Ten Things I Want On My Mobile Phone
1) Shazam for places – I blogged about this when I was in Scotland earlier this month. I met a company at TechStars yesterday that might be able to build it. I hope they do.
2) Shazam for people – same idea. even more possibilities for this one.
3) Twitter or sms bot for Crunchbase – When I hear about a company, I want to send the name of the company via twitter or sms to crunchbase and get a link back to a the entry on it.
4) Handshake two mobile phones and share contact info – apparently coming soon to the iPhone. man we need a real app ecosystem for the blackberry.
5) Internet radio that can run in the background – internet radio is a killer app on mobile phones, but not if you can’t multitask while listening to it.
6) A bike odometer – i’ve got a bike odometer on both my road bike and mountain bike. the batteries have died and i am too lazy to replace them. i’d rather have a mobile app that i click at the start of my ride and the the end of my ride. lot’s of possibilities for this one.
7) a way to use the ringtones on my blackberry that i made for my iphone with garageband
8) a blackberry twitter client that doesn’t suck
9) brickbreaker for the iphone
10) the mobile phone e-ticket – an app that lets you check into your flight on your mobile phone (via the web) and downloads the ticket to your phone. the gate attendant scans your phone instead of the ticket.
Ok. I’m done. Now I have to go get the ticket to my flight home the old skool way.
Feel free to create any and all of these. Just let me know about them when you do. And if any of these exist already, please let me know in the comments.
Speaking of the comments, please leave anything you want on your mobile in the comments and I’ll reblog the ones I like
Comments (Archived):
I believe there is a crunchbase bot for twitter. Check @cbbot, it was done by one of the semantic web guys. For the blackberry twitter client, I use Twitterberry. It is simple and it does work. It is just not great, but it doesn’t suck. But I am not a heavy twitter user.
Well I didn’t want to publicly trash twitterberry by name but I am looking for something that works like twitterific on the iphone for my blackberry
And thanks for the link to the crunchbase bot. Do I simply send ‘@cbbot foodzie’ for the link to foodzie?
Fred, the blog post for cbbot is at http://bnode.org/blog/2008/…. It is based on work described at http://bnode.org/blog/2008/…. However I must be missing something as I cannot seem to find instructions.
Thanks for the link. I will check it out
Sorry for the late reply, I’ve been on vacation. The Twitter bot can be freely extended with user-defined commands[1] (“founder of X”, “who acquired Y”, etc). I just added one for “link to”, “@cbbot, link to foodzie” should work now (I’ve reset the underlying RDF store this morning, many entries won’t be available during the next couple of hours). Feel free to send me command requests (bengee on twitter) if you need something else.[1] http://cb.semsol.org/pimp-m…
Twiterrberry truncates tweets. Tweets are forced, by Twitter, to 140 or fewer characters. These two are irreconcilable unless Twitterberry sucks.
Hi Fred. You can take care of #7 at http://www.Myxer.com (full disclosure, I work there). 😉
Oh yeah. KOL’ new Sex On Fire is coming to my beloved blackberry curve!!!Super cool. Thanks
Regarding #10, in New York, Delta is already doing this at LaGuardia (they may have already started rolling it out to JFK and Newark as well). They’re able to scan the code off of your phone’s display both at TSA and the gate!
I guess I have to stop flying united and cont’l and move to the more tech savvy airlines!
Also, key is the phone and its display– bberry screen might be too small to display the whole code w/out condensing it.American prints a bar code near top of the e-ticket confirmation. On a WinMo phone (whose screen is far worse than an iphone), I simply open that email and it scans perfectly at the airport’s check-in machines. The machine then gives me the paper pass that i can use. Maybe a step short of what you’re asking for, but I find does the job fine.you might try using the iphone to go to the united site, do the “print boarding pass” screen and try scanning that.
Maybe not. I have done this on CO at Newark. Current rollout is ltd though to the Newark and Houston hubs and BOS and DCA, I think. Hope they expand soon.
Type your comment here.
i want a 9/11 truth app. the truth app stops the phone from working unless you shout, at the top of your lungs and in public, that 9/11 was an inside job. like all good apps, the app is conducive to smooth viral marketing, and so you can easily send it to people via text. auto install so the recipient cannot avoid it.it would change the world!
