Learning on the go

A look back at 2011...

2011-12-22T05:51:00.000-08:00

As the holidays bustle along and the new year approaches, we here at gWhiz would like to thank our loyal customers and partners as well as our family and friends for your continued support. It’s been a busy year! We have accomplished much as we continue to carve out our niche in the mobile educational marketplace. With nearly 150 mobile applications on the market today, we have seen steady growth in both usage and market share.

This growth is due, in no small part, to our focus on perfecting our users’ experience. We are not content to sit back on our laurels but strive to continually improve our products. We are particularly proud of the newest version of our flagship app, gFlash+. Long recognized as the best free flashcard app on the market, gFlash+ offers users a robust, multi-language platform for creating, downloading, and manipulating flashcards in every subject under the sun. In its latest incarnation, gFlash+ offers users more capabilities for free while also offering them configurable upgrades to customize their experience.

As proud as we are of the new gFlash+, we are happy to announce even more exciting developments this year. In May, we released a new comprehensive GMAT review app in partnership with the Graduate Management Admissons Council (GMAC), the owner and administrator of the GMAT exam worldwide. Available for iOS and Android devices, this app offers up to 800 official questions and complete answers and includes performance tracking through GameCenter as well as social media integration.

Another bright spot for us this past year is the new series of LANGE medical apps that we've developed in partnership with McGraw-Hill. Beyond the high-quality subject matter, these apps usher in a new level of mobile test prep sophistication as they allow users to create customized tests by choosing questions from any number of discrete categories, and then measure their progress using our premium analytics. We believe these apps to be among the most advanced mobile test preparation software on the planet. Really! Currently we've released Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Pharmacy, and Psychiatry, with several other titles still on the way.

But wait, there’s more! We’ve built upon our existing relationship with the good folks at Wiley to develop their CliffsNotes series for Classic Literature. With 40 titles available through individual purchase or by in-app purchase with our new container app, CliffsNotes Study Guides, we have left no literary stone unturned. And we’re happy to report that Apple’s iTunes has recently recognized this app as “New and Noteworthy”!

Not interested in the classics? Maybe you’re expecting to receive a Nook or Kindle this holiday season. If that’s the case, you’ll be glad to know that many of our Android apps are now available through BN.com and the Amazon App Store. Just in time for the holidays. :)

Headed Back to School? Take gWhiz With You!

2011-09-01T18:13:00.000-07:00

As the lazy days of summer slowly wind down, it’s time to start preparing for the challenges of another school year. Whether you’re a student, parent, or teacher, gWhiz has the tools you need to make this year the best one yet. So as you fold up your beach umbrella and pack away your swim gear, take a moment to consider this. gWhiz has over one hundred educational applications in a myriad of subjects targeting students of all ages. There’s sure to be one that speaks to you.

Are you a student or a parent of a student in the K-12 demographic? Then check out our meStudying apps for Algebra, Reading, and AP topics (e.g., Art History and English Language). These apps will make hitting the books this fall feel more like an adventure than a chore. Still not completely sold? For a limited time, try out one of our meStudying apps on us. That’s right. Free. Just send us an e-mail at marketing@gwhizmobile.com or post a comment on Facebook letting us know why you should receive one of our meStudying apps completely free. That’s it! We’ll send you a promo code for use on your Android or i-device. Easy as pie.

And, as if that weren’t enough, we’re running a promotion on our CliffsNotes apps just in time for back to school season. Planning to tackle the classics this year? Our CliffsNotes apps can start you off on the right foot. With 36 titles currently available and 4 more on the way, we have your bases covered. And starting September 15th, the CliffsNotes Hamlet app will be free for one month.

For more information about our meStudying and CliffsNotes apps, please visit us at www.gwhizmobile.com.

iOS fix

2011-07-31T07:29:00.000-07:00

Over the next month or so, our customers may notice an update to their gWhiz iPhone app which simply says "iOS fix"; we'd like to tell you what it's about.

During our testing of the developer release of iOS 5, we uncovered a problem that prevents the selection of test or quiz options in our test prep apps. Unfortunately, this problem affects many of our titles. (Flashcard and specialty apps are not affected)

We reported this issue to Apple development several weeks ago but don't know yet if they will fix it - it's an incompatibility with previous versions of the iOS, but it's not really a bug (if you want details, feel free to write us).

Anyways, they may yet correct the issue when iOS 5 goes "live", but we've decided to go ahead and start patching our apps anyways. We've updated about 20 titles so far but we've got many more to do yet.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused; please write us at support@gwhizmobile.com if you have any questions.

Thanks for your support!

Explore the Classics With Our New CliffsNotes apps

2011-05-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

We’re excited to have deepened our ties with Wiley Publishing to create 16 new mobile applications for their CliffsNotes English Literature series, with more to come. Designed to work on the i-devices, our developers have been working tirelessly to create an experience that is not only entertaining but quite effective. Have only a few days or hours to study? Our CliffsNotes applications offer two modes of review - the Cram Plan and the Full Study Plan. So, if life has gotten in the way, choose the customizable Cram Plan and hit the highlights or dig a little deeper. You decide. Have weeks or months to devote to studying? Then roll up your sleeves and choose the Full Study Plan. It puts all of the app’s content at your fingertips. Literally.

With a multiple-choice quiz included in every app, you can assess your mastery of the material. Need to review a particularly important passage again? The app allows easy-to-use bookmarking so you can go back to that section again and again. Having trouble following all of the characters and their associations? Check out the interactive character maps. Don’t have time to read through all of the content? The app provides audio plot summaries that you can listen to wherever and whenever is convenient. Some screenshots from To Kill A Mockingbird follow:

Titles already available in iTunes:

Animal Farm
A Tale of Two Cities
Frankenstein
Great Expectations
Hamlet
Jane Eyre
Lord of the Flies
Romeo and Juliet
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Canterbury Tales
The Catcher in the Rye
The Great Gatsby
The Kite Runner
The Odyssey
The Scarlet Letter
To Kill a Mockingbird

Have we piqued your curiousity? To see these and our other CliffsNotes mobile applications, go to http://www.gwhizmobile.com/gWhiz/Apps.php?search=CliffsNotes.

Get Connected. Stay Connected.

2011-02-17T18:11:00.000-08:00

It’s hard to believe that a mere few years ago, we were all walking around completely disconnected from each other. Remember the payphone, anyone? Until cell phones, that’s the only option we had to reach out and touch someone. Oh, how times have changed.

Here at gWhiz we are enjoying the rising popularity of mobile computing and are producing new, innovative applications every day. Speaking of innovation...our latest apps even have social networking capabilities so you can stay connected - anytime and from anywhere.

The McGraw-Hill AP apps we recently released are a good example. Not only are these apps comprehensive, but they also have lots of bells and whistles that will appeal to the average teenager and make them fun to use! Want to let your friends know how great these apps are or even share your score? Now you can through a Facebook link within the application. Genius, we know.

