Showing posts with label sms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sms. Show all posts

Sunday, 10 November 2013

MomoLondon: MWC2014 Stand Competition Live Final

10 companies competing to win a place on the UKTI stand at Mobile World Congress 2014 and press & media activity to go with it. ICT KTN, Mobile Monday London, UKTI and Cambridge Wireless all work together to whittle down the competitors to a shortlist of 10, all competing for five places on the stand.

All the companies this year were remarkably different — in their approach, their development stage and their presentation styles.

In the audience vote, I went for Changify, but the five who were selected were PeachInc, 5 Tiles, 23 Snaps, Capito and Viewranger.

There’s also an official blog post with pictures on the Mobile Monday London blog.

Red Glasses

Adam Martin, Founder

http://MyEarthApp.com @RedGlassesApps

  • embedding rich content into 3D objects
  • have built a native 3D engine for iPad that deals with data
  • also built two sample apps:
    1. visualization of magnified Earth heights
    2. showing videos on a 3D globe
  • aim to partner with media & content organisations
  • have built bespoke apps for clients for last 15 years
  • want to expand to a white-label product
  • other demos:
    • showing travel time from a point across the globe
    • luxury retail, where purchasing from

Changify: Design for Social Change

Priya Prakash, Founder

http://www.changify.org @Changify

  • basic idea:
    1. spot & share ideas for problems
    2. get support from friends & neighbours
    3. ideas get backed by brands & biz
    4. earn credits for making the change
  • partnering with Clear Channel to make a digital bus stop
    • crowdsourcing local opinion by voting on screen
    • touch & NFC
  • council get realtime data of reports
  • running a 3 month trial with Guardian Data at Elephand & Castle
  • working with councils & local businesses
  • http://changify.org has been available for 6 months
  • also accessible via SMS

Coveritas

Sean Redmond, CEO

http://www.coveritas.com @Coveritas

  • based in Bletchley Park
  • founding team did functional verification of hardware verification
  • have applied same system to software functional testing
  • specialise in machine to machine interoperability
  • uses randomisation & rules (constraints) to generate end to end use case tests
    • 3GP took 9,000 hours of test engineering
  • looking to partner with domain experts in M2M standards testing
  • customers are those companies with massive test labs for M2M interoperability
  • have an annual time-based license model

SpatialBuzz

Leon Hardwick, Director Global Sales & Marketing; Andrew Blake, CTO

http://www.spatialbuzz.com @SpatialBuzz

  • cloud-based customer experience management for mobile operators
  • delivering info on status and capability of network
  • give the operator an idea of how customers are reacting
  • can also provide an early warning to operator of issues
  • mix together operator outage & planned works with crowd-sourced input
  • can cater for any service delivered geographically
  • deployed with Telefonica UK & Germany, also Tesco Mobile
  • benefits seen:
    • reduction in calls
    • reduction in response times
    • improving customer satisfaction

PeachInc

Dr Daniel Morris

http://www.peachinc.com @PeachInc

  • mobile ticketing using the “MorrisCode” — 2D barcode
    • patented format
  • optimised to be read from electronic displays
  • at the moment PeachInc are the only people who can read them
  • displays well on small screens
  • stores a 16 digit number
  • have built a suite of apps
    • can receive tickets via SMS (even on iPhone)
  • also make hardware
  • will be integrated into a
  • biggest customer so far Saudi Professional football league
  • versus QR codes:
    • reads faster and more successfully
    • reads at 20 frames a second with most mobile cameras
    • 5,000 people at an event with 100% success rate
    • 60,000 football matches in Saudi Arabia with no problems

5-Tiles

Michal Kubacki, Inventor & CEO; Piotr Pieczynski, CFO

http://www.5-tiles.com @fivetiles

  • keyboard for Android
  • business model based on app sales & licensing deals
  • works well for smartwatches (with a touch screen)
    • takes a small amount of screen space
    • have a demo on i’m watch Android smartwatch
  • looking to port to Windows & iOS
  • also getting keyboard tested by RNIB
  • currently have 100s of users on Android
    • and 4,000 downloads of the training app
  • takes about 30-45 minutes to learn the combinations
  • working to make the learning curve lower all the time

23snaps

Meaghan Fitzgerald, CMO; Ivailo Jordanoc, Co-Founder

http://www.23snaps.com @23Snaps

  • mobile-first private social network for families
  • spans across different generations
  • also organise photos by date & location
  • 500K registered users
  • posting one photo every second
  • make money by selling photo print products
  • have users in 179 countries
  • going to be launching in Brazilian Portuguese
  • content owned by creators
  • also provide a one-click export of all content
  • wanting to meet consumer electronics, mobile networks, etc
  • don’t want advertising next to family photos
  • may go for other monetization such as premium features

Available for iPhone, Android, Windows 8, email, web and printed books!

