WATN mobile web service

Our mobile service WATN (Where Are They Now) has been updated. It is mobile web application (HTML5) provides a new safe way for sharing location info. There is no sign-in and no third-party servers with user's identity and location.

Here you can see our WATN presentation

You can copy service right to your mobile browser (iPhone, Android, Bada - any HTML5 browser) with the following QR-code:



http://watn.linkstore.ru (it is a mobile site).

Hotlinking for Java servers

How to prevent hotlinking for Java servers - Force referer filter in our servlets suite.

YouTube player API

A good example (see source code) for YouTube player API - Tubalr

P.S. see also Mobile Video masup

Draw figures in CSS

How to create circles in your JSP pages - Circles taglib

The future of Web development

A new Opera labs release shows couple of interesting things:

a) a first look at how a browser can split content into native pages. This proof of concept implements CSS3 extensions to split content into pages that can be "turned" in a natural manner through gestures rather than point and click, control the positioning/floating of figures in multi-column layouts more precisely and provide a consistent navigation system for such content that is independent of your documents.

For example, turning the contents of an entire web page into a rudimentary paged experience is as simple as including the following in your page:

@media -o-paged {
html {
height: 100%;
overflow: -o-paged-x;
}
}

b) support for getUserMedia HTML5 API. For example, it is how to get camera's content in JavaScript:

// Replace the source of the video element with the stream from the camera
var video = document.getElementById('sourcevid');
if (navigator.getUserMedia) {
navigator.getUserMedia('video', successCallback, errorCallback);
function successCallback(stream) {
video.src = stream;
}
function errorCallback(error) {
console.error('An error occurred: [CODE ' + error.code + ']');
return;
}
} else {
console.log('Native web camera streaming (getUserMedia) is not supported in this browser.');
return;
}

API conference

We continue to share links for monitoring the interesting events in Twitter. Now it is API conference, London, UK



/via Geo Messages

P.S. and the same in Twi-gazeta:   API conference

Where Are They Now

A presentation for mobile service WATN:

WATN

View more presentations from Coldbeans Software.

Bookmarks for locations

Our mashup Location bookmark has been updated. It is a practical use case for QR codes. Mashup lets you create two things:

1) QR code for mobile map associated with the given address
2) HTML for putting that QR code on your site

So with this tool you can place on your own site (blog etc.) – e.g. somewhere in Contacts or About page QR code for any given address (e.g. address of your company, office etc.). And any visitor of your site will be able simply to scan this code and load that map right into own phone. So they (visitors) do not need to write/print/remember your address/driving directions etc. Just load an appropriate mobile map right from your site. Loaded map could be simply bookmarked on the phone (loaded map is just URL).
And driving directions as well as many other interesting things will come automatically with the mobile map (we use Geo Messages here).

Of course, QR code created with this mashup could be placed anywhere. E.g. add it to some article in your blog, print and place it on the wall etc.

P.S. similar projects:

QR map - lets you create QR code right from the map. Also can create a link to mobile friendly map (iPhone, Android, Bada – any phone with HTML5 browser).
Mecard - lets you create QR code for loading address data (contact info) right from your site

Mobile video pages

Our mashup Mobile video has been updated. It is a tool for creating mobile video sites. Lets you collect on the one mobile web page all the video from Youtube you are interested in. So as a result user will get mobile web page for using directly or as a part of your own mobile site/portal. Mashup presents also a QR-code for loading that page directly into your mobile browser.

Here is an example: puppy channel



P.S. For other mobile development tools check put also mashups Mobile pages and QR code maker

No more check-ins in Forsquare?

"In regards to location-based applications, Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley talked about how the app is becoming more passive, and hinted at kicking check-ins to the curb. Crowley said that the company is moving away from check-ins to focus more on the Radar feature, which collects information about where you are, what direction you're going and lets you know when you're close to places on your lists." - from here

I think there are simply much more users in Facebook. So what is the point check-in in Foursquare and translate that record to Facebook where all your friends are. You can check-in via Facebook directly. And FB has got a huge base of places.

/via QRpon - customized check-ins for Facebook

Android location

"Android distinguishes two location provider types with the following accuracy:

- Fine-grained location provider like the GPS provider with an accuracy of less than 100 m.
- Coarse-grained location provider like the network location provider with an accuracy of 100 – 500 m"

A Good Look at Android Location Data - nice article

LocNav USA 2011

We continue to share links for monitoring the interesting events in Twitter. Now it is Location and navigation, SJ, CA



/via Geo Messages

P.S. and the same in Twi-gazeta:   Location and navigation

Local Q&A sites

Mobile web mashup Geo forums supports discussions (Q&A forums) connected to geo points.

Now you can use this service in your own mobile sites (portals). Just add the following parameters to the base URL http://mtalk.linkstore.ru:

lat – latitude
lng - longitude
region – region (language). ISO code.

For example:

SF, Union Square

Facebook Like for real objects

Our mashup Place card has been updated. It is a simple recommendation system on the base of Facebook.

Like button from Facebook could be placed on the mobile web pages too. And as soon as this mobile page is devoted to some real business (place, location) than the word "Like" has got a very real sense – who from your real friends recommends this business.

