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echoecho: Location-sharing solutions that work for Nokia users
OviPublisherSuccesses | 19 October, 2011 12:31
Background:
In 2010, Nick Bicanic and Andrew Wanliss-Orlebar founded echoecho media in an attempt to bring more useful location-sharing services to the masses. The echoecho app has since been released on Symbian devices via Nokia Store, along with major smartphone platforms including iOS, Android and Blackberry (Windows phone expected in Oct 2011).
From the start, the founders set out to simplify the process of answering the question “Where are you?” — the world’s most frequently texted question. They wanted to make the most of the address book and mapping power that we carry in our pockets to make a simple application for finding friends in the real world.
With echoecho, you simply tap anyone in your address book to say "Where are you?" When they accept, a map shows you where both of you are. The free chat helps you make plans or find out what your friends are up to. Users across the world, from USA to Germany to Indonesia, are already finding and arranging to meet up with their friends.
Unlike check-in apps, echoecho focuses on telling you where your friends are right now, rather than where they last were. All this without worrying about privacy - echoecho is designed so that users are always in control of what they share, when they share it, and with whom they share it. This way, the app also avoids draining the battery like some real-time tracking apps.
Imagine this common SMS scenario:
Joey:
"Where are you?"
Alex:
"At the laundromat."
Joey:
"Which one - the one on
15th and Jersey?"
Alex: "No,
the small one near campus"
Joey:
"I'm right around the corner.
Wanna meet for lunch?"
Alex: "I’ve
just eaten"
Joey: "Ok, coffee?
Alex:
"Sure."
Joey:
"How about
Starbucks?"
Alex:
"Which Starbucks?"
Joey:
"The one by the
cinema."
Alex: "OK
See you there."
With echoecho, Joey and Alex could meet up with 2 clicks instead of the above long series of text messages. In fact, Alex doesn’t even have to be an echoecho user before Joey can connect – it’s not a new social network.
Founder Nick Bicanic notes, “We firmly believe that if you present people with tools that will solve their real problems – such as meeting up with their friends and family – they will use them again and again.”
Nick continues, “I love seeing new users first use echoecho. Their faces light up with the realization of what has just happened – they’ve seen their friend's location with one click – that’s when we know we’ve done something right."
App
Development:
echoecho helps people to find, meet and chat with their friends, quickly and
easily (regardless of the smartphone they’re using). They can share a meeting
place for food, coffee or drinks – anywhere in the world, with just one touch
of a screen. echoecho features a sleek, intuitive UI with transparent overlays
on dynamically created maps. Push notifications alert users to requests from
friends.
The application was developed using the latest Qt APIs including Qt notification (push notifications), Qt mobility (GPS, Wifi, Cell ID positioning) and advanced graphics (dynamic multiple layer alpha channels on maps). According to Bicanic, “initial development was extremely fast since Qt is easy to use. It took us 10 days of work for the basic port and another few days of testing and adding new functionalities.” Bicanic and his development team were able to re-use logic built for other platforms including Symbian, iOS, Android and Blackberry in developing the new app.
For Bicanic, the most useful advantage of Qt was realized when dealing with device fragmentation across multiple handsets. For cross-platform developers, dealing with multiple hardware specifications, multiple screen resolutions and orientations and acquiring devices for testing and QA can be a nightmare. Bicanic continued, “With Qt, this was an amazing experience. We created the app using Nokia N8 devices during testing and initial development. When we tried running the software on any other Qt compatible phone, it just worked. No bugs. No recompiling.”
For echoecho, developing on the Qt platform was an exceptional solution to dealing with the complicated problem of multi-handset development. It completely eliminated fragmentation. As the company looks to broaden its scope, Bicanic adds, “we’re already committed to creating the echoecho app for Windows Phone 7 to take advantage of yet another popular platform."
In this latest Nokia Developer video, the founders of echoecho talk more about their app, and the development process:
In Summary:
Echoecho is a simple way to find and meet your friends anywhere in the world, whether they’re on a Symbian smartphone, iPhone, Android, Blackberry or soon, Windows Phone. With echoecho, it’s fast and easy to arrange meeting up with your friends for coffee, food or drinks through an elegant user interface, transparent map overlays and push notifications.
The echoecho app is a development feat in that it’s a
cross-platform, carrier agnostic, free, global location sharing system. Bicanic
concluded, “It's great to see the kind of enthusiasm and support for developers
and their aggressive application goals on the part of key team members of the
Nokia team.”
echoecho is available for free worldwide. The application is compatible with the E7, C7 Astound, N8, C6, N97, N97mini, C6-01, C5, 5800 XpressMusic and more. Check here for compatibility.
Location Based Services
, Qt
, Europe
, Qt Mobility
, Tools
, Nokia Store
, NDSuccess
, GeneralSuccess
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EchoEcho
Senimii | 24/11/2011, 09:10
I've seen the presentation of echoecho in London recently, but having read this...it makes it clearer and more interesting cant wait to have my families all on it.