Lilula

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I R Programmer?

Fear not, I am not succumbing to the dark side. You won’t find me spending my summer indoors weeping C# - again. This is another one of those mobile phone centric blog entries. Except this time round I’m getting a little bit technical per se. I’ve looked at concepts and designs, and highlighted their importance amongst mobile phone users - now I want to look at the the more technical side of how a phone works and how it could be customisable for the common user.

When I refer to mobile phone users I am talking about the general demographic and not really zoning in on specific audiences. It’s wishy washy timey wimey. Oh yeah, Torchwood is on tonight. You can bet I will be spending my evening screaming my undying love at John Barrowman on the television.

My ability to digress amazes even me - I wish there was a way I could make money from it. Anyway, the other week I purchased an Asus EEE PC. If you’ve never heard of Asus then you’ll be surprised to know that they are a much more prominent company than you might think - I believe they have their hand in the production and/or design of Mac’s. The EEE PC was originally made for children, but it’s a powerful little thing and perfect as a lightweight ultra-mobile device. The price is right too, with it being only just a little more expensive than a top of the range mobile phone (it’s priced at £199 and I payed £230-ish with tax).

One of the aspects that jumped straight out at me was the way the operating system functions. It’s not a conventional task menu, desktop, windows aesthetic. It looks like a mobile phone device, with labelled tabs and icons leading to programs corresponding to said tabs. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t be able to install anything else on the laptop - not that I need anything else apart from what is provided - so I looked into it and apparently you can install programs via the website. This innovation got the cogs turning in my head. What if people could install programs in the same way on their phone?

And so begins the research. After winging this concept at a tutorial I was recommended a couple of things to look at including Symbian and Blackberry phones. Apart from Blackberry I wasn’t too sure what the hell I was being referred to - luckily it didn’t turn out to be disturbing pr0n. I’ll start with Blackberry devices since it’s something I’m going to dismiss quickly in favour of Symbian.

The website doesn’t work in Safari on a Mac - can you say ironic? - but after managing to get a PC and Firefox booted up I found that Blackberry have customisable features for their phones, namely tedious applications for serious entrepreneurs and the option of installing different operating systems (which begs the question - pourquoi?). Apart from the fact that this is highly personal and thus appeals to my interests, it’s a pretty anal concept and probably only for very geeky business folk who like to read PDF’s on their phone. I didn’t expect much else as Blackberry is notorious for being the business phone.

Moving on, Symbian operates on pretty much the same thing concept. Symbian is an operating system for mobile phones. It is open source meaning that anyone can dive in and modify the coding to their needs. Think of it as being a little like Facebook and their applications. With Symbian, anyone can design an application or modify the OS for other users to manipulate. I love the fact that it is open source and the variety of languages it can process is astounding; a few being C++, C#, Java, .Net, Perl and Ruby. Not to mention that it can render HTML, Javascript, PHP and other common web languages. Blimey.

This is the direction I want to head in with this project, however I still find it too techy for the average user. Most people won’t even know that their phone runs on Symbian even though it’s a very common operating system. If you have a Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, Motorola or Samsung chances are it runs on Symbian.

As aforementioned I still think this is a little complex for the average user. I doubt many of you will go away after reading this entry to create an application for your phone. I personally wouldn’t even know where to start. Granted that I am not exactly a programmer, but I have experience. Would I have to write the code and send it in? Is it something I have to tamper with on my own phone? How would I even alter the OS on my phone to install a custom application? This is where my concept comes in - a community based network dedicated to the personalisation and advancement of mobile devices. Completely free of charge of course.

A little like the Asus EEE PC, my idea is to create a mock-up for an extremely simple operating system, extracting similar visuals from the Asus EEE PC, IPhone and Viewty. If it were implemented fully it would contain basic software needed to carry out the normal functions on a phone i.e. messaging, phone book etc. The user would be able to install and uninstall software on a whim by connecting their phone to a computer or by surfing the internet using 3G or wifi. Some software would be classed as core software and the user would be unable to uninstall it, but apart from that they would be able to specify exactly what they want on their phone.

The main source for the application download would be a website. This website would be a communal area, similar to a basic forum. Users would be able to sign up for free and either download applications for their phone or create applications. The OS would be able to process many languages, so those who would want to write their own application could do so. On the website there could also be a simple ‘application maker’ whereby users could use a simple language for creating simple applications in the form of a drag and drop or through a clickable process. This would appeal to even novice users who don’t have the foggiest about programming.

So how would this operating system make money? It’s something that is very appealing to all sorts of people and would make any device appear to be modern and edgy. Mobile phone companies would benefit from this sort of operating system, so the OS itself could be sold to companies to be used on their mobile phones. Simple, unobtrusive advertising on the website could also provide income, especially if the operating system is a hit and generates a lot of traffic.