With 500 separate questions and detailed explanations, these apps leave no stone unturned. Already on the market are apps for AP Psychology, Biology, and U.S. History with apps for World History, English Literature, and English Language coming soon.

Curious? Take a sneak peek…check out some screenshots for 500 AP U.S. History Questions 5 Steps to a 5 below.

It's Been a Good Year!

2010-12-26T18:10:00.000-08:00

2010 has been a busy and fruitful year for gWhiz. Since the holidays are the traditional time to reflect on past accomplishments, we thought we would take a look back at the year and share some of our biggest triumphs. We appreciate the unwavering support of our customers and content partners as well as our family and friends and look forward to continued success in 2011.

We started the year with a respectable number of apps under our belt but have experienced phenomenal growth, ending the year with over 100 apps available on four separate platforms including the i-devices, Android, BlackBerry and netbooks. Our products span a wide range of educational topics and appeal to a variety of audiences, from the K-12 set to college students to busy professionals preparing for accreditation programs or just learning for fun.

A few recent additions to our line-up include Guitar Basics for Dummies, an app designed to get the user playing real music – fast! With a built-in electronic tuner and metronome/drum tracks, this app has it all. And you don’t have to be a music aficionado to appreciate our other new For Dummies apps which include GMAT Practice, GRE Practice, and ACT Practice, to name just a few.

Do you have a high-school student in the house? We’ve created several apps this year designed to make studying for the SAT, ACT, and various AP exams much easier and a lot more fun. In collaboration with McGraw-Hill, we developed college-prep apps: ACT Vocabulary and SAT Smart Cards, as well as AP apps for U.S. History, Psychology, World History, U.S. Government and Politics, European History, Microeconomics/Macroeconomics, and Biology. And for the fan of the popular Twilight series, we have created two SAT/ACT prep apps based on the first two books: Defining Twilight Vocabulary Practice and Defining New Moon Vocabulary Practice.

We also continue to work with Florida Virtual Schools, a leading provider of online education for the K-12 set, to develop innovative apps designed to enhance their curricula. With three meStudying apps already on the market and more in the pipeline, gWhiz hopes to position itself as the go-to developer in the virtual education industry.

As we look forward to 2011, we couldn’t be more excited about the future. We see limitless opportunities for growth in our current markets and beyond. We at gWhiz believe in putting out compelling, value-driven products that speak to people. We hope that you will share our vision and continue to support our progress in the new year.

Wishing you peace and prosperity during the holidays and in the year ahead.

New improved version of gFlashPro for iPad and iPhone coming soon!

2010-09-24T18:27:00.000-07:00

Here at gWhiz we are never content to just sit on our laurels. In the fast-paced smartphone app market, innovation is the key to success. So we’ve taken a close look at one of our best-selling and highest rated apps, gFlashPro, to see how we can make it better. The result is gFlashPro version 3.0 due out in a few weeks. Not to toot our own horn, but it’s everything a flashcard app should be and more!

With the new, improved version of gFlashPro, we’ve pulled out all the stops. Not only can you download cardsets from StudyStack.com, the gWhiz Catalog, and through Google Docs but now you can access the more than 2.5 million cardsets available at www.quizlet.com. Impressive, eh? It gets better. The new version also makes creating, editing, combining, rearranging and deleting cards and cardsets easier.

The newest version of gFlashPro also allows the use of cards with up to six sides as well as the use of images and HTML in multiple choice answers. Do you use large data sets? Splitting them up into more manageable pieces is a snap with gFlashPro v.3.0. Have an iPad? Leverage the iPad “split view” screen when accessing cardsets and features.

Beyond the improved functionality of the app, it looks a lot prettier too. Users can change the background at will and select from any fonts available on the device. Neat stuff, we know. Done studying for a particular subject? Now cards can be permanently deleted using the gFlashPro editor. And there are no worries about losing your data since the entire gFlashPro database including flashcard data, cardset progress, and configuration settings can be easily backed up.

Hopefully, we’ve piqued your curiosity about our newest version of gFlashPro. We think it’s simply the best flashcard app around, and we hope you’ll agree. After all, many of the improvements we’ve made resulted from suggestions from our users. So thank you! And remember, if you already own an earlier version of gFlashPro, you can upgrade for free. Look for gFlashPro version 3.0 in iTunes soon.

Google features our Kaplan GRE app in Android Market

2010-09-08T09:54:00.000-07:00

The good folks at Google have recognized gWhiz’s Kaplan GRE for Vocabulary app as one of the best apps available for the Android. Impressed by its functionality and ease-of-use, the Google team decided to feature this app on the Android Market home page late last week. Check it out at http://www.android.com/market/#app=com.gwhizmobile.vocab or on your hand-held device.

We here at gWhiz strive to create products that are not only useful but innovative and fun to use. Whoever said that studying had to be boring? Combining smartphone technology with traditional test preparation materials allows us to create a much more interesting way to study. We believe that learning should be fun, and now it is!

To learn more about the Kaplan GRE for Vocabulary app or any of our study prep apps, check out our website at http://www.gwhizmobile.com/Desktop/Products.php. Not sure you want to make the investment? For a limited time, try out one our apps for free. That's right--free! Just send an e-mail to promo@gwhizmobile.com telling us why you, or someone you know, should get a free download of the app to check out and rate.

CompTIA Network+ app Now Available for iPad and iPhone

2010-08-25T18:13:00.000-07:00

Are you a systems professional looking to acquire CompTIA Network+ certification? Let gWhiz Mobile's newest app help you achieve your goal. In collaboration with the experts in test preparation at McGraw-Hill, we have created an app that is both current and comprehensive. With over 70 checkpoints touching on a wide variety of topics from network fundamentals to wide-area-networking to trouble-shooting, this app provides a thorough review of networking basics.

Designed for busy professionals, the portability of this app makes studying a breeze. Have a few minutes between meetings or during your commute? Make the most of your spare time by reviewing the information on your mobile device. Then use the 100+ practice exam questions and answers included in the app to test your knowledge and assess your test readiness. With an intensive focus on only what you need to know to pass the CompTIA Network+ exam, this certification passport is your ticket to success on exam day.

Follow this link to learn more...http://tinyurl.com/2a7nlta

Mobile Learning and the Future of Education

2010-07-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

In a recent article written by Joe Ganci On Mobile Learning Solutions Magazine’s web site (you can read the full story here), Joe asked 7 industry experts three questions:

What are the obstacles to practical delivery of learning via mobile devices?
What do you think it will take to solve these problems?
When do you think it will happen?

Answers for the first question seemed to be consistent among the respondents and ranged from lack of technical standards, lack of consistency among devices, and a lack of consistency in content delivery. Everyday more and more schools, colleges and universities are experimenting with mobile learning. A recent article in Wired Magazine talks about how universities are looking to replace textbooks with iPads, and the University of Oklahoma is currently doing a study using iPads in education. The article also talks about how mobile learning could actually save students money on text books. Good news for parents and future college students faced with footing the bill for a higher education.