Capito Systems

Tony Ballardie, CEO

http://www.capitosystems.com @CapitoSystems

  • speech assistant technology specifically for mobile commerce
  • about to sign first customer
  • language variations, background noise?
    • have focussed on language understanding rather than speech recognition
  • aiming to license to mobile commerce companies
  • have built support tools to enable customers to build up a speech corpus of domain language

Viewranger

Ben Howard, Marketing & Sales Exec; Craig Wareham, CEO & Co-Founder

http://www.viewranger.com @viewranger

  • digital mobile platform for outdoor activities
  • interest-based social network
  • publishing platform
  • trail guide marketplace
  • over 2 million app downloads
  • used by over 100 search & rescue teams in UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Germany, Ukraine
  • work with 22 mapping agencies & trail guides from 400 brands
    • including CAMRA :-)
  • wanting to engage with handset OEMs & wearable manufacturers
  • earn revenue through:
    • premium in-app data & services (maps & guides)
    • premium services & analytics for brands
    • syndication of content
    • could go for advertising in the future (have steered away so far to keep UX well)
  • main competitors are still dedicated devices
  • there are sport-based apps that seem to be fragmenting the need

Available for iPhone & iPad, Android and Nokia

UBIAPPS (Nquiring Minds)

Nick Allot, CEO

http://www.ubiapps.com @nallott

  • secure end to end framework for managing apps both online & offline
  • server management + enterprise-grade security is proprietary
  • protocol is open-source (JSON-RPC over HTTP)
  • all nodes are two-way — can manage apps and IoT devices using the same system
  • easy & quick to integrate on any device
  • looking to work with system integrators
  • seen most interest so far from asset tracking systems

Announcements

Thursday, 25 October 2012

MomoSho: Mobile technology: art or science?

The second Mobile Monday Shoreditch (and my first). I think Helen (@technokitten) is aiming for these sessions to have an edgier, less corporate feel than the bigger Mobile Monday London events. The sofas for the panel certainly made it feel more intimate — and there were many fewer suits in the audience than at the typical Momolo. I’ll be coming back!

Vic Keegan

http://www.victorkeegan.com/ @vickeegan

Alfie Dennen

@Alfie

  • QR codes feel clunky
  • Layar is pretty but do you use it after the first couple of times?
  • Google Glasses
    • hipster nightmare - being followed by a million bots
  • bionic contacts
    • closer than you think: a man already has an electronic camera eye!
  • makies
    • can extend with arduino & raspberry pi
  • the whole of human history has been about craft
    • we’ve stopped crafting in the last couple of generations
    • 3D printing may be bringing this back
  • Bus Tops
    • computer art in local context
    • project unfortunately coming to an end
  • Big Art Mob
    • attempt to catalogue all public art in the world
  • Street Ghosts
    • take pictures of people from street view and paint them on the wall of the actual place
  • mobile is more an extension of computing into ubiquitous technology than anything different by itself

Panel

Creativity

  • AB: agile & lean seem to get rid of creativity - it’s seen as waste
  • JN: coding is creating too, not just visual
  • BK: anyone can create something now
  • AD: it normally just starts with a stupid idea!
  • BK: always looking to innovate within boundaries
    • would love to start with just a crazy idea but would probably get lynched!
  • JN: boundaries & constraints often inspire creativity
    • demoscene, 5K awards
  • AB: a creative person should know their tools
    • just coming up with an idea and having no idea how to make it doesn’t work as well

Alfie: “All mobile art is shit!”