Apparently, Fred, you also need an app that let’s you delete Disqus comments from your ‘berry 🙂
Huh? What happened?
I actually meant it for the post above this one — where the person accidentally had “Type your comment here” instead of the substantive post (although there’s reason to discourage the substantive post as well). But nevermind; ’twas a joke.
sorry fred for the accidental “type your comment here” post. my bad.dan, could you elaborate on why you feel the substantive post — meaning the post suggesting the need for a 9/11 truth app — should be discouraged as well? would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the matter.
5) Plenty of Internet Radio Apps for S60. I think the N95 comes with one as standard. If not, check out Blast.FM http://www.betavine.net/bvp…7) Modern Blackberrys (like the 8800) will play any mp3 as a ringtone. Just load it onto internal memory or a card. As it only rings for 30 secs, you’re best off trimming the file and downmixing to mono.8) Use http://m.slandr.net for mobile twitter
I like slandr and used it throughout europe but there’s something about an twitter app that is greatI will get busy on the ringtones. Thanks
10) The mobile phone e-ticket for flights is in wide spread use in Europe. Your ticket is just a 7 digit character string, and you can check in with your mobile phone, at the self-service check in or on the web. Actually, the airlines have started to text you a couple of hours before the flight with a proposed seat, and all you need to is text back to confirm and walk to the gate.
I didn’t experience that in europe personally but that’s ideal. I want that on every carrier in the us!
#6) Bike Odometer – Bones In Motion (http://tinyurl.com/659nbx) has had a GPS enabled app for workout logging for some time, granted it’s in BREW Only. And it sounds like Nike+ will be avail for your iPhone sometime soon (http://tinyurl.com/6c955h) and will have Google Maps integrated.
I want a credit card chip in my mobile phone so I can simply swipe my phone past those credit card tag machines to pay for my purchase. My phone is almost always in my hand so this would avoid having to get out my wallet all the time (and lose my credit card!).
Me too. They have it in japan and korea I believe
Yes, both of two major airline JAL and ANA supports cell phone wallet (Osaifu Ketai) system so you can just go to security check with your cellphone.
What do you mean Shazam for People? You mean you would wanna take a picture and find out who it is or just need a client for spock?
The former
Would have to a combination of spock and like.com or riya ..?Although it sounds a bit creepy!
They have #10, Delta has it at JFK and Continental has it at Newark and Denver.
I want a sports scoreboard that works on the blackberry data network and looks/functions just like email.
Being a fairly recent BlackBerry Curve (8330) convert, I would have to agree with #8. While I use said TwitterBerry, it would be nice to have something like Twhirl that pulls tweets rather than me always having to manually refresh. Better integration into the follower/following functionality would be nice as well. I would 2nd and 3rd the need for better blackberry app ecosystem.
If you still have your N95 8GB you can run SportsTracker to capture the GPS tracks of your trip, what music, photos and video you’ve experience along the way will also be tagged on the map and you can share the entire experience with friends as well.Mobbler is a very cool app which will let you stream Last.fm on S60. It will stream over 3G and Wifi and works really well. It will also scrobble tracks you hear in the native music player
I lost my N95. Sounds like I should get a new one. I am carrying two phones now (bberry and iphone). Should I go to three?
With the Nokia E71, I retired my Blackberry Curve, but still want a better mobile camera phone. I tend to use either the N95 or N82. More is better? 😉
You also need a good review app. When I’m walking through aisles of liquor and wine, I don’t want to have to google each. Take a picture of barcode, or just tap into a wine review database somewhere.
More apps for the shazam for photos idea!
Coming with Android next month, scan a barcode and it will tell you the lowest price locally
# 10 – All the canadian airline carriers support mobile check-in. we even have special lines through security!! its great. Check out Pierre Trudeau Airport in Montreal, which BTW is the best city on earth to visit for a vacation…just in case you’re wondering.
Type your comment here.