While mobile learning is still in the nascent stages of development, we believe that a key to resolving some issues related to content delivery and lack of consistency among devices is to make mobile apps and textbooks that promote learning for multiple devices. At gWhiz we develop apps for the iPad/iPod touch/iPhone as well as the BlackBerry smartphone and Android. Developing apps for multiple devices is no different than developing a web site that delivers educational content for multiple browsers. It just makes good sense in terms of reaching the largest audience of learners.

Florida Virtual Schools’ meStudying Algebra 1 app is a great example of an app that is available for multiple devices that students are likely to already have in their pockets. Same with their Reading for College Success App that is due for release soon. Kaplan also has professional apps that are available on Android, the i-devices, and BlackBerry smartphone including: GRE Vocabulary, Medical Terms for Nurses, Real Estate Terms, and Architecture Registration Exam.

We’d love to hear from you, what device do you use and why? E-mail your response to marketing@gwhizmobile.com and we’ll send you a promo code of your choice subject to availability.

Mobile Learning: Which Device Will Put You at the Head of the Class?

2010-05-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

There’s certainly a lot going on in the mobile device world lately. We just got done trying out our brand new iPads, here at gWhiz and now Google is releasing its own tablet according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal. The competition is definitely getting hotter in the mobile world and according to market research group, the NPD group, the Android OS is leading the way for smart phone operating systems and is ahead of the iPhone OS which is closely followed by RIM’s OS. So what does this mean for mobile learning and which device will lead the way?

In Educause’s latest whitepaper on mobile learning they talk about pioneering schools that have done some great work with iPods and iPhones in the classroom. Based on our own experience, we are hearing from more teachers, students and school officials every day. So far we’ve had the greatest demand for apps for the i devices. But with the Android growing in popularity it is anyone’s guess right now, and BlackBerry still has the lion’s share among professional users. gWhiz currently has more than 40 apps in the iTunes store including our best selling GRE Vocabulary app, which is also available for the Android and BlackBerry. We also get quite a few requests for professional test prep apps. Our latest sets apps to help busy professionals on the go are now in the iTunes store, and include the Wile y CPA app as well as the L e eds Building Design & Construction and Green Associate Apps.

When we partnered with Florida Virtual School they were interested in developing the meStudying:Algebra 1 app geared toward students for both the Android and the iPod/iPad/iPhone and we have more on the way. Similarly Kaplan’s Medical Terms for nurses, a professional test prep app is also available on for the iPod/iPad/iPhone and the BlackBerry. And we’ve always offered gFlash Pro, gRef Pro, gCalc Pro, and got 2 Pro both in the iTunes store and at BlackBerry App World because they make great learning and productivity tools for students and professionals alike. With the concept of mobile learning starting to pick up some pretty serious steam, we are excited by the growing awareness about the impact that mobile learning has on students, both young and old. We look forward to continuing to a provide apps for a life time of learning, from the school aged, to the college student to aspiring professional. Visit www.gwhizmobile.com to see what's new or to request promo codes so you can test drive our latest apps.

Why the iPad is a "Big Deal"

2010-05-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

When I first heard about Apple's iPad I said, (like many others) "It's just a big iPod Touch. Why not get a netbook? Do I need another device that's somewhere between my iPod Touch and my laptop? Do I really want to write code for yet another platform? What's the big deal?"

But, after spending quality time with the iPad over the last several weeks, I can report that the big deal is that... (drum roll, please):

The iPad is a big iPod Touch

No, really. That is a big deal.

The iPod Touch (like its iPhone sibling) is an awesome device - it plays music and videos, it can manage your contact lists, emails, and photo albums. It has an accelerometer that detects screen orientation and user movement. The user interface is easy to use with simple, intuitive navigation. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot: it has a nifty little touch screen that's leveraged by a bazillion or so AppStore apps.

The iPod's only major shortcoming comes from its fit-in-your-pocket design: the small screen size limits what developers can offer in one app. Thus, the iPod is great for on-the-go use, but not as great for high-content and feature-intensive apps.

So along comes the iPad. It's just like the iPod Touch, but bigger. Although you can't put the iPad in your pocket it's still small enough to tuck into a student's notebook. And like the Touch, the iPad is easy to use and has access to a bazillion iTunes apps, the email features, and the accelerometer.

But it's the expanded touch screen that makes it a Big Deal.

The larger screen dramatically sweetens the user experience. For an example, let's compare difference between our FLVS Algebra app on the iPod and iPad versions. First, let's look at the iPhone/iPod Touch app:

This app is a nice little mobile utility used by students to practice Algebra. Now, let's look at the same app on the iPad.

On the iPad, everything is easily accessible - categories, questions, answers, and explanations. There's even room for a calculator.

And check out the scratch pad shown below - users can write directly on the screen to work out equations. It's not a feature that you'd find on a laptop, and it wouldn't work very well on the small iPhone screen, but on the iPad...

"But it's just a big iPod Touch!"

Yup.

Everyone Needs A Study Buddy

2010-04-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

It is that time of year when the joy and freedom that summer brings, can’t arrive fast enough for thousands of high school students across the country. That’s right, it is time for advanced placement exams.

As students put their noses to the grindstone to study for exams that will help them earn college credit and go a long way toward landing in a top school, parents and students stress about how to achieve high scores on the exams. In addition to entrée into first choice schools, according to the College Board's Web site other benefits of high achievement on AP exams include earlier graduation, money saved on a college education, more time to study abroad, and possibly a student favorite less time spent studying. AP credits also help students when applying for scholarships too, in fact according to the site 31% of colleges take into account a prospect’s AP scores when determining scholarships.

No pressure, right? The good news for students is that you aren’t alone. Tens of thousands of students across the U.S. will be taking the test right along with you. Better news is that there are also tons of resources out there in the way of study guides and pocasts. To make studying even easier, gWhiz and McGraw-Hill have developed a set of study buddies that fit right in your pocket. You can review for your AP exam right up to the last minute with easy-to-use apps for your iPhone or iPod Touch. Each has several hundred flashcards with practice test questions on topics including:

- AP U.S. History
- AP Psychology
- AP World History
- AP Biology
- AP European History
- AP Microeconomics/Macroeconomics
- AP U.S. Government and Politics

And to help with that last minute studying we’re also offering a limited number of free promo codes for all of our AP apps on a first come, first served basis. You can e-mail us to get your free promo code!

Happy studying, and good luck from gWhiz!

There IS an App for That!

2010-02-05T09:05:00.000-08:00

The pace of advancement in technology never slows down, and the fun part about working in the tech industry is that there is always something exciting, new, and outright amazing that you never would have thought of. This week, for example, right here in Maryland I learned that the Enoch Pratt Library is on Foursquare, and that the library used it to give a mug to the new “mayor” of the library . . . when I read the article I thought it was pretty cool that someone would think to use a social networking platform to promote a library, and then I became jealous. I spent so much time reading science fiction and checking out jazz records at my local library back in the day that I would have earned enough check-ins on Foursquare for a Jaguar or a closet full of library mugs!

