It's been a busy November!

If you haven't already noticed there's been a flurry of activity with uniCenta oPOS in last few weeks. Reason is because I finished an 18 month full-time gig in mid-October as Head Of Development, for a company that specialised in online payment services, which meant suddenly I had some spare time on my hands... Good time to get cracking with all the backlog stuff on the uniCenta oPOS spike!

With a major release (v3.0) in October and the latest dot release (v3.02) going up on the uniCenta oPOS Sourceforge project site yesterday means that nearly 100 Bug Fixes, Enhancements and Improvements have been included in the last month or so (hope you're impressed) and there's more to come.
It's not gone un-noticed by you guys out there either as downloads continue to amaze - October saw over 6,000 and November was absolutely incredible with 8,000+  - Now, let's see if we can get to 10,000 for December!  I wonder.

In 2013 you're going to see additional enhancements and really useful plug-ins to uniCenta oPOS like eCommerce Connectors, digital email receipts as well as global 24/7 support options.  That's not all that's on the road-map, but it will have to do you for now.
Just want to let you know the commitment and impetus behind-the-scenes to make uniCenta oPOS the #1 free open source Point Of Sale app' goes on unabated.

Hey, uniCenta oPOS Developers! Over here!

Preparing a new website www.unicenta.com for all you uniCenta oPOS followers. It's not going to be long before it is at the “heart” of all things uniCenta.
I've decided to publish before it's finished to help those wanting to get involved in the development of uniCenta oPOS.
There's several reasons why I've just gone ahead and I won't cover them all here right now, but one of them is the amazing rise-and-rise of uniCenta's popularity.

This popularity of course comes at a price which is that it created a bottleneck in responding to requests for uniCenta oPOS source code..., it was starting to take far too long as far as I was concerned and I needed to sort it out.

Snapshot taken this morning of uniCenta oPOS Downloads

For the keen eyed amongst you, you will see that downloads are triple what they were this time 2011 - that's also true of other uniCenta oPOS download sources.

So, just for you developers out I've introduced a simple 3 step way to the full uniCenta oPOS source code.

1. Go to the new website www.unicenta.com and Register in the Developer Area (not much in there yet, but there will be in time)
2. On the Registration page; ensure you enter a valid email address and tick the Developer checkbox
3. Check your email Inbox and Verify your Registration

Done in minutes, and you get instant access to the download link for the uniCenta oPOS source code!

Enjoy!


Jack

Update for uniCenta oPOS v3 already?

Oh, oh.  Released v3.00 a bit too early methinks...  I caused a bit of bother for some people out there that's for sure.

I'll take this one squarely on the chin and there's no one else to blame but myself for this hiccough, though I think Netbeans cacheing and it running out of stack space should get a bit of a mention (there you go just mentioned it).

Reason for the extra quick follow with another release so soon was because v3.00's SQL upgrade scripts just didn't do the job properly. uniCenta oPOS v3.01 resolves this.

Got to give A Big Thanks from me to a selected few uniCenta oPOS Community Members; Hugh, Bob Neil and Amar who kindly volunteered and tested uniCenta oPOS v3.01 before putting out there for general release.

uniCenta oPOS v3 + Openbravo POS Upgrades

Hi


There's been a real surge in emails being received with upgrade issues, from (Openbravo POS>uniCenta oPOS, since the release of uniCenta oPOS v3, and they appear to be firmly rooted back in Openbravo POS 2.30.2

It’s become such an issue that I've had to reconsider how much time I'm prepared to get involved.

This is what I have decided I have to do:

It's really not worthwhile overall, nor is it where I want to be, spending time fixing legacy Openbravo POS related upgrade issues when that time could be spent concentrating on improving and moving uniCenta oPOS forward. (Openbravo users wanting to transition to uniCenta oPOS – see the Tip below)

So, sorry folks; Support for Openbravo POS versions, from me personally, being upgraded to uniCenta oPOS is being withdrawn as of now.

Of course I'm not saying you shouldn’t post on any of the forums here, absolutely not, the uniCenta oPOS Community welcomes everyone left high and dry by Openbravo's withdrawal from the market as much as it does uniCenta oPOS users. I’ll still dip into the forums though and keep an eye on the posts from time-to-time.

