soulcreation

I am in a possession of an HTC Magic (Android phone) which I bought last summer. I am trying to convince friends and colleagues to buy one as well and succeeded twice already. Some still choose to buy an iPhone but in the long run they will tell me they were wrong.

Image by
benmarvin

The idea of this post was to share some thoughts about some great applications I’ve installed om my HTC. Open the Android Market on your mobile phone and look for the apps below.

Key Ring

The first app I installed was Froogloid’s Key Ring. I was very excited because this app saved me from keeping loyalty cards in my wallet. Yet it turned out that the app does not work so well for me. I’ve tried in several stores but none could scan the bar codes on my phone. My I should adjust my brightness? If anyone has tips, please share.

3G Watchdog
A simple application to keep an eye on your bandwidth usage. A must have for sure. You can set the start day of your billing time and it shows you the usage per day, week and month.

Twitdroid
A must have if you have a Twitter account. Simple and easy to use Twitetr client.

Places Directory
An excellent application you can’t go without. It shows you what ever you are looking for in the surrounding area. You’ll see distance and directions to the destination, and if you tap on the listing, we’ll show ratings and photos. I use it to find cash machines or restaurants.
More on http://sites.google.com/site/placesdirectory.

Barcode Scanner
As it says, a bar code scanner. I mainly use it to scan 2D bar online to download applications from the Android Market. But it can be used to scan bar codes from any product which give you back results about this product via your phone’s browser.

Another great application that makes use of a bar code scanner is ShopSavvy. Scan and find the cheapest product online (with reviews if available).

Evernote

The very popular online application on Android. I love it but it still has some features that need to improve: maintaining notes that have been submitted. It’s currently not possible to edit or delete notes that have been submitted via your phone. The application is available via the Evernote user Forum.

Layar

Layar is a free application on your mobile phone which shows what is around you by displaying real time digital information on top of reality through the camera of your mobile phone. It’s great when you live in a city or when you are at venue (seeing people using Twitter around you). More on layar.com.

My Tracks

An application that enables you to record GPS tracks and view live statistics – such as time, speed, distance, and elevation. After recording you can share your tracks, upload them to Google Spreadsheet and visualise via Google Maps. Afterwards you can create your own custom analysis. The recording is sublime. But nowhere to compete with Nike and iPhone application.

Shazam
Music detection. How often do you hear a song but can’t recall the artist or title. Open Shazam on you phone and the application identifies the track you are listening to. More shazam.com.

Barrage Lite
A very simple and extremely addictive game. Shoot your opponent setting the right angle and velocity. Each time you win you gain cash to buy new arms.

Bonsai Blast
A puzzle game with one objective, clear all of the colored balls from the line before they reach the Yin Yang at the end of the level. Addictive!

Gem Miner
Dig Lazarus dig!! a fun game in which you need to explore a huge (really huge) mine to find ores, metals and gems to make money! With this money you can buy new and better tools to make the job easier for you. It keeps you busy for hours for sure.

Flashlight
Comes in handy when it’s dark.

Please share your thoughts or post other cool apps in the comments below.

Back in March I wrote an article about coupons & loyalty cards and ended with an open question on how to make life easier with one card for multi-purpose. Or to find a way to accomplish this.

Well recently I bought myself a nice new mobile phone. An HTC Magic white, powered by Android™. I love this phone. (I am not an Apple fan, sorry).

The guys from Froogloid recently left a comment on the article about coupons & loyalty cards and mentioned their application called Key Ring. I’ve installed the application and I am a very happy user.

What does the application do:

1. Make my life easier
2. Create a digital copy of any loyalty card by simply scanning its barcode or by manually entering the barcode number / membership ID

My wallet looks thinner. I never forget my loyalty cards anymore. Life made easy by a simple application.

Last week I attended BetaGroup #11 and I was quite surprised. First of all by the amount of attendees. Second by the quality of the event and the participation of the audience and third by the start-ups presenting.