Later in the day I was talking to a friend of mine, who is a doctor, and I asked him what he thought about iPhone/iPod touch test prep apps for the MCAT and the USMLE. And then he asked the question – there’s an app for that? After I stopped laughing, he told me stories about sleepless nights spent studying for the MCAT. He said it would have been convenient, and much more fun to supplement his studying with an app that had iPhone flashcards and videos.

I can relate to what my friend had to say. The daughter of one of our founders swears by gFlashPro, our flashcard app, as a great study tool. When I think back to my college days and all the time I spent creating flashcards to study for an exam, when I could have been out doing other things, it made me wish I could send myself a smartphone back through time.

But you can’t go back in time and technology never sleeps, so at gWhiz we are always looking forward to what's coming next. Even as I typed this post, a friend instant messaged me to let me know that Facebook had just rolled out some updates to their photo capabilities. Tech doesn’t even seem to like to take a nap, and neither do we. We’ve got some more great apps coming down the pipeline for the Architect Registration Examination and the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE/EIT) exam, and of course we are counting down the days for the arrival our Twilight app in the iTunes store!

Now that we’ve told you our favorite tech tidbits for the week, what are yours? Share your favorite news of tech wizardry by commenting on this post and e-mailing marketing@gwhizmobile.com. We’ll give you a free promo code to an app from the gWhiz or for Dummies catalog!

Our First Contest!

2010-02-01T12:56:00.000-08:00

Today in gWhiz history we are doing our first contest to give away 20 promotional codes for the McGraw-Hill ACT Vocabulary App! Guidance counselors, teachers, students, and parents are all eligible for the contest.

To enter we're simply asking folks to put our marketing team to work and tell them why you, or someone you know should get a fee download of the app. The e-mail can go to marketing@gwhizmobile.com, and we've even made it easy for you to share the offer with your friends and loved ones on Facebook with our brand new Facebook Share button.

What app will we feature in our next contest? Keep visiting to find out!

Mobile Education: A Future So Bright We’re Wearing Our Shades

2010-01-29T09:46:00.000-08:00

We are cranking away here at gWhiz, and we have some great apps coming down the pipeline. Mobile learning is becoming an increasingly cost effective, convenient, and accessible format to a broad range of audiences to foster a lifetime of learning. With the recent release of the iPad and all that’s going on with the Android, the future is only getting brighter in terms of possibilities and potential for mobile learning.

Consider younger audiences ages, 8 to 18. In a recent post Weblogged, children in this age group spend an average of 53 hours per week consuming and interacting with media! The latest article in Campus Technology Magazine discusses a pilot on the school’s campus, where the school gave out iPods and iPhones to their in coming freshmen class as part of a mobile learning initiative. A recent report by Elliot Massie’s Learning Consortium estimated that corporate expenditures for mobile learning will reach $246.9 million by the end of 2011. The report states, and we agree, that handheld devices have the incredible potential to push and pull information and deliver learning whenever and wherever you need it.

Here at gWhiz we think the potential for mobile learning is limitless across all age groups. Demand for mobile learning has kept our SAT Vocabulary app at the top of the list of SAT Apps on iTunes, and we believe it will so the same for our newly released SAT app. Florida Virtual Schools meStudying:Algebra I app released an algebra app that not only supports their own curriculum, but can also be used as a study aid by anyone taking high school algebra. We even see the demand for mobile learning among our own employees here at gWhiz who use our graduate school test prep apps and gFlashPro cards to study for just about anything, and everything. One of our marketing folks even made some fly fishing flash cards for her father’s iPod touch so that he could have a handy pocket reference when he’s out in the stream.

The future of mobile learning looks like a bright one, and here at gWhiz we are excited about the possibilities. We’ve even got an App coming up based on the popular Defining Twilight series to help students prep for the vocabulary portion of the SAT, ACT, GED, and more. Stay tuned for the announcement . . . .

gWhiz in the News and New Apps!

2010-01-25T15:11:00.001-08:00

We’ve got some great stuff going on here at gWhiz! gWhiz is in the news with our new Florida Vrtual schools meStudying: Algebra I app. We’ve also been featured as an iTunes staff top pick in the App Store. And last but not least, the For Dummies SAT Vocabulary App is #1 in SAT apps and in the top 20 of educational apps!

This weekend we also released a GMAT review app with Kaplan into the iTunes store. The app includes more than 300 terms, with definitions, extensive math review and grammar review. Check out the screen shots of the app below:

"For Dummies" SAT Vocab in the App store!

2009-12-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

We've got so much new stuff coming out, we almost forgot to mention our latest "For Dummies" application: SAT Vocabulary. This app comes loaded with piles of features including flashcards, four practice tests, one "Genius" test, a comprehensive word lookup feature, and much much more.

Best of all its available at an introductory price of just 99 cents! Check it out !(requires iTunes)

USMLE - Revised!

2009-11-28T06:39:00.001-08:00

This is just a quick note to let you know that we've updated our Dr. Fischer's USMLE Disease Deck app with some cool new features:

Audio Reference - You can play the entire audio disease deck or drag the slider to a specific item
A flashcard set including the entire list of flashcards. (Previously they were divided up into individual categories)
A custom flashcard set which can be populated by starring user defined items
An easier to navigate homescreen
The ability to save your place within any large flashcard set

The update is now available in the iTunes app store.

Kaplan MBE - Free for a limited time!

2009-11-24T04:26:00.000-08:00

Announcing our latest iPhone/iTouch app with Kaplan Publishing: Kaplan MBE (Multistate Bar Exam).

This latest collaboration with Kaplan Publishing is a powerful study tool for individuals preparing to take the MBE.

The app includes Leitner-based flashcards for Torts, Constitutional Law, Evidence, and several other subjects. Each flashcard provides a detailed description of the term or concept, and often adds real-world examples and exam tips. It even tracks your progress using a proficiency graph, available from the home screen!

Tired of doing flashcards? Check out one of the app's six subject videos featuring Christopher Fromm, Esq., or just use the fully searchable reference guide.

Best of all, for a limited time, it's completely free! Check out more screenshots and videos here on our website, or just go get the software (requires iTunes)!

vClicker Mobile Edition!

2009-11-06T12:00:00.000-08:00

We recently finished up a cool project with our friends at eInstruction to deliver an iPhone-enabled vClicker to the app store. vClicker is part of a comprehensive interactive student response system and assessment tool. It helps teachers be more effective, allowing them to periodically "poll" students to see if the lesson is being understood.

Interested in learning more? Check out the description in the app store (requires iTunes).

ASVAB Practice For Dummies from gWhiz and Wiley!

2009-11-02T18:02:00.000-08:00

We at gWhiz are very pleased to announce our latest iPhone app to hit the App Store: ASVAB Practice For Dummies, our first collaboration with Wiley publishing. The ASVAB is short for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery and this app will help you get ready to aim high, be army strong, be one of the few, the proud, or be all you can be. So, er, don't give up the ship [cough].

