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The Walgreens Developer Program is pleased be the flagship sponsor for the first-ever Health 2.0 Chicago conference which will occur on Friday September 28 and Saturday 29.

Event Overview:

Chicago Health Tech and Health 2.0 is hosting the very first Health 2.0 Local conference focused on fostering the growth of the health tech ecosystem in Chicago and the greater Midwest.  Health 2.0 is bringing together the entrepreneurial and innovator community with the goal of sharing lessons learned and identifying opportunities for growth and innovation.  Health 2.0 believes that connecting health technology stakeholders, such as entrepreneurs, startups, providers, payers, investors and government policy makers in a vibrant environment for sharing are integral for this growth.

Event Times:

Fri, Sept 28, Day 1 - Main Conference at Spertus:  8:30 am – 6:00 pm / After Party at 1871 in Merchandise Mart : 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Sat, Sept 29, Day 2 - Code-a-thons/Make-a-thons and Innovator Fuse at 1871 in Merchandise Mart : 8:30am – 5:30 pm

Who should attend?

  ·        Anyone who wants the pulse on health technology in Chicago and the greater Midwest.

  ·        Entrepreneurs in health technology

  ·        Established healthcare stakeholders interested in collaborating with startups

  ·        Healthcare professionals with entrepreneurial interests

  ·        Technology innovators looking for opportunities in health and healthcare

  ·        Investors

To learn more information about this great event, please visit http://www.health2con.com/chicago/conferences/2012fall.  If you'd like to register for Health 2.0 event, you can do so at http://www.health2con.com/chicago/?ee=1.  You can also follow the event on Twitter via #H20Chi.

Attention all iOS Developers:

The Walgreens Developer Program team has just released version 1.1 of our QuickPrints for iOS SDK.

After the final version of iOS6 was released to developers on Wednesday September 12, we encountered an issue in our testing relating to how the final version of iOS6 leveraged the new armV7S framework. 

We have worked quickly to resolve that issue and are happy to report an updated version of our SDK is now available for iOS developers.

We don’t believe a SDK update will be required for all partner applications (depends on how/if you leveraged the armV frameworks, but wanted to let all of developers know either way.

Version 1.1 of the iOS SDK (and updated set of sample application source code) can now be downloaded on our iOS SDK documentation page.

Link - /api/quickprints/apimethod/quickprints-sdk-ios 

Walgreens is proud to introduce Whot! Shot as a new partner for the QuickPrints Developer Program. 

Whot! Shot allows you to capture, post, and print your iPhone/iPod Touch photos and discover mobile games in between picture takes.  All you have to do is choose your pictures from your picture roll or take them on the spot.  It's instant and incredibly easy. You can post picture images to Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter.  You can also send your pictures via email as an attachment or print them to a local Walgreens store.

According to Ime Etim, Co-Founder & COO of nKanika Inc., "Walgreens is my absolute favorite drugstore chain.  If I'm not going there to pick up photos, I'm there to rent Redbox movies, buy groceries, pick up medications for my elderly parents, or check out the latest tabloid gossip on the newsstand.  The word "whot" is old english for "hot".  I enjoy taking photos, posting photos, blogging and discovering new mobile games.  Whot! Shot came about as a way for me to bridge my passions."

Download the Whot! Shot app today via the Apple App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Walgreens is proud to introduce Kicksend as one of our launch partners for the QuickPrints SDK. 

Kicksend lets everyday people share and print big batches of photos with people they love. Kicksend's apps on iPhone, Android, desktop and web empower people to stay in touch with the people they care about through unique user experiences. Learn more at kicksend.com.

According to Pradeep Elankumaran, Kicksend Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, "Holding freshly printed photos of people and moments we care about is always a wonderful feeling. With Kicksend's QuickPrints integration, anyone can easily share, print and cherish memories from their iPhone for years to come."

Download the free Kicksend app today via the Apple App Store and Google Play marketplace.

Partner Updates:

• On September 5, 2012, Kicksend became the first partner to integrate QuickPrints within an Android application.  You can download their Android app today in the Google Play marketplace.
• Kicksend has also integrated QuickPrints into their Windows 8 PC/Tablet and Web applications.

30 developers attend Walgreens event to integrate QuickPrints technology into prototype photo applications in under 5 hours

Hack day highlights company’s continued efforts to foster mobile innovation through relationships with third-party developer community

DEERFIELD, IL – Aug. 13, 2012 – This past Saturday, Walgreens hosted its first Mobile Photo Hack Day at its downtown Chicago office. The event gave developers the opportunity to meet, collaborate and showcase their creative implementations of the QuickPrints SDK in their applications.

The successful, single-day hackathon attracted a total of 30 developers making up 14 photo hack application demonstrations. Developer demos were judged based upon the unique features and functionality of the application and the completed integration of the QuickPrints SDK, which was determined by the photo print output created at the on-site photo lab.

The applications were reviewed by a panel of judges that included: Scott Regan (head of marketing, Apigee), Ari Fuchs (lead API engineer & developer evangelist, Aviary), Brett Goldstein (commissioner, Chicago Department of Innovation & Technology), Kevin McGinnis (VP of product platforms, Sprint), Terry Howerton (founder, TechNexus) and Jasbir Patel (senior director and general merchandise manager for photo, Walgreens).

“I would like to thank all the talented programmers who found very creative ways to use QuickPrints SDK in third party apps,” said Abhi Dhar, Walgreens chief technical officer for e-commerce. “Although ‘appathons’ are more common in places like Silicon Valley, it was our goal to bring the concept to Chicago and take advantage of the city’s burgeoning tech industry and its growing pool of talented programmers.”

The winner of both the Judges’ and People’s Choice Awards was Smilesback, developed by the husband-wife team of Mr. Bhabani Sahu and Mrs. Prachi Sahoo. Smilesback (watch their app demo video) reminds people about important dates such as anniversaries, birthdays and others occasions that are perfect for personalized, last-minute photo gifts.

“We wanted to build something that helps people and can make a difference in their daily lives,” Bhabani Sahu said. “QuickPrints is about convenience and speed and that really fits with our goals for the Smilesback app.”

The Smilesback team won a total of $5,000 in cash prizes along with a 6-month mentoring and residency program through event partner TechNexus, a Chicago-based technology incubator and collaboration center.

In July, Walgreens extended its innovation in mobile technology with its developer portal that allows third-party software developers to integrate the Walgreens QuickPrints software development kit (SDK), which allows iOS and Android mobile users to print photos directly from their smartphone to most Walgreens stores nationwide in about an hour. The launch of the QuickPrints SDK marked the first time that Walgreens has provided an open interface for third-party application developers to integrate Walgreens in-store services.

The Walgreens QuickPrints SDK, already implemented within seven partner applications, allows third party developers to integrate a print service within their existing mobile application and earn a revenue share from photo orders printed and picked up at a local Walgreens location. More information about the QuickPrints SDK program and its partners can be found on the Walgreens Developer Portal and through a dedicated Twitter handle @WalgreensAPI.

About Walgreens

As the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2011 sales of $72 billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) vision is to become America’s first choice for health and daily living. Each day, Walgreens provides nearly 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. The company operates 7,919 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.