  • AD: the art for mobile should involve using the sensors that make mobile different from desktop — otherwise just digital art
  • VK: not completely true: using a phone to draw & zoom in to add detail
    • also poems made for phones — short and fit the screen
  • JN: Japan has lots of book written for and on mobiles
    • Jürgen Scheible mobispray: virtual spray can using a projector and an N95
  • AB: for me, art is in a room with lighting
  • BK: guy using darts to recreate a Jackson Pollock style piece of artwork that others can join in to create

Creativity

  • BK: iAd platform hooking into gestures & gyroscope
    • improving engagement
    • recent project — recreating a universe with gyroscope: achieved 90s engagement per unit
  • AB: brand slickness can get in the way of creativity — afraid to show things internally without making the UI slick
  • JN: a lot of people have a hard time imagining low-fi mockups as the real thing

Ilicco Elia: has anyone seen any decent mobile ads?

  • Mobile is like TV advertising at the beginning — started as presenters reading out adverts on air
    • seems to be web ads squeezed down into mobile screen
  • JN: South Korea — lunchtime sun sculpture
    • at noon, the shadows made a QR code that gave you a voucher
  • BK: hooking in to where am I and what is my context?
    • how can consumers create content that feeds into the campaign?
  • AB: don’t want banners — haven’t clicked on one for years
    • create a service, a site, an app that does something useful to engage people
  • VK: people don’t want banners on mobile
    • location-based advertising full of potential — and will be full of potential for years to come…

What in the last week, created by mobile that stuck in your head?

  • AB: lenticular image, move the device to see around
  • AD: art spotter
    • not focussed on selling stuff
  • JN: robot game that just looked so beautiful
  • BK: creatives project — james alloban
    • using your voice to select objects and create art

Social input?

  • HK: Tracey Moberly — artwork from instagram
  • AD: Normalize: the de-instagrammer app
  • BK: ascii art through twitter — playing out a car journey
  • VK: making art out of the spare bandwidth in QR codes
  • HK: social is reinvigorating arts & crafts
    • we can share the learning — it’s on the internet
  • JN: open source & creative commons
    • created an open source RPG with various international collaborators

some of the best art comes from taking a poke at society

  • harder in mobile? squandered due a need to monetize
    • flashmobs one counterexample
  • HK: rich people sponsoring art?
  • VK: certainly, but other sources of revenue available
    • last column in Guardian: can you make an app cheaply?
    • cost £300 in total
    • profit share is an alternative (Ed: but still profit driven)
  • JN: lot of people just create stuff for fun or a hobby
  • AD: technology has decimated artistic creativity
    • artists left behind by technological development
    • arts trying to address it through Digital R&D fund
    • trying to retrain visual artists digitally
    • my projects funded by people who will give me money for them!
    • starting with friends
  • BK: technology is not expensive, ideas are free, the hurdle is learning
    • “just learn enough to get you over the next hurdle”

gamification & serious games?

  • AD: Jane McGonagall turns the whole world into a game
    • academically led premise
  • AB: contextual tips as you’re playing are a great way to learn
  • VK: toby roland games manufacturer
  • AD: game where you play a real guitar at the device to progress (Rock Prodigy?)

Monday, 17 September 2012

Over The Air 2012

Only just noticed (in September) that I hadn’t posted my notes from Over The Air 2012 in June!

I had a fantastic time — and so did my dad and my son! We had three generations at the same tech conference :-)

I need to write a separate blog post about the LEGO hacks that people put together during and following my LEGO Mindstorms workshop, but in the meantime, here's my notes from the other sessions:

Hacking Science and Space

Ariel Waldman @arielwaldman

invisibility

  • dark energy pushing us apart
  • dark matter keeping us together…
  • invisible superpowers:
    • belt that vibrates when you face north
    • synaesthesia for those that don’t have it…
    • syneseizure — feel vision through a gimp mask!
    • particle windchime
    • what would particle collisions sound like?
    • being used as an augmentation interface in collision labs

cyborgs

  • your phone has loads of sensors, available all the time
  • quake canary
    • monitor on your phone

interstellar

  • humans are really good at pattern recognition
    • galaxy zoo
    • planet hunters
    • the work you do actually gets credited to you!
    • grean peas galaxies
    • discovered as galaxy zoo lets you drill down into data behind images
  • NASA makes stuff available, but not necessarily accessible
    • spacelog.org
    • takes PDFs of transcripts and makes them come to life

science hack day

  • weekend hack day
    • isodrag: a typeface where all the letters have the same wind drag
    • DNAckery: cocktail of extracted Strawberry DNA…
    • arm alarm: won’t shut off until your pulse is angry
    • near death lamp: lights up when an asteroid gets close to the Earth

