Archive for category Euro Coin Collection

Euro Coin Collection Update 1.7 and version 1.3HD for iPad

Euro Coin Collection HD for iPad and Euro Coin Collection for iPhoneVersion 1.7 for iPhone and version 1.3HD for iPad of Euro Coin Collection are on the App Store!

With the addition of 8 new 2 Euro commemorative coins, the series issued in 2013 is completed.

Personally, I’m eagerly waiting for the coin dedicated to Giovanni Boccaccio, the italian author I studied with pleasure at lyceum.

There are also other interesting commemoratives to collect, such as the one issued by San Marino and dedicated to the italian painter Pinturicchio, a worthy substitute of the coin dedicated to John F. Kennedy, announced at the beginning of the year.

As required by some collectors, a Coin Card parameter has been added to filter your coins.
The Coin Card format is getting pretty popular, in particular for 2 Euro commemoratives.

This update retains the design of the previous versions, but a completely new one is already in the works.

It will be a full-flat design, according to the style introduced by Apple with iOS 7 and that will last for a long time, I think, since it combines in the best way simplicity, clarity and transparency: essential concepts to be able to use smartphones and tablets on the go.

Follow the Facebook page of the app to take a peek of the new style in the next weeks. 🙂

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Euro Coin Collection now also for Mac OS X

Euro Coin Collection for Mac OS XThe Mac version of Euro Coin Collection is today on the Mac App Store!

The new app has all the features of the iPad and iPhone versions, with the advantage to be able to view all the virtual album at a glance on a 27 inch iMac.

You’ll need OS X Snow Leopard to run the app, while Lion or Mountain Lion are required to use iCloud features and Facebook or Twitter sharing.
The app has also been enhanced for the MacBook Pro with Retina display.

At the same time the apps for iPhone and iPad have been updated to versions 1.6.1 e 1.2.1.
The 2 Euro commemorative coin that Monaco will issue in december to celebrate the “20 years since the UN Accession” has been added.

There’s also a new “bounce effect” added to scrolling UI elements, an effect related to the “inertial scrolling” that makes user experience on iOS devices so smooth and pleasant, elaborated by the dutch designer Bas Ording.

If you read the Steve Jobs biography you’ll remember the episode in which Jobs met the designer in the lobby of Apple headquarters and he hired him on the fly after viewing a brief demo of Bas’ ideas to improve OS X user interface.

Bas is still at Apple and they’re going great in my opinion: the recent presentation of iOS 7 is a clear demonstration of the continuous innovation process pursued by the Cupertino-based company.

Enjoy the Mac version and the “bouncing” album! 😉

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Updates with 2 Euro commemoratives 2013

Euro Coin Collection HD for iPad and Euro Coin Collection for iPhoneVersion 1.6 of Euro Coin Collection for iPhone and version 1.2HD for iPad are on App Store!

14 new 2 Euro commemoratives 2013 have been added, some of them already issued while others announced for the second half of the year.

2013 was going to be an interesting year for collectors of Euro coins, since many countries announced the issue of two different series of 2 Euro commemoratives, but it became even more interesting due to Benedict XVI’s historic resignation.

Vatican recently issued a 2 Euro commemorative coin for the Sede Vacante MMXIII, included in this update, and at later date the italian Mint will also issue new Euros with Pope Francesco‘s effigy.

Another new feature added to both versions of the app are the country initials on flag icons: it may seem trivial, but it was suggested by a number of collectors since associating flags to each of the 20 Euro-area countries isn’t that easy at the beginning.

Mac OSX version of the application was already announced a few months ago and it will soon be available on Mac App Store.
I’m completing tests and, most of all, I find very handy the synchronization of the collection via iCloud with all my mobile devices “made by Apple“, or better “designed by Apple in California“. 😉

Collectors using an iMac, MacBook or Mac mini can’t miss it! 🙂

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Euro Coin Collection HD Update 1.1

Euro Coin Collection HD iPadVersion 1.1 of Euro Coin Collection HD is on the App Store!

This update adds the eagerly awaited support for the Retina display of 3rd and 4th generation iPads, which means graphics 4 times more detailed than the previous version and even 8 times if compared to the graphics currently used on iPhone 3GS.

After getting past the wow-effect caused by the new graphics, I invite you to use the app in landscape mode. Many users find more comfortable using their iPad in this way.

Other than all the improvements and corrections recently added to the latest iPhone version, there’s also the 2 Euro commemorative coin “Royal Wedding”, the last of 2012, issued by Luxemburg in december. Soon I’ll release a small update of the iPhone version, 1.5.1, that will include this coin.

But there’s one more thing coming soon for Apple and Euro coins fans. I anticipated it in the app presentation, in a last slide named “One more thing…“.
Steve Jobs made this sentence famous: at the end of his presentations of Apple products he was used to give the public an additional surprise.
I hope I learned well from his example… take at look a the last slide! 😉

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Euro Coin Collection Update 1.5

EuroCoinCollection iPhone5The update 1.5 of Euro Coin Collection is on the AppStore!

It’s mainly a technical update, since the support for iPhone 5 Retina 4-inch display has been implemented.

Technical improvements made the app load faster and run smoother, but there are also more visible modifications, such as the ones related to user interface usability, designed for new users, or the improved Twitter and Facebook sharing options.

A series of corrections to the texts and to some coins details complete the list of features suggested by the most active users.

I know collectors can’t wait to see the 2013 2 Euro commemorative coins added… it will be done, but before that there’s another important technical update coming soon: version 1.1 HD for iPad with support for the Retina display of the 3rd and 4th generation iPads! 🙂

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Euro Coin Collection Update 1.4 and HD version for iPad

iPad2 Euro Coin Collection HDTwo releases at the same time for the app Euro Coin Collection!

