February 1, 2010
We’re really excited about the Application Framework we’ve built for SpectraLink phones. This product adds a whole new range of capabilities to the handsets, and adds a whole new way of developing applications.
We’re seeing a TON of interest in this product at the Team Polycom event in San Diego (Feb, 2010), especially among Hospitality sales people and dealers.
We’re announcing this framework with two initial applications: A directory application, and a Set to Set texting application.
Fig. Texting application, and directory app – with search window, and some pinned contacts.
The project started when we were asked to develop an emergency broadcast system for use in a large cruise ship. They needed a way to display messages on all passenger phones, and on all the SpectraLink phones used by the crew on the ship. We used an InGenius product called Broadcast Alert to handle the creation of the broadcasts, and we built this framework to handle information display on the handsets.
We wanted to implement scrolling text on the handsets, and we wanted crew to be able to respond to messages – to acknowledge receipt, and to possibly request assistance. The standard handset display only allowed a few lines of text, and user interactivity was pretty difficult.
We ended up switching to using the handsets in a graphical display mode – which allows us full control over the contents of the display, and we can display icons, and buttons in addition to text – text in whatever font we choose!
We designed an extremely sophisticated algorithm to manage display updates – the algorithm determines which pixels on the phone have changed between updates – and only sends the differences. This GREATLY reduces the communications traffic, and makes this display updated mechanism feasible.
Then we built a really awesome notification app to handle the broadcast alerts…
Then, things got really out of hand, and we went nuts and built something we think is just awesome!
So, what is the InGenius Application Framework for SpectraLink phones?
We’ve created a system that instantiates a small virtual operating system for each of the SpectraLink phones in the system. (And we’ve tested this with thousands of phones, on a non-beefy server.) Each of the tiny operating systems allows you to control the phone’s screen and ringer, and can respond to button presses. We have a nice library of system calls that let you write to the screen using text, graphics, and icons, gather input from a user, etc.
Basically, using standard .Net tools like Visual Studio and C# developers simply write a very small app that runs on one phone. The Framework then replicates this app across all the phones! We’ve even built a sophisticated simulator that allows developers to create and debug apps in .Net – then easily release them to real phones.
The OS supports multi-tasking – so all the apps you have running on your phone run simultaneously, in the background. In our testing, we’ve written alarm clock apps, timers, broadcast alert apps etc, and they all run smoothly in the background – and can jump to the foreground when required.
Apps can easily talk to each-other – making it easy for apps like our Directory app to start our Texting app and pass in the current contact…
We’ve built in a login system – so users can securely share phones. When you log into a phone, your apps resume, with all your data and program states intact. Your apps can even keep running while you’re logged off - so any texts or messages you may have received will be available when you next log on! The log in system is ideal in situations where phones are shared – like Nurse call stations, or big box retailers.
There’s a passthrough for legacy OAI applications – commands not meant for our framework are simply sent along to the legacy apps.
Check out the details on our product page.
Finally, here’s a view of the Simulator!
Leave a Comment » | 
InGenius, Polycom, SpectraLink | Tagged: Polycom, SpectraLink, Microsoft .Net, Texting, Corporate Directory Look-up, Wireless Handsets, SpectraLink 8020 Wireless Handset, SpectraLink 8030 Wireless Handset, TEAM Polycom, InGenius Software, InGenius Connector, #TEAMPolycom | 
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Posted by Rich
January 28, 2010
After just releasing InGenius Connector for General Availability on Asterisk Exchange and unpacking from ITExpo, the InGenius team is packing their bags again to head West to attend the TEAM Polycom event next week in San Diego, CA.
Located in the Applications Beyond Voice Pavilion, booth 504, InGenius will be revealing the InGenius Application Server for Spectralink Wireless Handsets.
This incredibly cool application server offers something for both Spectralink users and Spectralink Application developers. It is shipped with a set-to-set texting application and a corporate directory look-up application, and also has the ability to run multiple applications simultaneously. As an added bonus, InGenius Application Server houses a framework that can be extended to develop or customize applications using commonly available Microsoft .Net development tools.