Open Web Device

Francisco Jordan @mepartoconmigo, O2 Labs

Slides available

  • still lots more people with feature phones than smart phones
    • 4 billion feature phones will be sold between 2011 & 2015
  • mainly because they can’t afford a smart phone
  • especially in Latin America, where Telefonica is trying to grow
  • want to provide a phone for $60-70!
  • Open Web Device - based on Boot 2 Gecko
  • plan to launch in Brazil at beginning of next year
  • Also partnering with Qualcomm to provide the chipset
  • still haven’t decided the OEM(s) who will be manufacturing
  • all open source: http://wiki.mozilla.org/B2G
  • can build your own ROM based on Android 3.0 or 4.0 kernel/driver backends
  • can also build B2G for desktop
  • Gaia is Mozilla’s front-end for B2G (also open source)
  • don’t have to use Gaia — B2G doesn’t even have to look like a phone
  • the keyboard itself is an application
    • you can replace the keyboard with another web app!
  • most new APIs in B2G are also finding their way into Firefox for desktop
    • just download Firefox nightly to see what’s available
  • apps are just webapps in a directory with a manifest.webapp JSON file
    • can use appcache to store stuff locally as well
  • using Sumon as a demo webapp
    • runs about 3x faster on B2G than on iOS!
  • Marketplace: http://marketplace.mozilla.org
    • open for developers, but not yet for users
  • or install from web: navigator.mozApps.install(manifesturl);
    • install an app from directly a web page

Anyone Can Code an Embedded Controller

Nicholas Herriot @nicholasherriot

Example device: connected printer — text questions to it and it will print them out!

  • Vodafone trying to bring connectivity to embedded controllers
  • Arduino and other microcontrollers exploding since 2005
  • mbed (http://mbed.org/) similar to Arduino, but started by ARM
    • 96MHz
    • ARM Cortex M3
    • can run USB host and I2C slave
  • online compiler & tool chain - works cross platform
  • easy to install & run code:
    • runs as a USB mass storage device
    • just copy code across and press restart button
  • can export from mbed online IDE to other toolchains:
    • CodeRed: eclipse & gcc based
    • others
  • wanted to set up a platform for microcontrollers
  • online IDE has a built-in SVN repository per project
  • built-in libraries has lots of common stuff
  • can extend with downloadable libraries (search available through online IDE)
  • Vodafone has an M2M network - GDSB
    • used by Kindle, TomTom
    • SIMs don’t expire, don’t need to top up
  • trying to open GDSB to developers…

You do know it is a phone, don’t you? (Adding voice to your mobile apps)

Tim Panton @Steely_Glint, Tropo

Tropo API

  • SaaS for server-side phone handling
    • Voice (PSTN, VoIP/SIP, Skype, iNum)
    • SMS
    • Other services via HTTP or XMPP
    • Multi-lingual (with multiple voices in each language)
  • SaaS provided by Voxeo
  • Web API is JSON/javascript based
  • also scripting APIs for Python, Ruby, etc
  • example uses:
    • making calls without sharing phone numbers (e.g. speaking to taxi driver)
  • scripting vs web api
    • scripting runs on Tropo servers and has no access to external data
    • web api runs on your servers - can access your data
  • also a REST API to start outgoing calls and other control & management services

Phono

  • jQuery plugin to make phone calls from the browser
  • open source client
  • picks up microphone from computer
  • can use server-side voice recognition…
  • can also pick up messaging from the tropo service
  • requires a back-end (but same API for all)
    • Flash
    • Java applet - takes much longer to load
    • Panda (Flash with echo cancellation)
    • WebRTC - native in Chrome Canary
    • PhoneGap/Cordova plugin
    • iPad/iPhone actually works better than most laptops
    • pot luck on Android < 3.2
    • much better on Android >= 3.2
    • early version of native iOS (available in github/phono/phonosdk)
  • can run both Tropo & Phono from a car battery
    • has been done at Burning Man

