A word about the name Lyfthelm

I’ve been asked if the name “Lyfthelm” means anything. I’m happy to say it does: it’s an Old English word meaning “cloud”. As it happens it also means “mist”, but I chose it because of the cloud association.

I’m a firm believer in cloud computing. I experienced the benefits of the cloud first-hand, long before the term was coined. I became an early adopter of Amazon’s cloud services when they were first made available in the early 2000s – when they were simply called web services – and I’ve used them consistently since. Cloud computing is an important part of how we deliver Lyfthelm’s mobile e-commerce applications.

So cloud is the main reason why Lyfthelm Limited gained the name that it did. I also thought that “lyft”, which is the Old English word for air, and “helm”, which means protection or covering, were both strong and positive words.

Most of all, the name simply felt right. Lyft may be unfamiliar but “lift” is generally a good thing, whether you’re flying an aeroplane, taking someone in your car, or just need perking up. And to helm is to take control or to steer a course. Hence the suggestion of a yacht’s sails in our logo. So whichever way one looks at it, Lyfthelm seems to be an upbeat name with depth and meaning.

And finally, and most prosaically, the Lyfthelm.com domain name was available. Mundane as it may seem, that’s a vital consideration for anyone naming a business in this day and age.

Lyfthelm website goes live

The new Lyfthelm website went live this morning, giving a lot more detail about what the company is about and what we can do.

Lyfthelm is a mobile app development specialist, with expertise in iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian development. We aim to help our clients capitalise on the 40% of UK internet usage that takes place on mobile devices. Consumers, in particular, are increasingly choosing to use their mobile devices to access digital services in preference to desktop PCs.

The site showcases two of Lyfthelm’s first customers: iState Systems and the Royal Mail.

For iState Systems, Lyfthelm delivered an innovative mobile banking solution. For Royal Mail, we developed a bespoke app that lets customers design and purchase customised postage stamps from their smart phone. You can read more about both projects via the “Our Work” section of the new Lyfthelm site.

If you’d like to know more about what Lyfthelm can do for your business, do browse the new site, and feel free to drop us a line.

New personal website

It's good to see the first couple of pages go live on my personal information website, NelsonWootton.com. The design and coding work was done by Lem Bingley, based on the existing Lyfthelm.com look and feel.

There'll be some more pages to come, when the content has been written, describing what I've done in the past and hope to achieve in the future. I have some really interesting projects in the pipeline that I unfortunately can't talk about just yet.

In the meantime, if you spot any typos or other errors, leave a comment and it'll be fixed up in no time.

Gearing up for new websites

I'm hoping to use this blog to talk a little about what's going on in my professional life over the next few months, as some of the projects I've been working on are finally getting to the stage where I can talk about them openly.

In a few days a much-needed update to the web presence of mobile app company Lyfthelm will go live.

I'm also hoping to have a new personal website up and running very shortly, at NelsonWootton.com.

I hope you like the new websites. Let me know what you think in the comments section below.