Aurigma Up Version 1.3 offers several new features that users and developers have been clamoring for!  Users—and developers alike for that matter—on both iOS and Android devices will see enhanced usability from Version 1.3.  Take a look at what we’ve done for the end users:

iPad support

The user interface has been enriched in the new version.  Gone are the days when iPad users couldn’t use the device’s full screen during their uploading activity. The new version of Aurigma Up takes full advantage of the entire iPad display area, even on the iPad3.  

Improved Video Support

For iOS and Android devices, previous versions simply provided the ability to upload previously generated videos as in prior versions.  Aurigma Up Version 1.3 now allows for videos to be taken right from the app.  

EXIF issue fixed

In previous versions when Aurigma Up was launched right after it was installed there was a glitch in uploading files.  Also in earlier versions EXIF metadata in photos taken from the app had difficulties.  Both are no longer an issue with Version 1.3!

These and several other minor UI improvements will make Aurigma Up Version 1.3 a blissful experience for users.  

API improvements

But we didn’t stop with advances for the users in Aurigma Up Version 1.3. Developers will smile at their own list of enhancements and improvements, which greatly boost the flexibility of the uploader.

• The new video-only upload mode is provided here for the first time, 
• The number of items in the upload list can be limited by developers to comply with your website’s policies, 
• Case-insensitive upload parameters for ease of use, 
• Automatic clearing of the upload list every time the app is launched from a web browser, 
• Elimination of the issue in earlier versions when the “http://” prefix was not present in the URL.  

Come on over and check out the new and improved Aurigma Up Version 1.3 at http://www.aurigma.com/mobile/api.aspx and also available now on iTunes and Google Play from Aurigma.  

We are “your upload partner”! 

Until now, only iPhone users could take advantage of the intuitive capabilities of Aurigma’s image uploaders. But in a recent survey of Aurigma Up users the consensus hands down as the most important thing that Aurigma could do to better serve the developer community was to offer an Android version of Aurigma Up to complement the existing iPhone version.

The developer community has spoken and Aurigma has responded by now offering the exceptional abilities of the Aurigma Uploader for Android devices! There are legions of Android users that can now be invited to the party.

Aurigma Up offers easy uploading of videos and images, and automatically brings users back to their browser when they are done. Aurigma took good care of developers by ensuring that the Android version works with the same API as used in the iPhone version.

Embedding Aurigma Up’s uploaders is very straightforward. Check out the overview and the demo at http://www.aurigma.com/android/ and while you are there you can review the API and Code Designer information to see just how easy it is to develop with Aurigma Up.

If you already use the API all you have to do is send the users to the Google Play site to install the app. Give it a shot today by going to https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aurigma.aurigmauploader and download it for free. Or, if you prefer, you can get a private label version by contacting Aurigma.

And, as always, if you have any questions about the uploader, just contact Aurigma. We’ll be happy to hear from you and provide you with the answers.

A while ago we have started offering 70% for our VirtueMart plugin based on Image Uploader in exchange for a back link to our product page. This special offer became pretty popular and we decided to extend this offer for another product - Image Uploader Express.

In short, now you can put a sort of "powered by Aurigma" link on the same page with Image Uploader and in exchange we strongly reduce the price - from $199 to only $59. If you are interested to get a discounted price, learn more here:

http://www.aurigma.com/Products/ImageUploader/Buy/LinkForDiscount.aspx

Note, this offer is valid only for the Express version. 

Got any questions? Don't hesitate to email us at sales@aurigma.com. 

On December 29 2011 Microsoft published security update Microsoft Security Bulletin MS11-100 - Critical. The security update has been released to fix ASP.NET DoS vulnerability. The update puts a limit to number of key-value pairs that can be sent in a single HTTP POST request. By default not more than 500 variables can be uploaded per one request.

If Image Uploader is configured to upload all files in a single HTTP POST request, it can exceed this amount which leads to failed upload requests. If it happens, error 500 (Operation is not valid due to the current state of the object) is thrown. The problem can be addressed by reconfiguring the uploader or changing your web server settings. Find the detailed information how to fix this issue in this topic: PRB: Image Uploader ASP.NET generates “Operation is not valid due to current state of object” error.

New version of Photo Kiosk is available now - v7.0. In addition to the release, we have reworked our website, so you are welcome to learn more about new version here:

http://photokiosk.aurigma.com/

Note, now we brand it under the name of Pixlpark rather than Aurigma. Pixlpark is used for our products created for photo print business, while Aurigma is used for our file upload SDKs.

Let's see what Pixlpark Photo Kiosk offers comparing to the previous versions.

Payment workflow support

The common issue is how to organize payment process on the kiosk. Now Photo Kiosk offers the following approach:

1. When the user places the order, Photo Kiosk displays the Order ID.
2. To proceed with the order, the user prints a receipt with the Order ID or writes it down.
3. Then the user goes to the cashier and gives him/her this Order ID.
4. To confirm the payment, the cashier uses special Payment Confirmation Tool (supplied with Photo Kiosk) to get a Confirmation Code.
5. The user enters the Confirmation Code to the Photo Kiosk to confirm that the order is paid.

This workflow can be used for instant print or CD/DVD burning features. 

Flexible price configuration

Now you can configure prices more flexible. In particular:

• You can set the minimum accepted price (the order won't be accepted unless the user orders items for this price or higher). 
• You can configure a sales tax.
• You can set different prices for instant and minilab print.
• You can set different prices for different quanitities (volume discounts).
• You can configure additional services, e.g. additional image processing, etc. 