Development costs

  • in the US can make free calls
  • outside the US, need to ping Tropo for permission
  • they will often let you run a demo server with small number of minutes for no money

Mobile Websites Can Have Nice Fonts Too…

Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag, front-end designer

slides available here

  • typefaces can evoke emotional responses
    • not just in typographers!
  • iOS app: Fonts by AppEngines — shows you all the fonts available on your device
  • embed them on mobile using @font-face in CSS, just like on desktop browsers
    • works on opera mobile, android mobile >4
    • doesn’t work on IE Mobile, Opera Mini
  • sources of fonts:
    • fontsquirrel - all free
    • fontspring - one off license per domain
    • myfonts - one off license per domain
  • but can have a high impact on performance
    • and can flicker when load, etc
  • tips for better performance:
  • hosted fonts:
    • google web fonts - loads of free ones, but not so good quality
    • typekit, fonts.com, fontdeck are better - but pay subscription costs
    • but loaded using javascript… can be laggy
  • watch out for missing fonts on mobile (e.g. no Arial on Android)
  • and fonts can render differently on different devices

choosing a good font

  • heineman: designed for people with dyslexia
  • want to make something that’s really inviting to read, but then just sit back and actually read it easily
  • what makes a typeface relevant?
    • context of content & features of typeface
  • old style or humanist serif: based on early printing presses
  • transitional serif: high contrast, sharp
  • modern serif: modern classic, magazines, high class sophistication
  • egyptian/slab serif: marketing, shouting, very bold
  • humanist sans: clean & easy to read
  • transitional sans: utilitarian, clinical, swiss
  • geometric sans: clean, slick, structural, slightly childlike
  • script: lots of variety, generally not good for body text, better for logos or headers
  • novelty or themed: lack any subtlety, cheesy, decoration on a poster
  • watch out for free fonts — they’ll most likely be overused
  • choose the weight carefully:
    • too heavy is hard to read
    • too light may disappear on smaller screens

laura’s taste

  • easy to read
  • attention to detail
  • subtle
  • well-balanced, consistent & uniform
    • nothing jumps out too much

ePatient 101

Mark A M Kramer @mamk

  • a lot of healthcare is based on communication between the doctor and the patient
  • often doctor communication is not very effective
    • slow responses to email
    • constrained mobile devices due to privacy & security issues
  • big issues just scheduling appointments
  • quantified self — capturing and logging health information:
    • especially body monitoring
    • apps that take photos of food, confirm the food, then estimate the calories
  • Dan Appelquist: most mHealth is focused on the hospital & medical enterprise

Tuesday, 4 October 2011

Over The Air 2011: OpenBTS - Open Source GSM

Will Rogers, Senior Consultant at Detica

  • Open Base Transceiver Station: http://openbts.sourceforge.net/
  • software implementation of radio towers
  • USRP: universal software radio peripheral
  • written in C++ on top of GNU Radio
  • fairly stable – maintained by Free Software Foundation
  • only acts as an access point – doesn’t simulate entire mobile network
    • another project: OpenBSC does more
  • but, can translate GSM into VOIP – Asterix
  • originally built by David Burgess (Range Networks) and Harvind Samra
    • Range Networks building commercial implementations (e.g. Femtocells)
  • originally designed for:
  • enables GSM network for $1/month per subscriber
  • hardly uses any power
  • range depends on antenna & height
    • Burning Man covered 5km – with a microwave backhaul
  • supports handset registration
    • requires no pre-provisioning
    • get a text with a code – reply and your IMSI gets added to the asterix
  • some branches support USSD (free data)
  • requirements:
    • hardware:
      • can run the whole thing in a VM
      • USB (for USRP 1), or ethernet (for USRP 2)
    • software:
      • most linuxes (Ubuntu well supported)
      • GNUradio
      • Asterix PBX
  • USRP was chosen as it was available, but it’s not really designed for GSM
    • better to have multiple of 13MHz clock
    • daughterboards available for various RF frequencies
    • need to have GSM-specific one
  • resources
  • channels
    • default is one logical channel for control
    • everything else (7) for voice
    • that means 7 simultaneous handset calls at once
      • e.g. 3 on-network conversations + one outbound
    • if you want more then you need multiple BTS units
    • if want SMS then need to steal a voice channel for control
  • SMS messages need routing, so OpenBTS includes smsqueue which forwards messages
  • limitations
    • doesn’t support live handover of calls
    • no data support (GPRS or Edge)
    • no way of supporting roaming or billing
    • 3G/UMTS boxes are available, but not yet open source
      • OpenBSC may get there first
    • doesn’t support encryption
  • use CC/MNC of 001/01 – these are the test values
  • OpenBTS console has various commands
    • timsi lists connected IMSIs and IMEIs
    • testcall creates a UDP connection to the phone
      • you can then send Layer 3 packets
    • sendrrlp sends a request for location (as mandated by US Gov)
      • can provide info about cell tower locations and phone will calculate location itself

