Still checking

The new flash breaks the blog template, so here's a link.

Preliminary Scenario

Nothing to see here, just checking the flash.

Bluejacking

Bluejacking is the name for the activity of sending unsolicited messages to people via bluetooth devices. This is usually done via mobile phones, with one user sending messages in the form of a phonebook contact to another, unsuspecting user. The technology is similar to that which would be used by the bluetooth nodes for the promotion part of the E-vent idea. The nodes would detect any suitable bluetooth devices in range, and would attempt to push audio or video clips of the artist being promoted out to those devices.

This could also be connected to the media sharing. For example, as the images were being uploaded by E-vent users, they could be moderated and rated, either by other people using the service who aren't at the event, or by someone employed at the venue, and then the best of the bunch could be automatically sent out to E-vent users as they were leaving the venue.

Of Gigs and Mobiles

Live 8 was one of the biggest musical events ever, seen by an estimated 3 billion people worldwide. As part of the experience, they had a number that you could text your name to in order for it to be displayed on a screen above the stage in Philadelphia. This used very traditional phone technology (SMS messaging), but it still encouraged people to use their mobile phones in new ways at large social events.

Mobile Interfaces and Applications

Mobiface is another blog style site containing links to sites and articles about designing interfaces and applications for mobile devices.

This link shows a user interface which is very intuitive. From what the user inputs at the start screen, it works out what they might be attempting to do and narrows down the options available to them in the context menu. It is a very simple way to make a lot of options available to the user, without having to organise and categorise them in universal ways, and it eliminates the need for the user to remember where all the tools and applications are on their device. It also gives the device a very clean look, as the options presented at each stage of the navigation are only those which make sense to the user.

This highlights the usefulness of making things easy to use for everybody. If something is hard to use, then you will lose a lot of your potential audience. For a community project such as E-vent this could be disastrous, as without a lot of user contributed content, there is no incentive for anyone to sign up.





PingMag has an interesting piece on flash for mobile devices being created as art as well as being functional. They mostly focus on the aesthetic side, with things such as animated screen savers, and interactive wallpapers, rather than applications which are innovative with their functions.










Remember The Milk is a website designed for mobile devices which serves as a sort of personal organiser, as well as syncing up with other applications, such as google calendar. One of the most innovative things about it is the reminder service. You can be reminded of events in your organiser either by SMS, or via one of the many supported instant messaging systems. While it seems like common sense, for an external system such as a website, it is a nice little feature, especially with the inclusion of IM support.

The BenQ Black Box UIC is a fantastic interface concept, which is extremely flexible to fit in with the needs of just about anyone.

The design of the object itself may be nothing special, just a shiny black box (like so many other pieces of technology these days), but the interface is projected onto the surface in real time, and can be changed to suit the users needs for different tasks and applications on the fly. This makes it the perfect device to be used with new pieces of software that will not necessarily have been possible with a standard keypad.

Small Surfaces

Small Surfaces is a site dedicated to mobile user interface design. It contains links to sites all over the internet which talk about designing interactive applications and interfaces for mobile devices.

This first link talks about how people like to fiddle with their mobile devices. Whether it be productive, or simply for the fun of it, people are always fiddling with the settings on their mobile phones. The article suggests having two user interfaces on the phone, one for serious, productive functions, and another for playing around with. Why not go the whole way and have a fully customisable operating system on mobile phones, with user defined controls, the ultimate in fiddling.

This essay is about mobile television, and the circumstances under which people will use it. The most interesting part is the ten points towards the end. It is surprising in many ways, for example it says that people using their mobile phones around the home make up a large portion of mobile TV viewers. This is because mobile technology affords a certain amount of control, 'micro control', as to where and how the user can enjoy the experience. This creates a very personal scenario in which the user is fully in charge of whatever they are doing.

E-vent

The service has a name. E-vent represents the online component of the project, combined with the ultimate purpose, getting people to share their media from entertainment events.


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