LocoMatrix - Use your Cell Phone and a GPSr to Play Games
March 27, 2008
When Swirl was in development, we started to build out a Bluetooth games platform. The idea was that games would have an organizer and use specially encoded phones that would record times and locations of the players in proximity. We could then build games like hide and seek and capture the flag on this platform. We ended up confusing just about everyone we presented the idea to, so we abandoned the idea, but you can still see remnants of some of that work in Swirl Connect.
That’s why LocoMatrix caught my eye. Using a compatible cell phone (newer Nokias and Sony-Ericssons) coupled with a GPS receiver, you can play location-based games that are not location-dependent. This was one of the big hurdles we had with Swirl, and why we were going to require an organizer. In LocoMatrix’s Fruit Farmer game, you have a game board that adapts to your environment. The fruit you collect is virtual, and you collect it by just being in a location — what makes it even more interesting is when you add players, the first person to a position collects the fruit, and it disappears from the game board on your phone.
After a while you’d begin to recognize the pattern, and just move to the appropriate position without even using your phone, right? Then build your own game board. There are multiple levels of difficulty available, and it looks like a good number of folks have designed their own boards for use.
LocoMatrix is in its infancy, and I would expect some rough patches on both their web site and with their software, but it looks like fun! I ordered my GPS receiver 5 minutes ago — though I won’t be surprised if the order is rejected 5GBP for shipping to the USA must be a mistake!
If you decide to try it out, I’d love to hear your feedback.
Excellent Mobile Blogs
March 14, 2008
I had intended on publishing my experience migrating from TypePad to WordPress today, but the post got very long, and had to split into two posts. I didn’t want to leave you with a cliff-hanger over the weekend, so I thought I’d instead point you to a few of the blogs that I’ve been reading lately. I’ll be posting the migration articles next week.
There are a wide range of blogs out there covering the entire mobility spectrum, and there are plenty of mobile gadget or phone review blogs, and for the most part, I’m disinterested in them. I tend to enjoy ones that discuss the macro impacts of mobile technology, programming, and practical applications of mobile technology. Or ones that are written from a perspective similar to mine (that’s my obvious statement of the week).
So here are the ones that I’ve been enjoying of late, in no particular order:
- Open Gardens
- Wireless Wanders
- MobHappy
- biskero.org
- Darla Mack
- TomSoft
- Xellular Identity
- About Mobility
- The Pondering Primate
- Mobile Phone Development
- Daily Wireless
Hope you enjoy them. If you have any blogs on your hit list that you think I might like, please add a comment. I’m always on the look out for new reading material, and most everything I find is either based on recommendation or serendipitous searching.
Pumbby: get paid for watching ads on your mobile phone
February 21, 2008
This is a new delivery twist on an existing concept. Pumbby pays users EUR 0.44 for each ad they view, up to a maximum of 10 a day. When you create your account, you specify how many ads you’re willing to receive per day, and they arrive as text messages. Click the link to open your WAP browser and view what amounts to a full-screen banner ad.
At the current exchange rate, that’s roughly US$6.50 per day if you elect to receive all 10 messages, and I expect, if they have a large enough ad inventory to serve you 300 ads per month. That would certainly pay for that unlimited data bundle, and even justify that purchase of an iPhone.
Alas, Pumbby is only available on a limited number of networks, and apparently my phone can’t be pumbed. Pumbby is based in Brussels, which I had hoped would uncover some clues as to what the root “pumb” meant, as it seems to be used rather impartially as a noun, verb, and an adjective.
Hopefully Pumbby will soon hire a professional translator to clean up some of these gems:
- “For each visualized advertizing, you receive 44 €. You accept to receive advertizing and no advertizing messages on your mobile phone and, to thank you , you will receive money you can manage. “
- “to pumbb ? You would like to pumbb your mobile, very easy register you and discover how its walk! “
Somebody set us up the bomb, indeed!
Check out Pumbby
Swirl Connect: location-based mobile social software
January 28, 2008
We have quietly released Swirl Connect, software for your mobile phone that helps you stay connected with your friends and their latest activity, as well find new people and places, whether you’re mobile or at home on your PC.
The current release is slightly hobbled, as $$$$ is tight, and we had to turn off the messaging features, but there’s still plenty to do and see. Here are a few features:
- Find your friends and get alerted to their latest activity
- Explore nearby places of interest
- View and share photos, notes, and places on your PC or mobile phone
- Mobile instant message or group message with your friends
- Meet new people while you’re on the move
- Get location-based alerts
- Interact with both PC and mobile users in real time
Try it out! It’s free, supports popular Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, and Motorola phones (with plenty more coming), and is a lot of fun.
15,000 Downloads for Amazon-OnTheGo
October 4, 2007
We’re just wrapping up device support and SEO on our new mobile / web application (if all goes well, we’ll deploy in a week or two). Great stuff: mobile messaging, a maps mashup, location-based alerts, friend finder, and a place finder all wrapped up in one package called Swirl Connect.
