As we’re all well aware, Google released the Nexus One yesterday, the first supposed “Google Phone.” But it’s hardly an iPhone killer. For that role, Google has something much more sinister in mind. Meet the “Fuck You iPhone” Phone.
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Citysourced is an iphone application that empowers citizens to identify civil issues (potholes, graffiti, trash, snow removal, etc.) and report them to city hall for quick resolution – they are calling it a “mobile civic engagement tool”.
Here’s how it works. You know that pothole your car keeps falling into as you try and pull into your driveway? CitySourced can help with that. Pull out your iPhone, snap a pic, select the report type and hit send. CitySourced will geo-tag your picture and send a PDF report to the city council member that handles that district.
Here are all the items that you can tag and report:
- abandoned bicycle or vehicle
- animal services – biting, deceased, not leashed, not permitted, pest control
- driveway cleaning, danger, degradation, obstruction
- graffiti removal
- homeless encampment, nuisance
- illegal dumping/trash, fire/burning
- leaf collection
- parking illegally, illegally in driveway, in red zone, without permit
- parking meter broken, parking sign
- plants/trees danger, degradation, obstruction, overgrown, removal
- roadway cleaning, danger, degradation, obstruction
- sidewalk cleaning, danger, degradation, obstruction
- street light, sign
- trash can/bin broken, removal
- water leak driveway, fire hydrant, sidewalk, street, unknown
- yard waste removal
- other including building code enforcement, noise complaint, property violation, any not listed
Currently there are over 1900 cities in the database and users have the ability to add a city from the CitySourced website. The app is free to download and according to Kurt Daradics, Co-Founder of CitySourced, the way they plan to make money is off of the individual cities.
I think this is a great example of how private companies can leverage technology to improve the bureaucratic inefficiencies of local government while still generating revenue.
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In his blog post titled Mobile 2.0 – Apps vs. Browser Based Web Services, Dennis Bournique of WapReview.com concludes that “within five years standalone mobile applications will largely be replaced by browser based mobile services just as is happening on the desktop today”. I, for the most part, agree with this statement.
Prior to the launch of the iPhone in June of 2007, developers looking to get any sizable distribution were forced into difficult and long business development processes with wireless carriers who generally took very large proportions of revenues generated. A developer with a free ad-supported app that was lucky enough to negotiate a distribution agreement would be left with little revenue. Additionally, none of the handset manufacturers were exposing much of their device’s OS capabilities and handset browsers were far behind where they are today only two years later (the BlackBerry 8700 was one of the hottest devices on the market).
Apple’s iPhone and App Store launch created a perfect storm for independent mobile application developers. Developers were given a rich SDK that would enable them to build apps that were unthinkable a year before, while simultaneously providing a massive distribution opportunity. A two year onslaught of Apple’s marketing and TechCrunch’s iPhone application coverage ensued.
The tech community, especially in Nor-Cal, often get caught up in the latest tech trend and one of the more recent ones was the iPhone and the ‘there’s an app for that’ concept – which of course has been extended to other platforms beyond iPhone OS.
And here we are today. I’ve spoken to various individuals from investors, marketers, to application developers who only seem to see the here and the now – native application development (or more often iPhone application development). As Dennis put it, “there seems to be a tendency today to see apps as the future of mobile and to dismiss all browser based mobile services as second rate.” I personally believe that this is a very short sighted view of the future of mobile. I’d prefer to look to visionaries like Eric Schmidt who in May stated “mobile will be a larger business than the PC-Web. But it will take a few years.”
Those barriers to entry and barriers to development that made native application so essential are being broken down with every new device released. Manufacturers are exposing more and more of their OS, GPS for example, through Javascript APIs available on the mobile web. And now with HTML5, mobile Web apps can take advantage of on device data storage. Mobile Web applications can indeed provide comparable user experiences to their native application counterparts and will only continue to improve.
I foresee a continual ‘blurring’ of the distinctions between mobile web/mobile client applications, as well as the distinctions between desktop/mobile websites. Within a matter of a few years, the mobile web will share the same capabilities as any other platform and will indeed replace native applications as the development platform of choice. Developers who are in early stand to gain the most.
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A colleague and I got into a heated debate last spring after hearing about the specs for the, at that time, upcoming iPhone 3GS. He exclaimed that the launch of this new phone would leave competitors so far behind in respect to technology that Apple would be catapulted into a market leader position.
I explained to him that this is a ridiculously myopic view of the market. Not only did/does Apple hold a tiny fraction of total market share but Android was about to make a splash.
He took to ridiculing the G1 and my thoughts about the issue in front of our colleagues… ‘the Google phone is for engineers and tech nerds and will never get the following that iPhone has’. I told him that within 12-24 months Android would have a greater share of the market than Apple. The ridicule continued.