Sunday, 23 November 2008

Future of Mobile 08: Global Data Trends, Mobile as 7th Mass Media

Tomi Ahonen

Tomi gave a rousing presentation that was almost too fast to follow. His blogs are full of information and, as Tom put it, slightly scary stats.

  • Joke:
    • If you get upset by other people bringing phones to table — you’re in your 50s
    • If you can leave it somewhere else on silent — in your 40s
    • If you keep phone with you but go to bathroom to txt — in your 30s
    • If you can send txt messages under the table — in your 20s
    • If you are txting on two phones at once — in your teens!
  • Introduction:
    • Known as the guy who knows where the money is
    • Now lives in Hong Kong
  • Exactly 10 years ago since mobile content industry was born
    • First downloadable ringtone launched in Autumn of 1998
    • Now grown to $30Bn industry in 10 years
  • This presentation is not about voice calls, enterprise, mobile commerce, telematics
  • As new media arises, content migrates to new medium
    • But content designed for new medium does not migrate back
  • Customer stats:
    • 91% of people keep phone within arms reach 24hrs a day
    • Mobile phone usage is addictive…
    • More dangerous than being drunk or stoned when driving
    • 63% will not share content with spouse
    • One in three partners will snoop on your phone
    • 25% UK couples sleep apart due to one of them spending their time on mobile tech :-)
  • What are each of the previous media doing with mobile?
    • Print: mobile books are $82 million industry in Japan
      • In 2007, 5 out of 10 best selling printed books in Japan were originally mobile books
    • Recordings, Cinema, Radio, Television…
    • Internet:
    • Habbo Hotel — can make money from stuff that’s already available for free
    • Another example: Mice Love Rice — wrote a song and made available for free as MP3
      • Already had 100 million downloads (i.e. everybody who wanted it already had it)
      • An operator made it available as a ringback tone and made $22 million!
      • (The only way to install a ringback tone is via your operator)
  • Mobile mass media — can do everything that others do plus extras:
    • personal
    • permanently connected
    • always carried
    • built-in payment channel
    • present at creative impulse
    • most accurate audience
      • can capture 90% audience
    • captures social context of media consumption
      • by seeing who communicates while event is happening
  • Some more examples of mobile-specific media:
    • Carbon Diem
      • tracks how your mobile moves
      • uses movement profile of bus, walking, car, etc
      • then uses info to track your carbon usage
    • Tohato World’s Worst War
      • Invited people buying snacks to fight on online war
      • Pick your side based on the snack you ate, then pick a location for your battle
      • If you recruited people to join, you got promoted
      • Had 100,000 downloads each day
      • People went to facebook to plan where they would battle
    • Hoshi-Ichi Maniac
      • Joining big brother voting with quiz shows
      • Create an avatar & join live television quiz show
      • Camera zooms looking at all avatars — you can see your name on TV
      • 200,000 live users on first run
    • MediaSeek developed Kamera Jiten — Cameraphone OCR Translator
      • Displays answer on your phone screen
  • New report coming out
    • Some samples:
      Unique Mobile Users
      SMS Users by Age
      Regional Split of Mobile Media Income
    • Watch blog 7thMassMedia for lots of similar writings
    • To get more reports, send Tomi an email at end of November tomi@tomiahonen.com
  • Feel free to use Tomi’s slides (but I could only find the slightly out of date ones shown below)
  • Join forumoxford.com!
    • need enrollment key: forumoxford

Here's a slightly older version of the same presentation from slideshare (but you don't get the feel of being there!):

the 7th media
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: mobile)