Mashup Place card is an example for such kind service. This mashup lets you create a mobile web page with business description (text, address, contact phone and email) as well as an appropriate QR-code. This mobile page contains Facebook Like button. You can place created QR-code on any real objects. So as soon as this QR-code is scanned and page is opened your visitor will see who from his/her friends in the social network likes (recommends) this business.

Web 2.0 Summit

We continue to share links for monitoring the interesting events in Twitter. Now it is Web 2.0 Summit, SF, CA



/via Geo Messages

P.S. and the same in Twi-gazeta:   Web 2.0 Summit

Mobile discussions for real objects

Our mobile mashup Mobile forum has been updated. It lets you create a mobile web page for the discussions (via Disqus API) and an appropriate QR-code for the quick access. Just place this code on any real (physical) object and you (your customers, visitors etc.) will get a forum for this object. Tested for HTML5 mobile browsers (iPhone, Android, Bada, Opera 10.1 etc.).

Similar applications from our directory:

Geo talk - discussions on the map
City forum - Places + discussions
Place card - Facebook like for the real objects
QR-code maker - mobilize your content with QR codes

Startups & angels

Strtups looking for invesments

Mobile geo-forums

Our mobile web mashup Geo forums has been updated. Mashup introduces free discussions (forums) associated with geo locations. It is HTML5 mobile web applications, so this application works on any phone with HTML5 browser (iPhone, Android)





Geo forums.

http://mtalk.linkstore.ru

(it is a mobile site).

You can copy this link right to your mobile browser with QR-code above. Alternatively you can use the following short URL: http://bit.ly/igPCBR

It is cloud based implementation. Mashup saves data in Google Fusion tables and uses forums from Disqus.

P.S. related links:

City forums - mashup combines places from Foursquare and cloud forums from Disqus.
Geo chat - web chat with geo locations

Hyper-local chat and forum

Our mobile mashup WiFiChat has been updated.

What kind of object (real or virtual) can we use for joining together mobile users? We are not talking here about social networks members. We are looking a way for creating group chat. Here, for example, is a short list for several our applications:

City forum - discussions (forums) linked to places (POI - point of interest)
Geo forum - the similar to above (also mobile forums) but linked to location
Mobile forum - lets you add discussions to any physical object.
City chat - web chat linked to any POI (point of interest)
Geo chat - web chat linked to some location

And WiFiChat is a new idea. It is a forum and chat linked to some WiFi network. This mobile application lets you see available (visible) Wi-Fi networks and link (attach) discussions and chats to them. We are not talking about connecting to WiFi networks. We are using WiFi network just as a sensor. If you can see it from your mobile, you are somewhere near. We can call it WiFi proximity. That is an idea. All people seeing the same network are in the some proximity. So, they could have some common points for the discussions.

Just one interesting remark – WiFi access point could be opened right on the mobile phone. And with WiFiChat application this phone will play a role of presence sensor uniting (combining together) local people for the communications.

Technically this application uses cloud forums from Disqus and web chat from Coldbeans.

You can load .apk from here:

http://servletsuite.com/WiFiChat.apk

or use an appropriate QR-code:



You can also download this application right from Android Market

WiFiChat, actually, is a side project for our new development - SpotEx. This application lets you attach (link) your own data to WiFi access points.

Internet of things

A very good article: The Internet of Things and the cloud:

"The current storage infrastructure and file systems that backup and form the backbone of the cloud are archaic, dating back 20 years. These systems may be familiar and comfortable for infrastructure providers. But over time, block-storage architectures that cannot provide instant snapshots of machine images (copy-on-write) will continue to be prone to all sorts of failures. Those failures will grow more pronounced in the M2M world when a five-second failure could result in the loss of many millions of dollars worth of time-specific information."

Geo Messages for Chrome

Our Geo Messages approach as Google Chrome extension:

Geo messages for chrome

View more presentations from Coldbeans Software.

Business - centric check-ins

Our presentation for ICIN-2011:

QRpon - a new model for check-ins

View more presentations from Coldbeans Software.

about QRpon service

Directory of mashups

Our mashups directory has been updated. A huge collection of applications: Twitter, Google Maps, LBS, QR-codes, mobile HTML5 etc.

The latest release includes our context-aware applications (WiFi Chat), Google Plus API test (photo puzzle) and new Chrome extensions, for example

Where Are They Now

It is well known fact that the question "where are you" is one of the most often asked in the world of mobile communications. 600 billion text messages per year in the US ask "where are you?" – as per Location Business Summit 2010 data. No doubt, it is the most popular question in mobile networks. But location sharing over mobile phones still faces challenges. And privacy here is probably the biggest concern.

Actually our Geo Messages project solves problems with privacy. With Geo Messages users can share location info peer to peer as signatures for messages. But it is pure one-to-one relation. What if we need to monitor several people? Here is our new service WATN. It lets you monitor locations for several people, as well as share your own location to some group of people. Obviously, in this case we need some third party server that saves our social graph (who is sharing data to whom). But we can offer the safe solution that does not hurt your privacy.