He didn’t see the big picture. The Android strategy wasn’t about making an ‘iPhone killer’. It was about rapidly getting real estate on a lot of phones by giving away a solid platform and letting hardware manufacturers do what they do best – design hardware. And what does Google get out of all that? More mobile searches, which could be one of its biggest sources of growth in the coming years.
During Google’s third quarter earnings conference call today, one message came out loud and clear: Google’s mobile strategy is starting to pay off. “Android adoption is about to explode,” declared CEO Eric Schmidt, explaining that all the “necessary conditions” are set for growth: There are now 12 Android phones out there (most recently the Motorola Cliq) across 32 carriers in 26 countries.
It remains to be seen, but I think I was right.
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RIM has announced that the BlackBerry Widget SDK is now available for download.
The BlackBerry Widget SDK 1.0 Beta 1 contains the BlackBerry Widget Packager 1.0 Beta 1, a BlackBerry Device Simulator, and a lot of documentation and samples.
The BlackBerry Widget Packager 1.0 Beta 1 is a new tool that allows web developers to package up their web assets into BlackBerry Widgets (small, discrete, standalone web applications that use HTML, CSS and JavaScript). A BlackBerry Widget looks, behaves and has the same security mechanisms as a native BlackBerry application. BlackBerry Widgets can be installed on a BlackBerry smartphone like any native application and can be extended to use device-specific information and data using the BlackBerry Widget APIs.
The sounds very similar to what Palm has done with it’s WebOS SDK and I really like where RIM is going with this. As someone with experience managing development of all varieties of mobile applications, (mobile web, thick-client, thin-client), on a variety of platforms including BlackBerry OS, I’m very excited about this new SDK.
Developing native applications for BlackBerry OS has been a pain in the past because of the multitude of OS versions. Trying to test your applications across a variety of BlackBerry devices is always an expensive and time consuming process. Then when you finally launch, managing and updating applications is always a challenge – especially when doing so across an array of BlackBerry OS versions.
On the other hand, a very thin-client mobile web application like Frugalytics Web Launcher, is very easy to maintain and update but device API’s for the mobile web are very limited and the BlackBerry browser in general is very limited in its capabilities (although that will change soon now that they acquired a mobile browser software company).
The HTML/Javascript widget model is a great happy medium that makes developers lives’ a whole lot easier while maintaining a great end user experience. I look forward to working with this new SDK.
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I was reading Mark Suster’s blog about his thoughts on the necessity of an MBA for software start-up entrepreneurs or VCs (I recommend you check out his blog – it’s great). Mark’s conclusion is that MBAs are not necessary for start-ups and his reasoning is that ‘computer intuition is hard (not impossible) to acquire. Business experience, on the other hand, is better learned hands-on.’
I agree with Mark’s basic thoughts on the issue but would also identify another skill set that cannot truly be learned in an MBA school – implementation abilities. The ability to implement a strategy is equally important to the strategy itself. I have no doubt that MBA graduates from America’s top business schools are great strategic thinkers, but the ability to transition an idea from concept to a marketable product is not something that is easily learned – especially in the tech industry.
The best place to pick up this skill set is to work for start ups and FAIL. I’m sure that anyone who was worked for a grass roots start up and rode the roller coaster to failure will know what I’m talking about. The inherent speed of innovation that occurs in these small teams teaches you far more in a matter of months, than you’d learn in a two year MBA program. I’ve heard some say that one year of start-up experience is equal to five years at a large corporation. That’s because at a start-up you’re forced to wear many hats and learn what it takes to make things happen everyday.
MBA’s do provide great networking opportunities. This is probably the big value add for would-be entrepreneurs. That said, I’d argue experience at a start-up provides a far greater networking opportunity. Don’t believe me? Just check my LinkedIn. Through my years at various start-ups I’ve had the opportunity to work with strategic level management at many Fortune 500 companies such as RIM, Bell, Motorola, ESPN, eBay, the list goes on…
If you’re considering an MBA for a career in corporate finance, then it’s definitely a good choice and to some degree a requirement. However, if you’re considering getting your MBA specifically to learn how to be an entrepreneur or get VC money one day, I say save your money and get involved in a start-up in your specific field of interest. You’ll rapidly learn how to build and market a successful product – and at the same time probably learn even more valuable skills in the category of ‘what not to do’.
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Hi, I’m Miron Lulic. I’m a technology entrepreneur living in Orange County, CA and this is my new soap box.
Here’s a little bit about myself. I’m the founder of a mobile shopping site named Frugalytics. We did a passive launch a few months ago and have quickly become the top ranking shopping app on BlackBerry App World. You don’t need a BlackBerry to try Frugalytics though, just visit http://frugalytics.com on your mobile device. We’re also working on new OS specific versions for other operating systems like the Palm Pre, iPhone, and Android.
Additionally, I’m working on a mobile travel site named TravelYay that aims to redefine the travel services industry by combining a made-for-mobile travel booking engine and state of the art in-voyage travel tools.
I plan to share my thoughs and ideas about mobile technology and whatever else comes up.
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