On Tap Labs is where the future meets the present as we develop and explore new ideas to deliver ever increasing value to our customers. You'll find information about all of our announced projects here (yes, we have projects in stealth mode as well).

We actively encourage you to get involved and help us evolve these projects. If you are interested in participating, explore the projects below to find out how.

MageCache is a content caching technology for Magento that takes the current level of caching and takes it to the next level. MageCache works alongside Magento and doesn't involve any code changes to the Magento core. It is purely complementary and was born from our understanding of what makes a usable and scalable eCommerce store.

So, how quick is it?

Fast! We've seen category pages containing hundreds of products decrease their page load times from 10 seconds down to well under 1 second. The results are absolutely measurable and immediate.

My site is already fast, why do I need MageCache?

Caching not just about delivering pages faster. We all know from experience that slow loading pages are a big turn off. Slow loading eCommerce pages can cause your customers to go elsewhere. So whilst your site might be fast now, will it be as fast if you run a promotion that brings in a flood of customers? Your business might be able to cope with the volume, but can your server?

So, caching is also about scalability. MageCache reduces the overall load on your hardware by drastically reducing the number of requests that are processed in full by PHP and MySQL. A server with less load can serve more simultaneous customers, meaning your investment in hosting is delivering greater value. If you can serve more customers successfully without delay, then your business is in good shape to manage growth sustainably. And with better hardware resource usage, your ongoing investment in hosting and technology will be less, which improves the profitability of your online store.

How is this different from the new full page cache in Magento Enterprise Edition 1.7?

At present, the new caching found in Magento EE1.7 only provides caching for non-logged in users. This is a positive step forward, but only addresses a sub-section of a store's customer base.

MageCache is different because:

• It caches pages for both logged in and guest users.
• It's intelligent. It caches entire pages, but returns context-modified content.
• It produces rich caches that cater for multiple customer groups.
• It works on both Community and Enterprise Editions of Magento.

MageMobile is a native mobile application that extends your storefront onto iPhone, Android and Blackberry mobile devices. Rather than simply being a mobile skinned web site, this is true native application that takes full advantage of platform's abilities.

How does it work?

MageMobile enables the store owner to selectively target content at mobile customers - 'Mobile' simply and transparently becomes another sales channel. MageMobile is essentially a new presentation layer to your existing Magento platform, so there are no inherent changes in Magento or your promotional routine in order to deliver content to mobile customers.

Where can I see MageMobile in action?

We're not quite ready to show a demo of the UI here yet. However, we hope to be in a position to do so soon.

Which platforms are being supporting?

The initial release is for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch only. However, we'll deliver onto Android and subsequently Blackberry thereafter.