As for people who design applications, some may be more complex than others. For example, someone might use the creator to make an application that displays the latest lolcat as their wallpaper by using a simple syndication. However a more experienced programmer or company might create and application that can manage a users banking and calculate expenses from interacting with receipts, bank statements and so forth. Complex programs could be given priority over less complex ones, giving free advertising to the developers. Should they want payment, it could be provided via any generated income from the above. The point is that I’d want everything to remain free for the public. It’d give this OS a leg up over it’s competitors.

If my idea existed, would you want it on your phone? What sort of applications would you install? Would you create an application of your own through a friendly interface? We’re talking theoretically here, I don’t think I’d have the funds to go ahead and make this project a reality I’ll post the mock-up in a blog entry if anyone is interested in seeing it!

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Silly Project

Trix are for kids! Now that piece of old school pop culture catch phrasing is out of the way let me bore you all once again with my inane bantering on mobile devices and how incredibly dull they are. I’m starting to wonder what the point of this blog based project is and why we have to research a concept that has yet to lift it’s feet off the ground on a mass scale. Yes we all have mobile phones. However beyond them being practical devices, there’s little else we want to use them for.

Since I’m fed up with the whole concept of mobile phone use I’m going to go on to ramble about how pretty they are and what we look for in a phone in terms of aesthetics. What mobile phone defines you as a person? Do we look for mobile phones that have a certain look or do we simply settle for functionality? This is where I regain a little faith in this project because we as consumer’s do look out for mobile phones that aren’t just useful but also visually defined or established as pretty objects.

There are a few conventions of mobile phone design. We have a keypad, and sometimes a few additional buttons for menu browsing. Anything else is superfluous and often an invention of a certain mobile phone brand. Sony Ericsson phones have buttons for their customary music player. LG phones have a couple of camera specific buttons. Nokia phones have buttons that prompt their user to utter expressions like ‘innit’, ‘geezer’ and ‘aight’.

On top of convention we like to have something with a little edge. There are mobile phones on the market that are hot pink, touch screen, high definition, browser enabled or even so shiny that they blind unsuspecting people. My friend happens to have that phone and it’s beyond my comprehension why anyone would want a phone that pisses off others by just existing.

Then there’s the interface which is another can of worms altogether. This has to be highly recognisable, easily learnt and fast as hell. If those things don’t matter to you, go ahead and buy a Hello Kitty mobile phone from Japan. We all look out for conventions learnt from past experiences. An envelope icon connotes it’s the text messaging menu. However, don’t be fooled. The Viewty has an oven icon that does not manifest any culinary products.

For me a phone has to be 70% design and 30% usability. A well designed phone appeals to me more personally than a phone which is simply recognisable or usable. Anything which is difficult initially is easily learnt. What are the most important aesthetic features of a mobile to you? Is it the way it’s physically designed, how usable the interface is or how recognisable the features are?

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Hello Nurse!

I’ve been blogging a lot about mobile phones and the concepts involving them for my DFDD unit. The more I research and the more people I talk to about my concept of creating a mobile community the more I notice that it is a rather silly idea. Mobile technologies for recreational use don’t usually catch on, probably because mobile phones are used simply for convenience rather than for fun. For example the IPhone is advertised as a very handy gadget as opposed to a toy.

The other day I went to the doctor’s - bear with me. It was just a routine check up for my pill. I had my blood pressure taken and in less than five minutes I was out with a prescription. It took me more time to travel there than to check in and walk out. It got me thinking about mobile technologies and I thought - wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could text or video call your doctor’s office to cut back on travel and time?

Of course there would be instances you’d need to go in, but it would make the process much more efficient when it comes to things like routine check up’s where you just walk in, chat and walk out. I have the means to take my blood pressure at home and you don’t have to be qualified to use the machine. Why can’t I send a picture message of my blood pressure to the nurse who can then send a prescription to the pharmacy? I also have a peak flow at home so I can very well send to results to the asthma nurse when I need more inhalers.

I know there are major problems such as people sending false information, and since it is so convenient people might book appointments for any thing that irks them from a mild cough to cramps. Naturally there would also be options to video conference online or sign onto a board but would that then cross out the need for the mobile part of it?

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Mobile Marketing

A while ago I posted an entry on mobile phone concepts and how they could be useful or fun. Of course the way I present these ideas and in what context is very imperative because otherwise we’d just have a gadget without a purpose. Although stapling a purpose onto a concept isn’t always necessary if it appeases to people’s interests and hobbies, mobile phone use can be a tricky one. People will want to get involved in mobile phone communities and interactions but they have to be rewarding or very engaging because people pay a considerable amount for mobile phone use.