As an opener of the evening I saw a fantastic Dr. Patrick Georges. Dr. Patrick Georges being a brain surgeon came to talk about training and coaching managers of new businesses. Nothing boring but a fun speech on how to deal with human intelligence management. He gave some cool tips and tricks but at the end it all came down to a simple “Trust yourself, follow your guts and be natural”. (The presentation)

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Image by joelogon via Flickr

First. We Belgians adore coupons and loyalty cards. Almost every inhabitant in Belgium has at least 3 or more cards. Not even to mention the coupons we receive by daily mail, tens or hundreds.

So the other day when I had to visit several stores – stores or gas stations I very often frequent – I thought about taking my loyalty cards. Normally I keep them in the car or in my wallet but I left them at home on the cupboard. But it made me think while I was driving to get my things.

Why can’t we have just 1 card?
I agree when people say that 1 card can’t be brand related, do not have the corporate identity printed on it. But who cares? Once you collect your points, an text message can, for example be sent, thanking the person for his purchase. Or send an e-mail with an overview of the collected points (some already do). Or like most of the stores have a myStore section in which you can customize settings and get an overview of your recent purchases and collected points.

How is this technically possible?
RFID? Bar code?
Maybe it already exists but wouldn’t it be a great opportunity to have a solution like OpenID which has a solution for single sign-on purposes. Why can’t this idea be used? On ID per person to collect loyalty points and have the opportunity to send targeted coupons (coupons that will be used). This way users can easily connect to a store, a brand or service for which he wants to collect his valuable points. This shouldn’t be hard to accomplish, is it?

YOOSE
Via some stumbling and going from profile to profile on Twitter I came across YOOSE. YOOSE has a mobile solution to collect loyalty points and coupons. I think this is a great solution. Only will not every one be able to use this service unless MMS would become suddenly very popular I guess. Else a PDA with extra features such as an internet connection would be essential to get your lists from an online service (a service such as the great Evernote). Then again 3G is very expensive in Belgium. Surrounding countries are manageable. But in-store free WIFI can be made available at low cost to get your coupons, shopping lists and send and get your loyalty points.

Then again, I think this could work. Here I have my ‘1 loyalty card’ solution. All available on my mobile which I carry along at all times. YOOSE is still in under development and I even don’t know when and where they will launch.

Boulevart, the company I work for, has been selected as an Award Finalist for the Adobe MAX Milan 2008 Awards in the ”Develop” category with our Rock Werchter Mobile Guide. (developed by Thomas Joos)

In order to win we need votes. So I’d like to ask you a favor and vote for us. Maybe first have a look at the video below to see how the application works.

»   Visit the Max Awards Finalists gallery.
»   Please give us your vote.

Some of my colleagues will be attending the conference. Grab them by the neck and say hi. (tell them you’ve voted and ask them for a beer!! )

If we win the contest another colleague promised he’d shave his hair and walk around as a bold man. Please make sure I can use my scissors to cut of some of that hair.

Yesterday I attended the Plugg conference in Brussels. A conference with the main focus on raising global awareness for European start-ups in the Web / Mobile 2.0 field. A first time ever event of this kind in Belgium. I wish to thank Robin Wauters for his great organizational skills and pulling this thing together.

I arrived late due to traffic in and around Brussels. I should have left home earlier. So I missed the first presentation but according to Miel (coolz0r) I didn’t miss much.

The second presentation though was quite interesting. Max Niederhorfer spoke about the Future of Online Games. Here are some things I remember which I found very interesting:

• The most popular game at this very moment is ‘poke’ on Facebook. Surprised? I am not. Just a click to get someone’s attention and to get a sheep thrown back at you.
• Also very surprisingly was that 57% of the people that play online are women (did I get that well?). Desperate housewives? I heard about these figures before.
• People who play online actually rather play with friends than strangers. Even it’s for 5 minutes.
• Silverlight goes 3D. If someone has more info on this, please send some.

