Engage Mobile, Kansas City Symphony to Make History with Google Glass for Beethoven’s Fifth

Today we made a big announcement with the Kansas City Symphony. We are going to make history by having four pair of Google Glass simultaneously recording the first-person perspective of the conductor and three musicians from the symphony. You can literally see what it is like to conduct on Orchestra…or play the French Horn in a world class symphony. It is going to be very fun and exciting. Check out the press release below:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. | Jan. 27, 2014 — Four members of the exceptional Kansas City Symphony will make history on January 31, 2014, as they provide a first-person perspective of performing Beethoven’s timeless Fifth Symphony using the latest technology from Google — Google Glass.

Four pairs of Google Glass marks the most pairs used at once in the nation outside of Google headquarters, and it is the first time Google Glass will be used to record the views of four members in a professional orchestra.

The Kansas City Symphony is working with Engage Mobile, the Kansas City-based mobile strategy, mobile development and mobile marketing firm, to see what it is like to be a world-class musician in one of the country’s top orchestras. The project will capture what four professional musicians see while performing the iconic work, Beethoven’s Fifth. For example, viewers will see video from the violinist’s vantage points as he or she looks down the instrument, observing one hand pressing the strings on the neck of the violin and the other bowing across the strings, as well as watching the conductor or reading the music on the stand.

Google Glass is a wearable computer with an optical head-mounted display that has been developed by Google in the Project Glass research and development phases. Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like, hands-free format. This innovative new technology allows users to interact with the Internet via natural language voice commands to perform tasks like navigation, accessing the Internet, texting, taking pictures and shooting videos. The Kansas City Symphony will showcase Glass’ unique ability to record and share high-definition video.

While the recording of the orchestra using Google Glass will be a private rehearsal only open to the media, the Symphony will later release a video of the performance and a behind-the-scenes video featuring interviews from the musicians about the experience.

 About Engage Mobile Solutions

Engage Mobile Solutions is a mobile app and mobile software development company with a focus on mobile strategy and mobile marketing. Based in Kansas City, Mo., the company helps companies leverage mobile technology and marketing to drive profitability through increasing revenue, decreasing costs and managing risk. For more information about Engage Mobile Solutions, visit http://www.engagemobile.com or contact Matthew Barksdale at mbarksdale(at)engagemobile(dot)com.

Engage Mobile Wins 25 Under 25 Award – Selected as One of Kansas City’s Top Companies Under 25 Employees

Engage Mobile was just selected as a winner of the “25 Under 25” award. This is a huge honor for Engage Mobile and we are thrilled to be selected. The award is given out by Thinking Bigger Business Media to the top 25 companies in Greater Kansas City (Missouri and Kansas) with under 25 employees. A panel of experts determine the winner based upon the following criteria:

• Financial stability
• Ability to overcome obstacles/adversity/challenges
• Community involvement/service
• Distinguishing or defining characteristics/qualities
• Company vision

Engage Mobile will formally receive the award at a dinner and gala celebration in March of 2014.

This honor comes on the heels of Engage Mobile being named one of the “20 Most Promising Enterprise Mobility Companies” in the nation by the business magazine and Web site CIO Review.

Both of these awards highlight Engage Mobile’s innovative approach to mobile, our obsession with functionality and simplicity, and our focus on business results for our clients.

It is a very exciting time here at Engage Mobile.

Engage Mobile Featured on Fox 4 News in Kansas City – Discusses the Future of Mobile and Wearable Computing Including Google Glass (VIDEO)

Engage Mobile was featured on Fox 4 News in Kansas City on 11-25-13. Darrin Clawson, Steve Timperley and Matthew Barksdale discuss the future of mobile and wearable computing with Mary Pulley of Fox 4 News. Engage Mobile is working with Google and Google Glass to develop the next generation of wearable devices that can access the Internet.

At Engage Mobile, we do more than just develop software and apps for mobile devices. We have a unique blend of international experience and Kansas City attitude that helps us leverage mobile strategy, mobile development and mobile marketing to make our clients successful.

The following is the article from the Fox 4 site. You can view the page on on the Fox 4 site here.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City’s company Engage Mobile has been given four pairs of Google Glass-2, and the challenge of brainstorming what the glasses can really do.

Hundreds of thousands submitted their ideas for what they’d do if with Google Glass. Only a fraction of those interested are now testing ideas.

Engage Mobile has brainstormed everything from using the pricey hi-tech glasses in the operating room, to helping an engineer fix broken machinery thousands of miles away.