Fred, re: “Shazam for Places”, I like “WikiMe” for that type of application…its does Wikipedia searches on your location for popular categories…I’ve found it to be fairly useful…here’s a description link with more info: http://iphone.iusethis.com/…
Per #5…Is there a technical reason why internet radio can’t run in the background?I love my Pandora station for the iPhone, but it drove me crazy when I first realized I couldn’t surf my google reader while listening to Porcupine Tree
Oh man! RIM is missing out on the ‘app store’ opportunity so badly. There are a ton of apps out there for blackberries, but no easy way to find them (though, blackberry.com does list some). I’ve downloaded google talk, google maps, opera mini, jott, newsgator go!, and yesterday the WSJ reader from FreeRange. People clearly are developing for the newest devices, but they need help getting the word out.Also, about mobile RSS, I wish there was a better application. I have a microSD card in my curve that I feel like doesn’t get used by the applications enough. I want a program that automatically downloads the text of entire feed items so that I can read them when on the subway. There’s tons of space! Download the whole thing, not just the abstract, and do it automatically without me having to click through each feed and wait. And, integrate it better with my choice of web-based or desktop reader (for me, google reader).
I think Apple is still trying to figure out how to allow background apps without downgrading the user experience.
Bolt Bus, a relatively new company that offers buses between boston/nyc/dc/philly (buses nicely equipped with plugs and wifi) actually text messages you the tickets after you purchase them, and you show the bus driver the registration codes for all of the people in your party right from the phone. now that app that lets you purchase the tickets right from your cell phone needs to compete the whole mobile circle!
Bolt and their mobile ticketing is awesome, as are the bus rides themselves. However, the fact that you can’t order a ticket or see a schedule without being online (you can’t even call in) is a bummer.
There’s an app called Jirbobreak for the iphone that’s pretty much brickbreaker. It gets a little monotonous after a while though. I’ve found Brain Tuner to be a good, low intensity way of frittering away 13-14 seconds at a time.
Hi Fred, I am working on the next version of TinyTwitter for Blackberry/Java phones and would love to get your/community input on what would make a great mobile Twitter client.Must have just missed you in Boulder last night – was hoping to meet. Anyway, I would really appreciate any feedback/input. Anyone please feel free to email me at kevinc at tinytwitter dot com. BTW, the first thing I am doing is making a more pleasing user interface (for v 1.0 I used the generic j2me controls) – for the next rev got some sweet (well sweeter) ui components!To try v 1 just go to m.ttwt.at. The next rev will be coming soon and hopefully be closer to greatness w/ the help of the community.Oh, and the blackberry (all non iphopne app) ecosystem for getting apps is definitely not good… but it is open 🙂 ie, you can get tinytwitter or twitterberry or any of the other cool mobile bb app from anywhere and this is good – there just needs to be some organization perhaps.
Kevin,Re: TinyTwitter. I really would like to be able to reply to @’s via the inbox. Sometimes I don’t get to my @’s and they don’t appear in the TinyTwitter timeline. When I try to reply to anything in the Inbox, it only will use the latest response. Using a BBCurve btw. Other than that, I love TinyTwitter and recommend it all the time.
Yeh, that one was brought up by another user… will definitely take care of that! I am pumped about the next rev – it is gonna rock. Just need to make sure I build what you all want :)If you have any interest in beta testing please send an email and I will get you hooked up.kevinc at tinytwitter dot com
For the Bike Odometer, use The instamapper GPS Tracker on iPhone. It sends your gps location, speed, etc. back every 5-30 seconds(Configurable) to a web account. I use it for my bike routes, and then when you get back you can watch your trail on google maps. It has to be in the foreground, but I run the ipod in the background for music, set the gps tracker in the foreground and then put it in my pack. It’s also free!
Good points. Especially the app ecosystem for the BlackBerry is needed heavily. Also for Nokia and Sony Ericsson. It doesn’t fly as it is right nowWrt. flight tickets, the integration in Scandinavia is super smooth. I get an sms 24 hours before flight departure, can just reply yes to it to check in (there’s also mobile web and voice check-in, but I think the sms is the best). Then, arriving at the airport, I go straight to security and the gate, only using my credit card or airline miles card.B
#10 I’ll second European pre-commenters on that. Using it with Air Berlin, but code scanners are not always good at reading from my display. Checking is a breeze, you receive an SMS 24 hours before flight asking to confirm by reply. Only snag is the lack of seat choice which is automatically allocated. Usually, I get 1A which has no storage space at all.Main problem though is airport staff who don’t know about the barcode on phones. And make sure your battery is charged, or you won’t make that flight 🙂
I tried taking a picture of my cinema-reservation (which had a barcode) with my phone, and letting the machine scan it. It didn’t work, I assume because the screen just reflected the laser back.