Whether you are looking to increase company communication and productivity or trying to extend the value of your Spectralink 8020/8030 Wireless telephone offering, InGenius Application Server offers a quality solution that fits current and future business needs. If you are attending TEAM Polycom we would love to give you a demo, stop by booth 504 and say hello!
Leave a Comment » | InGenius, Technology, VoIP, telephony, wireless | Tagged: #TEAMPolycom, Corporate Directory Look-up, InGenius Connector, InGenius Software, Microsoft .Net, Polycom, SpectraLink, SpectraLink 8020 Wireless Handset, SpectraLink 8030 Wireless Handset, TEAM Polycom, Texting, Wireless Handsets | Permalink
Posted by ingenius2
January 13, 2010
InGenius is very happy to be attending ITExpo East in Miami on January 20-23 as members of the Ontario pavilion in Booth 512. We are going to be showing InGenius Connector and all the cool things that it can do to help accelerate and simplify phone communications for those with a Polycom phone, Asterisk switch, BroadSoft Network or Mitel switch.
InGenius Connector has been in beta for the past few months and we are receiving a tremendous response from Polycom sales representatives, Asterisk solution providers, ITSPs and basic end-users about the value and benefits it supplies to them and their customers. Over and over we hear how much people love InGenius Connector and how well it integrates with their Outlook contacts, and Active Directory or LDAP directory. Users just can’t get over the cool Google search functions and how easy the application is to install and use. Once a person starts using InGenius Connector, they really wonder how the ever got along with out it. If you plan on attending ITExpo East please stop by booth 512 and we will be happy to give you a demo of InGenius Connector.
1 Comment | Google, Google Maps, IT Expo, InGenius, Technology, UI Design, VoIP, telephony | Tagged: Active Directory, Asterisk, Broadsoft, InGenius, IP Phone, ITExpo East, ITSP, Microsoft, Mitel, Outlook, PC Application, Polycom, Telephony Software | Permalink
Posted by ingenius2
October 26, 2009
We are at BroadSoft Connections 2009 and we are very happy to introduce InGenius Connector as a fully supported application for the BroadSoft Network.
Combine the power of the Microsoft®, the power of Google®, and the power of Broadsoft to accelerate and simplify all your phone communications with InGenius Connector. InGenius Connector is a PC application that provides click-to-dial capabilities and incoming caller ID screen pop, with full BroadSoft Directory, Microsoft® Outlook® and Active Directory® or LDAP Directory integration. And, InGenius Connector provides integrated web searches with GoogleMaps® and GoogleSearch® to locate and dial new contacts with just a single click. Integrated optional softphone, same great UI!
If you are at BroadSoft Connections we would be happy to give you a demo. Stop by booth 41 and talk with our CEO Dale Gantous, or our CTO Rich Loen. Click here to see a video of InGenius Connector in action!
Leave a Comment » | Google, Google Maps, InGenius, Technology, VoIP, telephony | Tagged: Active Directory, Broadsoft, Broadsoft Connections 2009, Google, Google Maps, InGenius, Microsoft, Telephony Software, Unified Communications | Permalink
Posted by ingenius2
July 21, 2009
Have you ever been to the hotel and needed to rent a car, look for a restaurant, wanted to contact the hotel’s spa, or just needed more towels? Of course you have, but how many times did you have to flip through a huge hotel binder, call the front desk or open your lap top to find what you were looking for? Imagine you go to a hotel and everything you are looking for is already programmed into the hotel’s phone. All you have to do is push a button and menus for car rental businesses, local restaurants, hotel spa services, and housekeeping are all there and waiting to be accessed. Well, this is exactly what InGenius Application Builder was designed to provide! It’s super easy to use and gives you all the amenities you require at the touch of a button. What is really cool about this application is that you can also choose from a variety of languages. If you are in France but don’t speak French, you’ll have no worries if the Mitel phone in the hotel has Application Builder. By the time you get to your room the French phone menu could automatically be switched to English or it could offer you a language menu so that you could choose to have it display English instead of French. This would be a really great application for any hotel wanting to provide their guests with better customer service and a better all round experience.
