E3 cancelled: gaming industry’s biggest event put on hold

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E3

E3 has served as the gaming industry’s landmark event, where developers, publishers, and enthusiasts gather to witness exciting game reveals, cutting-edge technology showcases, and engaging presentations. However, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the body responsible for organizing E3, had to make the difficult choice to cancel the event due to a combination of factors.

The Decline After COVID

Due to the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the ESA prioritized the well-being of attendees, exhibitors, and staff. Despite efforts to adapt the event to a virtual or hybrid format, the challenges associated with ensuring a secure and immersive experience for all involved proved to not be up to the previous experience offered by E3.

Other exhibitors, such as Nintendo, Sony, & Microsoft now all offer their own online announcement events which have meant they have no use in attending E3, and over the recent years, more and more developers have been pulling out from attending, preferring their own events which they have sole control over, and take all of the attention, with no rivals.

The End of the Biggest Gaming Event

With the future of E3 in doubt, gamers are having to turn to the individual events hosted by publishers. This could mark the turning point as E3 served as an important event before the rise of the internet and rapid communication where being able to show off to the press was more important to make an impact and generate hype, whereas this can now be done at any time and with more modern marketing techniques.

This demonstrates more than ever how important it is to keep up with the ever moving market and times. And how continual improvements and revisions are needed to ideas to keep them in the public’s eye. Staying stationary in technology is the fastest way to get left behind and forgotten.

PNP can revamp your existing systems and apps to make them modern and user friendly, constantly pushing forward with new and innovative ideas to keep your business relevant.

How ChatGPT is changing the coding process

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ChatGPT

Traditionally, coding has been a meticulous and time-consuming task that required developers to possess a deep understanding of programming languages and syntax. However, ChatGPT has introduced a new level of simplicity and efficiency by providing developers with an intuitive and conversational interface to interact with their code.

Get a Helping Hand

One of the most significant advantages of ChatGPT is its ability to assist programmers in generating code snippets, solving programming problems, and offering suggestions. With a few simple prompts, developers can ask questions, seek guidance, and receive immediate responses from ChatGPT, which draws upon its vast knowledge base to offer relevant and accurate solutions. This feature not only saves time but also encourages collaborative problem-solving, as developers can engage in dynamic conversations with the AI model.

Furthermore, ChatGPT’s natural language processing capabilities enable it to understand and interpret code-related queries in plain English, making it more accessible to developers of all skill levels. It can break down complex concepts, explain intricate algorithms, and even assist in debugging code. This empowers novice programmers to overcome hurdles more easily and learn from experienced developers, as ChatGPT acts as a knowledgeable and patient mentor.

Not a Replacement For a Human

Whilst ChatGPT is a powerful tool, it requires an exact and well formed request to be asked to get the best results out of it. Even then, the ending result is likely not usable within an existing system as coding standards and methods will differ, and the code may not even compile/run. It is intended for more as a base, or aid when stuck on an issue as it will provide different solutions which a developer may not have considered.

Paired with an experienced and knowledgeable coder, ChatGPT can be leveraged to simplify a complex request and give the developer a new perspective on the problem which can allow them to reach the end result faster.

AI is no replacement for a human, it can’t deal with specific client requests, or interact with clients like a developer can. It may be able to generate small snippets of code, but it is unable to make anything bigger than a few lines of code. Meaning it is unable to generate entire complex systems at one request. Even if it could generate a base system, there would be no way it could mould it into what a client would want, and make a system which could be well maintained and built on for many years to come.

If you are in need of a CMS made by humans who care, and lovingly craft each system/app, then consider PNP.

Top emerging CRM trends in 2023

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CRM Trends 2023

A good Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is behind any business which needs to manage and use large amounts of customer data. CRM’s have greatly developed and transformed over recent years into highly streamlined tools for businesses. This article will take a look at some of the new trends for CRM’s in 2023.

Dashboard Customisation

Dashboard CRM PNP Digital

Movable dashboard tiles provide a better workflow

Creating one dashboard for all users, or one for each user type is becoming less common. Customisable dashboards where each section is a component which can be rearranged and dragged to anywhere to suit the user are now becoming on trend. It gives the end user a more personalised experience, and has been shown to improve their workflow.