“We went and brought together leaders in many different industries including healthcare, construction, education, sports and we brought people together to kind of explore ideas of what could you do with these devices,” said Darrin Clawson C.E.O, and Founder of Engage Mobile.

“Imagine there’s a facilities management situation where there’s a machine that’s broken and the expert that developed that machine is let’s say in Germany. Basically the glass allows the technician in Germany to see exactly what you’re seeing,” said Matthew Barksdale, President of Engage Mobile.

The company already helps businesses take advantage of the latest technology, partly through building apps.

Engage Mobile got its first pair of google glass three months ago. The additional three pair they received are allowing them to expand development and testing, so it will be interesting to see what all they come up with.

Engage Mobile Featured on Entrepreneur KC Radio Show with Jason Grill – Promoting Vs. Football (click for audio segment)

The owners of Engage Mobile – Darrin Clawson and Matthew Barksdale were featured on the Entrepreneur KC Radio Show with Jason Grill on October 24, 2013. The program is on the KMBZ business channel 1660 am and is one of the most popular entrepreneur radio programs in the country.

Barksdale and Clawson discussed Engage Mobile and their newest venture Vs. Football. Vs. Football is a revolutionary football game for Apple and Android Mobile Devices – think Words With Friends meets football. Barksdale and Clawson were joined by their business partner on Vs. Football – Chris Austin.

Vs. Football is Engage Mobile’s first major game for mobile devices. Engage Mobile primarily focuses on b2b/business to business applications – they help companies leverage mobile technology to help their clients drive their businesses forward. Engage Mobile focuses on mobile strategy, mobile development, mobile app development and mobile marketing. The company has clients all of the county and was recently features as one the the 25 most innovative enterprise mobility companies in the United States.

Learn more about Vs. Football at www.PlayVsFootball.com. Learn more about Engage Mobile at www.EngageMobile.com.

Engage Mobile Named One of the “20 Most Promising Enterprise Mobility Companies” in the United States

KANSAS CITY, MO. (Aug. 7, 2013) – Engage Mobile, a leading mobile strategy, mobile development and mobile marketing company, celebrates the distinction of being named one of the “20 Most Promising Enterprise Mobility Companies” in the nation.

The honor, bestowed by the business magazine and Web site CIO Review, highlights Engage Mobile’s innovative approach to mobile, obsession with functionality and simplicity, and their focus on business results.

“We are thrilled to be selected as one of the most innovative mobile companies in the country,” says Matthew Barksdale, president of Engage Mobile. “This is a testament to our unique approach to the market. Instead of focusing on building apps, we focus on helping our clients leverage mobile to drive their businesses to the next level.”

Engage Mobile stands out from the crowd because of its depth of experience in a relatively new industry. In fact, founder and CEO Darrin Clawson was developing mobile solutions six years before the iPhone hit the market. Pair that with Engage Mobile’s dynamic leadership team – which has more than 40 years of combined experience driving business success – and it’s easy to see how the company delivers world-class mobile solutions.   It is this deep enterprise level experience that makes Engage Mobile a strong partner for many large enterprises.

This honor falls on the heels of Engage Mobile being chosen by Google Inc. in July to beta test the Internet-giant’s newest product: Google Glass, a wearable computing device. Engage Mobile is one of the initial mobile development companies developing apps for Google Glass.

CIO Review, a trend-savvy company that tracks technological changes impacting the business world through its magazine and Web site, reveals that global industries are poised for significant growth in enterprise mobility.

“Growing mobile worker population, widespread usage of sophisticated mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, and a proliferation of novel business applications is driving the market for enterprise mobility over the next few years,” the company notes. It predicts that the international market for enterprise mobility will grow to nearly $174 billion industry by 2017.

“We have been at the forefront of mobile technology for well over a decade. We don’t do mobile because it is cool – we do mobile because it can drive the bottom line of our clients,” Clawson says. “As the industry continues to evolve with wearable devices and Google Glass, we invest our time and energy in leading-edge technology to deliver innovative solutions.”

Engage Mobile is one of the fastest growing mobility companies in the country. Having recently signed clients in New York, New Jersey, Washington, Colorado, California, Texas, Kansas and Missouri, Engage Mobile continues to prove to clients that its unique approach to mobile strategy, development and marketing generates results.

