Introduction
In developing a wireless application, we were warned of a few things, including the following: that WAP was a temporary technology, that nobody would surf the web with their phone until 3G arrived, and that we had no business model to back up our idea for a service. Sure, that business model criticism was right on the money, but we did manage to quickly create a WAP site and companion web site, both of which we and a few hundred of our closest friends immediately found valuable.
In this article, I will quickly discuss our application and then go into a little more detail on how we solved some specific design and development issues that came up along the way. I hope that in return those that gain something from this article will strike out on their own and create a service that we find useful - maybe even one backed by a valid business model!
Mobilehomer
Mobilehomer allows members to find the location of their friends and then message them. Members notify the service of their current location and activity by selecting from a hierarchical list. Once these are set, friends find them through a WAP or web browser.
Members are also given the ability to message other members or even groups of members. This can be done through both the phone and PC interface. A novel feature that came out of the development of the application is the ability to message a particular location. For example, it is possible to send a message to all Mobilehomer members at the Stevens Pass ski area asking about the snow conditions.
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