Anyways, this powerful app is absolutely loaded with great content and useful features. There are four reviewable practice tests, subject study questions, test taking tips, and bonus Extras content. Features include support for portrait and landscape views, test timing, markable questions, scoring, and orientation locking.

The study questions give you a short sample of the types of questions that will be asked and question-by-questions explanations of the results. The practice tests are approximately the same length as the actual test, and are fully reviewable as well.

Check out our website here for more information.

Do you use gFlash in China?

2009-11-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

If so, we would like to hear from you! How do you use gFlash? How can we make it better for you? How do you interact with Google to create and share your card sets? Please post a comment here, in our forums, or send a message to us via e-mail.

This is the flashcard app you're looking for: gFlash+ for Android

2009-10-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

(Sorry about the 'droid joke - overused, but still a classic. Anyways....)

We're very pleased to announce that gFlash is now available for the Android mobile OS. Best of all, it's being introduced for the low low price of ....FREE!

Our ad-supported gFlash+ for Android provides some great features. Users can download and view thousands of cardsets (available at no cost) from our online flashcard catalog. Students can create new cardsets and share them to the catalog for download.

If you have an Android handset, just search for gFlash in the Android Marketplace and download! Please let us know what you think!

5 New MCAT Apps for iPhone/iPod

2009-10-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

gWhiz is pleased to announce our latest collaboration with Kaplan Publishing - Five new MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) mobile study applications!

In addition to the powerful study, reference, and self-testing features typically found in gWhiz products, these apps also include professionally-generated "Kaplan Fast Facts" videos. The videos focus on particular topics covered on the MCAT.

Another new feature in these MCAT apps is the ability to "star" cards in order to create custom study sets for study and testing.

The five MCAT apps now available from gWhiz are:

MCAT Biology
MCAT General Chemistry
MCAT Organic Chemistry
MCAT Physics
and MCAT Comprehensive (includes all MCAT content)

Want more information or pricing? You can read more information on our website or go directly to the App Store (iTunes required)

Kaplan Architecture App in iTunes!

2009-09-09T16:57:00.001-07:00

We're very happy to announce that we've recently released the Kaplan Architecture (ARE) application for the iPhone/iPod Touch! The app boasts well over a thousand architecture terms plus many popular gWhiz flashcard features like card skip, orientation lock, multiple choice/honor modes and a full featured, searchable architecture reference. Interested in learning more? Check out the video here!

For Educators: Going Beyond Flashcards....

2009-09-01T05:37:00.000-07:00

For individual use, our gFlash line of mobile flashcard applications are a great way to study. They're interesting, focused, and of course, mobile.

But in today's classrooms and education settings, there's a need for something new (and inexpensive) to hold student interest and evaluate lesson effectiveness.

With that in mind, we proudly introduce gWhizMLA - The first ever Google Docs based mobile assessment tool for iPod Touch and iPhone.

And it's FREE for the fall semester!

How does gWhizMLA work?

Like gFlash+ and gFlashPro, the instructor creates a spreadsheet (or uses our template) containing a set of questions. The questions can be multiple choice, true/false, short answer, sequenced, and more. They can even contain sound in both the question and answer for language studies. The instructor then shares the spreadsheet with a designated Google account registered here.

From the iPod Touch or iPhone, students then register their device by typing in the Google account and the list of assessments (tests) is presented to them.

As they take the test, their answers are recorded and written back to the same Google spreadsheet that the teacher created!

Another cool feature is that the instructor can lead the students thru the test, controlling the current question from their own iPod Touch, with the ability to review results on a chart as they go along.

Interested? Download gWhizMLA today to your iPod Touch/iPhone. You can check out the assessments in our public gwhizmla account or create your own and share them to us. If you'd prefer to start your own account, you can register it here. (You can also check out the PDF overview or the short video)

Let us know what you think!

Google Doc Problem - Resolved

2009-08-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

The Google Docs problem affecting our BlackBerry gFlashPro/gRef users has been fixed. If you are continuing to see issues, please contact us or post on our forum.

New Google Docs Problem

2009-08-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

Argh. The current problem is preventing BlackBerry users using gFlashPro and gRef from downloading lists of spreadsheets. The issue has already been acknowledged by Google, so hopefully it'll get fixed very soon.

In the meantime, BlackBerry users can share their spreadsheets to our catalog, and then email the file to their phone. Directions on how to do this can be found on our website.

This outage should NOT affect iPhone/iPod users or got-2 users.

We'll post updates on our twitter feed and on this blog as we learn more. Thanks...

Google Docs Problem - resolved

2009-07-29T05:47:00.001-07:00

Google has let us know that the Google Docs issue previously reported has been fixed. Everything appears to be back to normal for gWhiz applications using Google Docs. (gFlash+, gFlashPro, and gRef).

Google Docs Issue Update

2009-07-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

gFlash+ v0.6i and gFlashPro v2.1 are now available from iTunes' AppStore. These updates contain a workaround for an issue caused by a recent (~July 15th) Google Documents change. Techies can read the details here.

Google has told us they will be updating their code to fix the original problem sometime late next week.

Google Docs Problem

2009-07-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

Beginning yesterday, our users have been experiencing problems downloading documents from Google. This issue affects our gFlash+, gFlashPro, and gRef products. Essentially the issue is caused by incorrect links in the list of documents returned from Google.

Google has acknowledged the problem and has told us that a fix will occur "before the end of the month". We've asked them to expedite.

With the exception of gFlash+ on iPhone, there are workarounds. These are all detailed on our forum thread that discusses this issue. Most users should be able to workaround the issue without too much trouble.

For the free gFlash+ on iPhone, there is no immediate workaround, but we've patched the code to use an alternative download method. Unfortunately, approval thru the App Store can take as long as 10 days.

We deeply regret the inconvenience this is causing. It's frustrating for us too. :-/

You can follow updates either on our forum or on our http://www.twitter.com/gwhizmobile feed.

Announcing: The USMLE Disease Deck...with audio!

2009-05-15T05:21:00.000-07:00

We're very pleased to announce our latest joint gWhiz - Kaplan Publishing's iPhone/iPod Touch application: Dr. Conrad Fischer's USMLE Disease Deck.

For us non-medical types, the USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination) is used during the certification of medical doctors. Dr. Conrad Fischer is a well known and respected physician and educator. He has authored numerous study guides to assist students in learning internal medicine.

The USMLE Disease Deck application includes subjects from ABO Incompatibility to Zollinger Ellison Syndrome (ZES), with a detailed description for each disease. Students can either use the application for flashcard-based study or can look up particular items in the convenient reference mode.

A special feature of the app is the built-in audio where Dr. Fischer summarizes the characteristics and treatment of each disorder with a unique and fun presentation.

