• Local File lists – Open your PDF content using email, iTunes File Sharing and/or Dropbox Public Folder
• Bluetooth – Connect with up to 3 Passengers using Bluetooth
• Max file size – Upload and access files larger than 3MB
• Pilot Controls – Highlighter and pinch/zoom features are now smoother than ever
• UI improvements – Eraser now functions as a handy Undo tool
• iOS 6 compatibility
• And MORE!

• Wirelessly and effortlessly sync devices to connect and share content anytime, anywhere
• Opt to sign into Facebook or LinkedIn for a more personalized meeting experience
• Take notes
• Save to iBooks for revisiting (with Pilot’s permission)

Idea flight’s first stop was the Instructional Technology Strategies Conference (ITSC) in the beautiful Portland, OR. Since inception, ITSC, organized by the Organization for Educational Tech &Curriculum (OETC), has demonstrated the advances of using cutting edge technology specifically in the classroom. Educators and their colleagues, visited from all over the country to explore potential tools that will not only maximize classroom productivity but also do so in a cost effective way.

We were fortunate enough to speak at ITSC about the new and exciting features coming to Idea Flight Enterprise v2.0 and discuss in depth the results of our Beta Program. We heard first hand, what teachers were looking for in their classroom and what features they particularly wanted to see in our upcoming iterations. All awesome feedback!

A few weeks after our stop in Portland, we headed out for round 2 on the west coast for the Launch Festival in San Francisco, CA. Over 1,000 attendees, including 42 start-ups, flooded the Demo Pit and stage to debut or launch their new products (find a complete list of companies that launched, here) – some really impressive stuff! Oh yea – did we mention the President of Isreal made a stop to speak at the Fest? We had a great time demoing the new features in Idea Flight v2.0 to fellow techy friends and industry professionals alike.

Hoping to continue to get the Idea Flight word out there at these conferences so stay tuned for more coverage here on our blog or on Twitter: @ideaflight

Like many things in life, the plan that you start with is never what you end up with… And if you’re really lucky it ends up being more than you could have ever imagined.

Late last summer we launched Idea Flight Enterprise (to get background on this, read this post).  We developed this version of Idea Flight for the educational market after hearing directly from teachers that they wanted this tool for their classroom.  What is so amazing, is that the education community saw potential and the ability to fill a need that we couldn’t have identified on our own and we knew we needed them to go further.

The Idea Flight team then enlisted the help of four amazing educators all from different parts of the country—Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana and New York—asking them to help us by using Idea Flight with their students in a classroom environment and be brutally honest in their feedback.  All we sent them were some loaner devices, a presentation giving a high level background on the app and it’s features…the rest was up to them.  After each group concluded their testing period they completed a survey and we Skyped with the teacher alone and then had a separate session with the teacher and students to go more deeply into their feedback.  What we never expected was that each teacher would comment on Idea Flight’s ability to surface and effect students with everything from visual impairments (some of which were unknown), to helping focus and engage students that are easily distracted and empower students who normally were self-conscious about presenting to their class.

If that wasn’t enough, we were also blown away by the incredible creativity these classes demonstrated in uncovering a new way to use Idea Flight to make presentations more impactful.  A great example of this was Paul Bogush’s 8th Grade Social Studies class at Moran Middle School in Wallingford, CT.  I could explain what they did, but he does it better in his blog post about the experience:

Such an awesome conference, Launch ‘Pad! Thanks for hosting.

Couldn’t make it to the conference? No worries, you can find a live conference stream here.

Join in on the Idea Flight discussion:
@Ideaflight
#IdeaFlight
#LaunchPad

Check out the positive reviews, particularly about the speed, UI and new design, and we concur… there are even some clamoring for an iPad version.

As Idea Flight users know, the Passenger List feature allows Pilots and Passengers to network via LinkedIn. Once logged in while in the meeting. names, titles, photos, company and connections are displayed and connecting is easy by tapping right from within the app so forgetting names and business cards isn’t a worry when you want to follow up with your fellow participants.  Download the Idea Flight app and start your own meeting to experience the Passenger List feature…and as the headline of this post suggests, Idea Flight had a groovy update with new features too.

