It seems obvious that text messaging while driving would be a distraction, and a dangerous one that takes your eyes off the road. Ah, but if you do ignore texts while driving, you wouldn’t want your friends to think you are being rude, would you? That’s where SMS Replier comes in.
SMS Replier, for Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and Android, coming for iPhone and Palm webOS, will reply automatically to text messages and even calls if you are moving faster than 15 MPH. You can also set times when you are in a meeting so that it can also auto-reply.
There are default messages you can choose, or you can customize your own. You can also select a set of 5 contacts whose calls and texts must come through (like your significant other or mom). There is also a No-Reply List, who don’t get an auto-reply from SMS replier.
The app is $19.95 and includes one-year of updates. Strangely, the Android version is not in the Android Market, but is instead downloaded directly from the company. That means that those of you that can’t sideload (meaning install non-Market apps, such as AT&T devices) are out of luck.
Not only do more accidents continue to occur where text messaging is implicated, authorities have been slow to enact laws, and those states that have laws have seen many scofflaws. Other such technology has been announced before, but anything that draws more attention to the problem is welcome.
Of course, $19.95 is a bit on the pricey side for any Android or iOS apps. It will be interesting to see how well it sells.
Watch a video demo below:
SMS Replier Features (DROID X) from wayne irving on Vimeo.
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Windows Mobile is all but dead, with its market share steadily plummeting as quarters pass. Yet a report, based on conjecture, estimates, and guesswork, but still with a measure of validity, says that Microsoft is spending an estimated $1 billion on its upcoming Windows Phone platform.
Considering that Windows Mobile was never that beloved even before the advent of the iPhone, and that it now continues to sink slowly into the sunset with the appearance of Android and webOS in addition to iOS, some might call that throwing good money after bad. And in fact, a second report says that $1 billion is probably a lowball figure.
And, of course, reportedly Microsoft threw away, er, spent, $1 billion on its failed Kin phones.
Still, Microsoft made about $62.5 billion in fiscal 2010. It has little choice but to throw “all in” to the pot so that it can get back into the mobile game. While PCs will never disappear, a look around at the daily tech news shows that they are becoming passe; many of the big headlines focus on the cloud or mobile devices.
That’s Microsoft’s big problem; it’s now a virtual non-player in mobile. Some of the news about Windows Phone isn’t good either: no support for either copy-and-paste and multitasking out of the box shows it hasn’t learned from Apple’s mistakes.
In the end, it will be the consumers who decide, and they need choice in order to decide in favor of Windows Phone, and that’s not just about hardware choices. Nowadays, in the age of the app phone, consumers want plenty of choice among apps to install. While Microsoft is tossing money at developers to get them to write for Windows Phone, too. Will it be enough, is the big question?
Continue reading about $1B or more spent on Windows Phone? Good money after bad?
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Some have dubbed the latest smartphones “app phones.” After all, the redefinition of the smartphone from the days of Windows Mobile and PalmOS has been the sheer number of helpful, effective, yet generally simple apps that are in online markets. Now, with App Inventor for Android, there’s a chance that John or Jane Q. Public can write their own.
The New York Times reported on Monday that Google has been testing the App Inventor in schools for a year. User testing, the Times said, has been done with the following groups: sixth graders, high school girls, nursing students and university undergraduates “who are not computer science majors.”
Google appears to be aiming this at non-programmers who might might to build their own app. Harold Abelson, a computer scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is on sabbatical at Google and led the project, said that “The goal is to enable people to become creators, not just consumers, in this mobile world.”
It sounds a lot like Visual Basic, in terms of how easy it might be to create an app. Here’s how Google describes it:
To use App Inventor, you do not need to be a developer. App Inventor requires NO programming knowledge. This is because instead of writing code, you visually design the way the app looks and use blocks to specify the app’s behavior.
This is just another extension of Google’s push for openness on its Android platform. While this sort of development tool might lead to a flood of noisemaking apps in the Android Market, it can also be used to create useful, simple apps.