If you're interested in learning more, check it out here in iTunes! (this requires iTunes to be installed)

Looking for got-2 Pro 1.2 Beta testers

2009-05-01T16:20:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick post to let you know got-2 Pro v1.2 is on its way and we're looking for some beta testers.

Please let us know if you are interested in testing this new version by sending an email to betatest@gwhizmobile.com. We would like your feedback by May 10th.

Some of the new features include:
- ability to call a phone number from a task/appointment.
- ability to specify appointment duration
- speed improvements
- proper appointment placement in home view
- maintain proper focus for move up/down reducing the amount of scrolling required
- Task Reset option (called "Super Snooze" from the context menu). Note that the context menu on tasks is available via ALT+trackball (otherwise it'll just close/expand the task).
- '0 days' before reminder option for tasks.
- refresh details after a changes to the task.

Let us know if you're interested!

I get arrector pilis just thinking about it....

2009-04-19T11:27:00.000-07:00

What? You don't know what "Arrector Pili" is? Well, if you had our new "Kaplan's Medical Terms for Nurses", on your BlackBerry, you'd know it's another term for goosebumps. (This app is great fun at parties...trust me).

The application contains both flashcards for studying and a searchable reference feature allowing fast access to the over 2000 medical terms. Although the application is designed for nurses, anybody can use this helpful reference to get more information on a medical term.

Kaplan's Medical Terms for Nurses, which is also available on the iPhone/iPod Touch, is now available for just $9.99 in the BlackBerry App World or from your other favorite online stores (like www.crackberry.com).

gFlashPro Version 2 Now Available!

2009-04-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

Here it is, day six of April, and we're already on our third product announcement!

This post is to tell you about the latest revision (2.0) of gFlashPro for the iPhone, our very popular, general-purpose flashcard application. Here's some of what's new in this version:

The much-requested "orientation-lock" feature. This allows the screen to be locked so that moving around the device won't change between portrait and landscape modes.
"Skip" card feature allows you to delay answering items you're not sure of.
Faster and larger cardset downloads from our gWhiz card catalog. Now you can have literally, thousands of questions and answers in a single set.
The ability to view and input community ratings for Flashcard sets in the gWhiz card catalog.
And much more...

The new version is available in iTunes. Check it out!

Kaplan GRE for BlackBerry!

2009-04-04T10:22:00.000-07:00

We announced our Kaplan GRE product for the iPhone a few months ago. Since then, it has become one of our best sellers in the iPhone App Store.

Now, we're very pleased to announce Kaplan GRE for the BlackBerry community! It supports BlackBerry OS's 4.2 and later and there is a special build just for the BlackBerry Storm.

Kaplan GRE for the BlackBerry is just $4.99 and is available from www.crackberry.com as well as a number of other BlackBerry mobile software outlets.

Math for Nurses

2009-04-01T04:39:00.001-07:00

Our gWhiz partnership with Kaplan Publishing [kaplanpublishing.com] continues to bear fruit. Our latest joint product, "Math for Nurses" is now ready and available from the iTunes App Store (requires iTunes).

Math for Nurses is an adaptation of Kaplan's print version of the same name and contains basic math review as well as specialized help for problem solving, calculating medicine dosages and other related tasks. The application also contains a nifty conversion calculator including functions for liquids, temperature, length, and mass.

gWhiz on Twitter

2009-03-23T18:16:00.001-07:00

If you want to get plugged into what's going on here at gWhiz, we invite you to sign up to our new twitter feed. You can find it by going to www.twitter.com/gwhizmobile, or by searching for gwhizmobile on the www.twitter.com site.

gFlashPro for BlackBerry Storm

2009-02-26T04:55:00.000-08:00

We're happy to announce we've just released a new gFlashPro, specially configured to take advantage of the BlackBerry Storm's large touch screen. This new version provides automatic multiple choice test creation, the ability to reverse the question and answer, a subset feature, and much, much more.

gFlashPro is available either as a separate application or as part of the gWhiz Suite. The gWhiz Suite contains gFlashPro, our reference program (gRefPro) and our graphing calculator (gCalcPro). Each of these applications has been specifically customized to maximize performance on the Storm.

If you have a Storm, you should definitely consider taking a look. You can get our software for your BlackBerry Storm either over-the-air or by downloading the program for your BlackBerry Desktop Manager.

Google for students and teachers

2009-02-21T05:50:00.000-08:00

Many of our customers have become acquainted with Google applications, such as spreadsheets, throught the use of gWhiz products. Did you know that Google has now revised their terms of service (TOS), specifically to enable students and teachers to use their tools, and assure their privacy and security in the classroom? The Google Apps, Educator Edition is an extremely powerful and easy to use suite of web tools which allows teachers to accomplish important tasks in the classroom. Now with the revised terms of service, an important impediment to the adoption of Google tools for classroom use has been removed. Please see the posting in Google's forum, as copied below:

Changes to Terms of Services, SAS 70 Type II
Thursday, November 6, 2008 4:24 PM
Privacy and data ownership are top discussion points in this forum. Recently, Google has made some changes which should clarify our position.First off, we wanted to point you to our newly revised Terms of Service for Google Apps EDU which should be more precise in several of these areas. Much of the confusion and concern around our Terms of Service revolve around privacy and ownership of data. So, we'd like to be very clear on these two points:* Google does not claim any ownership or your content, and uploading your content into our systems does not change this. We do require certain licenses from you to publicly display or transmit data according to your wishes (eg a public Site or Document), but the content is not ours.* Google treats all data from Google Apps customers as "Confidential Information." We do not share or reveal private user content such as email or personal information with third parties except as required by law, on request by a user or system administrator, or to protect our systems. Unless prohibited by law, we always give our customers notice of such requests.We also wanted to mention that we have extended the 99.9 percent service level agreement we offer customers on Gmail to Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sites, and Google Talk. We have been delivering high levels of reliability across all these products, so it makes sense to extend our guarantees to them.Last but not least, many schools have told us of the importance of a SAS 70 Type II audit to ensure the safety of their students' and faculties' private information. We're happy to announce that an independent public accounting firm has verified the effectiveness of our technical processes and controls for Google Apps, and Google Apps has satisfactorily completed a SAS 70 Type II audit.As always, we appreciate your feedback as we strive to provide the highest quality of services to our customers. We look forward to the continuing discussion on these points. If you'd like further information on the privacy within Google Apps you can check our FAQ or the Google Privacy Center.

We at gWhiz applaud Google's efforts and accomodation of student's needs for privacy and security when using the internet. Teachers who are interested in how Google applications can be used for teaching can discuss ideas with other teachers in the "Google for Educators Discussion Group" (http://groups.google.com/group/google-for-educators). The ideas are free, and so are Google's tools! For ideas on how to use gWhiz products in the classroom, please visit our Educator's discussion area, (http://forum.gwhizmobile.com/forumdisplay.php?f=37).

gWhiz makes it to CNNMoney.com

2009-02-19T05:01:00.000-08:00

Well, it's not exactly the cover of The Rolling Stone, but the GRE exam application built with our partner Kaplan Publishing made press headlines in a number of different markets. Here's the story from CNNMoney.com.

