DriveSafe.ly, the free mobile app aiming to stop distracted driving, launched seven weeks ago and has been used by over one million people. The app is reading millions of text messages (SMS) aloud per week to drivers around the world -- keeping their eyes on the road. See the DriveSafe.ly video (Walkthrough, FAQ, Help, Demo) above.
Today, Ambient Industrie, a mobile application software company, debuts flook, in the Apple Store. Offered for free, flook is a location browser that lets users discover and share the world around them. (See demo video below).
Flook’s design is being lead by a team of four co-creators with deep programming, entrepreneurial and creative backgrounds – Roger Nolan and Jane Sales founders of Symbian, led the teams creating that company’s comms and kernel respectively. Tristan Brotherton has deep web and media expertise and Dave Jennings’ background in machine intelligence and location services informed flook’s servers. Together, they have built an imagination-centric company, shrugging off the typical corporate structure, enabling the creativity and wonder that has gone into flook’s world of robots, color and whimsical interface.
Sony Ericsson has announced the 2009/2010 Mavericks Surf Contest for software developers.
Mavericks is a world-renowned big wave break located one-half mile off the coast of Half Moon Bay, California. Enter the quick-start Mavericks part of the challenge and you could win a seat in the lead boat – the best and most exciting way to watch the action.
Sony Ericsson asked Digital Dandelion to build an application around the event. In just a few days it was ready, bringing together real time information, weather, twitter feeds and more. Sony Ericsson is challenging developers to hack on, tear apart, and otherwise improve the sample Mavericks app before the surfing starts.
The competition takes place at 24 hour’s notice and only Mother Nature knows when the wave will come.
Yesterday at the Web 2.0 EXPO in New York, Sony Ericsson announced the Sony Ericsson WebSDK. It is an open source tool created in collaboration with the PhoneGap open source community. The SDK makes it possible for web and mobile developers to create mobile apps using HTML, CSS and JavaScript programming. A bridge component allows JavaScript to access platform features and data such as accelerometer, GPS, Camera and contacts.
The WebSDK enables developers to produce applications which work consistently independent of the underlying platform. It initially supports Android (e.g. XPERIA X10) and Symbian (e.g. Satio) platforms.
Opera Mobile 10 beta (unveiled earlier this month) for Windows Mobile phones is now available for immediate download on a smartphone near you. This version for Windows Mobile users elevates mobile browsing to a desktop-like experience, helping people to search, socialize and stay connected while on-the-go.
The Opera Mobile 10 beta for Windows Mobile looks and feels similar to the Opera 10 desktop browser and Opera Mini 5 beta. Opera is creating more cohesion between its products by introducing a unified look across many of its platforms. Opera maintains its powerful arsenal of features in this beta, including Speed Dial, tabbed browsing, a password manager and its super, server-side compressor, Opera Turbo.
“We are unifying our products, so that users get the same experience, no matter the device or which particular Opera browser they are using,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. “With Opera Mobile 10, we are raising the expectations of how a a mobile browser should perform. Today, users require a browser as powerful as the Web, one that can handle their daily tasks as well as their computers. That’s Opera.”
Zoombak, a provider of Personal GPS tracking devices that let consumers track the things that are most important to them, from children to teenage drivers to employees and automobiles. Today the company launched the Zoombak mobile app for the Apple iPhone.
The new Apple iPhone app lets consumers locate their Zoombak tracking devices using Advanced GPS technology (A-GPS). A-GPS technology combines GPS and cell phone technology for faster and more accurate locates.
Zoombak users can use the iPhone app to find their Zoombak devices on-demand in real-time. When a user clicks “Find Now”, the current location of the selected device is displayed on a map, along with detailed location information including street address, speed, direction and latitude/longitude. Zoombak users can view the location in three different map views on their iPhone: Digital Map, Satellite View or a Hybrid of the two.
In addition, the Zoombak iPhone app allows users to follow the real-time location of their device with “Continuous Tracking”. When a user clicks on “Continuous Tracking”, they will begin continuously tracking their device in five minute intervals.