Leave a Comment » | InGenius, Mitel, Technology | Tagged: 5330, 5340, branding, hospitality, hotel, Mitel, phone applications | Permalink
Posted by ingenius2
July 15, 2009
I received an email from Apple yesterday announcing the grand opening of the Ottawa Apple store!
Hurry down to the Rideau Center at 9:30 am Saturday July 18th for the Grand Opening! Free T-Shirts for the first 1000 people there!
Email from Apple re Apple Store Ottawa
Leave a Comment » | Apple, Cool, Technology | Permalink
Posted by Rich
June 18, 2009
InGenius is very excited to be a part of the Mitel Business Partner Forum & Technology Expo 2009 happening today and tomorrow in Las Vegas! At the expo we will showcase some of our new software: Live Content Creator and Desktop Power Portal. These cool applications give users the ability to have LIVE content on their Mitel 5300 series phones.
DESKTOP POWER PORTAL
- Screen Caption of Desktop Power Portal
InGenius Desktop Power Portal is a sophisticated, yet easy-to-use web portal application for personalizing both telephony functions and new live content applications on your Mitel 5300 IP desktop phone connected to a 3300. To enhance the features of Desktop Power Portal combine it with Live Content Creator to program live, up-to-the-minute easily editable content on phone keys!
LIVE CONTENT CREATOR
Allows you to easily create and manage a variety of LIVE content for your Mitel 5300 series phone.
Perhaps you want to give your sales staff an extra boost by offering a few promotions…
Live Content Creator
Or you want to follow what people are saying about your company on twitter…
- Live Content Creator
Or you’re curious about the weather…
Live Content Creator
Live Content Creator provides up-to-date information to a device that’s always on giving you the freedom and flexibility to do a variety of things like promoting “What’s On Today”, showcasing Daily specials, and personalizing your phone with data feeds like Weather, Twitter searches and even Flickr photos!
So how does this InGenius Software work?
- Program live content onto a button on your phone using InGenius Desktop Power Portal, or using a Guestbook application in the Application Builder for 5360 phones (coming soon). For more information on Application Builder, click here.
- When programming the phone key, select the content source, which can be a local atom feed behind your firewall or an externally hosted blog.
- Press the programmed button on your phone.
- The Live Content Creator server, an optional part of InGenius Desktop Power Portal, retrieves the live content, formats it appropriately for your phone model, and makes the content “safe” by removing flash animations and other non-compatible content.
- View content on your phone!
Live Content Creator Architecture
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Leave a Comment » | InGenius | Tagged: 5300, 5340, 5360, Live Content, Mitel, Mitel Business Partner Forum, Mitel Business Partner Forum and Technology Expo 2009, phone applications, Telephony Software, twitter | Permalink
Posted by ingenius2
May 22, 2009
Looks like Pogoplug is now shipping. It’s a cool $99 device that plugs into your home or office LAN, and has a USB port for a USB Disk drive – or a bunch of USB drives. You access your data through a password protected web page – and can upload or download files. An easy way to make a bunch of data accessible over the Internet – to computers or even your iPhone!
Apparently there is some sort of plug-in architecture where Pogoplug will be extending the functionality of the unit over time.
We are trying to buy one to play with – but shipping charges to Canada being roughly $50, we’re holding off for a bit until we’re on a trip to the US and can get it shipped to our hotel.
Looks pretty cool though – check ‘em out!
Leave a Comment » | Cool, NAS, Technology | Permalink
Posted by Rich
May 1, 2009
Ottawa photographer Olga Novoa is displaying some of her recent work at the Ottawa airport – but you’ll need a boarding pass to see.
Give yourself an extra 20 minutes when you’re next traveling to check it out!