WATN requires no sign-up. It combines anonymous server-side data with local personalized records.

What if we separate location info and identity data? Just three steps:

a) assign to any participant some unique ID (just an ID, without any links to the personality)
b) save location data on the server with links to the above-mentioned IDs
c) keep the legend (descriptions for IDs, who is behind that ID) locally

In this case any participant may request location data for other participants from third party server (as per sharing rules, of course), get data with IDs and replace IDs (locally) with legend’s data. With such replacement we can show location data in the "natural" form. For example: name (nick) plus location. And in the same time the server (third party server for our users) is not aware about names.

What does it mean technically.

Server keeps location info with IDs:

(a)
ID1 -> (latitude, longitude)
ID2 -> (latitude, longitude)
ID3 -> (latitude, longitude)
Etc.

And social graph – who is sharing location to whom:

(b)
ID1-> (ID2, ID3)
ID3 -> (ID1)
Etc.

Local client keeps legend:

(c)
ID1 -> (name or nick)
ID2 -> (name or nick)
Etc.

The algorithm. Client restores own ID (or obtains a new one). After that client saves location data on the server and obtains shared location data (by the social graph). Client modifies received data and replaces IDs with known names. So, after that our client side application is ready to show location data with names instead of IDs.

Naming. Where are the above-mentioned names (nicks) for IDs come from? WATN uses peer to peer sharing. It means that any user shares own location to another person directly. There are no circles, lists etc. As soon as some user is going to show own location info to another person he simply sends notification about this to another email address (phone number in case of SMS).

Such notification contains some text with explanation "what is it" and, what is obviously should be the main part of this process, a special link to WATN. This link contains an ID for the request originating party.

As soon as this link is fired, WATN application (client) becomes aware about two IDs: own ID1 for this client (see description above) and ID2 from the "shared with you" link (originated request ID). So, if notification is accepted, we can add social graph record (on the server) like

ID2 -> ID1

(client with ID2 shares own location info with the client with ID1. Or client with ID1 identity may read location info for ID2)

But because the notification link comes from email (or SMS) the receiver is aware about the context. He knows simply email headers ('From'), phone number or name in address book SMS comes from. It means the receiver can assign some nick (name) for ID in "shared with you" link. Actually it is a part of confirmation: set some name and confirm. And that name (nick) we can save locally. So, it is like "two phase commit" in databases – save a new social graph record on the server and create a new legend locally.

It is obviously, that in this schema each client has got own legends. We can have different names for one ID (each client technically can assign own name).

Implementation. WATN is mobile web application (HTML5). So, we can use localStorage as a persistent store for legends.

Additional options. As soon as you share your location info, you can leave messages attached to your location. WATN users that can read your location data will see your messages too.

And any time you can delete ID (as well as erase all the associated data) from the system.

You can load WATN application right to your mobile browser (iPhone, Android) with the following QR-code:



Direct link is http://watn.linkstore.ru (it is a mobile URL)

P.S. there is another service with the "similar" abbreviation: Where Are You Now.

Steve Jobs

Geo Messages for Chrome

Geo Messages describes peer to peer approach for sharing location information, where geo data could be transferred as a signature for messages (email, SMS).

There are several implementations for this schema (Java Cards, Android application, mobile HTML5 web applications). And now you can use Geo Messages as Chrome extension too.

Visual Geo Search for Layar Vision

This concept of Layar Vision layer associates some geo-data (POIs) with logos of companies. It answers the following questions: how to get nearby devices (places) with the same logo. E.g. each ATM has got bank’s logo. So, it is just a practical case - for any ATM that does not work for example we can find the nearby places with ATMs from the same bank.

Search by logo

View more presentations from Coldbeans Software.

Layar Vision layer here is just a wrapper for collection of geo-layer. Each geo-layer describes ATMs for the selected bank. And “bank selection” process coded as a vision enabled layer. User can see bank’s logo on the ATM, recognize it via vision enabled layer and call (switch to) geo-layer (“see more ATMs for the same bank”). We can switch to geo-layer manually (as an action in Layar Vision response) or via auto-trigger.

5 Ways Facebook’s New Features Will Fuel Social Shopping

Interesting. Actually, our QRpon could be also presented as social shopping stuff.

Geo messages for SIM cards

Our presentation for Simagine 2011:

Geo messages for SIM cards

View more presentations from Coldbeans Software

We are among Shortlisted Companies and Products there.

Chrome installer error

Two laptops - the same deal. Could not install Chrome for Windows XP due to error 0x80040890. Google search shows two things:

a) we are not alone
b) there is no reaction from Google

Bad use case, Google. Will stay with Firefox

SSL for free

I have come across a site http://www.social-server.com. It allows you to convert your existing URL into a secure one (https) for free.

It is for the Facebook developers: all apps, including page tab apps, must migrate to OAuth 2.0 for authentication. The old SDKs, including the old JavaScript SDK (FeatureLoader.js) and old iOS SDK (facebook-iphone-sdk) will no longer work. In addition, iframe Canvas and Page Tab apps must support HTTPS and provide a secure canvas or secure page tab URL.