Research In Motion today unveiled a new services platform for developers that will enable them to streamline business processes and build highly responsive, location-aware, revenue-generating applications for BlackBerry smartphones. The new services platform will offer advertising, payment, content push and new location services.
The new and innovative BlackBerry Advertising Service will enable developers to integrate advertising into their BlackBerry applications, helping them generate revenue and simplifying the business of mobile advertising. With the BlackBerry Advertising Service, RIM plans to provide developers with access to a large pool of quality and innovative ad units from trusted top tier and specialty advertising networks such as Jumptap, Lat49, Millennial Media, Navteq, 1020 Placecast, Quattro Wireless and Sympatico.ca.
At the 2009 BlackBerry Developer Conference, Research In Motion and Adobe Systems Incorporated today expanded their collaboration and announced that creative professionals and application developers will be able to use the Adobe Flash Platform technology and Adobe Creative Suite content development and authoring tools to easily create rich content and application experiences for BlackBerry smartphones.
Future versions of Adobe Creative Suite starting with Adobe Creative Suite 5 will provide the ability for designers to create optimized graphic assets, such as image and video content, from tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects, for the BlackBerry platform.
Want to text from your iPhone or iPod touch? Well you are in luck! There's a free app for that! textPlus has a free app that allows you send free, unlimited text messages. (See video to the right)
Your textPlus username makes having a cell number unnecessary, even if your friends don't have textPlus! As long as your friends have a text plan they can text to your username from any phone.
Any cell phone can be used to send text messages to textPlus. As an example, your friends can text your username to 60611 (text 'drew' to 60611) from their flip phone, iPhone, Sidekick, Blackberry, whatever.
textPlus also allows group texting. You can Text with a bunch of your friends at once, like reply-all in email. Your friends don't even have to be a textPlus user.
From the ad:tech conference at the Javits Convention Center, Sidebar, a new, free mobile application that allows users to receive personalized recommendations for content, video games, apps, music and more, announced today that it has partnered with Quattro Wireless, mobile’s largest exclusive and premier advertising network, to drive innovation in the mobile space. The relationship will offer advertisers a high-level of targeting and offer consumers a personalized experience on their Android device.
Sidebar, which recently launched in beta for Android, learns users’ interests so that it becomes highly personalized to each individual over time. The application offers instant gratification so users spend time enjoying content rather than searching for it, and it is cached for one click access. Sidebar content categories include entertainment, green planet, humor, steals & deals, health, mind & body, style & culture, guy stuff and news and info.
Orange today announced that its first UK exclusive app, Orange Wednesdays, is now available on the App Store. For those who love films, the free Orange Wednesdays App brings the hugely popular Orange Wednesdays cinema experience to the iPhone. The app combines the latest film reviews and trailers with up to date info on what's on, where films are showing, information on how to get there and the ability to redeem the 2 for 1 Orange Wednesdays cinema voucher on your Orange iPhone.
Google recently introduced expanded mobile reporting features in Google Analytics to help developers monitor how people are using specific parts of their iPhone and Android applications. The same Google Analytics reports that provide insights into website traffic and engagement are now available for mobile apps.
Redfin, an online brokerage for buying and selling homes, recently tested Google Analytics on their mobile application. (See video to the right).
According to Google, "As with websites, there are two basic categories of user interaction you can track: page views and events. Since mobile apps don't contain HTML pages, developers simply determine when their apps should trigger page view requests. Google Analytics then aggregates this data in the Content reports to display the number of visits, session length and bounce rates. The data gives insight into how your users interacted with the app.
Opera Software today unveiled the beta of Opera Mobile 10 for Nokia and other Symbian/S60 handsets. Most notable in the new Opera Mobile 10 beta is a sleek design, which Opera first introduced to the world in the recent release of Opera Mini 5 beta. The crisp, new look introduces the Speed Dial, tabbed browsing and the always convenient password manager to Opera Mobile. Opera Mobile 10 beta is optimized for both touchscreen and keypad-style navigation and is available for free from http://www.opera.com/mobile/next/.
Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc. (QuIC) and the Symbian Foundation, today announced that QuIC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, has joined the Symbian Foundation and has been appointed to the Symbian Foundation board of directors. QuIC will support the Symbian Foundation with active participation on the board of directors and each of the four councils that govern the development of the Symbian platform.
QuIC's charter is to focus on optimizing open source software for use with Qualcomm technology. QuIC brings to the Symbian Foundation a wealth of knowledge and expertise in open source and, as a Symbian Foundation board member, QuIC is committed to working with its fellow board members for Symbian's continued commercial success. QuIC joins wireless operators AT&T, Vodafone and NTT DOCOMO; silicon providers ST Microelectronics NV and Texas Instruments; and handset manufacturers Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Nokia on the Symbian Foundation board.
Asurion Mobile Applications, a provider of people-centric mobile applications, has a free app for Android powered devices called AddressBook. The app allows mobile phone contacts smart and social. (See video below).
With the numerous social media services, AddressBook cuts through the chatter to ensure you’re always up to date with social feeds, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr, from your most important contacts, placing them directly into your phone’s AddressBook.
Users can get the updates they want and interact easily with their key contacts all from a central location without bringing the social network “clutter” into their mobile phone. AddressBook uses an open framework, allowing developers to continuously add features and functions.
The Symbian Foundation announced today the launch of Symbian Horizon, the publishing program for Symbian developers, at the Symbian Exchange and Exposition 2009 (SEE 2009). Developers can now sign up for the program to have their applications listed in the Symbian Horizon Directory, processed through Symbian Signed, and published to a growing list of application store partners. The goal of Symbian Horizon is to help developers bring their applications to the largest mobile market in the world in a cost effective way. This publishing program is now being scaled up to process thousands of applications in 2010.
Horizon demonstrates Symbian’s commitment to improving the developer experience, including helping developers build applications, place them in a variety of global stores, and provide marketing support. The Symbian Foundation created Horizon in response to developer concerns that there were too many challenges and costs associated with developing and publishing a Symbian application to the global market of potential customers. In addition to reducing these costs, Symbian and its members seek to improve developers’ access to global markets through translation and localization assistance.
Qualcomm Incorporated today announced that it has established a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc. (QuIC), focused on mobile open source platforms. QuIC has brought together a dedicated group of engineers to optimize open source software with Qualcomm technology. The QuIC board of directors has named Rob Chandhok, senior vice president of software strategy for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, as president of QuIC.
“Open source and community-driven software development is becoming increasingly important to the wireless industry,” said Chandhok, “and QuIC is committed to meaningful participation in these development efforts. To fulfill this commitment and to provide focus to this effort, Qualcomm has transferred experienced software engineers to QuIC. These engineers will focus on such important open source initiatives as Linux and Webkit, and on open source operating systems such as Symbian, Android and Chrome.”
Palm has launched a new web page for Palm phones powered by webOS platform to access mobile applications.
Per the page, "Applications designed for the Palm webOS platform make your phone more powerful, more useful, and more fun. And many take advantage of the Palm Synergy feature, allowing you to do more with just a touch. Automatically add an event date to your calendar. Share location information in one step. Both free and paid apps expand what you can do." For more information visit http://www.palm.com/us/products/software/mobile-applications.html.
muvee, a provider of home movie making software and services, today announced they have created and launched an application for Windows Phone called muveeShow that will allow users to make photo-movies on their mobile phones. (See sample home video to the right).
For US$1.99 a download, users can create a music video with their images in three steps. The application is available for use on all Windows Mobile 6.5 Smartphones.
"Windows Phone sports superior camera features, processing power and memory storage and are your personal phone, camera and music player. However, there aren't really a lot of cool things that you can actually do with those photos you've shot." said Terence Swee, CEO, muvee.
Phone Finder