The update 1.4 for the iPhone/iPod touch version and the new HD version optimized for iPad.

The first thing you’ll notice will be the new graphics, four times more detailed than the previous version.

I recall I had the same impression with the VGA version for Pocket-PC devices, 7 years ago. However, at that time a lot things were missing: smooth scrolling, multi-touch, social network sharing… just to name a few.

The second thing will be the 2 Euro Commemoratives issued in 2012: 29 new different coins to expand your collection.

Then there are new mini-albums to view german and greek mintmarks at a glance, iCloud synchronization and the notification center.

And yet, that’s not all, the app will get even better thanks to your new suggestions.

We’re in the back to school time and I think that the HD version for iPad could be useful to teachers who love technology.

Other than the pleasure to collect Euro coins, coin designs actually tell the history of European countries, celebrating key historical people, events or places.

Now that Apple made the Volume Purchase Program available outside the US, it’s easier for education institutions using iPads purchasing the apps they need.

I’d like to invite teachers and educators to contact me to download the app for free and evaluate its educational potential.

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Euro Coin Collection – with 2 Euro Commemoratives Update 1.3

2EuroAnd here it is the update of Euro Coin Collection with 2 Euro Commemoratives at last!

Highly requested, which was expected, since they’re so cool to collect, it has been almost like developing another app, so much that I thought about making a separate app for a while.

In the end, however, I preferred integration, adding the ability to quickly switch from the virtual album with standard coins to the one dedicated to 2 Euro Commemoratives.

104 new coins, issued from 2004 to 2011, each with its own image and description in 7 languages, required a lot of work, so I made the zoomable images available only by In-App purchase.

The app is fully functional even without unlocking them, but if you’ll do that, you’ll support its development.

Other updated features in version 1.3 include new coin grading levels, the ability to add up to 50 coins per collection type and the update of the coins available only in mint sets (according to the info on www.euro-auflagen.de).

Most of all, there’s now the ability to share the coins to swap, or wanted, thanks to a pre-generated message via email, Facebook or Twitter.

If you use Twitter, I recommend you to check out the hashtag #EuroCoin to find other collectors to swap coins with.

Next steps?
There’s still a lot to do and features to improve, adding 2012 commemoratives, for example.

Post your feedback on the Facebook page!

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Euro Coin Collection featured on La Vita Nóva

Euro Coin Collection has been featured on the april 2012 issue of La Vita Nóva, the iPad magazine of Il Sole 24Ore!

Here’s the full article, written by Antonio Dini in the App Score feature:

“Developed by Davide Orlando, it’s a little kind of magic for newbie numismatists as well as for experienced collectors. The virtual album allows to manage all the euro variants, including commemorative coins issued annually by national mints, and to keep track of the coins you’re missing or already own. Morever, historical data, maps of Euro-area countries, detailed information for expert collectors. You can’t miss it, especially now that there are 20 countries using the Euro and thus as many different designs on the national side of the coins. Soon it will be included a section for the 2 Euro commemoratives. Because numismatics is the best way to travel around the world without moving from home.”

I couldn’t ask for better words as an anticipation for the incoming version 1.3 of the app, with the new virtual album for the 2 Euro Commemoratives.

What else to say? Download La Vita Nóva on your iPad and read some articles (italian only) while waiting for the new version of the app for Euro coin collectors.

On the Facebook page there are some preview screenshots and I’ll soon start the count-down to the release on the App Store.

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Euro Coin Collection Update 1.2

Euro Common Side 2008The second update of Euro Coin Collection is on the AppStore.

In the new version I added an option to show the coins available only in mint sets, thus not issued for circulation. The data comes from reliable and up-to-date sources such as www.euro-auflagen.de by Henning Agt.

There are also pictures of the new common sides with the enlarged Europe design, issued since january 2008, so that you can compare them with the previous design.
Thanks to Hessel, Damien and Frank for the correction of dutch, french and german texts.

Motivated by the suggestions received, both via email and by reviews on the AppStore, the development of the app continues and in the next version I’ll add the 2 Euro  commemorative coins issued from 2004 to 2011, as promised.

In this period there’s a lot of talk about the Euro and the debt crisis in european countries, Italy in particular. Well, what will really happen is difficult to predict, but I’d like to recall the European Union motto: “United in diversity“, the meaning of which you can appreciate even by collecting Euro coins, discovering and getting to know different cultures.

For what concerns Italy, now having a particularly hard time, I invite you to watch Benigni’s speech at the European Parliament (english subtitles). He said Italy is not the country of Renaissance and Resurgence, but the one of Resurrection! 🙂

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Euro Coin Collection Update 1.1

Belgium Second Series 2008The first update of the app for Euro coins fans is available on the AppStore.

I couldn’t wait for it to be published since it corrects a bug that could crash the app when many different coins were added to a collection.
Thanks to Andrei from Estonia and Uwe from Germany for helping me track down the bug.

The new version also includes the second series design of belgian Euro coins, issued in 2008 in order to comply with the European Commission’s guidelines, as well as minor improvements and bug fixes.

Comments are good so far. Most of all, users like to view all the coins together.

Also, from app usage statistics it’s interesting to notice that the average session length is pretty high, 3 minutes, three times the average of the Reference category, which is 1 minute.

Now I’m listening to opinions and suggestions for the next versions, both from collectors and non-collectors.

Adding 2 Euro commemorative coins is already on top of the list: I’ll need some more work to virtually collect them all, but it’ll be worth it and they’ll have a dedicated album.

See you to the next update of Euro Coin Collection!

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