Today In APIs: Codecademy Launches API Lessons, Geo Ads in Stores, and 15 New APIs

Codecademy invades the API How-To Space. Walgreens starts instore ads with geofencing platform. Plus: Pealk acquired by Viadeo, Dextrorobotics finds objects in photos, and 15 new APIs.

Codecademy Launches Lessons on Building Apps on top of Youtube and Twilio

What's the point of building apps on top of applications like Youtube and Twilio? Zach Sims, the co-founder of Codecademy spells out a compelling vision implied by his experience,

"When I worked at GroupMe before starting Codecademy, it always amazed me that the company started at a TechCrunch Disrupt hackathon. Its founders somehow built an awesome group texting application in less than 48 hours! How'd they do it? They built on top of another company's technology - Twilio, in this case - and used it to build an app of their own. Twilio sent the text messages, but GroupMe handled group formation, the interface, and more. A year after GroupMe was created at a hackathon, Skype bought it for more than $60m."

Build cool stuff... make cold cash. Not a horrible combination.

As our own Janet Wagner reports in Programmableweb,

"Codecademy has formed partnerships with API providers such as YouTube, Parse, Twilio, NPR, Bitly, SoundCloud and The Sunlight Foundation to create lessons that show how to create basic API driven apps."

Visit Codecademy for more on how to get started at the beginning of programming...or adding to your skills.

Ads Inside Walgreens with Aisle411's Geo-Fencing Platform

A youtube video showcasing how aisle411.com's geo-fencing delivers ads inside the store a customer is visiting uses Walgreens as a demonstration. The customer approacches the store and receives a greeting on their phone, can see their location in the store on a map, and can receive ads for products in the store.

Abhi Dhar, Walgreens Chief Technology Officer of eCommerce reports it's working out well,

"With aisle411, Walgreens further delivers on its goal of providing the most convenient shopping experience by simplifying store visits and saving customers’ valuable time."

Aisle411 promises retailers bigger baskets and helps bu ild stronger brands.

API News Your Shouldn't Miss

15 New APIs

Today we had 15 new APIs added to our API directory including a telecom information applications, a continuing pharmaceutical education certification database, an airport locator service, a gps tracking services for businesses and police, a new zealand restaurant information service, a photo album retrieval service, a photo album retrieval service, a golf tournament photo album retrieval service and a german podcast platform. Below is more details on each of these new APIs.

Purlem API Creates and Manages PURLs

China Telecom API: China Telecom is a state owned telecom operator in China servicing over 600 thousand customers. China Telecom transitioned to promote the development of information applications, specifically for enterprise use, to bring new ways for the public and enterprise to access and use information. The China Telecom API requires developers to first apply for access, then go through an application process for their application idea to be approved. Once approved, developers can then create their application for enterprise and public use. The goal being to spread technology and information into the rural parts of China.

CPE Monitor Service API: CPE Monitor allows continuing education providers to submit attendee lists from CPE (continuing pharmacy education) activities. The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) are developing CPE Monitor in order to authenticate and store data for completed CPE units received by pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

The service is expected to save time and expense by streamlining the process of verifying that licensees and registrants meet CPE requirements and by providing a centralized repository for pharmacists’ and pharmacy technicians’ continuing education details. The CPE Monitor Service API permits direct programmatic interaction with CPE Monitor. With it, users can add, edit, and remove CPE information programmatically via SOAP calls.

Frontier Airlines Word Wheel Local API: Frontier Airlines is a commercial airline whose primary hub is located at the Denver International Airport. Frontier Airlines is represented online by the Fly Frontier website. This site hosts the Word Wheel API, which can be used to retrieve information on all Frontier Airlines (abbr. F9) airports and their locations. This service uses SOAP calls issued in XML format and has little associated documentation.

GPSit TrackFusion API: GPSit provides covert GPS tracking services within the United States and Mexico. They specialize in providing solutions to owners of goods in transit, third party logistics providers, and law enforcement technical surveillance. By covertly incorporating tracking devices into shipments or assets, owners can monitor them in real time and quickly recover them if they are lost or stolen. Integrated device sensors can monitor environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, altitude, light exposure, and vibration and send alerts if there is a threat or a dangerous change in environmental conditions.

TrackFusion is GPSit's browser-based application, designed to access the advanced capabilities of GPSit trackers in a simple-to-use environment. The application is viewable on all popular browsers and is password-protected. TrackFusion is built upon an XML-based open architecture and can therefore be integrated with other applications using a SOAP-based API.