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Engage Mobile Solutions is a mobile strategy, mobile development and mobile marketing company based in Kansas City, Mo. It helps companies leverage mobile technology and marketing to drive profitability through increasing revenue, decreasing costs and managing risk. For more information about Engage Mobile Solutions, visit http://www.engagemobile.com or contact Matthew Barksdale at mbarksdale@engagemobile.com.

KC Mobile Development – KC Mobile Marketing – KC Mobile Strategy

The great thing about Engage Mobile is the attitude of the organization.  Our work experience has taken us around the world in the past (thus the global experience) but we have a very different attitude at Engage.  We are from the Midwest and we still have many of those traditional Midwest values of hard work, honesty and sense of fairness.  We like to think of it as our Kansas City attitude or KC attitude.

Of course we do some work in Kansas City (think of it as KC Mobile Strategy, KC Mobile Development and KC Mobile Marketing) but at this stage most of our work comes from all around the country.  We have clients from California to New York and everywhere in between.

Are we good at what we do?  Absolutely – we do as good or better work than anyone in the country.  But it is our KC mobile attitude that really makes the difference.

Check us out at www.EngageMobile.com.

 

How Engage Mobile is Different – Our Latest Video

We built engage mobile from the ground up to be a different kind of mobile company.  We are not just another mobile development company.  If you just want an app built you can get that done at hundreds of places – and we can do it better than anyone – but our company can provide tremendous value beyond mobile development.

The entire focus of our company is on helping our customers achieve their business goals.  We start the process by focusing on user engagement and helping clients determine their mobile strategy – how they can leverage mobile to achieve their goals.

Once we understand the strategy and goals we then work through the workflow and mobile app design.  We focus all of our efforts on functionality and simplicity – the app must be completely intuitive to use and require no training.  The initial goal is not to make the app pretty – pretty comes later.  The initial goal is to make the app completely intuitive and functional.  This process is hard and tedious but is a critical elements in the process of developing a mobile app.  After the functionality and workflow have been finalized we then turn our graphic design team loose to make it look beautiful.

Our mobile development and mobile app development process leverages a series of proprietary process we refer to as the “Engage Mobile Delivery Engine.”  The delivery engine focuses on three primary components – lean principles, transparency and flexibility.  The system has been designed to cost effectively give our clients transparency and flexibility in the mobile development process.

Mobile marketing is another area where Engage Mobile is different.  We have deep expertise in all facets of mobile marketing – from SMS text messaging campaigns to mobile coupons programs, Engage Mobile can work with you to help your mobile app or mobile site rise above the clutter.

Please contact me or contact engage mobile to learn more about how we can help you drive your company to the next level.  We are here to help.

Kansas City Mobile Strategy – Kansas City Mobile Development – Kansas City Mobile Marketing

I went to school on the East Coast in Philadelphia (the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School) and have literally traveled the world.  So many people ask, “Why do you live and work in Kansas City?”  The answers is easy.  I believe Kansas City is one of the best places in the country to run a business and raise a family.  It is an especially fantastic place to run a mobile business.

I am one of the owners of Engage Mobile.  We are a Kansas City based company focused on Mobile Strategy, Mobile Development and Mobile Marketing.  We are based in Kansas City because we feel it is best for our clients.

Kansas City has many of the advantages of large cities on the coasts without the disadvantages.  The city has an incredibly talented workforce – smart, well educated – that is lower cost than the coasts because of the lower cost of living in Kansas City.  There is literally no better place in the country to run a business focuses on mobile strategy, mobile development or mobile marketing.

The city has a very robust entrepreneur and startup community with resources to help companies all along the way.  Kansas City was the first city chosen by Google for their Google Fiber project and we have the Kauffman Foundation which is a world class organization focused on helping companies succeed.

Finally, Kansas City has low costs and is centrally located – we can get to either coast within a few hours and the cost of running a business in Kansas City is much lower than running a company in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco or even Chicago.  Our lower costs allow us to provide tremendous value for our clients.

In the end, clients want a great product the meets the need of the market and they want it all at a fair price.  Engage Mobile delivers on all fronts.  Don’t take it from us, check out some of our client testimonial videos.

Feel free to contact me or contact Engage Mobile if you want to learn more about how we can help you take your business to the next level.

 

 

Engage Mobile Featured on the Front Page of the KC Star – Mobile Strategy, Development and Marketing Company to Test Google Glass

My company, Engage Mobile made the news this week – we were selected by Google to participate in their Google Glass program.  We were featured on dozens of websites – including our hometown newspaper – the Kansas City Star.  The story talked about Engage Mobile being selected by Google for the Google Glass project.  Engage Mobile will join a select group of Technology visionaries, mobile pioneers and celebrities to test and provide feedback on Google Glass.