Exhibit 05
Details:
OLGA NOVOA PORTFOLIO PHOTO EXHIBIT 09
Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport
YOW Art Gallery – The domestic/international holdroom.
Starts: April 7, 2009.
Open Daily and Nightly including Saturday, Sunday and Holidays.
Closes: After 12 weeks / Daylight hours are best for viewing.
If you are not a lucky traveler during the months of Spring please visit
http://tinyurl.com/photoexhibit and make sure to read the Polaroid tags.
You can also visit the actual display at the YOW gallery via
http://tinyurl.com/YOW-gallery
For more information about the artist, photographic services and prices
please contact:
OLGA NOVOA
Photographer & Graphic Artist
_____________________________
EVOLUTION | PHOTO & DESIGN
Ph: +1 613 601.1150
Ottawa, On.
C A N A D A
http://www.olganovoa.com/
info@olganovoa.com
1 Comment | InGenius | Permalink
Posted by Rich
March 24, 2009
We’re thrilled to announce the general availability of InGenius SimplER for Mitel 3300s – a simple emergency notification application that emails the appropriate First Responders whenever someone calls 911 (or up to 5 emergency numbers).
InGenius SimplER is designed to work with Mitel’s 3300 systems.
Not only do you know that someone called 911, you also know who that person is and where they sit so that you can respond fast.
How Does SimplER Work?
1. User initiates emergency call.
2. SNMP trap picks up the emergency call at the 3300 switch. SimplER server is notified.
3. SimplER initiates look-up in Active Directory.
4. SimplER generates email to appropriate First Responders.
Leave a Comment » | Mitel, Mitel 5330, Mitel 5340, Mitel Forum, VoIP, telephony | Tagged: 911, E911, Emergency Response, ER Advisor, First responders, Mitel, VoIP | Permalink
Posted by Rich
February 2, 2009
Like many people we were surprised early Saturday morning when Google decided to display a warning for EVERY search result. My wife called immediately, thinking that our kitchen computer had been infected by some crazy virus.
According to Google’s own blog, the problem was with a file that lists all the “dangerous” web sites on the Internet. Apparently one of the entries in the file was simply “/” which was interpreted as “every site” – so Google flagged every single site on the Internet (including it’s own sites like youtube.com) as containing malware.
Now, what’s crazy about this is the fact that it happened at all. Most web developers we know, and certainly every site InGenius manages for customers goes through a pretty rigorous process before being updated. We maintain:
- Development Systems,
- Staging Systems,
- The Live site.
Developers work on the development systems – making changes, and testing their work. Once they’re happy with it, the changes are uploaded to a Staging server, and the whole site is tested, paying particular attention to the new features. Only then, when everything is perfect, are the changes migrated over to the Live Site. And, everything undergoes an immediate smoke test, and a complete test as quickly as possible.
So, it appears that Google doesn’t follow this sort of simple process – that they don’t stage changes, but instead simply roll them out to their main server!!! Unbelievable!!!!
I’m sure some changes will be made to their processes:
- An automated check of the new malware file to look for entries that can cause a repeat of the problems they experienced,
- A staged process, where the changes are tested before they are rolled out to the live system,
- A search for other “single points of failure” in Google’s systems. Where else could similar issues bring down all of Google??!!!
It sure would be fun to sit in on some of the meetings I’m sure will occur at Google on Monday morning. Hopefully whoever is responsible is not fired – you can be sure they won’t be making a mistake like this again…
Leave a Comment » | Google | Permalink
Posted by Rich
February 1, 2009
We’re heading off to IT Expo tomorrow (Booth 501) to show off our new Mitel product line, including:
- Unified Communicator Express
- InGenius Broadcast Alert
- InGenius App Builder
- InGenius simplER
So, what the heck is this stuff?