I found an excellent blog which has a few articles on these sort of concepts and how they’ve been used by advertisers to draw in the general public. I did find something similar to my idea which is called MoBlog. I love how it features blogs, photographs and reviews although it is still rather specific compared to what I have in mind. Bobbi-Lee did say that something similar was done for Big Brother (#), but they must have taken it down since.

On that note here are the best ones I’ve managed to pick up so far. These ideas are pretty nifty if I do say so myself! I’ll start with the most practical one which is Qode. The website is a little unusable and fairly stupid for something that is intended to work on mobile phones but the idea is fantastic.

It’s like a real life search engine, whereby you take a picture of a barcode which is then read by the software you pre-install on your phone and then are led to a page directly related to the product. Key words can also be used which sort of reminds me of the ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ button on Google but I can see how this would be useful in a real life setting. Firstly it can be annoying to have to sift through 3G pages on a phone just to get to a simple destination, and typing using keys is a nightmare. Does anyone else have problems with predictive text? I find it incredibly frustrating.

Anyway back to Qode. Not only does it direct you to a web page, but it can also let you sample music that is sitting on a shelf, use coupons in a newspaper, watch a movie trailer from a poster, get directions from a billboard, get concert dates from a CD, download ringtones from a magazine, watch adverts from posters, compare prices, enter competitions, and even buy a product from a vending machine (assuming the vending machine has some sort of Bluetooth).

Unfortunately they don’t have much information on the availability of such a product, and who is signed up to them. If they stuck on a few recognised brands on their website as companies that promote goods using their service I think this would be a popular idea.

Hypertag have done something similar, but they have the better name and marketing strategy through the use of interactive medium and detailed campaigns. Their website allows you to take an interactive tour of their product as though you were walking down the street. By simply having your Bluetooth on you receive promotional offers, free music, images and games. It’s on a slightly simpler scale than Qode and doesn’t give the user as much control as they would have reading a barcode of their choice but I like this idea. I encountered it when I went to the O2 stadium in London when I saw Foo Fighters. One of the support acts was giving people free downloads if they switched on their Bluetooth.

Another idea I thought was sort of sweet was one where girls can create ringtones to share with one another. However I think the wrong company took on this approach seeing as it was Tampax. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t be too keen on having a blaring ringtone advertising which brand of tampon I use. In any case I thought this was a good idea, just the wrong setting. I can see it working for record companies as a mean of self promotion for unsigned bands, or for music orientated websites. Even companies that offer free iTunes could get away with it.

Similarly, girls were also invited to blog using their mobile phones in an effort to advertise the second Bridget Jones film. Of course anyone can blog using a phone, but there were other features to keep users entertained such as prizes and interactive games with secret admirers and love calculators. Great idea, but slightly wobbly out of context.

Funnily enough one of my favourite marketing schemes was the one done by Sony Ericsson in conjunction with Memorable Movie Moments whereby people were encouraged to send in pictures of themselves doing their favourite scene from their favourite movie. The Shining one is particularly good! Things like this that involve the community are great fun, however with only seven pages of submitted content and roundabout seven or so images on each page I think it’s safe to assume that it was a slow and fairly unpopular project. Maybe it was advertised in the wrong way?

Would any of the above services or games appeal to you in any way, and would you be willing to get involved in them? What would matter the most to you - the prizes to be won, the practicality of being able to access digital information, interacting with a community or having entertainment on the go? What about price? Would you be willing to pay your network rates for sending picture messages or connecting to a 3G network in order to participate in the above?

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Mobile Concepts

Recently I’ve been reading Dave’s blog, and I particularly liked the ideas he had in his post A Myriad of Activity. To summarise he said that supermarkets should text receipts to mobile phones rather than print them on a roll which will most likely end up as waste. That’s the sort of theme I was rolling with in my post ATTN Mobile Phone Users, rather than picking up on existing technologies.

The ideas I’ve had for this unit at university are a little more conceptual albeit entirely possible. I can come up with practical solutions if prompted but I much prefer fun ones. A lot of people use Twitter even though it is possibly the most useless thing on this planet and yet people use it, love it and play with it. Things that give people a reason to play are often successful and this is the sort of angle I like to come in at.

So what are my ideas? I would like to develop a community based project whereby people can text a number with a picture, video, message or otherwise with the intention of sharing a secret, a moment, promotion, review or general brain fart. These messages are then displayed on a social network online and can then be rated by users of the community. Alternatively this could be adapted to function on an already existing website such as Facebook. If something like this already exists that anyone knows of please tell me.

