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MIAMI BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Imagine having a personal concierge at your fingertips through your
Smartphone or tablet that – at the touch of a button - would help you
locate a hotel based on its proximity to your favorite type of
restaurant or a local salon by how many blowouts they do on a daily
basis. You would even be able to – when traveling – find local parks and
discover if they had tennis or basketball courts or even how large their
green spaces were. Well the future is here and this will all be possible
when visiting or living in Miami Beach as the City continues the
development of a next-generation interactive application programming
interface (API) platform that serves up this information to millions of
people around the world.
Miami Beach is the first destination in the country to invest at this
level in an API to foster development of Miami Beach-based mobile apps
and other future technologies. The API allows app developers to take
advantage of, and mine, existing (and real-time)Miami Beach data to
create applications that focus on shopping, dining, arts, entertainment,
nightlife, sports, music, transportation and other areas.
“It’s no coincidence that Miami Beach is the first city in the country
to invest in a content management system of this kind. We may be a City
by the beach but Miami Beach is more than fun in the sun,” says Jeff
Lehman, Chair, MBVCA. “We take technology seriously and our investment
in the sector is designed to take our destination to the next level and
provide real-time information residents and visitors can use to have the
best experience in our City.”
The City hopes that being on the forefront of technology will lure tech
events and conventions to Miami Beach like the recent Hackathon at the
University of Miami that drew dozens of app designers and developers who
mined the data currently on the API to design apps that will serve
residents and visitors.
“Miami Beach is 100 steps ahead of other cities around the world in
providing technological transparency like this for businesses, public
spaces, and transportation hubs,” says Shawn Moore whose company Solodev
is working with the MBVCA to develop the API.
The API platform will support third-party mobile application development
for iOS (Apple), Android and Blackberry devices by allowing programmers
access to data directly from Miami Beach. The resulting apps will
increase tourism by making it easier to find information and plan trips
to the City based on very specific, detailed wishes, desires and
requests while also learning about new and exciting locations and
special offers. Complete development and installation of the API
platform is expected later this fall.
The API adds to the City’s other tech developments over the last year:
For residents, the City's smart phone app, Report It, allows
them to report real-time neighborhood concerns such as graffiti, trash
and potholes to the appropriate government department in a snap; ask a
question, make a request/complaint or find answers with just a click.
The reports can include a photo and GPS location that will automatically
integrate with the City’s systematized and prioritized customer support
center. The app is available and free on iPhone, Blackberry, Windows and
Android smart phones.
Wireless Miami Beach provides free public access Wi-Fi to all residents,
visitors, and businesses across the city while also supporting public
safety by providing Wi-Fi to laptops in police cars and other government
uses.
About Miami Beach
With an average year-round temperature of 75 degrees, Miami Beach has an
unrivaled reputation for culinary offerings, nightlife, culture,
fashion, and luxurious hotels. Also a popular destination among
travelers, Miami Beach was recently ranked by Trip
Advisor as number one on its Top
Winter Sun Vacation Rental Getaway Destinations for 2011 list and
was included on both the Top
25 Beaches in the World and Top
25 Destinations in the U.S. lists. Boasting seven miles of
breathtaking beaches, Miami Beach is easily accessible from the Port of
Miami and Miami International Airport. The City of Miami Beach has just
been named one of the top cities worldwide for 'walkability' and is
equally easy to navigate by bike or by boat. Home to unique museums, to
the New World Symphony and Miami City Ballet, to over 17,000 luxury,
boutique and resort hotel rooms, 12 public parks and to the Miami Beach
Convention Center, Miami Beach is a destination for all seasons. Miami
Beach is like no other place in the world!Visit MiamiBeachGuest.com or
MiamiBeachINCARD.com
for more information or contact Grisette Marcos at Groquemarcos@miamibeachvca.com.
About Solodev
Solodev is a leading provider of content management software that
enables organizations to easily and efficiently manage their online
presence. Solodev’s enterprise-level content management platform is used
to build smart phone applications, interactive websites, social media
applications and other online portals designed to reach an ever-growing
ecosystem of screens and devices. Solodev software allows users to
seamlessly manage mobile, web, social and ecommerce content in one place
and runs in the cloud or on premise to provide secure and scalable
online solutions. For more information about Solodev, please visit www.solodev.com.
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