The text of the article is below – you can read original article from the Kansas City Star website here.  You can view the story on the engage website here.

KC Company will Test Google Glass – April 5, 2013

By STEVE ROSEN – The Kansas City Star

Kansas City-based Engage Mobile has joined a star-studded group selected to test Google Glass, the sci-fi-like wearable computer device being developed by Google.

The 3-year-old mobile strategy, development and marketing company will be testing Google Glass with the goal of preparing the

product for a 2014 launch, said Darrin Clawson, the founder and chief executive of Engage Mobile.

The eclectic list of testers includes former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, actor Neal Patrick Harris (of Doogie Howser fame), actress Alyssa Milano, singer Brandy Norwood and rapper Matisyahu.

With an expected price of $1,500, Google Glass is essentially a smart pair of glasses. Based on the prototype, a key element of the device is its tiny prism display that sits not in your eyeline but a little above it. Users can see what’s on the display by glancing up.

The glasses also have an embedded camera, microphone and GPS. It also reportedly will vibrate listeners’ bones to give them sound, instead of using traditional headphones. Voice control is used to operate the device. Now software developers are trying to

come up with as many uses for the device as can be invented.

Clawson said his company was chosen for the beta test because of his experience in developing software for the medical industry. Before founding Engage, Clawson worked at Cerner, the North Kansas City medical technology company.

Clawson said he proposed using the device to help patients and doctors monitor personal medical devices, such as insulin pumps, pedometers, heart rate monitors and supplemental oxygen.

“Google Glass represents the next phase of wearable computing,” Clawson said Friday in a news release.

He said his company planned to develop software to support Google Glass and other wearable computing devices currently being developed.

Engage Mobile featured in the Kansas City Star on 4-6-13.

Why Engage Mobile (Why I Went to Engage in Kansas City)

It is clear that that the world of mobile technology is exploding (Check out my post in January for an example of the crazy growth in the mobile industry.)  What is interesting is that there are hundreds of companies around the country than can build an app. How do you choose a company to help you navigate the world of mobile in order to drive your business?

At Engage Mobile we approach the world of mobile differently than a typical app developer. From our first conversation with clients we are focused on delivering results that will improve your business – by increasing revenue, decreasing cost or managing risk.

The following is what makes us unique:

Focus on Business Results: We are not a couple of 19 year olds building apps in our parents’ house – our leadership team has over 40 years experience driving business success. We have worked with brands from Ferrari to Cerner to H&R Block to Diageo and have utilized dozens of business models to drive success for our clients. We leverage technology to get results – we don’t just build apps – we drive your business.

Obsession with Functionality and Simplicity: Once we understand your goals – we don’t start designing and developing – We start thinking. We think about how to achieve your goals in the most efficient manner – the best workflow – we simplify. When we are done we simplify some more. The bottom line is that simple is hard – and we are great at making it simple for the user.

Deep Experience in Mobile Business and Mobile Strategy: Our team started working with mobile strategy and deployment more than 10 years ago – when the iPhone was just a twinkle in Steve Jobs’ eye. Our founder was responsible for launching the initial mobile strategy and development at a billion-dollar medical software company in the early 2000’s. Since then, he and the leadership of Engage Mobile have been on the leading edge translating mobile technology to business competitive advantage and success.

Marketing Expertise to Drive Results: It is not enough to develop a mobile app and roll it out to your workforce or the app store. The only way to get results is if users are actually using your mobile product. Our marketing team can help your mobile product succeed by developing and executing a custom marketing program focused on getting results. In addition to branding apps, social media and search marketing (SEO and PPC), our team can develop text messaging programs, email programs, push notifications and even mobile video programs to help your product succeed.

Product Expertise: The greatest strategies in the world are wasted if you do not have a product that delivers – and that is where our technical team shines. We have some of the best and brightest developers in the country working with Engage Mobile to deliver excellent products. We work with Apple iOS, Google Android, Microsoft Windows 8 and HTML 5 to deliver world-class mobile solutions.

If you are looking for help determining your mobile strategy and develop products and solutions to drive your company forward, check us out at www.engagemobile.com or email me at mbarksdale@engagemobile.com.  We can help you take your business to the next level.