Category: Misc

i-nigma, yet another mobilecode reader

i-nigmaWhen testing Nokia N95, I found out on Nokia mobilecode website that a new reader has poped up on the market: i-nigma. It is developped by 3G Vision which is also Kaywa Reader provider, so…

I installed the reader and, likewise Kaywa Reader, code detection is much faster than on the Nokia reader. Really really faster and much more user friendly but what the hell is this user interface ? this design ? The whole website and reader is based on this orange and black flame thing (like the logo) which makes me feel 20 to 30 years ago. Has not design evolved since then ? Is that all what they could come up with ? It is so ugly imho that it actually hurts usability.

It seems they are also providing some services after a registration on their website, though none of them seem to be very appealing (creating mobilecode with my friends infos, creating mobilecodes for my bookmarks or creating some notes). Nothing fancy, not even useful. Geez…. what a pitty.

It seems to be another one of this company that has a very good “original” technology but not much ideas around it.

On a positive note I like the mobilecode creator with the code updated as you type the URL. Pretty cool.

iPhone hype sucks but…

iPhone(written some time ago but never published… not sure why! I bumped into it when preparing another iPhone post to come :-)

Like always Apple’s new product get a lot of press and a lot of traction (with a musical, but yes it blends).

Even though it has a full capabilities browser (ie. a browser that can read any webpage, like most “smart”-phone), it still needs a special “web” development to the point that Apple releases some guidelines. As Russell says:

No matter how great a mobile device’s power is and how much resolution it has, we still have to keep the thing in our POCKETS, use it with our FINGERS, and see it with our EYES. This means that there are physical restraints on mobile applications – both normal and web based – which apply no matter what. This is actually why I think the iPhone is so wonderful since it finally proves the point once and for all: Mobile is different.

iPhone might help mobile web development, that’s for the good. For the bad, it would be nice to use standard technology. Apple seems to have created its own subset of CSS to handle graphics on the iPhone.

Interesting reading:
Russell Beattie: i-Dot Thoughts
Vision Mobile: How iPhone is impacting the mobile industry

On vacation

Off for a few days in Italy. Cheers!

Written by Comments Off on On vacation Posted in Misc

Blogroll updated

I have updated my blogroll because I just found out that some blogs that I read on a regular basis have moved: Lift Lab is now hosting blogs from Nicolas, Fabien, Roberto,… all this good content in one place! awesome!! Those blogs are hosted on WordPress MU which I have also installed on my server at work. I have not yet digged very deep but it seems to be really cool, close enough to the single version (which I use quite a lot on my various blogs) so that all themes and plugins can be reused while in the same time it offers additional features to maintain a multi-user blog plateform.  You can “easily” add social networking functionalities to WordPress MU and forums with BBPress, we get very close to a fully-state-of-the-art social networking tool. Pretty cool mmh? (and I am working on a plugin to add mobile – any devices including Wii, PSP, iPhone – support to WordPress MU)

Back to the blogroll issue,… this is not that easy to maintain… it is an ongoing and never finished process but I consider it as a mandatory element within a blog – at least on the main page. It does help to find out who the author is (sort of “what you read is what you are” thing I guess).

Google reliability

From a discussion with my cousin a few weeks ago (just after Google experienced a very rare breakdown)

Google server

What do you do when you want to test your internet connection ? Don’t you try www.google.com ? is not Google the first website you try to reach ? It is for me and if I get the screen above it can only mean one thing: “I am currently not connected”

Is not that a proof of Google reliability ? and also a somehow weird signal that Google and the internet itself is sort of “merging” ?

Written by Comments Off on Google reliability Posted in Misc

Mobile tagging (Beetagg) for bus schedule

Mobile tag and Beetagg for schedule

CarPostal (buses from the Post office in Switzerland – runs mainly in countryside) launch a test with Beetagg to get bus schedule on the mobile when scanning a 2d code. Nothing new or original here (once again), since similar experience is running in Paris.

What’s common for both examples is that proprietary 2d codes are used, my mobile can not read the code without installing first the proprietary reader. Basically when travelling you will have to install first the 2d code reader of that country first. That’s so much not user friendly, and has nothing to do with mobility… it sucks!
On a side note it seems that Beetagg is working closely with the Post in Switzerland and might get the market here. Sucks also (and once again seems that some top-people does not get it).

Via Mobile News and Infos