#9 I have wasted some time with Jirbobreak. Close enough
Other ones:- One click to [Google] Map. Right now, on my Treo WM6 I have to a cut and past my locations from my calendar events or emails to the Google Map search field (even after I have spent time formatting them).- Easy extension finder/dialer: This is perhaps because I am using Treo/WM6, but getting and dialing a phone number extension (e.g., WebEx a meeting number) can be tricky sometime (I might be missing something obvious).- Mobile Mashup: Easy way to assemble (as a developer and even as a user) disparate mobile web services/applications. For example, I would like to assemble a wind-forecast, a map/traffic, and twitter like services into one application: KiteSurf-Now. Relatively easy to do on the PC world (as a developer), relatively involved in the mobile world (the PC-Web way of doing mashup does not translate well in the Mobile-Web world).
For #3 (Crunchbase) I whipped up a crunchbase lookup app that lets you look up Crunchbase entries and will show you the overview and links to the matching site and blog (if available). Runs fine on a curve (and a wack of other j2me enabled dvevices). You can get it by sending ‘get cbase’ to 33911 from your phone or get it from our app portal (www.breezeapps.com), specifically http://www.breezeapps.com/a… for this app.Full disclosure, our company (www.cascadamobile.com) provides the development tools to create and distribute the apps on breezeapps.com.
I want speech to text for email on my iphone. This would make the driving world a safer place.
Fred — re: #7, our app CHALLENJ will do all that and more (Q4)
whoopsies . . . CHALLENJ meant for #6
air canada’s doing mobile e-tickets
Air Canada has solved (what I think matches your) #10. http://www.aircanada.com/en…
#6 – http://pathtracks.com/I think this is what you’d want.
I want a LinkedIn app for the Blackberry that integrates with the wsjmobilereader.com (or integrated with NY Times, if they create one like WSJ)
search for Product reviews by UPC or product name. Very handy when you’re in a store and you want to look up reviews. We’ll soon have a Buzzillions iphone app where you can browse through reviews aggregated from over 300 retail sites :).
Re: CrunchBase, I think someone already mentioned @cbbot.If you want a simple SMS interface I threw an API channel onto our Pincushion service that plugs into the CrunchBase api. To use it:Send “@HFI” to 503.901.7607 (no quotes, do this once to activate)Send “CB SEARCHTERM” to search crunchbase (no quotes, replace SEARCHTERM with whatever you are looking up)You’ll get back the name and link of the first hit, and the names of additional companies until the sms is full.It’s not surprising that there is very little hobbyist / open app community around the BB. In addition to making a decent AppStore / aggregator I really think RIM should put some time into a completely revamped UI toolkit. Compared to WinMo and (especially) iPhone, the BB UI toolkit is so primitive as to make one insane.Disclaimer — yes, Pincushion is my product — http://pincushion.mobi/
In general:1. A non-Star Trek-looking stereo bluetooth headset with ear buds (preferably one from Shure)2. A way to automatically forward calls to my work phone when I’m within rangeAs a former Windows Mobile user just forced to the Curve by my company:1. Slingplayer for Blackberry – as a substitute, Orb is good, but is not cutting it2. Orb CLIENT for Blackberry – the WAP interface requires too many clicks!3. Sirius Radio client for Blackberry – the guy who did the Windows Mobile version did a terrific job, need one for the berry though4. Windows Live client for Blackberry that has a full feature-set (GPS integration & gas prices are missing)5. A multi-protocol IM client to handle chatting with Google Talk, AIM, Yahoo and SkypeIf I still had my Windows Mobile phone, I’d ask for:1. Gmail client for Windows Mobile2. Facebook client3. A stable OS
When I see suggestions for Twitter or SMA bots, I smile at the revival of the text based interface. I think we will see more and more command based interfaces find their way into the mainstream due to the mobile – but hopefully designed with user experience in mind. The likes of mkdir just aren’t going to fly…
For my iPhone, I want…- Video recording… why this isn’t already supported is a mystery to me- Spell check for all apps- Copy / Paste for all apps- Ability to open multiple apps at a time as a universal solution to your multi-tasking issue above- One photo app that lets me take pictures share them on any service I want (Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc) with relevant meta data specific to each service (ex. geo tags for Flickr)- A Tivo app that lets me record shows remotely- GPS app with turn-by-turn voice driving directions- A feed reader that supports MP3 enclosures so I can subscribe to music blogs on my phone- A Tumblr app- A GUI iPhone app builder… sort of like Y! Pipes, but for developing simple apps- Scarlet Johansen’s number on speed dial and voicemails from her saying she misses meThat should do it for now.
