More stuff on Axle8 in Sydney!

We’ve now integrated our Meetup.com feed so it’s automatic and hands free (thanks to their API <geek-talk>)! This means a more comprehensive and up-to-date listing of events from Meetup.com on Axle8.

For those of you that don’t know, Meetup.com is one of the leading websites that helps groups of people with shared interests plan meetings and form offline clubs in local communities around the world.

You’ll find all sorts of meetups happening around you in Sydney. Catch up with the hard working startup crowd at Silicon Beach Drinks on Fridays, mingle with some great photojournalists on Thursdays or if you’re new to Sydney, meet with Welcome to Sydney group on every second Thursday of the month.

So pop open Axle8 and start finding out if there’s a meetup you’d be interested in happening around you now.

To bring light to some of the things you can discover on Axle8, we will be casting a spotlight on some of our events - here’s one of them!

Over the next 2 weeks the 2010 Sydney Children’s Festival will be held at Carriageworks at Eveleigh (close by to Sydney Uni). This festival emphasises participation, focusing on the child as the artist. All its events are on Axle8 so if you’re close by, check out what’s on and bring your children to the festivities! You’ll find performances, workshops, exhibitions and more!

75% of the events are free aimed at children up to 12years with plenty of entertainment for adults!

“The focus at Sydney Children’s Festival is on encouraging community participation, and inspiring creativity and imagination in children (and the child in all of us!). The Festival nurtures a love for the arts amongst Australia’s youngest generation of artists, patrons and cultural contributors.” - Sydney Children’s Festival

www.sydneychildrensfestival.com

If you plan on visiting the city over the coming month you may find some peculiar curiosities around; from decorated statues to pieces of artwork scattered around the city predominately between York and Elizabeth Sts - this is the result of Art and About 2010. We went around this morning to discover what Art and About 2010 is all about (of which 90%+ of its events are findable on Axle8). Although some fixtures were still underway getting ready for tonight’s launch in Hyde Park at 6pm, we’ve put up some photos of our findings as a sneak peek into what to expect.

“Join the Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP for a fabulous night of free celebrations to launch Art & About Sydney with DJ Kate Monroe, VJ Phil Lamble will be program highlights and local based indie band Dappled Cities bring their unique art-rock sound to the stage. The winner of this year’s Sydney Life exhibition will be announced and there will be free Short Films about public art in Sydney. You can also be among one of the first to check out the stunning images on show in this beautiful setting.” - artandabout.com.au

Find the photos here: www.facebook.com/axle8

PS: To our lovable fashionable loyal fans… if you haven’t heard, there’s an Incu Warehouse Sale on for 4 days only starting … well since 41 minutes ago! Check it out - search for George St Sydney 2000 on the Axle8 app for the location!

Our adventurous members can now meet up with friendly people at meet-ups from Meetup.com using Axle8 - hooray! (Sydney only)

Sharpen those French speaking skills with like minded people learning French; play volleyball with dedicated people that don’t sleep in; and learn skills that will be useful for the rest of your life! - these are but a few group meet-ups that you’ll find on Axle8. Find one that suits your interests - just look for the pictured green icon!

Be sure to visit the meet-up’s website links using our ‘interact’ feature for full details including any RSVPs, changes and any extra contact details!

To help us make our app better for you, be sure to drop us feedback regarding these meet-ups by the usual means :)
Happy meet-ups!

Hazah! We’ve finally decided to release this new version of Axle8, our 1.0, upon the planet Earth! Expect some amazing new features including teleportation, mind control and a cure for male hair loss. Okay, maybe we’re exaggerating here – but what we have done is bring some cool improvements for our iOS 4 version to make Axle8 even better.

NEW FEATURES

• Now Notices you add to your To-Do list can be automatically added to your iPhone’s calendar and remind you when something’s starting and finishing. We’ve set a default 30 minute reminder popup but you can change this to what you need for each Notice.
• Looking out for what’s happening somewhere else? We have that covered – you’ll see a new search bar hidden just under the refresh status bar at the top of the Notice Stream page. Just punch in the location and a purple pin will drop at the search location along with search results just as if you were right there. So start discovering what’s happening in a place before you even get there.
• And no, we haven’t forgotten searching by time. Included in the search by location is our search by time – it’s pretty straight forward to use and will let you find out what’s happening at another time. And we’ve included a sound effect for when you clear your search too.
• Start creating Notices for different locations from where you are by Drag and Drop the pin to different locations. It’s even got a bit of a vibration and subtle sound effects too. Buzzzzzz.
• We’ve added sharing Notices via Twitter for you Tweet Geeks. Find it in the Sharing option under the Interact menu.
• Some layout and display updates that only trainspotters will notice. Like replaced the boring old text for some of our buttons. The Notice Stream page’s category column has gone on a diet so each Notice can fit more details for your viewing pleasure. And the address bar at the bottom of the Map view has been tidied up. So just a few fixes – aren’t they nice?
• Both the main Notice Stream pages are now categorised by Current, Upcoming and Finished. We think it’s easier for people to navigate through Notices that way. Sorting by time and distance still works the same way.
• And wow, what about that new Retina display on the iPhone 4. Our sharpest pen has had to come out to bring out the sparkle in our icons and graphics. No worry if you’re using an earlier iPhone or iPod Touch – it’ll still look great.

Bug fixes and minor improvements include:

• Some of you have had problems signing up on the iPhone app so we’ve made it slightly easier now. Automatic transition between registration screens after selecting gender should fix most of the problems people have had.
• Pins now more accurately point to the Notice’s location.
• Bubble when clicking on pins in Notice Stream’s map view now leads to Notice page.
• When displaying notices with relative time, displays “< 2 days” when a notice starts from 24 to 48 hours in the future.
• Highlighting when a Notice is selected on the Notice Stream has been fixed for non Retina display devices.
• Other miscellaneous bug fixes.

So thanks for trying out Axle8 for Sydney. We hope you’ve found it handy for some of those random times we all have in our lives when you’re out and about.

Please send us your feedback – your ideas and suggestions are really important for us to make Axle8 better for you!

From the guys and gals at Axle8.