Mitel Unified Communicator Express
The marketing blurb goes like this:
<blurb> Mitel Unified Communicator® (UC) Express is a lightweight, serverless unified communications client that connects your Mitel business phone with Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Active Directory, Windows Live Messenger, and Windows Desktop Search on your PC. Productivity enhancements like click-to-dial, incoming caller ID pop-up, PC-based missed calls and speed calls list, and personal (Microsoft® Outlook®) directory integration. Available at Mitel. </blurb>
UCX is cool, because it’s a PC telephony client done right. It can optionally run right in your Windows taskbar, and can even be fully utilized from the tray icon. We have spent hundreds of hours trying to make the UI simple, yet extremely functional. You won’t find a huge app popping up every time the phone rings, or when you want to make a call – simply type in a few characters of the name of the person you want to call – and the app will find the number and dial. Nothing pops up or distracts the user.
UCX is the new version of Mitel’s Integrated Office Companion. UCX is an incredible upgrade to IOC, adding many cool features such as:
- Multiple phone profiles: If you have phones at your office, home, and on the road, you can set up phone profiles. UCX will automatically sign onto the phone appropriate for your location,
- Support for Mitel 5330, 5340, and the new 5312 and 5324 phones,
- Excellent support for Vista,
- And, we’re very excited to announce that UCX will soon have a built-in softphone, which you can use when you’re away from your desk.
- UCX is also extendable through TAPI, or our plugin API which we can adapt to your CRM solution, even if web based like salesforce.com. It’s a powerful tool for all employees, not just sales or call center agents.
InGenius Broadcast Alert
Broadcast Alert is a mass notification system that can send alerts to 10’s of thousands of your employees, via alerts that pop up on their PC’s, and their Mitel phones. Features include:
- PC client that’s easy to role out in large installations,
- PC client can display an alert, including an audio alert, and text and graphical instructions, and can even completely lock out the user’s PC – so the user is compelled to leave their office.
- Alerts can be displayed on Mitel’s 5300 series phones – currently supported on the 5340 and 5330 models, and soon on all 53xx phones.
- Alerts can be sent to user specified zones,
- Each Zone can have a custom exit instructions and graphic, allowing you to specify exit instructions for each floor of a building, or each building on campus,
- The system is EXTREMELY easy to maintain – new clients show up in the right zones automatically, without any administrator involvement.
- Users automatically change zones if they are mobile – so a laptop user will automatically join the zone of whatever building they are in as they move about the campus.
InGenius Application Builder
Build HTML applications for your Mitel and Polycom phones using a wizard based online tool.
App Builder is an online tool that makes it easy to create HTML applications for the hospitality industry, with other verticals coming soon.
You simply follow through the wizard, then click on download to obtain a sophisticated HTML application customized for your property.
We’re excited to be demonstrating new support for Polycom phones at IT Expo. Polycom’s phones include colour models which are perfect for use with App Builder. Stop by and check it out!
InGenius simplER
simplER is a great product for users of Mitel’s 3300 series of switches. simplER monitors your 3300 looking for calls to 911 or any other emergency numbers you specify. When it detects an emergency call in progress, simplER looks up the caller in your Active Directory database, determines the caller’s location and name, then alerts approriate first responders for that office area, building floor, or campus building.
As the name implies, simplER is incredibly easy to configure and maintain, and is extremely flexible in it’s notification options. You can customize the notifications that are sent, and easily manage the notification groups by simply creating Active Directory groups following a simple naming convention.
simplER is an essential tool for EVERY Mitel 3300 system installation.
New and Exciting Stuff we can’t talk about here!
We’ll be highlighting some other exciting new stuff at IT Expo – including solutions for Asterisk users, advanced SIP softphone functionality and more. Please stop by at booth 501!
We’ll be posting photos and more blog entries from the show. Keep checking back for more exciting news from the show!
Leave a Comment » | IT Expo, InGenius, Internet Telephony Expo, Mitel, Mitel 5330, Mitel 5340, VoIP, telephony | Permalink
Posted by Rich
January 19, 2009
A few weeks back I noticed that Alec Saunders had some great things to say about Balsamiq Mockups, a UI design tool that makes it very easy to create mockups of web and PC user interfaces. We had a big web redesign coming up, so I decided to take Balsamiq for a spin…
The app is built using Adobe Air, which means it is cross-platform and works great on both Windows and OS X. Installation is painless on both platforms. And, it really opened my eyes to the power of Adobe Air (I had pretty much thought all it could do was host web pages outside a browser…)
The app is a riot to use. There’s a large ribbon across the top that contains all the UI elements you can use. Drag ‘em onto the canvas, and build a UI in a few minutes.