One such example in the article is an app that is sort of an Android version of the “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” device. The app uses the phone’s accelerometer to sense a fall, and if the person did not rise or press an on-screen button within a time limit, the program automatically texts or calls a designated person.
The only problem is, the App Inventor for Android is in closed beta. You have to sign up here. As Google and Apple try to win the wallets of consumers, it seems Google wants to win consumers’ coding fancies, as well.
One question, though: will this coding system will work on devices that allow no sideloading of apps (meaning apps that do not come from the Android Market, ahem, AT&T)? After all, you will need to test your app.
Watch a video on the new App Inventor for Android:
Continue reading about Android’s App Inventor embraces your inner programmer
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Some have dubbed the latest smartphones “app phones.” After all, the redefinition of the smartphone from the days of Windows Mobile and PalmOS has been the sheer number of helpful, effective, yet generally simple apps that are in online markets. Now, with App Inventor for Android, there’s a chance that John or Jane Q. Public can write their own.
The New York Times reported on Monday that Google has been testing the App Inventor in schools for a year. User testing, the Times said, has been done with the following groups: sixth graders, high school girls, nursing students and university undergraduates “who are not computer science majors.”
Google appears to be aiming this at non-programmers who might might to build their own app. Harold Abelson, a computer scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is on sabbatical at Google and led the project, said that “The goal is to enable people to become creators, not just consumers, in this mobile world.”
It sounds a lot like Visual Basic, in terms of how easy it might be to create an app. Here’s how Google describes it:
To use App Inventor, you do not need to be a developer. App Inventor requires NO programming knowledge. This is because instead of writing code, you visually design the way the app looks and use blocks to specify the app’s behavior.
This is just another extension of Google’s push for openness on its Android platform. While this sort of development tool might lead to a flood of noisemaking apps in the Android Market, it can also be used to create useful, simple apps.
One such example in the article is an app that is sort of an Android version of the “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” device. The app uses the phone’s accelerometer to sense a fall, and if the person did not rise or press an on-screen button within a time limit, the program automatically texts or calls a designated person.
The only problem is, the App Inventor for Android is in closed beta. You have to sign up here. As Google and Apple try to win the wallets of consumers, it seems Google wants to win consumers’ coding fancies, as well.
One question, though: will this coding system will work on devices that allow no sideloading of apps (meaning apps that do not come from the Android Market, ahem, AT&T)? After all, you will need to test your app.
Watch a video on the new App Inventor for Android:
Continue reading about Android’s App Inventor embraces your inner programmer
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As the complexity and ability of smartphone OSes increases, so does the temptation to attack them with malware. A report by mobile security firm Lookout points to an alarming trend, with a doubling in malware and spyware found on their clients’ smartphones from December 2009 to May 2010.
According to the report, Lookout’s free security software seeing 4 pieces of malware and spyware per 100 phones per year in December 2009 to 9 per 100 phones per year in May 2010. Lookout’s software is available on Android, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry. The big guys, as well, are joining in: Symantec recently announced it was entering the smartphone security market.
The firm also separately reported that hackers are distributing cloned and infected Windows Mobile apps that make calls to premium-rate numbers, which rack up expensive bills which are usually undetected until the user’s next phone bill.
The report came on the same day as a Wall Street Journal report on the dangers of malware on smartphones. While some rail agsinst the rather draconian App Store approval policies Apple has instituted, it is true that they protect consumers from malware. That does not protect jailbroken phones, which can install non-App Store apps, but stores for such phones (such as Cydia) usually vet apps, at least somewhat.
Meanwhile, Google isn’t so aggressive in its approval tactics, but it does pull apps from its Android Market that it finds violates its Terms of Service. On Android, however, there is a way to install non-Market applications, without having to root (similar to jailbreaking), except on AT&T’s Motorola Backflip.
There is no such in-depth application store / market vetting protection for BlackBerry and Windows Mobile, however.
