[General Topics] the0ne:
Meet the Developer - Ep 1 : Jörg Michel - Part 2

We know this is an ongoing project but how long did it take from the drawing board to your initial release of G-alarm ? What was your motivation to develop it ?

The main benefit for me (which may be a curse for the users) is the fact that I share my new tools and features immediately with the users. Of course there have occurred a lots of bugs but because of the great community helping me to find them and proposing new ideas especially G-Alarm could grow like hell.

So it takes only a few days from the idea to the first public release.

My motivation:

1. The built-in alarm clock didn’t satisfy me

2. I had a lot of time

3. I got really angry when trying to find a good alarm clock. There are so many software companies which just publish crap for a lots of dollars. There are only a few which create high quality, good looking and finger friendly tools (the number increases, thanks to the competitors). Besides the fact that I needed the help of the community, teasing other commercial software developers was a big argument for me to keep the software free

What are the future plan for your apps ?

I’ll release G-Watch 0.6 in the next few days which already uses my new graphical “engine”. Afterward I’ll create a new tool called G-Center (I’m not really happy with the name) which covers all installed ageye-tools (incl. export/import settings function) and maybe also be a customizable start center other apps as well.

After that I’ll probably come back to G-Profile or to G-Alarm. G-Profile definitely needs some new options (the so called “advanced profiles”) and G-Alarm needs the new engine…

What are some of your favorite apps ?

I’m using S2U2 and HomeScreen++ which also demonstrate that freeware may be better than any commercial tool. The Opera browser receives my biggest respect. It brought a quantum jump to Windows Mobile.

New WM devices have some amazing hardware like accelerometer which you have used very well in G-Alarm, its said Touch Pro 2 has a proximity sensor are you cooking up some ideas to exploit these ?

I think it’s a very good idea to have a proximity sensor. HTC’s approach with the light sensor to recognize when you have your phone put at your ear to turn off the backlight is somehow ridiculous…

I don’t have any ideas yet what to do with the proximity sensor - first of all I would need such a phone and users with ideas

When you consider the number of lines of code, which of your app is rated the highest and which one is the lowest?

Of course, I’m proud of G-Alarm. My download counter reached 450.000 downloads within about 6 months which is soooo awesome (of course you have to substract partial downloads, etc.).

The development of G-Alarm has driven me crazy a lot of times - Windows Mobile is such a ungrateful operating system (thanks to all the different vendors with their different opinions on how to customize Windows Mobile).

But now I’ll hope that especially G-Watch and G-Profile catch up… G-Light is somehow my stepchild. The idea has a great potential but I somehow lost the interest in it…

Did you create all the graphics yourself or did someone help you with the look-and-feel of your application?

I’m a poor designer… a very poor designer… Daniel Bergmann (aka expo7) does all the graphics for me! He is a really great designer who creates so professional graphics that I could take a bow in front of him every single day…

A tip for everyone who is interested in programming for Windows Mobile:

I develop my tools with C# using .NET Compact Framework and some native C++ - I haven’t bought a book to learn it. All you need is an idea for a project, a good sample on how your desired language works (for me it was the sensor API of Koush) and time to try a lot of code until it works as it should. It is really easy! If you have an idea, try it!

It was great chatting with you Jörg, good luck with your studies and the WM development. Looking fwd for the new G-Watch and G-Center. May be some of our readers can suggest an alternate name for G-Center.. G-Pack ???? G-Alarm is definitely one of the best WM software out there and I am sure I am not the only one who thinks so.