Better Late Than Never - gWhiz Contest Results

2009-02-14T09:55:00.000-08:00

As I was looking over entries in this blog I noticed that I never mentioned the gWhiz Best Flashcard Contest we held last year in October. The idea was to recognize and reward those gFlash and gFlashPro card designers producing the highest quality content.

The contest was a huge success and highlighted some very cool cardsets created by our user community. I invite you to take a look at the contest results right here.

Maybe we'll have another contest this year :-D

gWhiz adds an educator to the team.

2009-02-12T16:03:00.000-08:00

We are pleased to have Kevin Kisich, Ph.D. as the newest member of our team. Dr. Kisich is an educator, scientist, and all around nice guy. He will be helping us understand what teachers need in terms of mobile learning tools, moderating the Educator's Area of the forum, and showing many of the innovative ways that teachers can find to make our products behave completely unpredictably! His most important job, though, will be to listen carefully to the educators who have adopted our products, and to help work their suggestions into a series of mobile learning tools that works well no matter whom, or what you teach. Check out his first forum post on making gFlash cardsets which incorporate sound.

http://forum.gwhizmobile.com/showthread.php?t=70

Kaplan GRE Exam In The App Store!

2009-02-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

February 2009 is already off and running here at gWhiz! We're pleased to announce that the GRE Exam Flashcards application is now available in Apple's App Store. Like the other Kaplan apps we've recently produced, the GRE Exam application was developed in close partnership with the good folks at Kaplan Publishing.

Like our recently released Medical Terms application, the GRE Exam app has two main functions - Flashcards and Reference. The Flashcards feature offers iterative study or quiz modes, multiple choice, and reverse Question & Answer. The Reference mode provides for quick word look-up and multi-word searches. Both modes feature target word synonyms, pronunciation, part of speech, description, and sample usage. You can read more about it on iTunes (link requires iTunes be installed).

As a quick side-note, it's been great working with the Kaplan people. They have an impressive quality control system that painstakingly examined each and every word in the GRE application for proper spelling, pronunciation, usage, and more. They even pointed out a misspelling we had in our code (who knew that reversible had an 'i' ??) As a bonus, they're really nice people too!

Alright now you future graduate students... get studying!!

New: Medical Terms!

2009-01-27T17:39:00.000-08:00

January has been a VERY busy month for us at gWhiz. First we put out the NCLEX-RN application with our partner Kaplan Publishing. Next we posted a new version of gFlashPro and refreshed our BlackBerry apps to avoid some OS problems. But now we're happy to announce the debut of Kaplan Medical Terms, found in an Apple AppStore near you. What makes Medical Terms unique is it not only is a nursing flashcards study tool, it's also a handy reference guide. Neat eh?

Can You Hear Me NOW?? - gFlashPro 1.5 Arrives!

2009-01-27T17:06:00.000-08:00

The latest version of gFlashPro 1.5 recently appeared in the AppStore chock full of new and cool features. First and foremost among them is the ability to include sound files directly in with flashcard images and text! So, you could have a ornithological test (I did actually know that word :-D) for bird sounds and pictures (as shown here) or perhaps just a simple language test. Here's a few other features in the new release:

Ability to configure font size
Better image bordering and alignment
Embedded text with images
Control of autoshuffle feature

Try it out and let us know what you think!

got-2 Problem on BBOS 4.5

2009-01-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

We've recently received a number of reports from clients running BBOS 4.5. The problem is that got-2 will not start properly.

Our investigation showed that our low-level call to the BlackBerry library to request calendar events for the coming week is failing. It returns unexpected results causing our code to not start up.

We've since fixed the code so it will still start up (you can get it from here), but the underlying problem still exists: Users running 4.5 that have recurring calendar events may not have all of their appointments show up in got-2.

Unfortunately, there's not a lot we can do about the issue. The word we've received from RIM is that this is a known 4.5 problem and will be fixed in 4.6.1. If you're like me, and just upgraded to 4.5, it may be awhile :-(

We'll keep you posted if we figure out alternatives. We haven't been able to duplicate the problem in-house.

Update 1/20/09:
We've learned from RIM that yearly recurring events cause this problem and we were able to duplicate the issue in house. They also said that the issue has *not* been fixed yet.

gWhiz in the News (well, sorta)

2009-01-18T10:26:00.000-08:00

Last week we mentioned the NCLEX-RN application that we've developed with Kaplan. It was recently mentioned in a blog post over at TechCrunch talking about educational applications on the iPhone.

We've made the big time! Well...not exactly :-P

A New Partnership: Kaplan Publishing

2009-01-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

We at gWhiz are excited to announce our recent partnership with Kaplan Publishing [kaplanpublishing.com] to deliver educational content to mobile devices like iPhone, and iTouch, as well as BlackBerry (coming soon). As you may know, Kaplan is a well-regarded publisher of test prep and lifelong educational tools, and we're pleased to be working with them on these products.

Our first joint release (pictured above) allows nurses preparing for the NCLEX-RN exam to study more than 300 medications by drug category. Each "card" actually has four sides that the user can flip thru: Medication Name, Use/Treatment, Side Effects, and Patient Considerations. Users can study or go into "Quiz Me!" mode to measure their progress within each of the 21 categories. It's really a LOT of information, so it requires a great study tool like NCLEX-RN Medications Flashcards.

The NCLEX-RN Medications Flashcards application is based on gWhiz's popular gFlashPro product with content created by Kaplan's subject matter experts. You can read about it here on iTunes. [requires iTunes]

Stay tuned: More great educational content coming your way!

got-2 0.8.0 Update Released

2008-12-13T07:21:00.000-08:00

We just released got-2 version 0.8.0 yesterday. It's a minor release but does have some worthwhile bug fixes and performance improvements. Here's some of the changes -

Fixes "phantom" recurring events from reappearing - this was particular noticable with events that happened more than once a week.
Performance improvement when items are marked as finished. In previous versions we'd move around items and rebuild the list but that made it *really* slow to mark off items. This should be a lot faster.
Fixed nasty problem if all items in the list were deleted. Previously would require reinstallation :-O
Fixed issue with highlight not functioning properly in the Week View. The highlight problem was caused by our workaround for a style problem using certain themes. If you have this problem, you can set the Style to "Default".

gWhiz Forums Are Live!

2008-12-08T07:43:00.000-08:00

Got a question about gWhiz products? Suggestions for improvements? Comments you'd like to share about or with gWhiz?