One of the app’s features is a hand-drawn look – which means you can avoid focussing on the nitty gritty details of the design, and instead get the overall layout right. You don’t spend hours wasting time on pixel by pixel spacing, and whether some text should be bold, or a different font. It’s like you’re working with a talented artist who can throw together really great sketches very quickly.
And, the app is smart too. The table layout tool is particularly nice – you just type a few rows of text, and it automatically lays it out in a nice table – and automatically converts things like [ ] into checkboxes. Nice.
The app is keyboard friendly as well. It’s not obvious, but there are plenty of keyboard shortcuts such as typing “/” to get to a text box where you can simply type the name of the UI element you want added to the page.
The developer is extremely responsive to user requests, making extensive use of the GetSatisfaction.com site for user suggestions, soliciting advice for how to implement new features, and responding to any issues.
The app is missing a few things, though enhancements are in progress… The app can’t save “projects” of multiple pages. You have to load each page of your design one at a time (although multiple pages can be viewed in the tabbed interface). You can’t add links or automation to your pages – so clicking on things never actually jumps to the new page (like working with a real paper mockup, you just flip to the next page), and you can’t add your own custom elements to pages. One feature I’d like to see is some UI elements for iPhone applications. Many of these features are in development now.
Balsamiq Mockups is a highly recommended application!
1 Comment | Balsamiq Mockups, Cool, Technology, UI Design, iotum | Tagged: Balsamiq Mockups, GUI Design, Rapid Prototyping, UI Design, UI Layout, UX | Permalink
Posted by Rich
December 6, 2008
Our friend Stephane Grenier has just finished writing a new book “BLOG Blazers” in which he interviews 40 well known bloggers – asking an interesting series of questions of each blogger.
My favorite question: What was your most successful blog post ever? – It’s very interesting to read everyone’s responses to this question, and to remember reading some of those posts in the past.
Stephane has managed to interview some really huge names: Seth Godin, Manolo Blahnik, Jeff Atwood (Coding Horror), DanLyons (Fake Steve Jobs), and Alex Papadimoulis (Daily WTF) – Stephane even manages to interview himself!!!
You can buy the book directly from Stephane, or you can find it on Amazon…
Congratulations Stephane! It’s a great book.
Leave a Comment » | Cool, Technology, landlordmax | Tagged: Blog Blazers, Stephane Grenier | Permalink
Posted by Rich
December 2, 2008
I picked up an Griffin iTrip AutoPilot FM Transmitter
a few weeks back, hoping to be able to listen to the tunes, and charge my iPhone at the same time. I bought it a a Roger’s phone outlet here in Ottawa – a bit pricey at about $100.
Turns out the device has a few issues:
- Biggest complaint: It absolutely SUCKS at transmitting audio to the FM radio in the car. The signal is WEAK WEAK. And, if you drive for over a mile or two, all of a sudden, the signal is lost as new, more powerful stations come in. Even though the new stations are very far away. Basically, you will hear TONS OF STATIC all day long on this thing.
- Terrible search function – could be European model? It has a built-in search function which is supposed to find an empty channel. It does, but does it poorly. The channels it finds to broadcast on are NOT the default channels used in Canada. It wouldn’t surprise me if Griffin was selling us a European version of the device since we’re in far away Canada, clearly a European country…
- The device doesn’t remember the last channel it was broadcasting on. So, every time I hop in the car, I have to reset it to the station I want to use. Very annoying.
Beware of this device.