And, let’s face it, if you had a little spare time wouldn’t you feel really good if you could help someone with an Openbravo POS>uniCenta oPOS upgrade issue. That would be a really great thing to do. Right?

For me; Taking this stance doesn’t mean I will ever forget where uniCenta oPOS sprang from - the ashes of Openbravo POS - it's just that with over 60,000 downloads of uniCenta oPOS so far, and over 7,000 downloads in the last 30 days, it brings certain responsibilities and, well, time is a precious thing and I have to use it wisely.

Right now improving uniCenta oPOS, moving forward, adding more features and functionality is my focus. I’m sure you understand.

Jack

p.s.:

Tip: If you want to upgrade from Openbravo POS - install a fresh version of uniCenta oPOS and then transfer your Openbravo POS data across.
This is a great tool: www.sql-workbench.net - and it'll get the job done for you in double-quick time!

p.p.s.:
Please don't ask for uniCenta oPOS v3.00 source code. You can't have it... yet!
The reason is simple; I've allowed two weeks for feedback after the release so I can gather up any issues that couldn't be tested here (there are just too many variables), get them sorted and then let you have the as-good-as-it-gets solid core code.

uniCenta oPOS v3Beta1 Preview

upcoming new version of uniCenta oPOS

August 28, 2012 - London

uniCenta oPOS v3.0Beta will hit the streets in first week of September 2012

 This is just 1 of 38 Look and Feel skins!

See the Preview!

uniCenta oPOS v3Beta Preview

Now we've done it...

uniCenta oPOS v2.0 beta is available with Linux installer.

Whilst we've always been Linux friendly, and Mac come to that, we never had a Linux installer....

Until now!

You can get it here: uniCenta oPOS Linux

uniCenta oPOS Windows version is still available, of course and

...for all those Android - we're working on it

Missed it - 10,000 uniCenta oPOS Downloads!

Wasn't paying attention this last week so when I checked, had a big surprise...,

10,230 uniCenta oPOS Downloads!

Also had an email from a downloader that they had installed in four restaurants as well as an auto-parts retailer; in just one week! As well as hearing from a mobile bar business owner that using uniCenta oPOS instead of a Cash Register has had a big positive impact on the way he runs his business.

Love stories like this.

When we first set out had set a target to hit 10k downloads and then release version 3.0, which was to be a significant uplift in functionality to the current version 2.30, but deviated a bit by adding extra functionalities in the interim releases.
Along the way, over the past year, uniCenta oPOS has a few of the original planned enhancements included that we were saving for version 3 and there's a whole lot more to come pretty soon when version 3.0 officially hits the streets.

SEO works! April Fool. Not.

What do you do when you want to surprise on April Fools day? (save those for the guys here in the office - heh, heh)
Well, you don't post to a blog, that's what!
Who's going to believe...? Aah, guess it's the price of success.

We didn't expect to see what we saw today a few weeks ago and I know it's a feeling you probably won't share, but our free Point of Sale uniCenta oPOS download rate is continuing to surprise, and excite us.
You know it was only a week ago we saw the number of uniCenta oPOS downloads jump through the 6000 mark - now that made us very happy - and proudly announced this news of course.  But now downloads have passed 7000 only one week later!
Now, if we were excited a week ago, it won't take you long to figure how we feel about this when we saw the latest stat's. Yep. Right. You got it.

So, what's the under-lying reason for the accelerating downloads? Easy. It's down to SEO. 
We've spent a lot of time refining  the app', and a lot of time learning, and applying, what we've learned about SEO.  The results speak for themselves, I think. 
So, you think to yourself; ooh goody. This SEO thing really works... Got to try it.  STOP!  Beware!
Before you do; just want to let you know that if you want to fry your your brain or experience slow excruciating trauma you should try it! This SEO thingy, it's a deep, deep mysterious black-art practised by shady folks who don't get much sunlight :-)

Here's our stat's.  As the saying goes "A picture speaks..." so I'll let our Sourceforge uniCenta oPOS project stat's say the rest.

You can see the effect of our previous SEO work kicking in at the beginning of the year then in March. BOOM!
If you want to know more about us visit our uniCenta main site or go directly to our dedicated uniCenta oPOS site.