In working on the SEO, I looked at Amazon-OnTheGo’s traffic stats, because it’s received a fair amount of traffic with very little effort on my part. It was always supposed to be a quick and dirty little project, but it’s attracted just over 15,000 downloads to date, and has received some good feedback along the way. Feedback I’m sorry to say I’m just getting around to seeing. Here are a few mentions:
- SarahInTampa.com: Amazon To Go Good luck with your move to WordPress!
- Amazon-OnTheGo on java.com
- 10 of 10 rating on GetJar
- Short mentions in SearchEngineWatch, Wendong’s Smart Phone Blog, ResourceShelf, and The Cell Freak.
Thanks for the feedback!
Bluepulse Picking Up Momentum
August 7, 2006
I’ve been periodically checking in with the folks at Bluepulse, to keep tabs on latest developments, and things have really picked up in the enthusiast community recently. Luke Watson, the Marketing / Community / Developer Relations specialist at Bluepulse, e-mailed me regarding some of the new widgets, so I headed over to the control panel to check them out. They have been busy!
Some of the notable new widgets include:
- Blogger widgets
- MSN Spaces widget
- Flickr widget
- Several more webcam widgets, including Snow Cams Aus and UK Traffic Cams
- Stock Market widget
- A handy Todo list widget
- World of Warcarft widget
If you have been holding off on trying Bluepulse, now looks like a good time to dive in. It’s easy to download and easy to use. And with all of these new widgets, community ratings and comments will be even more important, so make sure you post your experiences using these widgets on www.bpwidgets.com.
Amazon-OnTheGo: Screengrabs & Introduction
August 4, 2006
Amazon-OnTheGo is the result of a vanity project I undertook to port a Bluepulse widget to a full-blown Java ME application. With it, you can experience all of the best things about Amazon.com, on your phone:
- Search for products by keyword, ISBN number, or UPC code
- Access product details, used and new prices, images, user ratings, editorial reviews
- Maintain a shopping cart, and submit it to Amazon for purchase
- Find and review friends’ wishlists
- Get suggestions on similar items to view
Say you’re at the video store trying to determine what to rent. Fire up OTG, type in the UPC code, and check out the online editorial review. Maybe you’re at the local book store, and you can’t decide between two books. Type in their ISBN numbers to view ratings and comments. While you’re at, find out what the cheapest used price is.
Learn more about it and check out a video walk-through at the OnTheGo web site: www.mywebonthego.com (yes, most on-the-go and similar domains were snapped up long ago!). Go to the “Download” section to get it on your phone in any of three ways, or open http://m.mywebonthego.com with your phone’s WAP browser to download it directly.
More screenshots:
Similar products: Scanbuy Shopper, featured on Lifehacker (coincidentally, right at the time OTG was released), except that it offers more search options
MIDP Project: Amazon-OnTheGo
August 3, 2006
Where has this post been lurking? It is incredibly past due, but better late than never.
By way of background, in May, I began a short project to convert a Bluepulse widget into a full-blown MIDP application. Read the project details here. The goals were to exercise the J2ME Polish 1.3 beta, get an application through the Verified process, and port Amazon-OnTheGo.
The project was mostly successful:
- I learned a lot about the 1.3 beta release of Polish, and posted a few experiences I had with some of the new features. Splash Screen | Screen Info | Framed Form
- I ported the Bluepulse widget to Java ME, and built out support for a reasonable number of devices.
- I signed the application for a good number of models, and wrote about application signing and Java Verified signing. Java Verified | MIDP Signing 2
- I built a web site and simple provisioning system around the application.
But I’m still in the midst of the Java Verified process, which takes longer than I anticipated. I’ll continue to post updates if I run across any discoveries during the remainder of this process.
And during this project, J2ME Polish went and released a new beta preview: J2ME Polish 2.0! Polish 2.0 adds Java 5.0 support, floating point support for CLDC 1.0 devices, and better IDE integration. It also adds some utility classes to assist with object serialization and RMS use. Considering some of the unresolved bugs from the 1.3 beta release, I have some doubts about the robustness of 2.0, but I’ll be testing it out in the coming weeks.
Within the next day, I’ll post a description of the Amazon-OnTheGo MIDP application, and instructions on how you can get it on your phone.
Anyone not heard of Mobile Google Maps?
July 27, 2006
I haven’t seen this many similar posts since. . . the release of Google Pages.
Location Based Services Post at MobHappy
July 3, 2006
If you’re not a regular reader of MobHappy, I’d encourage you to read a short post on LBS. Russell Buckley discusses a conversation he had with the folks at Openwave, and has some interesting statistics regarding LBS. Also read through the comments — some are spot on.
I find LBS to be the most compelling use of a mobile device, and therefore the most compelling area for development.
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