Process Automation

Being able to set-up automated processed to import/export and process data is a powerful tool being utilised in more modern CRM’s, some even going as far as to let the user create tasks for the CRM to run as scheduled events, or just when they are needed.

While giving the user these tools is incredibly powerful, it can be a sharp learning curve, and should only be limited to users who need the ability to run & create the tasks. Having a customisable tool which can automatically process data build right into the CRM can save countless hours over a year from repetitive tasks.

XaaS (Everything as a Service)

Younger generations, most commonly Gen X, are pushing for businesses to offer “everything” as a service. From 2017 to 2023, there was a rise of 72% in the profitability and usage of subscription services, and an estimated 75% of CRM’s offering a subscription service by 2024. With some of this being down to the pandemic, but also due to the convenience & ease of subscription services.

A modern CRM is most likely to offer a subscription service, especially CRM’s offering cloud services. In 2023, customers are more likely to pick a subscription service than a regular service when shopping online.

As with anything, it is important to evaluate what will be best for your CRM. If you are unsure and need a website/CRM building you can contact us.

The difference between Native, Hybrid, & Progressive web applications

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There are multiple ways to develop a mobile application, and choosing the right one for you is important before starting the project. Selecting the correct method can save time and money, while providing the same, or better experience for the end user.

What Type Of Application Do You Need?

First the main outline of the application must be decided.

  • Type of Application: Deciding on what your application will be required to do will have an impact on which method is used.
  • Time and Budget: Each method of development has a different amount of time required to achieve the end result. If you need iOS, Android, and Web support, one option may take up to three times longer to develop, which has an affect on the final cost.
  • Operating System: What device type are your main target audience using? (iOS, Android, Windows)
App Differences.

Native Applications

Native applications are developed with one specific device type i.e. iOS users in mind. This means that the application is going to be tailor made for that device, and is able to use all of the device specific functionality.

Advantages:
  • Fast performance – Because the code is written with that device type in mind, the code is therefore more efficient.
  • Functionality – Apps can make use of the specific special functions that a device might have.
  • Higher Security – Any device specific known security risks can be individually addressed.
  • Improved UI/UX – The code can take advantage of the native appearance and frameworks to create a modern looking application.
Disadvantages:
  • Higher Cost – Each operating system requires it’s own codebase, and if iOS and Android apps were required, this would require two completely separate sets of code to create and maintain.
  • Longer Development – Because the code is being specifically designed to work on one set of devices, it is more involved to create, maintain, and test.
  • Specialists Required – A team of highly skilled app developers is required who have an in-depth knowledge of the system, adding to the cost.

Hybrid Applications

Hybrid applications are the best of both worlds from both mobile and web development. It allows developers to code in one language, then be able to deploy applications for iOS, Android, and Websites. At PNP Digital, we have over 10 years experience in developing hybrid applications for our clients.

Advantages
  • Shorter Development Time – Only one codebase is required to deploy to iOS, Android, and Web. Saving three times the work.
  • Lower Costs – Shorter development time, means less costs!
  • Easy to Maintain – Because there’s only one codebase, it is easier to maintain and update.
  • Integrated – Hybrid allows for simple integration into web services and APIs.
  • Fast Deployment – Building the app to run on Android or iOS is quick and easy, requiring almost no changes to the process.
Disadvantages
  • Complexity – More complex applications will likely run slower than a native application.
  • Equality – The app will run the same regardless of the device, it can’t use device/operating system specific functions.

Progressive Web Applications

Progressive web applications are almost identical to hybrid applications, with the main difference being that they are able to be installed as an application on any device, then be able to work offline and send notifications. This is the newest method of development.