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Nokia has launched a blog/vlog for their N series mobile phone users called Nsights. Because the future is today and tomorrow can’t wait (cliche tagline)
Nokia is trying to open the conversation and want you to participate in the discussions.

For now they’ve opened up two sections – Internet and Music – that are ready to have revolutionary and visionary insights from you. Join the conversation!

Here are some movies (vlog interviews) that are about to appear on Nsights:

• It’s a great time for musicians featuring Dieter Sermeus (The Go Find), Steven Lemmens (StuBru Hypechannel), and Clo Willaerts.

• Discovering new music got easy featuring me, Peter Forret, Dieter Sermeus.

• Podcasting: the rise of audio content featuring Alex Koprivnicanec (Kaosproject), Steven Lemmens, and Peter Forret.

Jaxtr, an online service for receiving and making free phone calls has launched in private beta a while ago. I signed up and I’ve been testing the service for a while now.The sign up process was easy as 1-2-3. You just need to give in your phone number. A second later you receive a verification code on screen which you need to apply when you receive a phone call from Jaxtr another second later. That’s it. You have a free account now.

After signing up you can get a widget to place on your website, blog or on your Myspace profile. Once you’ve done that, people can call you for free by typing their phone number in the widget. Jaxtr will call the person that wants to call you. After that person picks up his/her phone, Jaxtr will call me. If I don’t pick up my phone, you can leave a voice message. Amazingly, that voice message appears in my admin section a second after you have left the message.

Jaxtr has a setting, called Private Shield, which only allows phone calls from people you approved. Everyone else will get transferred to your voice mail. Once approved as a friend, by invitation, and you are trying to call me, I hear my phone ring.

An important side note: all works via landlines and for free, almost worldwide.

Positive points:

• You get 100 minutes a month calls to receive (it’s a world upside down);
• Jaxtr gives you a link that you can add to your email signature, Linkedin profile or as a link on your site. Mine is http://www.jaxtr.com/claudiocapo or click on the orange ‘call me’ button on the right side;
• No need to download files. Just use a link or copy and paste some html code on your desired social communities profile or website;
• You call with your own phone, not with your computer;
• No need for a high-speed internet connection;
• Your actual phone number will never be shown to the outside world.

Downsides:

• Widgets are not customizable;
• No possibility to see my friends/invitees that have signed up in your admin section. You get an e-mail tho, telling you you friend signed up.

Jaxtr is already been listed in the 2007 Pulver100 (100 businesses to watch in 2007).

Emoze, new cutting edge Push Technology, pushes e-mails, calendars, tasks and contacts to mobile devices as soon as they are sent, delivering secure, real-time synchronisation. They claim to provide a high level security for e-mails and data, using 128-bit encryption with a key distributed during registration.The solution can be downloaded from the Emoze website and is free for individual users. All Emoze users need, is a data package from a mobile service provider.

Brands of mobile devices that should be Emoze compatile for delivering data are Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Palm. And it should support following e-mail data sources: Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchance, Outlook (incl. web access), pop3, Gmail, Homail and Yahoo.

It should run on mobile devices operating with Symbian and Windows Mobile.

(source: DMAsia.com)

More questions and answers can be found at the Areapress website.

Emoze vs Blackberry showdown at 3GSM Barcelona on Feb. 13.

3GSM World Congres 2007

A few years ago there where a lot of service that offered free SMS on a global basis. But they never existed a long time. Some took it a step further afterwards by offering bulk sms for a low price but none survived.

Today I found out about Crickee, a service that offers free SMS. according to Crickee it is ‘the’ unique way to send and receive unlimited SMS 24/7 from your mobile and even from the web. To have it working on your mobile you only need to follow the link they send you by sms. It’s free for life, without obligation and without changing your mobile, your number, your operator, your SIM card and even your contract. more