Dutch, French, German and Spanish language locales released today!

uniCenta oPOS language and settings can easily be changed by downloading and using the new beta language locales.
Available in Dutch, French, German and Spanish the locales are simple to install and ready to use straight way.

Still got a bit to do in places - to complete translation for the additional fourteen reports (unavailable in Openbravo POS default install) we added to uniCenta oPOS - but expect another update soon.

Here's a shot of uniCenta oPOS German locale installed - Stock Menu:

 ...and a Product List Report

Onwards and Upwards

uniCenta oPOS downloads went through the 5000 line, end of Jan', and in this last weekend shot through 6000

What a sprint!

Now I'm guessing here, it's been the SEO stuff I've been playing with on both the main www.unicenta.net and www.unicentaopos.co.uk sites, and both have seen a doubling of visitors.  Reckon that's a pretty good indicater for my guess.

What's interesting though is the level of interest trending towards Mobile POS - in all its forms - which is really great to see.  What's more, the interest level is coming from all sectors.
For all who know the history, Mobile POS is something I've always promoted..., since I can't remember when, and in those early days mobile devices were heavy, clumsy to use, under-powered, scare as rocking horse do-do's and cost the proverbial arm & leg.

Just curious....  What's your idea of the perfect Mobile POS device?

uniCenta oPOS v2.60 - Mobile Ordering

Thought we'd give you a sneek peek at uniCenta moPAD development as we continue to play with the Partner Tech OT-200 Windows Mobile 6.5.x PDA

Here's a quickie of it in Partner Tech corporate branding (not finished and still experimenting) - getting it ready for the RBTE show, Earls Court, in London 16-17 March.

 You'll see we're running a non-standard keyboard instead of the almost useless built-in Windows 6.5; it's Dasur SlideIT. We like it.... a lot.

What do you think?

For the Techies;
Snippet shows moPAD running server-side, jsp war pages with Ajax directly through the OT-200's in-built IE browser.
More play-time coming up with Opera mobile.

uniCenta oPOS v2.60 Released

We've let loose our latest upgrade to uniCenta oPOS our Free open source Point Of Sale you can get it here http://www.unicentaopos.co.uk and here http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/unicentaopos

Have been having some fun with it too running as a mobile app' (it already runs really well on Partner Tech's 10" EM-200 pad/tablet pc)
Here's some shots.
Full app' running on PartnerTech OT-200 Windows Mobile 6.5 PDA

 

and here running server side web page version in browser

uniCenta oPOS v2.60

Haven't been here for a while...  thought I'd better get my act together and post some stuff.

Letting you know that uniCenta oPOS version 2.60 is coming out of beta in the next few days.
Main focus has been on improving User Interface Look and Feel, tidying up the reports and adding a few more bells + a few whistles to boot.

Here's a few shots for the curious;

 

Also got a new and improved - the new standard that is being applied to all Manuals - Installation Guide; you can see it here

Jack

Didn't believe me about my last post... Look at this!

Just came across this... thought you should see it.

I've highlighted the relevant

Amenities and technology key hotel differentiators for business travelers

November 15, 2010 | Hospitality Industry

Amenities and Technology Key Differentiators

The Deloitte survey found that the overall hotel experience is important to a majority of business travelers. Roughly two-thirds of respondents said they often work in their room (68 percent) and they also expect a lot more from a hotel than just a clean room and comfortable bed (65 percent). Further, almost four out of five respondents felt that high-speed Internet (79 percent) and free parking (77 percent) were important amenities to them when staying at a hotel for business. A core group of business travelers (30 percent) felt their favorite hotel brand was so important to them that they would stay at that hotel brand even if it were not in the most convenient location. This loyalty was highest among those earning $150,000 or more.

“Consumers are more value-conscious than ever and have been conditioned to expect more for their money after a steady diet of recession-era deals. The tipping point for hotels to differentiate their brand offering and strengthen loyalty among the post-recessionary business traveler will be providing additional complementary services and amenities tailored to their guests’ specific needs,” said Weissenberg. “Beyond traditional incentives, hotels are realizing the importance of developing their online presence, particularly with mobile platforms, to capitalize on a crucial touch point for brand communication.”