I love that last one. You should build it
Regarding #10 (and all other mobile couponing, CRM, loyalty programs, etc), scanning a barcode from a mobile phone is difficult with many devices. Most mobiles don’t have sufficient screen resolution. And some scanners can’t scan from any mobile.Here’s an interesting company/solution I read about recently. A very innovative and ingenious solution, with a wide range of possible applications.Here’s the article I read.
I’ve been out of town, so I’m a little bit behind here, but I’ll just say that as long as you can think of 10 things you want from your mobile phone, you shouldn’t worry about getting old. Young people look at a thing and think, “I wish it did more.” Old people look at a thing and think, “Too many buttons.”
Tying my posts together, nice!
Without any hesitation, the most impressive company in the mobile coupon/CRM/payments space is a London firm called Light Agency http://www.thelightagency.comThey are in about 15,000 stores in UK, integrated on Facebook for real-life gifting and are doing things with credit card payments. Blew me away.
We have outstanding capabilities on our phones (camera, MP3, GPS, etc.), but basic calling features have barely advanced since voicemail. I want to sync relevant local listings into my address book (not DA or WAP, but local). I want the call history and address book to be a connected application that queries the caller ID in the call history and annotates the look-ups. Identify known telemarketers, add name, address and reviews (for biz numbers) to a phone number, identify business listings vs. residential listings, etc. And go back indefinitely. I want to see when I made and received all calls to a specific number and even suggestions of the numbers in the hunt group. I want to control inbound calls with options for multiple voice mails (work, home, team), place callers on hold during the incoming call, play specific messaging (“call you right back”), I want to ask callers to identify, I want real-time call forwarding, call rejection, etc. I want it on my handset and not w/ a GrandCentral-type number. Next week would be fine 😉
Here are a few I’d like…1) reliable golf GPS w/ integrated GHIN handicapping & score entering page2) remote desktop or logmein client3) slingplayer for my slingbox
#4 has existed on Palm for years. #10 is being trialed by continental right now, though I think mainly out of their houston hub, and will work on any phone with a sufficiently large screen. #7 is easy to do on Win Mo (assuming you can export to mp3) and I’m shocked is not on berry.#5 would be awesome, especially if Toyota/Lexus would make their bluetooth system support A2DP. Why I can connect my phone and talk on it and listen to people over my speakers, but not do the same with my music is beyond me.
The mobile phone e-ticket definitely exists in Japan. I was at NTTDoCoMo in Tokyo and their phones store the flight info so you can scan it at the gate and walk right through.
How about a fork? Hell, go for the whole Swiss Army Knife.
Come to speak of it, that sounds like a damn good idea Jackson!
I want a projecting keyboard and screen. This will be the biggest laser pointer show you’ll ever see.
That would work well with the phone sabre app!
The best in recommending old an new music.– Thanks for listening to http://www.fakedjs.com
You’ve got a few entries for #3 already, but you should look at Textmarks.com for custom queries via SMS. It’s very simple, no programming involved.For example, I just created a CBASE keyword, and as a response I told it to give me the results of a web page, and gave it the url: http://www.crunchbase.com/c…1 . The 1 at the end is the first word of the text you write after CBASE (from 1 to 9, is all text, p is the phone number of the requester, etc.). Then you can fill in a form to return the results between two pieces of text – say “Website” and “Offices”, and you’re done.Text “CBASE digg” to 41411 to see what I did (you’ll get back their contact info). It doesn’t have the link you wanted, but I’m sure it’d be pretty simple to whip up.Teach a man to fish… ;-)-Russ
Fred, for the Crunchbase link via SMS, text “cbsms tumblr” OR “cbsms fred wilson” to 41411. The SMS bot will send you a link to the most relevant page on Crunchbase for any search term that follows “cbsms” (Crunchbase SMS)… companies, people, financial institutions, whatever.Russell, very cool! I’m not a developer, but it took just a few minutes to figure this out on Textmarks. What a great tool.