A similar idea I had was to have exactly the same concept as above but the website then forwards random messages to registered mobiles or previous contributors. The amount can be tweaked in a profile setting so people can receive a message a week, a month or twenty a day. Of course there’d also be the option to disable incoming messages, but that would be for boring anal people that sign up to social networking websites to become another statistic.

Or another idea is to have these messages mapped geographically. Whenever someone who has registered their number goes within a radius from where a past message has been sent they receive said text. This could be especially useful for people looking for something new in a familiar place as the message could contain details about the area, what’s good, what’s bad and what’s worth checking out.

However with the increasing number of mobiles being able to connect to the internet what would be the purpose of this? Well I believe people enjoy things with a personal edge. Why search for a review for a local restaurant online and get feedback from some snotty food critic when you can switch your Bluetooth on and get a message from the website collective as written by a real person?

Well that’s one idea in the bank. Another one I stormed up was live blogging. The Viewty has excellent video capture which I’m positive will lead to several Viewty video blogs cropping up on YouTube. What if there was an application similar to a Wordpress plugin where you could stream media on your blog live? You could be out and about, at a party, being a tourist and suddenly think “I want my readers to see this”. Instead of just taking some film and uploading it later in a polished form, why not record the instance it happens and have it go live to your blog like a webcam chat? Again please tell me if this exists, I’d love to know.

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ATTN Mobile Phone Users

A lot of mobile phone manufacturers have finally grasped the idea of web 2.0 and how the internet is changing around us. For those of you who are not web 2.0 savvy, I am not referring to the aesthetically banal crap that most people parade about as layouts in favour of actually using their imagination. I am referring to the personalisation of the internet, how it’s becoming a communal area of interaction. For example, YouTube is a perfect example. Facebook is another one. Concept over design and all that.

Anyway I was talking about mobile phones. What does your mobile phone mean to you? Is it simply a way for you to have a way to contact friends and family? Or do you use it for multi tasking such as uploading photos to Facebook, updating your Twitter, finding road directions on Google Maps or even uploading videos to YouTube? Do you use your phone to listen to music or even download songs?

These are more practical uses of mobile phones, and I have to say that I’m inclined towards community based projects which are for fun rather than for a purpose. They usually provide a more gratifying experience whereby I know I’ve added to something which operates on a bigger scale. I think it’d be interesting to have more communities bound together by contributions made on mobile devices.

In what way would you like to see a level of communication between your phone and the environment around you? It can be anything from existing technologies to conceptual technologies like mood readers, or even community based projects like Yellow Arrow or Grafedia. In essence what I want to ask is what would you like to see on your mobile phone in the future, and how would it be useful to you?

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Take A Hike IPhone

A little while back I posted an entry on the IPhone, but I assume I posted it on another CMS because Wordpress doesn’t seem to know what the hell I’m talking about. In any case to summarise the IPhone article I bantered about how much I wanted it and why I’m just another sad statistic in consumerist society.

Despite me falling in love with a gadget I held back and decided to wait for a second generation. Apple are notorious for the bugs their devices come with initially, and I wanted to make sure I was buying a sound product. However time has passed and my focus is on something else now. Move over IPhone, LG’s Viewty is truly a sight to behold.

It doesn’t seem like much at a glance and probably doesn’t rival the pretentious web 2.0 glossed over interface the IPhone has but to me it is a far better phone. To start with the camera is 5 megapixel in comparison to the IPhone’s measly 2 megapixel. If you’ve seen the adverts, then you’ll realise that a lot of the focus is placed on the camera. LG clearly pride themselves in having a phone with a superior camera.

The Viewty has 100 more colours than the IPhone, giving it a much richer colour definition. Therefore the video playback is awesome in terms of colour. To top it off it has a high speed capture that allows you to record excellent quality videos. Zing!

The sound is slightly less powerful than the IPhone but to me it isn’t make or break. If I wanted a powerful sound device I’d buy an MP3 player. And even then sound on the go isn’t all that important to me. I prefer to listen to music when I’m at home, working or relaxing. When I’m out I like to experience my environment rather than tune it out.

Another thing that the IPhone supposedly has over the Viewty is that it has Wi Fi whereas the Viewty does not. Is this an advantage over the Viewty? Negative. The Viewty has a HSDPA connection speed of 3.6 MBPS making general browsing and even uploading videos to YouTube tolerable. The disadvantage of Wi Fi is its availability. If you’re out and about you’ll need to make it to the nearest Wi Fi hot spot in order to connect to the internet. The Viewty can connect to the internet anywhere using 3G.

It’s sad just how over hyped Mac devices are because this gadget really deserves the spot light. It’s paving the way for next generation devices, and making an example of the IPhone. Henshin a go go baby, the Viewty is truly viewtiful!

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