the winner receiving a netbook and $100 in Twilio credit. The nominations include Notifo Plugin by Andrew Watson, Applet Scheduling Plugin by Jonathan Kressaty, and Click to Flow Plugin by Tim Lytle. Voters can cast their votes until Sunday, July 11th at 11:59pm PST, and the community is encouraged to visit the related posts and resources for more information on Twilio's developer tools and best practices.

The WordPress.com platform has launched a new feature that allows users to post audio blog entries via the phone using Twilio technology, enabling bloggers to share voice messages with their audience worldwide.