After looking at and trying other IM server based on Jabber/XMPP we decided to use the iChat server built into Mac OS X Leopard server.  It was one of the few that supported native video and audio chats.   The video and audio are just initiated by the server but are not routed through it.  This minimizes server bandwidth usage.   It also supported chat rooms that could be created by any authenticated user.  It is easily managed through Open Directory and has SSL connection capabilities.  It can also be set up to use Active Directory or LDAP.

We are receiving extremely positive feedback about iRa from the development community. The 350+ developers that saw the demo at the iPhoneDevCamp 2 in San Francisco last weekend were so impressed by the application that iRa won the “Coolest iPhone App” award at the end of the 2 day event.

Watch the demo below and then check out the Lextech Labs News page to see what people are saying about iRa!

A number of Lextech team members will be attending the San Francisco iPhoneDevCamp event and the Chicago satelite gathering this weekend. Our goal for the event is to continue building knowledge of the iPhone platform, meet some great people and have an app or two we can release to the world when it’s all wrapped up.

Founder & CEO of Lextech Labs and Lextech Global Services, Alex Bratton, was a guest on Inside Mac Radio. During the radio segment, Alex is interviewed by Scott Shephard (Host/Anchor of Inside Mac Radio) about Lextech Labs and the mobile surveillance product, iRa. The show can be downloaded on iTunes and accessed through http://www.insidemacradio.com as a podcast. Check it out!

Continuing the now annual tradition we started last year, a group of us enjoyed the early morning air and rain sprinkles to stake out our spot in the iPhone line insanity of last week (granted last year was a bit more intense with much more time in line). Our spots started at 46th in line and that worked out to score us the initial batch of phones we needed to continue our development and testing of iPhone related technologies, especially over 3G.

July 10, 2008 — We’re working hard to wrap up the functionality on iRa, Lextech Labs’ surveillance viewing and control application for the iPod touch & iPhone. We recently pulled together some video footage showing off the many improvements and new features we have added since our technology demo video in May.

iRa iPhone Surveillance App Preview Video

It is a typical weeknight in your local shopping mall. People from every walk of life are patronizing a variety of stores in the facility. Mothers and their children are scoping out the latest bathing suit sales. Students are browsing the aisles of the book store for their reports, no doubt due tomorrow. Sports enthusiasts are examining the hottest new cross trainers at the the athletic shoe store. Everyone is caught up in the pace of their personal shopping experience, just as they should be.

We are proud to announce the opening our new sister company, Lextech Labs. Sure, a sister company may not be a sibling in the traditional sense, but there are some commonalities.

If the phrases “fault tolerance” and “load balancer” sound all but foreign to you, you are not alone. I used to consider myself fairly well versed in technical jargon. It wasn’t until I started working in the Marketing Department at Lextech that I realized how much I didn’t know. There were times I felt like I was working in a distant land, where everyone dealt in a currency to which I didn’t have access.

Lextech refuses to employ some of the less imaginative sales tactics used by other growing companies. For example, we don’t use obnoxious sales pitches or interrupt families gathered around the dinner table by cold calling them. Why? Because we have faith in our work.

We believe that we can only be as successful as we make our clients. If our clients are successful and happy with the work Lextech has done, they will tell their friends. And they have!

100% of our clients to date were referred to us by previous clients or friends.