Also worthy of mention, their update earned LinkedIn “App of the Week” on the Apple App Store which is no small feat as any developer knows.

#1: Our First Update: Idea Flight (v 1.1) is now available in the App Store for download. If you held off during our initial launch back in June, rest assured, there are new features that will bring value to Pilots and Passengers alike (if you don’t know what I mean, see this previous post) so get downloading and updating. Things like:
• NOTES: Pilots and Passengers can jot down ideas and inspiration mid-presentation or whenever. They can read, edit or access Notes anytime directly within the app, Dropbox, iTunes File Sharing, or email.
• PINCH & ZOOM: In ‘Locked’ mode, as the Pilot zooms & pans, the Passengers are kept in sync. In ‘Unlocked’ Passengers are free to change size aspect ratio and orientation.
• ROTATE: PDF in the wrong orientation? Simply hold two fingers down on the presentation to enable rotation. When you’re finished, simply tap with two fingers.
And Pilots can breathe easier with…
• SECURITY: For sensitive meetings Pilots can set a Boarding PASSCODE to control content access.

#2 Idea Flight Enterprise: This brings me our second bit of news, and yes, more thanks are in order. When we launched back in June we had no idea what kind of feedback we would receive. We were thrilled when Gizmodo made us their App of the Day and then Week, and shortly thereafter were on the top charts on the App Store for Productivity and getting mentioned by FastCompany, TheNextWeb, FMM and others… Also profound but more than a little surprising was the incredible response we heard from the education community –through email, social media, our website and literally coming up to us in person–we heard from grade school teachers, specialist like Technology and Math teachers, IT Professionals representing everything from urban school districts Pre-K -12 to private universities both here and abroad. The other thing they consistently said was “Please consider making the Pilot version available via the Volume Purchasing Program…” so we investigated what that meant and then…we did it and Idea Flight Enterprise was born!

So, what is Idea Flight Enterprise? Idea Flight Enterprise is a one-time purchased product available on the App Store and through the App Store Volume Purchase Program that includes the CURRENT VERSION of Idea Flight (1.1), the current in-app purchase (Pilot upgrade) and any FUTURE IN-APP PURCHASES added to the original version of Idea Flight all for one price in one download. You will need to accept updates to the app as we release new features… but they will be already included with your initial purchase price.

I will tell you Idea Flight Enterprise is not finished and it’s not meant to be. It’s meant to be a beginning, and if you are so inclined and IFE is appropriate for your needs, please join us today and be part of that continued evolution…because let’s face it, you are the reason for it’s very existence. To get more information on Idea Flight Enterprise visit the Enterprise FAQS.

Some folks will ask, “why else did you build Enterprise?”…well, we didn’t need to look very far. We’ve seen amazing innovators like foursquare (a NYC innovation, btw) announce new products and features for education, Google has their Teaching Academy and before Apple launched their recently announced App Volume Purchasing Program for Businesses they had one for…yep, that’s right, Education first. So we feel honored and proud to be able to serve this critical market too, in whatever way we can.

So when asked, “What did you do on your summer vacation” IF 1.1 and IFE is the likely response. We hope you try Idea Flight 1.1 or Idea Flight Enterprise, but also we hope you let us know your thoughts, share your experiences and help us continue to find new ways to get your ideas, lessons, presentations, meetings and more off the ground and into the next dimension.

Next week we’re very excited (and honored) to participate in NY Tech Meetup. It’s happening on August 2 at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.  You can get more information here if you’re so inclined, and to check out presenters from the July Meetup go here.

The night couldn’t have happened without our colleagues at ArsTechnica, our new friends at the W–especially Mark Roberts, Velocity SF, our photographer Marla Aufmuth, Photoboof, DJ Justin Miller and Busy Beaver–who did our way cool buttons. Their creativity and our collaboration did not go unnoticed when ZDNet published this piece over the weekend giving us props for a great event.  Thanks to all who came and followed our revelry on twitter.  Missed the action?  Follow us and be in the know next time.