TechCrunch
Pentotype Lets Developers Quickly Build And Collaborate On Interactive Wireframes From Their iPads
Are you a developer? Do you wanna create wireframes and share them with your friends and collaborate and mashup and test out the user experience of new apps before you commit to code? Well here comes Pentotype, a new web app for the iPad (and frankly, any other HTML5-enabled device) that will let developers quickly sketch out wireframes of their apps and test out user interaction.
Pentotype is an app for creating quick wireframes of mobile apps on the iPad. While it’s based on HTML5, it’s designed to run like a native app, allowing users to sketch out their apps and see how they would work. Users can simulate their app functionality through the wireframes and then share with others to get their take. It enables both viewing and collaboration for the earliest part of the app creation process.
Note, these aren’t fully realized apps that the service churns out, and there’s no code exported by the service. It’s really just a way to get a feel for the user experience before it’s all committed to code. Pentotype co-founder Thomas Wanschik compares the service to a “combination of the apps Paper and POP enhanced with sketch recognition.”
Pentotype follows the typical freemium model: Users of the service can try it out with a couple of free projects, to see how they like it. Those who want to use it more will be asked to pay up. The team is still working out pricing, but those who want to create more projects can email the team to get more info.
The startup was founded by Johannes Dörr, Thomas Wanschik, and Waldemar Kornewald, three German entrepreneurs who had stuied and done contract work together. They had mostly bootstrapped the project over the last year and a half, taking a small bit of funding (about $120,000) through a German/EU stipend program called “EXIST Gründerstipendium.” They are also part of a local university incubator in Germany called “PFH Göttingen,” which provides free office space and other services for startups there.
Here's Video Of The House Debate That Almost Passed An Amendment Cutting At The NSA's Domestic Surveillance
Yesterday, an amendment proposed by Rep. Amash that would have dramatically undermined the NSA’s authority to collect records on the phone calls of American citizens failed to pass. Proponents of the amendment claimed that it protected the Fourth Amendment rights of the public. Those opposed argued that it would erode national security.
The debate back and forth was perhaps the best encapsulation of the current conversation in Congress concerning the pervasive surveillance of the NSA that has recently become better known, mostly through the prism of leaks from the now fugitive Edward Snowden. That information has divided Congressional representatives and senators, demanding that they choose a side, at least rhetorically, on the issue.
Yesterday was a further step in the direction of accountability, albeit only in the lower chamber of Congress. The members had to vote yes, or no, on whether to defund a known – and previously lied about – program that collects private data on Americans sans their status as party to an investigation.
You’ve read coverage on the NSA for months, with commentary of all sorts taking positions on both the digital and telephonic collection practices of the agency. The following debate isn’t a cable new segment stacked with paid pundits, half-neck analysts, or think tank hacks. Instead, this is our Congress, arguing with itself, about how to handle yours and my privacy.
The amendment failed 205-217. That’s a defeat, but those in favor of its passage were in greater number than many, myself included, anticipated.
Enjoy [Debate begins at 16:40]:
Top Image Credit: Zoe Rudisill
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