Advantages
  • Accessible – The app can be found on any app store, or accessed through the website and the end user experience will be the same.
  • Loading Speed – Because everything is web based, loading speed are quick no matter the device age.
  • Works Offline – Cached versions of the application are able to be used when offline.
  • Responsive – The application is able to easily and dynamically change to the device type and size.
  • Cheap & Fast – Development times are fast because only a website is being developed, then scaled for mobile devices.
Disadvantages
  • Hardware Limitations – Because the application needs to be installed, older and slower devices may not be supported.
  • Apple Support – Support for Apple devices is more limited, and performance is often much worse on iOS devices.
  • Battery Power – Higher battery consumption is used due to the application doing processing on the device, rather than the web.

How to find your Apple device’s UDID

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A UDID is an acronym used for Unique Device ID. It is a feature of Apple iPhones and their other devices. Each individual Apple device has their own ID that is being fetched by Apple servers. When testing a new mobile application on an Apple device we need a UDID from the iPhone, iPad or iPod.

Finding your UDID is a simple process, all you will need is an internet connection, and a few minutes.

UDID
  1. First, go to https://udid.tech on your device, then select the “Tap to find UDID” button located at the top of the screen.
  2. You will then be prompted to accept a configuration file. This file allows the site to read the device information from your phone, so you’ll want to allow this.
  3. Next go to the Settings application, and at the top a “Profile Downloaded” option should now have appeared.
  4. Go into the “Profile Downloaded” menu, and in the top right, press install and accept the prompt which appears.
  5. Once this is complete, you can then go back to https://get.udid.io/ and your UUID will appear. You then have the option to view all the information gathered, or the option to email it.

Core PHP vs Laravel

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The web industry is fast moving, and ever changing. With new frameworks and libraries becoming “standard” every 3-5 years, it is important not to fall behind and select the correct options for building websites and apps.

Core PHP vs Laravel

What is Laravel?

Laravel is a PHP framework which aims to provide a base to build powerful and fast preforming websites on. Along with this, it brings security features into its core system, which core PHP does not have natively built in. Many of its functionalities are pre-built, meaning websites are able to be created faster, rather than having to start from scratch each time. Laravel has a strong community which write plugins and documentation, making it easy for anyone to get started using it.

What is Core PHP?

Using Core PHP mostly any dynamic website can be made. It also provides the base to all PHP frameworks, so it is vital to have a good understanding of Core PHP to be able to build effective web applications and systems. While it does not provide a base or any pre-made templates to quickly build a website on, it does provide the most powerful set of tools on which anything can be built. For an experienced team Core PHP can be beneficial to use, however, it is quickly falling out of favour for more modern frameworks.

Our Choice

Moving forward we are moving away from core PHP to more modern frameworks such as Laravel for our Web and CMS systems. Bringing our clients the latest in scalable and efficient technologies is of upmost importance. While we can’t use Laravel to build Mobile Applications, we are always actively searching for the next technology which will allow us to elevate the quality of our systems.

How to ‘hard refresh’ your browser

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Does your web page look out of sorts following a recent update? Or perhaps an old image is still showing despite the fact you’ve been told it has been updated?

A hard refresh may be needed.

Please take a look at the infographic below. This details how to do a hard refresh in the most common browsers – Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox and Safari — on both Windows and Mac.

Browser caching is useful for web browsing in that it allows for page that you’ve visited previously to load much more quickly. Modern browsers like Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox and Safari tend to cache front-end resources like JavaScript and style sheets (CSS) to increase web application and website performance.

While enhancing performance is usually a great thing, cached resources can cause problems when you have a major change to a web application’s JavaScript or style sheets.

Sometimes, the only way to see updates is by doing a hard refresh or by clearing the entire cache of the browser.

Database systems & security

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In a world where more and more data is being stored in the cloud, it is becoming increasingly important to take the correct measures when deciding what type of database to use. Each type will come with different security measures which need to be taken.

MySQL

A Powerful Relational Database

MySQL is currently the most popular database system on the internet, and is fully open source. It has a relational structure which means that tables are able to be linked via primary and foreign keys, to share data with one another. This comes in useful for when a shop has different categories, and multiple products within sub categories. It allows for a product to be linked directly to a categories table and view the data, without having to repeat any information.