UPDATE: I contacted Griffin as suggested in a comment. Explained the issues – and a new iTrip is on its way. They agreed that it appears that Roger’s (The Canadian iPhone carrier) stores are carrying the European version of the iTrip (at least they were when I bought). So, check this out before you buy. I don’t know how to tell the difference, except that the European version finds stations on even numbers, not odd (ie, 106.2, not 106.1), and does not save the transmit frequency when power is lost. Further updates when the new unit arrives. So far, excellent service from Griffin.
UPDATE 2: Received the new device from Griffin, and many of the issues are fixed. The unit now searches better, and remembers the last station it was tuned to. This makes it MUCH more functional. However, I still have problems with the transmit power. I understand it’s transmitting at the maximum allowed power, but something in the design is not working. I’ve tried the device on 3 different cars, and in each I’ve had to hang the iPhone over the rear view mirror by its wire in order to get a consistent usable signal strength. If the device is simply sitting between the front seats in the car, or is on the floor, the radio can’t pick up its signal at all. So, close, but not quite there yet.
2 Comments | Technology, iPhone | Tagged: Griffin, iTrip, Review | Permalink
Posted by Rich
October 20, 2008
We watched these guys on some CBC show a while ago. They looked pretty cool- hope the show’s good!
Update: And it was a very good show! Tons of photos here:
Everyone there had cameras, even SLR’s. Video. Nobody stopped ‘em. Not like the “old” days.
Leave a Comment » | InGenius | Tagged: coldplay | Permalink
Posted by Rich
October 20, 2008
From the comic xkcd
OK, so I check the day’s email and schedule on my iPhone before I get out of bed…
Leave a Comment » | humor, xkcd | Permalink
Posted by Rich
August 1, 2008
One of the groundbreaking differences between the iPhone and all other cellular phones is the App Store. You can bet that RIM, Nokia, et al are hard at work on a similar system.
Here’s the app’s I’ve got loaded today:
- Flashlight – Turns out to be fairly useful when lost in the dark.
- Bloomberg – more detailed stock info than the built-in app.
- Monkeyball – Fun, but the motion sensing is not well done. These guys should talk to the Labyrinth guys to see how to do motion sensing properly.
- Shazam – This is just cool.
- Weatherbug – OK app. Better weather forcasts than the built-in weather app.
- WordPress – cool – but it would be pretty difficult to type a REAL blog entry here.
- WritingPad – Interesting to see people inventing new input paradigms. This one is so so.
- Remote – Cool, but it would be great if it worked with FrontRow on my TV’s Mac Mini.
- Jott – Jott is a very cool service, and this app is well done.
- AirMe – I LOVE what this app SHOULD do, if ONLY it did it reliably. I’m hoping they release a new version soon.
- Labyrinth – THE COOLEST APP. This is what I show people when they wonder what the fuss is about.
- TouchCalc – OK.
- SpeakEasy – Nice audio recorder but doesn’t upload yet – which is functionality I’d love.
- Tuner – Nice to have a radio in your phone.
- AccuFuel – Bit of a pain to enter the fuel info, and a pain to configure. Km’s vs Miles vs liters per km, etc.
- ezimba – Interesting. The basic need I had was to crop photos, and I couldn’t find it after quite a bit of searching. I know it MUST be there…
- eReader – I had an account already so this was a no-brainer. I WISH I could override the motion sensor so I could read while lying in bed…
- VNC – Cool just because you can.
- Enigmo – Nicely done app. Another showcase app.
- Holdem – I’m not into poker enough to appreciate this app.
- Dice Bag – This app sucks. I was hoping for a nice simulation of dice rolling. All it does is display a number in the corner of the screen. TRY HARDER GUYS.
- Crash Cart – Cool. My kids love this app – but the motions sensing is not as nice as I’d like to see.
- OneTap – Very nice movie finder. Lots of nice features.
- Remember The Milk – Not strictly an iPhone app, but SO WELL DONE that I’m including it. Nice.
- Scrabble – I play this more than anything. The first version sucked HUGELY and crashed EVERY TIME you used it. The recent update is much improved. Also, they’ve improved the load time – but it’s still spending WAY TOO LONG showing me logos and startup screens.