Roughly half, 48 percent, of survey respondents owned a web-enabled smartphone. However, business travelers who are 18 to 29 years old, or with an income of more than $150,000, were far more likely to own one (84 percent and 63 percent, respectively). Among smartphone owners, more than one-quarter (26 percent) have downloaded a hotel application and have used it primarily to book a room (54 percent).

Interestingly, general-purpose travel websites did not appear to be regularly used by business travelers for booking accommodations. Only 31 percent used such sites always/frequently, 31 percent used them occasionally, and a larger 38 percent stating they never use these sites for reserving a hotel room for business travel.

About the Survey

The survey was commissioned by Deloitte and conducted online by an independent research company between September 10 and September 14, 2010. The survey polled a nationally representative sample of 1,001 business travelers and has a margin of error of +/- three percentage points.

Related Link: Deloitte

http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/amenities_and_technology_key_hotel_differentiators_for_business_travelers/

Oracle announce MySQL 5.5 RC

Edward Screven, Oracle’s Chief Corporate Architect, underlined Oracle’s investment in MySQL and demonstrated how Oracle is making MySQL better every day. He announced the immediate availability of the release candidate version of MySQL 5.5, which delivers major enhancements in performance & scalability, availability and usability.

Watch Edward’s presentation  http://medianetwork.oracle.com/media/show/15664?n=subCategory&nid=35 

Apparently Benchmarks showed up to 1,561% performance gains for Read/Write operations on Windows, and up to 364% performance gain in Read/Write operations on Linux!: Higher availability: New semi-synchronous replication and replication Heart Beat improve the reliability of data and the speed of fail-over for continuous application availability. Improved usability: Enhanced index and table partitioning, signal/re-signal support and diagnostics further improve the usability of MySQL 5.5. 
Learn More and Get Going with MySQL 5.5: Download > MySQL 5.5 RC http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/

uniCenta oPOS already works with early versions of MySQL and work is under-way preparing it to take advantage of the benefits of this Release Candidate.  So, keep an eye on events as this will provide a major boost to the performance of uniCenta oPOS in the enterprise.  

Could this be the way or I don't understand. Need help - Part II

Refresher: In my last post I questioned why hotels keep batting, in what is clearly a lost match, for them, against the fall and continuing fall of in-room telephone provision. It's an odd one this, isn't it.

We all know that an hotel's bread & butter trade weekdays is business traveller related one way or another - Many corporate. Many not so corporate - and yet I sometimes wonder whether or not most operators actually grasp the situation and understand what has happened; what is happening; and what is going to happen. I'm still referring to telephony here but it is equally applicable to the general IT estate in hotels. Of course some do grasp it, and they really do it rather well, yet the majority still don't.

There are some "early adopters" - thanks Severin for your input about the Hoxton example here in London - but in the main it seems to me that "early adopter", in hotel-speak, concerning technology is something like five years after it's gone mainstream.
In fact, in my time dealing with hotel and leisure operators it's often been the case that ICT systems are relegated to a stuffy little back room or are tucked under-the-stairs usually barely enough room to swing that proverbial cat. A pretty good indication of the perceived value of ICT in the thought-train there then.

And yet, do you know what; it's refreshing to see there are more and more smart young (yes, I acknowledge you smart oldies too) operators whose familiarity and incorporation of ICT is setting the pace. For the "deniers" out there who think ICT begins and ends in the Back Office controlled by the FD and is not relevant to your hotel today, I just want to remind all of you poo-pooers of a) the Internet b) Wi-fi... I think that will do for the moment - and how you changed your mind (eventually) when you realised how much business was going to your competitors because you didn't provide.

Which conveniently brings me to the point of my post; How to exploit in-room guest telephone services.
Remember: you lost most of your call revenue to the mobile phone. Nero, Fiddle, Rome come to mind?
Can I ask. Do you want to start to get it some/all of it back? Get some more of that juicy secondary spend? Differentiate from your competition? Up your RevPar?
Well if you do; have you considered giving calls minutes away. I know some of you do that already. But, for how long and where? I know this too; usually up to an hour and when I'm a resident.