MySQL is venerable on the front-end of sites to SQL injection attacks, in which someone will input a special code, and if not handled correctly when doing validation by the website, it is possible for hackers to gain access to the full database, and see its contents, or manipulate the values for their own gain. Despite this, when all precautions are taken correctly, in most cases MySQL is the database system of choice for most websites.

MongoDB

An excellent choice for high volume datasets

MongoDB is a non-relational database used primarily for high volume and large datasets. Instead of using tables and rows, MongoDB makes use of collections and documents. Documents consist of key-value pairs which are equivalent to a row and row name in MySQL. Collections contain sets of documents and function which is the equivalent of relational database tables.

The advantage to using MongoDB is that when developing, it is accessed and written more like traditional code, making it easier to understand and layout. For large databases, MongoDB is able to scale as and when it is needed, by adding more nodes which can access and write/read data. However this does come at a cost of using a lot of memory for storing and accessing the database, and in larger systems this can require its own server alone. There are less security issues with MongoDB as the user can not directly interact with any of the handling, which may be possible in MySQL, making it more secure and easier to work with on the back-end requiring more checks.

As with anything, it is important to evaluate what will be best for your system. If you are unsure and need a website/CMS building you can contact us.

2021 web trends

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2021 has been a big year for the web industry, with all that has been going on in the world, it is now more important than ever to make websites and apps accessible to everyone. From this, some common trends have appeared.

Real World Interactivity (3D/AR/VR)

Products in your own home

Being able to view a product where it will be used, before purchasing is a huge selling point for users and drives 35% retention in customer purchasing. Having the option to view a sofa or bed, and overlay it on the existing furniture gives the user a better view of how the product will look real world.

With the current pandemic, it has been had for people to get out of the house, and using AR/VR gives them the ability to have similar shopping experience all from their home.

Human-Like Chat Bots

You’re not always speaking to a human…

With 27.6% of the worldwide population using online retailers in 2021, it is no wonder that it has an impact on the help & support sector. To aid with this companies such as: ChatBot & CleverBot, have developed solutions for interactive chat bots which read users questions in real time and provide the closest helpful answer they can give.

This is still backed up by a human if the bot can not solve the issue, however for the majority of cases, the interactive bot can handle most common requests, saving the company money in staff they don’t need, and also expanding their support diversity by being able to support multiple languages and chats at the same time with a bot.

Minimalist Flat UI Design

More Than Just a Sleek Design

As previously identified in this article, the main theme of the year has been interactivity and ease of use. Flat UI Design is just that, giving all the information which the user needs to interact with the site, a simple and uninterrupted layout for each section. With a clear visual hierarchy, it is easy for the user to be able to follow the flow of a page, with important inputs and sections being shown with the use of colour or bold text to gain the user’s attention.

Using Flat UI Design also means that the webpage will translate well to smaller mobile screens as there is less to interrupt the flow and style of the site. Text is more legible on smaller devices due to the common font types used within Flat UI Design.

Android apps in Windows 11

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Insiders of the Windows update program have started to be able to use Android apps as promised in Windows 11. These apps run natively on your computer, and act just like they would on your mobile device. Any app on the Google Play Store is instantly available to use on your PC. But what problems arise from this?

Android Apps Native in Windows 11

How to Install Apps on Windows 11

Once you have Windows 11, you might be wondering how to install apps. They are located on the “Microsoft Store” with all other applications and games. Search for your app, then simply press download and it will install onto your computer just like any other software. However, this may change in a future update before it is pushed out to the public to be in their own category, but the process will be otherwise the same.

When Will it be Available to the Public?

Currently, it is unknown when this will be available for anyone to download. However, if you sign up to the “Windows Insider Program” it is possible to get these features now. Historically, Microsoft release features from the Insider Program only a few months after being initially available to testers.

Will My App Run on Windows 11?

If you’ve had a mobile application developed by Pipe & Piper, as with all apps on the Google Play Store, it will appear to download on Windows 11. While it should act just like the mobile application, it might require some changes and optimisations in order to best preform on Windows 11.

Going forward, testing on Windows 11 natively is going to become a part of our extensive testing process so your apps will work no matter the platform.

If you want to be sure that your app works on Windows 11, please contact us.