MenuMania API: The service provides access to the provider's database of restaurant listings for cities and locations in New Zealand. It delivers information on restaurants for a specific location, those serving a particular cuisine, or a combination. Available information includes address, cuisine offered, hours and other operating details, and ratings from other diners.

API methods support search for restaurants located in New Zealand within a defined radius of a specified map point. Search can also provide an address or city, with or without particular keywords in descriptive information. Methods allow filtering of results for a defined list of cuisines and other attributes such as price level. The API also gives access to community reviews logged by the service to help discover the most highly rated restaurants.

Metropolis Country Club Photo Album API: Metropolis Country Club is a private membership club located in White Plains, NY. They offer their members a recently-remodeled clubhouse along with golf, swimming, and tennis facilities. Their website hosts a photo album, which is not available to the general public. The Photo Album API enables users to load all or some of the images from the photo album onto their own websites. This API is accessible via SOAP calls issued in XML format.

Overlake Golf and Country Club Photo Album API: Overlake Golf and Country Club is a family club located in a residential area of Medina, WA. They offer their members an 18-hole golf course, 6-lane competition pool, and U.S. Open style tennis courts. Their website hosts a photo album, which is not available to the general public. The Photo Album API enables users to load all or some of the images from the photo album onto their own websites. This API is accessible via SOAP calls issued in XML format.

Pacific Links Hawaii Championship Photo Album API: The Pacific Links Hawaii Championship is an official PGA Champions Tour golf tournament. It is named for Pacific Links Hawaii, a golf course investment company. The Championship website hosts a photo album, which is programmatically accessible via SOAP API. The Photo Album API enables users to load all or some of the images from the photo album onto their own websites.

podcast.de API: Podcast.de is a German podcasting site that caters to teaching users everything about podcasting. The Podcast.de API gives developers access to over 100,000 podcasts and the information surrounding them. This includes functionality to access podcasting bookmarks, favorites, playlists, specific properties and etc. The API is RESTful and responses are formatted in JSON. A maximum of 200 responses are returned for each call to ensure platform stability.

Purlem API: The service provides custom URLs personalized for marketing campaigns and individual users linked to custom landing pages highlighting content important to those users. It is intended to allow highly targeting promotional campaigns with selective message delivery optimized for specific user preferences. The embedded page editor facilitates design and creation of landing pages to display when a user follows a custom URL defined within the system and delivered in marketing communications.

API methods support creation of a marketing campaign reference for an individual user with its own unique URL and linked to a personalized landing page created in the system. Methods also support managing contact lists from which to create personalized promotional URLs and reporting on campaign results such as visits to a URL and similar traffic statistics.

Sale Plus Operations API: Sale Plus is a Turkish website for helping shoppers find sales and potential discounts. Their tagline, "her gun indirim her yerde taksit", translates to "payment discounts every day, everywhere". With the Sale Plus Operations API, users can interact with the site programmatically to look up available discounts and leave feedback. This service uses SOAP calls issued in XML format. The website is offered solely in Turkish.

SimpleTexting API: SimpleTexting is a text marketing service that lets users engage customers via text messaging. Increase revenue, loyalty, participation, and appreciation with targeted texts. The service offers features such as building lists, creating text campaigns, enhancing texts, sending messages and analyzing results. A RESTful API is available that gives developers access to the service's full functionality.

Texas A&M University Geoservices Geocoder API: Geocoding is the process of converting non-spatial locational data (such as an address) into its corresponding spatial representation (usually latitude and longitude). The Texas A&M Geoservices Geocoder is research-based geocoding software that is continually being improved. The Geocoder allows users to process a single address as well as a database of records in batch. The Texas A&M Geoservices Geocoder can be integrated with desktop or web applications through its API.

Turkish National Police AKBS API: AKBS is a Law and Order ID Notification System for hotels, motels, dormitories, etc. Any sort of temporary accommodations where people might stay on a per-night basis is reported as part of the system. Such facilities can send the required data automatically using AKBS software queries. AKBS is also available as a SOAP-based API. This software is no longer being updated. The entire website is provided exclusively in Turkish.

W3 Solutions API: W3 Solutions is an all-in-one integrated management solution for extended warranty programs. They offer plans covering a variety of products that include appliances, consumer electronics, mobility products, furniture, and computers. Contracts can be registered online either manually or through batch uploads, and customers can file their claims online.

The API provides users with programmatic access to data they have stored with W3 Solution, including lists of clients, manufacturers, product types, SKUs (stock-keeping units), and stores.

About the Author:

Greg Bates A writer for Programmableweb since 2012, Greg is a freelance writer and a maniacal editor of dissertations and term papers. - Follow me on Google+

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