May be then you might want to consider extending your "reach" a wee bit.
May be then you could extend your reach and actually steal (legally of course) some of your competitors revenue without them even knowing about it.
Do you think this a tad too far-fetched? Hope you paused for thought here, and re-considered what I'm saying, because if I'm not wrong; isn't that what all the mobile phone operators did to you? Stole your in-room guest call revenue. Right from under your nose. Bet you didn't even bat an eye-lid, did you?

Consider this extract. Apologies to the original author as I can't remember where it came from;
Softphones are an ideal option for businesses with many mobile workers, because it allows travellers to take a laptop into a hotel room, log onto a Web portal and make and receive calls across the in-room high- speed Internet connection - just as if they were at their desk. Telecommuters can use the phones in a similar manner using their high-speed connections at home.
Now add - Anywhere to the above para'.

Can't be done? Wrong! Think again. Skype did it. So could you and there are plenty enough people out there who could help you do it...

uniCenta oPOS Point-Of-Sale | Download uniCenta oPOS Point-Of-Sale software for free at SourceForge.net

uniCenta oPOS Point-Of-Sale Download uniCenta oPOS Point-Of-Sale software for free at SourceForge.net

Toolkit - Getting British Business Online

Toolkit - Getting British Business Online

Great opportunity to get yourself a free, real, pukka web site.
We did. www.unicentaopos.co.uk

Don't understand. Need help...

What is it about hoteliers; not seeing the trees for the wood? (Yes. I know the vigilant amongst you will spot the debilerate deliberate mistake)

I'll come to the point and tell you what's bothered me for the last few years;
I've travelled quite a lot in Europe on business in my time, and have stayed in my fair share of hotels that's for sure, only to find the same-old out-moded telephone system and services wherever I stay.  If that wasn't enough, the astronomical per minute call rates continue to amaze.  
As a Guest though, I can take it or leave it... I'll leave it for now, thanks.  I've got my trusty mobile phone.

OK Mr Hotelier, you will catch a needy traveller, or two, and scrape up a bit more secondary spend every now and again.  You know very well that's the case.
You've done your costings as well; the revenue numbers in your worksheet have continued to shrink, and you have convinced yourself that it's no longer worthwhile even providing an in-room Guest telephone.

So, what if I told you you are missing a trick here.  Missing a way of restoring an area of your business to profit you currently regard as a liability.  A way of generating secondary spend that's just gagging to be exploited.  Yes.  Exploited.
Offended by the word, exploited?  Look what the dictionary says;

ex·ploit (eksploit, ek-sploit) n.
An act or deed, especially a brilliant or heroic one.
tr.v. (ek-sploit, eksploit) ex·ploit·ed, ex·ploit·ing, ex·ploits
1. To employ to the greatest possible advantage: exploit one's talents.
2. To advertise; promote.

Would you exploit, Mr Hotelier?  Of course you would. 
You did it back in the days when mobile phones were a rarity.  It's in your blood.  So, why not do it again?  You have the opportunity.  You could exploit and you should exploit.
The equipment's already installed; you're more than likely signed up to a provider giving you insanely low local and international tariffs; you've even installed VoIP... now all you need to do is encourage Guests to use your phones instead of their mobiles. 

Great.  All ready and rarin' to go then!

Er.  No.  What do you do?  You continue to charge insanely high Guest rate call charges - just like the good old days, eh - and yet still have difficulty understanding why that particular budget line refuses to nose upwards out of the red.  You thought by lowering call cost you'd make more money.  Well, yes.  I guess you do.  I can't argue with the equation; Sell High - Buy Cheap = More Profit.  It's a given. 
You really need to "get" this though;
Unless I have a pang of conscience about depriving you of a living or I've forgotten to pack my mobile phone... the handset in the room is just an ornament and will gather dust.   
Give me lower, realistic international call rates - which beat the mobile operators - and my money is all yours for the taking!
On the other hand, if I also have my trusty laptop me with me, you are going to need to compete with the likes of Skype.
 
But, how you do that... is for my next post.

See you then.

Dedicated uniCenta oPOS site

uniCenta oPOS now has a new dedicated uniCenta oPOS web site.  Still available on uniCenta's main web site and Sourceforge, the aim behind the new site is to dedicate it to just oPOS activity.
In the months since its launch on Sourceforge, oPOS is running steady at just shy of 200 downloads per week... which is amazing considering.