Last week, Bottle Rocket’s Luke Wallace attended Google I/O, an annual developer-focused conference held in San Francisco. The conference gave an in-depth look at Google’s technologies, plus quite a few sessions on design and business.

Luke returned with plenty of information to share with fellow Rocketeers – especially Android developers.

“During the keynote and sessions, we heard a high-level overview of some of the new Android features coming from Google,” Luke said. “Nearly all are being implemented so we can use them right away, meaning they are seriously combating the fragmentation concerns expressed inside and outside the industry.”

Luke feels that the following features are key for Android developers:

• Location, Location, Location – Three new APIs will allow for better detection of location, activity recognition (if the user is walking, biking or driving) and geofencing
• Google Cloud Messaging – Enhanced to allow upstream messaging (pushing back from the device) and persistent connections.
• Google Play Game Services – Similar to GameCenter, but available on Android and iOS, allowing for saved games to be cross-platform.
• New Development Tools – A new development environment toolkit based on ItelliJ, with nice features for developers.
• Volley – A new networking library that makes downloading feeds and images much easier.
• New Support Library – DrawerLayout for making navigation drawers and more.

For a complete list of Google I/O sessions, including videos, click here.

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Bottle Rocket’s Scott Maddux, the general manager of AWE, recently moderated a panel at the Digital Hollywood Content Summit, with panelist representation from Fox Sports, WatchWith, Megaphone TV, Get*This and Shazam Entertainment.

During their presentation, the panel explored successes, failures and trends in the quickly evolving second screen space.

Scott shared the following takeaways from the event with TabTimes:

• Consumers are ready and willing.
• Hardware platforms (mobile, STB, TV, game consoles) are in place.
• App stores are up and running at full speed.
• Producers, distributors, content owners, advertisers and agencies are all engaged.

According to Scott, all elements necessary to fuel a thriving second screen app market exist today. For more of Scott’s insight, please click here to visit the TabTimes blog.

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The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was selected as our first charity of the month. The nonprofit is unique because they fund more cystic fibrosis research than any other organization. Nearly every treatment available today was made possible by the foundation’s support.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States. In the 1950s, few children with the disease lived to attend elementary school; however, thanks to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s pursuit for a cure, the future is looking brighter.

Rocketeer Adrienne Thomas nominated the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation because the disease has affected her friends, the Scott family. JJ and Jorde Scott recently moved from Texas to Colorado to be close to a research center for their daughter Sloan, a one-year-old living with cystic fibrosis. To hear more about their story, or to make a donation on behalf of Sloan, click here. 

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is completely donor-supported and does not receive government funding for research. Nearly 90 cents of every dollar of their revenue goes directly to support research, care and education. To learn more, click here.

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Head Rocketeer, Calvin Carter, is now officially a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences! He joined the Interactive Media Peer Group which consists of Academy members who judge the Primetime Emmy® Awards for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media. Calvin was selected based on his achievements in mobile which include creating brand experiences for some of cable's top networks such as Showtime, A&E and Bravo.

The interactive awards are judged based on four categories: Multiplatform Storytelling, Original Interactive Program, Social TV Experience and User Experience and Visual Design. Calvin joins fellow Rocketeer Scott Maddux, GM of our AWE division, as an Academy member. Click here to read more!

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Rocketeers spent the weekend recovering from Rocket Science, our second annual company-wide hackathon.

Rocket Science brings together our individual talents for 24 hours to make something amazing. The goal is to stretch our minds, sharpen our skills and work on things we’re passionate about. It is also a competition, where we self-organize into teams without management intervention, work intensely on our idea together and pitch the result to the rest of the company. At the end, everyone votes for the team they believe was a magnificent success, brilliant failure or had the best presentation.

This year’s magnificent success award went to Team Lunchbox, made up of Rocketeers Andrew Hulsizer, Evan Davis, Ryan Gant and Jon Harvell, who created an app to streamline making lunch plans.

Lunchbox allows Bottle Rocket employees to create a lunch bucket, a place to eat, and fellow Rocketeers can opt in or suggest somewhere new. The app uses geolocation to find lunch spots nearby and even irons out who is driving in advance.

“I am not sure what else is out there like this, which makes it pretty pure from a creative process,” Andrew said.

Andrew also credits the win to the app’s clean and simple UI; however, many Rocketeers just cannot wait to start using Lunchbox. The team is currently getting the server ready to deploy the app, so Lunchbox will be available at Bottle Rocket soon.

The brilliant failure award went to Team Positive Reinforcement, comprised of Jordan Sindelar, Justin Seabourn and Ian Slinker, who created a gaming app where you cannot lose.

In the app, the player is constantly barraged with positive reinforcement – complete with cheesy voiceovers, shooting confetti and coins.

“We wanted to create a mockery of the current state of mobile video games by creating the ultimate embodiment of shallow, no challenge, high-reward gaming,” Jordan said. “Luckily, the people at Bottle Rocket got it. Then again, it could have been a combination of kazoo noises and confetti squares that got us the win.” 

Jordan said the Positive Reinforcement App will be online and available soon for iOS. The team is considering creating an Android version too. 

This year’s new award, best presentation, went to Team BR10, which included Lyndsay Wright, Christopher Bess, Randall Mitchell, Julian Placino, Kirby Sander and Brooks Grigson. The project was to predict the future of Bottle Rocket between now and 2018, our company’s 10^th anniversary. The team investigated current trends and emerging technologies and then brainstormed how these will shape Bottle Rocket’s future.

Predictions included Bottle Rocket offices spanning multiple continents, divisions of the company devoted to new surfaces outside of mobile and even the construction of the Calvin W. Carter Expressway in Tampa, our president and founder’s hometown.

“My favorite predictions were the ones involving new surfaces and what Bottle Rocket would be creating for those,” Kirby said. “Watching videos of what Corning is envisioning with their glass technology got me so giddy about possibilities for the future and I can't wait for Bottle Rocket to be a part of that.”

The team believes they won because their presentation was about Bottle Rocket, a company that Rocketeers love being part of. The team’s presentation also provided inspiration and laughter to some very sleepy Rocketeers.

Now that we’ve cleared all the Red Bull cans, our office dove back into our projects with renewed respect for our Rocketeer family and what we do together. We feel that events like Rocket Science are what set Bottle Rocket apart, ultimately cultivating ideas that will benefit our users, employees and clients.

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