That is sweet. Thanks guys!
Makes me want to hack it myself
Allsport GPS will track bike rides on your blackberry http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com
100% right 🙂
Shake your iPhone and blast your contact information to everyone in the same room. This funny (and yet privacy-worthy serious) bug was with one of the first versions of the ‘handshake two mobile phones’ apphttp://www.lockergnome.com/…
What about checking in and out of your hotel via your mobile phone? You make a reservation online and mark preferences for your room (temperature, newpaper, tv channel, etc.) and when you get to the hotel, the lock on the door reads a message sent from your phone and “open sesame”We’re working on it right now and have gotten a strong response from brand name hotels… But, would it make your life easier? Would you use it?
I never check out so that’s not usefulBut checking in might be nice
Bizarrely enough, this response to #10 appeared in the news just today:http://www.m-travel.com/new…Sabre are the owners of Travelocity and one of the biggest travel GDSs, so this would appear to be going mainstream. Having said that, the airlines are their customers, so *they* would need to see the benefit for this to become more common.
Maybe they read this blog!That’s a joke by the way
Fred, regarding #6 phone odometer: Abaqus provides a GeoDiary recorder for a variety of phones including BB, Windows, Nokia S60 etc. The service is live at http://www.mygeodiary.com. You can record, organize & share your geodiary content with any online service to build fitness tracks, travel blogs, social networking etc.(full disclosure: I am co-founder)
Lufthansa already offers mobile boarding passes: You check in online via your mobile phones browser then get a QR code to your phone (either via e-mail or SMS download link). At the gate you then hold your mobile phone with the QR code onto the reader at the automatic check-in counter.
1. A lighter2. A bottle opener3. Tweezers
No.10, mobile phone e-ticket is realized here in Japan for domestic flight and Shinkansen bullet train.
#6: for running, someone recommended running gypsy for iphone 3g. it tracks distance and route via gps and even approximates speed. i haven’t tried it yet but here’s the link:http://phobos.apple.com/Web…
Internet radio (idea number 5) I’d sure like to see that too!! In Diggin (an android adc submission) we incorporated SHOUTcast, so that you can browse tons of channels, listen to music and get the lyrics to the tracks as well… hopefully the android phone turns up soon, so that we can start using Diggin ( http://www.youtube.com/watc… ) while mobile and yes Diggin do multitask :-)I liked the “handshake two mobile phones” (idea number 4)…. would like to see it integrate facebook, linked-in and so forth as well…
Pew’s research says that on the “big web” that we (as consumers) most like to 1. email, 2. search and 3. read news, and among the “Top 10 Mobile List,” I see no RSS or news-reading anywhere — omission?. I like Viigo (for BBerry), and wanted to ask the list (if anyone’s listening) if anyone has any alternative favorites.Fred’s more-than-entitled to “his list,” but have we really skipped over reading in favor of streaming radio, or worse for BRICKBREAKER (also-ran default game for BBerry, so weak)? It’s a great topic and comment stream, regardless.
I read all the time on my mobilew chris but I don’t use a feed reader (noton mobile or on the web)I rely on smart aggregators like techmeme, delicious popular, hacker news,newsjunk, etcThey work great on my mobile
another app to track your rides via blackberry (or nokia, etc.): http://www.sanoodi.com/gomo… says they have an iphone version coming
no multitasking on the iPhone? weird. Reminds me of a Palm. Anyway, recently discovered Kinoma for Windows Mobile http://kinoma.com/play/ Very Very slick. All sorts of internet radio, youtube and Orb just to name a few.
You can check out the iPhone App available on the App Store, iThread (under Business category), This is based on Crunchbase API.