SyncML

Well, since I can't say that I post here on a regular basis, I will at least attempt to mark some things that I find interesting:

www.scheduleworld.com

This is a nifty little tool which allows you to sync all of your devices and program together by taking advantage of the many SyncML clients out there. While for the moment, google and others do not provide a SyncML, this little website meshes it all together...

And if you need SyncML clients for anything ( iPod included):
http://www.funambol.com/opensource/

Mobile Phone Servers

Ok.. so now there is apparently a sudden realization in the community that, yes, you can run a server on a mobile phone.
http://www.mopocket.com/2006/02/use_your_phone_as_a_web_server.php

Now, I am really sorry to rain on the parade here, but this is hardly a newsworthy item in itself. The fact that someone ported Apache is rather fun... but that is about it. And besides, the concept is hardly new: Symbian released on for their communicator servies sometime about 4(?) years ago.

I am, however, going to ignore the prior art and concentrate on what it might provide:
http://mobilesociety.typepad.com/mobile_life/2006/02/this_is_a_draft.html

NO, NO, and NO.... sorry guys. Why would I possibly make a web server on my mobile, which may have internet outages due to lack of Wifi and GSM? How about just the boring old central web server, and lots of client ( e.g. your notebook, desktop and mobile phone) connecting to this. In terms of real time update, you can simply have the devices check every minute for updates and pull new information, or use a push approach which tries to contact the mobile devices/notebook/desktop whenever there is some new data.... this is not rocket science here guys.

I'll be honest - Blackberry has a better infrastruture that multiple web hosts.

Sorry to be so down on this hype.

I hate Symbian C++

Well... i have been hating it for some time now.
I have finally achieved something, which for all intents and purposes should be a very simple task: to record audio and muck around a little with the content.

I have finally managed, but damn I wish there were more documentation on this stuff.
In case you happen to be working on this stuff: find the Audio_Streaming_Example.Take a look at it, and understand that in most new versions of symbian, the buffers only get filed with 320 bytes, regardless of how large the buffer is.
Also - make sure that you have an Active Objects timer running. Running this stuff from a console app is virtually impossible.

Oh - and if you don't ingest the object, the timer may stop - i am not clear on whether it always stops, but this is very worth noting. If you happen to be sending stuff over http,be careful, since it may garble the recording if you send anything too large.

So much fun...

The future of Mobile Phones

Since it is virtually impossible for me to keep up a regular scheduling for posting to this list, I thought that I would try a new experiment: to simply write about what I think about everyday, what I code for everyday, and what I write papers about every other week or so: mobile phones, their software, and the way they have affected society.

Yesterday, I picked up a book called The Mobile Connection by Richard Ling. Most of the book is a vast overview of statistics, academic references and recap of social uses of mobile phones which you probably already know about. That is not, however, meant to be a disparaging remark - it successfully captures a vast set of data that is scattered around, misquoted, and often misunderstood by many people in the community, including the so-called pundits.

The most interesting idea in the book, however, is not the main theme of the book. Richard Ling proposes that society was fundamentally modified by the wristwatch/time keeping devices, and that the way we view the notion of the schedule and the meeting is based on this idea. He also argues that mobile phones, given their instantatious nature and ubiquity, provide a solution for last minute changes/ad hoc meeting/ and non-specific meeting setups. The examples themselves are self-evident, until you start really thinking about the implications of what he is talking about. An example of mobile phone meetings (you've probably had a similar conversation today):
A: Want to meet up tonight?
B: Sure. How about around 10.
A: ok - i'll give you a call.

Later on in the evening, A and B may work out what to actually do, and where to do meet. Now, if we imagine this as an application, this could be translated into a software system which does the following:

We define a meeting as being at 10ish and having certain particpants.
At 10ish, most of us are in the same location, or available for a remote meeting, so our mobile phones warn us that the meeting starts soon. We continue working, not wishing to waste time standing around waiting for people. When everyone is ready, the phone tells us, and either directs us to go to the conference room, or dials in.

This system can accomodate anything from delays due to traffic, or people missing from the meeting. THe system can take over and herd people into the rooms.

Any thoughts?

Nice way to encourage users to download software:
http://www.cameraphonereport.com/2006/01/op3_discusses_s.html

just provide a library... although I thought that handango already did that.

To sleep, perchance to dream

This is a fantastic idea:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/23/axbo-alarm-clock-wakes-you-when-youre-ready/

I am still bewildered by the fact that American kids gets so little sleep in highschool. I was talking to some people that claim that most get less than 6 hours a night... i didn't do stuff that stupid until...well, right now.

The mobile world

Once again , I have been remiss in posting here, so I thought that I would begin with a summary of some of the interesting things that I have found over the past few months.

Nathan Eagles' work on social software still fascinates me:
http://reality.media.mit.edu/

There is some interesting work being done in Finland... although it is very much a platform, rather than a concrete new idea:
http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/group/context/

and... i only recently discovered the following site... sometimes I am slow.
http://www.engadget.com/