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Press Release
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Professor-Dad Develops Cool iPhone App

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Household cook by day, technology professor by night. It’s the perfect combination to concoct an entertainment application for the Apple iPhone.

Emmanuel Villaroman is a robotics instructor at El Camino College in Torrance, California and a visiting lecturer at UCLA. He is also a father of six children, cooking breakfast and preparing snacks for them before they head to school. “Hotdog on a bun is an all-time favorite for them,” Emmanuel says. “Especially when it’s freshly cooked, they’ll chomp on it right away.”

On April 23rd 2009, Cool Carat Software, a software business venture founded by Mr. Villaroman, released its first mobile application for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. Their first product is called iHotdog. It’s an entertainment application that simulates the experience of cooking a hotdog on a frying skillet. “It turns the iPhone into a virtual frying pan over a kitchen stove,” Emmanuel elaborates. “As you watch the flames flicker, you tilt the iPhone like you would a skillet to move the hotdog from side to side until it’s evenly cooked.”

The idea all started when his young daughter playfully suggested that his father cook a hotdog using the iPhone. His daughter figured that the iPhone looks like a small frying skillet anyway with its silver and black shell. Emmanuel then realized you can also seemingly roll a hotdog on an iPhone screen using its advanced accelerometer feature.

Soon enough, Emmanuel was writing a storyboard for his company’s first iPhone application. He contacted Melvin Dave Vivas, an experienced programmer based in The Philippines to assist him in developing the program codes. Melvin and Emmanuel toiled many weeks to capture assorted elements of this kitchen experience. Apart from the iPhone features such as the accelerometer and multi-touch control, Melvin and Emmanuel deployed life-like images, coordinating sound effects and skillful editing to make the experience as close to real.

“In these hard times, cooking your own food is more economical,” Emmanuel says. “iHotdog demonstrates the simple joy of cooking. Hopefully, this application can get a few people into the cooking habit.”

Even after iHotdog turns a profit for Emmanuel, he is not inclined to buy more take-out meals for the family. “I will still cook for the kids,” says Emmanuel. “I will probably buy my wife her own iPhone…and I will get myself a barbecue grill.”

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