Then come check out our new gWhiz forums at http://forum.gwhizmobile.com! Let us know how we're doing and what you'd like to see in our products. Come join us!

gCalc! Early Alpha for BlackBerry Storm

2008-12-04T14:45:00.000-08:00

We're happy to announce that gCalc!, our popular graphical calculator, is now available in early alpha release for the BlackBerry Storm. It has many advantages over the non-Storm versions in that the graph is bigger, can be scrolled using your finger, and most of the function buttons are just one click away. We've still got some work to do with it, but if you have a Storm and would like to check it out, you can download it from this page.

got-2 Early Alpha for BlackBerry Storm

2008-11-23T06:21:00.001-08:00

If you're lucky enough to have the new BlackBerry, try out our early alpha got-2 build for Storm. You can download the build from here.

Given that we don't have our Storm yet, and all dev has been done using a simulator, we're very interested in how it performs on a real device. Let us know what you think.

Announcing: gFlashPro For iPhone/iTouch!

2008-11-18T16:16:00.000-08:00

We're very excited to announce our new product, gFlashPro!

gFlashPro is the premium version of our very popular, ad-supported gFlash+ product. In addition to gFlash's already generous feature set, gFlashPro gives you:

Access to our partner StudyStack's library of cardsets
Landscape or portrait view for appropriate study
Image caching for offline studying and faster display
Improved catalog search with paged results
Easy multiple card set downloads
Convenient controls for sorting and screen layout
5 Star performance tracking

gFlashPro is now under review in the iTunes AppStore and should be generally available in a week or so. Initial pricing is set at a very reasonable $4.99 and gFlashPro contains no ads. If you have any questions or comments about gFlashPro, please send them to info@gwhizmobile.com

Quick Update for got-2.

2008-10-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

Hey all - We posted a new version of got-2 this morning. It fixes an DST annoyance visible in got-2's "Week View". You can get the new version, 0.7.9, from the website. From your BlackBerry, you can get it OTA here. Stay tuned: lots of new products and updates on the way!

gWhiz At The BlackBerry Developer Conference

2008-10-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

Hey there BlackBerry users! gWhiz is going to be out at the BlackBerry Developer's conference in Santa Clara, California this coming week. If you want to hook up, shoot us an email at info@gwhizmobile.com. We'd love to hear how you're doing with the gWhiz tools and what other features you'd like to see. See you at the show!

Updated version for iPhone/iTouch. Version 0.4i

2008-10-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

A new version of gFlash for the iPhone was posted on the AppStore yesterday. Here's what's new:

1) Support for user-defined multiple choice. Previous versions of gFlash had the option to automatically create a multiple choice test, based on the answers for other questions in the card set. The new version allows the user to define multiple answer columns in the spreadsheet.

2) gFlash preference settings in the iPhone/iTouch "General Settings" window. Includes settings for background colors, default layout, and more.

3) Full screen presentation. Users can now hide the score panel (either via the General Settings or by menu selection).

4) Support for images and multiple choice in "one page mode".

5) Improved multiple choice presentation. Previous answers were limited to a single line. Version 0.4i support multiple line, multiple choice answers.

Note: another small update is also pending in about a week. It fixes a crash problem if the input spreadsheet has both missing questions /answers and mis-configured "meta" data.

gWhiz Version 0.6.8 released

2008-09-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

We've recently posted a new version of the gWhiz suite that has specific support for BlackBerry Operating Systems 4.5 and 4.6. In addition to the extended support, there were a few other small changes:

1) New matching icons for all of the "suite" items.

2) Support for non-standard themes. Themes with white text as the default caused problems in certain text entry fields.

3) Fix for gCalc precision problem.

got-2 version 0.7.8

2008-09-15T05:21:00.000-07:00

got-2 beta version 0.7.8 was posted on Saturday. It includes:

1) A fix for "batch" calendar or task sync's. The corrects a problem with short-term items not showing up in got-2 after a sync from Outlook, Yahoo!, and others.

2) New "default" style.

3) A fix with location alerts. In certain situations after setting up a location alert, the alert would not "fire". This usually happened when the alert was set within a few hours of when it was expected to activate.

Into The Hopper (gFlash+ ver 0.3i)

2008-09-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

As of this morning, we've put another update to gFlash+ into the AppStore hopper. This update is for iPhone/iTouch users; We expect it will be available in the AppStore in about a week.

Here's some of what's in the new release:

Scrolling Content - Question or answer content that exceeds the "card" space is now scrollable (versus resizing or clipping as was in the previous version).
One-Card Mode - Uses the entire height of the card area for questions and answers. Users can flip back and forth between the sides.
Save State - Keeps the state of the study session intact between uses.
Card Set Search - Improved catalog and user account search.
"Take-back" - Ability to change the score of the last item
Presentation Changes - New look.
Improved Multiple Choice - Pauses to show the right answer if the wrong one is selected
Arabic/Hebrew Support - Adding the key "overrideR2L" with a value of "true" to the cardset info page will present the content correctly.
Option to reshuffle after a successful pass thru all the cards.

Let us know what you think!

got-2 version 0.7.7 - Support for BlackBerry Bold

2008-08-28T09:35:00.001-07:00

We put out version 0.7.7 this morning which fixes a few issues for BlackBerry Bold users (black-on-black text) and is also optimized for that platform. In most cases, users running 4.2.1, 4.3.0 or 4.5.0 will not need to upgrade.

4.5.0 users that are having installation troubles should try this latest build.

got-2 Beta 0.7.6 changelog

2008-08-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

Here's what's new in v0.7.6 :

1. Fixed a problem with got-2 not performing a daily sync update.

2. Fixed a bug with recurring all-day tasks showing up on the wrong date.

3. Changed the wording in the location screen to be more explanatory.

4. Corrected problem in location screen that prevented users from saving the location after viewing the confirmation map.

got-2 version 0.7.5 changelog

2008-08-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

g0t-2 beta version 0.7.5 for BlackBerry was posted this morning. Here is the list of recent changes:

1) Added ability to read reminders from Calendar events. Previous version could only set reminders.

2) Added warning if user attempts to edit an event or todo created or last edited using the BlackBerry calendar or other program.

3) Fixed problem with location edit window if the font was too large. Caused the 'save' button to not be visible. Now users can scroll to the save button.

4) Fixed problem with multiple appointments being added when read in from the calendar during the nightly sync.

5) Added reminders for 0 minutes (i.e actual due time) and 1 hour.

Other recent changes:

- Fix to problem with white-on-white text. Caused location window and some text boxes to not show text with certain themes.

- Fix to All-day event synchronization which would cause the wrong date (1 day early) to be shown in got-2 (unless you happened to live in the GMT timezone :-))

- Fixed odd behavior when adding multiple sub items to a task

- Fix for exception caused when using the 't' key on a Day item in the Week Agenda View.

Welcome

2008-08-25T04:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome to "Learning on the go", the first official gWhiz LLC blog. We'll use this space for announcing our approach, philosophy, new products, contests, and much more.

"Learning on the go" is an apt description for the mission of our young company. We're focused on using mobile technology to encourage and manage lifelong education. From reference guides to time management tools, our goal is to leverage smartphone capabilities in order to offer powerful, entertaining, on-the-go learning and collaboration tools.

Let us know what you think!