Still, in truth, if you buy from an authorized store such as the Android Market, you’re probably pretty safe. It’s downloading from just “any old website” that is most dangerous. That said, users should be careful of downloading apps that have access to your financial information.
In December, Google yanked a number of unauthorized (meaning non-bank authorized) mobile-banking apps from its Android Market. The apps were developed by “09Droid.” Google said it pulled the apps because they violated its trademark policy. However, as John Hering, chief executive of Lookout said, they could easily have been used to capture users’ banking credentials.
Amazon.com Widgetshttp://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/06/as-they-become-smarter-smartphones.html
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We all knew (or should have) that cellular data plans for smartphones weren’t really unlimited, but at least the cap was “soft” rather than hard. AT&T on Wednesday ended all that, unveiling tiered, limited (only) data plans, but don’t worry: other carriers will follow soon enough.
Wireless carriers had long been saying the future of data plans was tiered pricing, and here we are, with AT&T. ALthough the timing is likely prompted by the upcoming fourth generation iPhone and iPhone OS 4, it was bound to happen.
The new plans go into effect on June 7th, the first day of WWDC, when the new iPhone presumably will be announced and when iPhone OS 4 will be unveiled. The sole tidbits of good news, at least for heavy data users, is if you are on a current “unlimited” plan ($30), you can stay on that plan. Additionally, tethering is coming, and that includes the iPhone as well.
Just to be clear, however, it affects all smartphone platforms; Android, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry; you name it.
For light users, you’ll get a carrot: a lower cost plan, starting at $15 for 200MB of data. If you need more, you can pay $25 for 2GB of data. AT&T says that 65 percent of their customers use less than 20MB of data, and 98 percent less than 2GB.
The stick, as opposed to the carrot, is in the overage fees. For the lower-cost plan, dubbed DataPlus, it’s $15 for each additional 200MB of data usage in a billing cycle. For the higher-cost DataPro plan, it’s $10 for each additional GB.
iPad users will not be exempt, either. The new $25-per-month plan will replace the current $30 plan with unlimited usage that is available for the iPad, though just as with other customers, they can keep the old plan as long as they keep paying $30 per month.
Unclear how much data you use? It’s not hard to figure it out; just check your bill. Also, note text messages do not eat up data (MMS does) as it piggybacks on top of carrier signals, anyway.
Here are the details, per an AT&T press release:
- DataPlus. Provides 200 megabytes (MB) of data – for example, enough to send/receive 1,000 emails (no attachments), plus send/receive 150 emails with attachments, plus view 400 Web pages, plus post 50 photos on social media sites, plus watch 20 minutes of streaming video – for just $15 per month.** This plan, which can save customers up to 50 percent off their wireless data charges, is designed for people who primarily like to surf the web, send email and use social networking apps. If customers exceed 200 MB in a monthly billing cycle, they will receive an additional 200 MB of data usage for $15 for use in the cycle. Currently, 65 percent of AT&T smartphone customers use less than 200 MB of data per month on average.
- DataPro. Provides 2 gigabytes (GB) of data – for example, enough to send/receive 10,000 emails (no attachments), plus send/receive 1,500 emails with attachments, plus view 4,000 Web pages, plus post 500 photos to social media sites, plus watch 200 minutes of streaming video – for $25 per month.** Should a customer exceed 2 GB during a billing cycle, they will receive an additional 1 GB of data for $10 for use in the cycle. Currently, 98 percent of AT&T smartphone customers use less than 2 GB of data a month on average.
- Tethering. Smartphone customers – including iPhone customers – who choose the DataPro plan have the option to add tethering for an additional $20 per month. Tethering lets customers use their smartphones as a modem to provide a broadband connection for laptop computers, netbooks or other computing devices. Tethering for iPhones will be available when Apple releases iPhone OS 4 this summer
http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/06/at-axes-unlimited-wireless-data-plans.html
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