Two Bits and a Byte » Mobile

Windows Mobile Soon to be Only 8 Years Behind!

Chris McMahon — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:23:46 +0000

*sigh*

Microsoft annouced that they will be updating their mobile browser to use the IE6 rendering engine. The IE6 rendering engine was released in 2001 and its support for standards is so bad that supporting it tends to add about 15% to the cost of website development.

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New Onscreen keyboard requires a new mindset

Tim Burke — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:46:44 +0000

Recently, Chris McMahon passed on a link to me about a brand new methodology of using onscreen keyboards called Swype. While in it’s infancy, it seems really cool. Instead of touching each letter individually, you draw a path between letters and a word matching search engine helps to do a predictive text to speed you up. CNet did a quick video on their site about it from the TechCrunch50 show (see below). It would not work for every project, and introducing a new mindset on input may confuse your customers so you should only use it when appropriate to your audience. And expect to have to give assistance while people learn it, but it can provide an impactful WOW factor to your edgy project! You will definately have people talking about your software.

To integrate, it requires their software which includes an SDK that allows our developers to add the onscreen keyboard to your application. The Swype concept is made up of three major components:

Input path analyzer
Word matching search engine with accompanying word database
User interface – which is customizable by OEM’s such as Electronic Art to match the branding of the application

I’d love to get a project where this would be appropriate, as it could really add some extra bling to the kiosk or digital signage project. Could that be your project?

A word of caution: No matter if you plan to use a physical keyboard or an onscreen keyboard such as the Swype system… always consider your customer. What will they prefer, what will be most intuitive and easy for them. Test with A/B testing if you have budget. But don’t let the input method get in the way of your killer app and kiosk’s success.

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Lesson learned?

Erik Wallace — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:45:24 +0000

CBS launched a new app this week that allows “citizen journalists” to upload photos from their iPhones to CBSeyemobile.com. The site that was meant to be a way for people to report on news going on around them, but has yielded unexpected results. Instead of newsworthy images most of what I found was photos of people’s kids and pets. Even more interesting, AdAge and Buzzfeed (WARNING: contains partial nudity) have articles about NSFW content being published. The site supposedly has a moderator for the comments and photos uploaded, but things are still slipping through. This is an interesting case where a large company has embraced new technology and the end product is something that potentially could harm how their brand is perceived.

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T-Mobile and Google Introduce G1 and the Android OS

Chris McMahon — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:28:53 +0000

Today T-mobile and Google intorduced their new phone and it looks pretty sweet for a 1st gen release.

The rumor is that while the first product that uses Android OS is a phone, the planned reach is much larger; set-top boxes, cars, maybe even traditional desktop PCs.

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Google Releases Android 0.9

Chris McMahon — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:54:38 +0000

Google just released the latest developer addition of their new mobile phone operating system, Android.

HTC’s new Dream handset will be the first to be offered with Android pre-installed. T-Mobile is rumored to be the provider to have first crack and carrying it.

View some screenshots and video of Android in action over at Engadget

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A Fine Line, Indeed.

Becky Mason — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:58:55 +0000

Musing late yesterday afternoon about some very interesting application possibilities involving geolocation technology (location-based services), and I had that hair-raising moment when I realized how much creepy potential lies therein (hey, I read Orwell’s 1984…). There’s something comforting about being able to drop off of everyone’s radar if you choose to do so. So there it is: the line. That fine line between a super-useful and convenient technology, and a very disconcerting surrendering of privacy. But in reading today, maybe Yahoo has the answer to this conundrum in a little thing they call Fire Eagle. The difference is that Fire Eagle is permissions-based – giving your marketing efforts mobile accessibility while leaving your audience in control of their experience. Check out the whole story.

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