Improved Photo Order Process

We have improved the photo order process:

• If the photo is too small to be printed with a specific size, Photo Kiosk will warn the user.
• If an image is not JPEG, Photo Kiosk can automatically convert it to JPEG.
• If a photo aspect ratio does not match to a print size, the user can select a print area.

Advanced Order Management for Minilabs

In addition to old Order Manager feature which allowed renaming photos in the order to contain the order details (file and folder names), now Photo Kiosk has additional options:

• Generate human-readable HTML document with the order details.
• Generate DPOF file for each order to print photos in minilabs automatically (for those minilabs which support DPOF).

* * *

Feel free to download the new version and check out new features yourself: 

http://photokiosk.aurigma.com/Try.aspx

If you are interested to upgrade or have any other questions, feel free to email at info@pixlpark.com. 

Today I would like to dwell on very popular question asked by our customers. How to organize sending additional data along with files in Image Uploader. It can be very helpful if your website requires some metadata along with files like tags, name of a set to associate the file on server side, etc.

From our perspective we see this task consisting of 3 big portions: 1) displaying and associating data with files selected for upload in Image Uploader, 2) entering data by end-users, and 3) sending data along with files to server-side. Let’s examine approaches to implementing each of them.

Displaying additional data in Image Uploader

Custom upload pane

From the very early versions Image Uploader comes with a separate visual control called Thumbnail. The idea is quite simple. The control is designed to display thumbnail or icon for a specified file selected by a user for upload in “parent” Image Uploader. This way, you can hide upload pane in Image Uploader and create your own custom one using multiple Thumbnail controls in HTML layout. This approach is very flexible. You can create any HTML layout of upload pane you want. Additional data can be displayed next to files selected for upload as well as you can surround them with input fields allowing your clients to enter additional information. All you need to implement this approach is a good understanding of HTML and JavaScript. The product comes with ready to use sample application illustrating this method, it’d be a good starting point.

Additional data inside Image Uploader

Version 7 introduced new way of displaying custom information inside Image Uploader. Now each file in Image Uploader can be accompanied with a custom text. It is formatted in HTML, set through API and rendered inside the control next to each file selected for upload. This way is much simpler than custom HTML pane and requires less coding. The approach is used in the Photo Order demo application available on our web site and redistributed with the product.

How End-users Populate Selected Files with Additional Data

It is not enough to display any data beneath or near selected files, it is very important to give end-users convenient way to fill in data during upload process. User interface layout will depend on which of two ways you implement in your application.

If you stick with custom HTML panel, layout can be anything you want since it is pure HTML and you can use any input fields available there.

If you decide to use the second approach, you have less variety in user interface. Since all data is rendered and displayed inside Image Uploader and it doesn’t support input fields, you will have to organize input of data somewhere in HTML outside of the control. The workflow will be the same regardless of what information you are uploading: a client selects one or several items in upload pane, after that he/she switches to HTML panel and specifies values for selected files there. As soon as the input process is finished, the values are passed inside Image Uploader via JavaScript API, are associated with the selected files and Image Uploader displays the entered information next to them.

Sending Data to Server

The both approaches require a special JavaScript code doing the following. After end-user hits Upload button and prior to starting the upload process, your script should iterate through files selected for upload, and populate their tags with user specified values. It is up to you in what format to save multiple fields in this property; it can be XML or some other format. On server side you get a tag received with each file and extract values stored inside it.

Afterwords

That’s the idea. I guess having documentation and two ready-to-use sample applications will help you to choose the way to implement sending additional data and will give you good starting point for implementation. If you have any questions, feel free to contact our support team, they will be glad to assist you with that.

We got a good news from Apple guys - they have approved our latest updated of Aurigma Up. This version contains several very important improvements: 

• iOS5 is completely supported now. 
• Now you can upload not just photos, but also videos. 
• You can configure HTTP connection timeout.

On this week we are running the Aurigma Blogging Contest. It is designed to encourage developers to share their experiences using Aurigma software. The person who submits the best blog post, as determined by our judges, will be awarded the grand prize of one free uploader of their choice. The winner may choose between:

• Image Uploader 7 Professional ($599 value)
• Image Uploader 7 Flash Professional ($499 value)

To apply:

• You must have a blog, related to software development, where you post on a regular basis.
• Your entry post must link to Aurigma website.
• Best entries will describe how you have integrated Aurigma software into your website (e.g. using code examples, linking to a tutorial, or more - be creative!

To enter shoot us an email at info@aurigma.com, make sure it includes a link to your post, domain name of the website where you are going to use the product, and of course which uploader you will receive if you win.

Learn more about Aurigma blogging contest

Those of you who is subscribed for Aurigma's emails probably noticed that the last newsletter looked a bit unusual. Instead of common email announcement which earlier were sent out before a new version release, we decided to launch a full-fledged regular newsletter consisting of several sections. We plan to release it twice a week and the issue #2 is coming nearest days!

Feel free to share your ideas about newsletter subjects. Send an email at info@aurigma.com or tweet me @aurigma.

Hi there,

Multilingual version of Aurigma Up has just been approved in iTunes. So now iPhone users who use the following languages in their iPhones will see the user interface in their native language:

• Chinese (simplified), 
• Chinese (traditional), 
• Czech, 
• Dutch, 
• French, 
• German, 
• Italian, 
• Japanese, 
• Korean, 
• Norwegian, 
• Swedish, 
• Turkish, 
• Spanish, 
• Hebrew, 
• Russian.