Ixonos Takes Birdwatching to a New Level with a Beautiful App Developed for National Geographic
HELSINKI, January 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
Ixonos has designed and developed a new bird watching app for National Geographic,
National Geographic Birds: Field Guide to North America. The highly innovative app is the
only tool that any bird watcher in North America, beginner or experienced, needs besides a
pair of binoculars. The app comprises the entire 640-page Field Guide to the Birds of
North America book, and more. It uses Ixonos Media SparkTM
[http://www.ixonos.com/online-solutions/ixonos-media-spark ] assets, enabling media
companies to boost their digital business.
"The birdwatching app was designed together with National Geographic with the desires
and needs of bird watchers in mind," Riz Haque, Director, Key Customer Accounts from
Ixonos says. "Our Dream, Design, Deliver - approach applied throughout the project ensured
that we created something truly unique. It was a privilege to hear the customer's dream
and then design it with their experts," Haque continues. "The input we gained from these
professionals allowed us to deliver a tool that meets even the most demanding needs of
bird watchers."
The app has been released for iPhone and iPad and is available worldwide in the App
Store [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/national-geographic-birds/id315268465?mt=8 ]. It
aims to make bird watching as intuitive as possible. The real-time search and filter
interface allows the user to easily identify any bird based on various criteria. It also
makes it very convenient to keep a diary of what birds you have seen and when.
Additionally the app provides fun and helpful features such as quizzes and a toolkit with
a glossary, bird watching ethics etc.
"National Geographic is fortunate to have Jonathan Alderfer, one of the world's
leading bird experts, on hand to provide us with the valuable insight and illustrations
used to create the rich content for this app," says Natalie Jones, National Geographic
digital products manager. "Ixonos, with their Finnish design sensibilities, beautifully
translated this content into a clean, user-friendly app that offers easy navigation,
vibrant imagery, and tons of innovative features to make it the most comprehensive birding
app on the market."
"When designing the app, we put user experience as first priority," Korhan
Bueyuekdemirci, Senior UX Designer, Ixonos explains. "The user interface was kept very
simple to emphasize the essentials to make it easy to use in the field. National
Geographic Birds app is like having a bird watching expert in your pocket." By combining
usability with extensive information the app takes the bird watching experience to a
completely new level.
Ixonos is a creative mobile solutions company. We develop wireless technologies,
software and solutions for connected devices and mobile services. Together with our
corporate customers, we design products and services that let consumers enjoy inspiring
mobile experiences. We enhance the competitiveness of our customer companies by enabling
superior user experiences as well as faster time-to-market for their devices and services.
We have offices in Finland, China, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Great Britain, Slovakia,
South Korea and the U.S. Ixonos Plc is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd. In 2011, the
company's turnover was 81.4 million euros and its operating profit was 1.9 million euros.
The National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest nonprofit scientific and
educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to "increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,"
the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. National Geographic reflects
the world through its magazines, television programs, films, music and radio, books, DVDs,
maps, exhibitions, live events, expeditions, interactive media and merchandise. National
Geographic offers a full line of award-winning editorial, cartographic and gaming products
over a variety of digital platforms.
For more information, please contact:
Ixonos:
- Riz Haque, Director, Key Customer Accounts, tel. +358-40-412-9965,
riz.haque@ixonos.com
- Esa Nettamo, Creative Director, Finland Design Studio, tel. +358-40-543-1195,
esa.nettamo@ixonos.com
- Roope Suomalainen, Director, Experience, tel. +358-50-564-5988,
roope.suomalainen@ixonos.com
National Geographic Society:
- Meaghan Calnan, Communications, National Geographic Society, tel.
+1-202-857-7545, mcalnan@ngs.org