- Audio Rec. Guitar Toolkit – Nice app.
- WeightTrack – Nice enough – but my phone isn’t near my scale.
- NetShare – I’m AMAZED this is allowed, and that this works. I downloaded it immediately, before it’s deleted from the App Store. Hopefully Rogers can’t detect that I’m using this (of course, I never do.)
- Exposure – Nice app – I wish I could upload from the phone to Flickr using this.
- Sketches – It would be nice to be able to have larger drawing surfaces. Nicely done.
1 Comment | InGenius | Tagged: AccuFuel, AirMe, Audio Rec., Crash Kart, Dice Bag, Enigmo, eReader, Exposure, ezimba, Guitar Toolkit, Holdem, iPhone, iPhone Applications, Jott, Labyrinth, Monkey Ball, NetShare, OneTap, Remember The Milk, Scrabble, Shazam, Sketches, SpeakEasy, TouchCalc, Tuner, Weatherbug, WeightTrack, WritingPad | Permalink
Posted by Rich
August 1, 2008
iPhone 3G
Doesn’t work as a phone – I received a call from my wife last weekend. Pulled the iPhone out of my pocket, and stared at the completely BLACK screen of my ringing phone. I tried pressing every button, dragging across where the “answer the call” slider is, but NOTHING worked. Then, she called again a minute later – and the same thing happened. Rats.
Apps that don’t work – I LOVE the idea of the AirMe application. This is a terrific app that lets you take photos, then automatically geotags them, weather tags them, then uploads them to Flickr – all with one click!!! WOW! Too bad it only works for one or two photos in a row, then crashes. Lots of apps crash – and I understand completely the issues that face the developers – we’re facing them ourselves.
TERRIBLE battery life – I’ve been a Blackberry user since the first year they were available. My FIRST blackberry would last for over 2 weeks on a charge. Then they added phone capability and colour, and it lasted about a day and a half. BUT, the iPhone does not even last one day! After charging all night, it’s dead by supper time. I have to charge it at work, or during supper if I’m planning to head out at night. Sucks.
NO coverage at my cottage – yes, not the iPhone’s fault – TOTALLY Roger’s fault. But is sucks that my Bell Blackberry gets 4 bars of signal strength, whereas my iPhone gets NO SIGNAL, except if I go outside, and hold the phone in one special location, angled JUST SO. PLEASE improve your coverage Rogers…
And, I love this thing. Go figure.
1 Comment | InGenius | Tagged: iPhone, iPhone Applications, iPhone battery life, Rogers | Permalink
Posted by Rich
August 1, 2008
We do a lot of highway driving every week. It’s amazing how many cars are now using GPS devices! I’d say it’s about 1/4 to 1/3 of all cars on the highway are using them – closely following the on-screen routes to their destinations.
Garmin Nuvi 650
What’s interesting is that the algorithm used by these devices doesn’t always keep you on the big highways. I was quite surprised that our special back-roads route to our cottage (devised over YEARS of trial and error, backtracking and testing) was the route that our Garmin GPS chose – without any prompting on our part. It chose this crazy route through the back roads of Quebec to bring us from Ottawa to St. Sauveur.
And, on a recent trip to the Maine coast, our GPS brought us on a beautiful shortcut route – which was a couple of minutes shorter than the highway – but was a route you would NEVER choose unless you were a local. It was just one step up from a dirt road – lots of crazy twists and turns around huge boulders in the highway!
So, what’s happening is that people along these tiny, middle of nowhere routes must now be experiencing a huge increase in traffic!
I’ll bet that if you measured the traffic on this tiny road in Maine this year, compared to last year you’d see a huge increase in traffic! And I’ll bet the highway engineers and designers have no idea this is happening!
An unexpected side effect of the growth of GPS receiver use.
Leave a Comment » | InGenius | Tagged: Garmin, GPS, Nuvi | Permalink
Posted by Rich
