Symbian in Motion

Last month, acclaimed developer SHAPE Services released a cool app that builds upon the ever-growing popularity of GPS-related services. Their preliminary entry into the LBS space is called GPSed, and it packs quite a punch I must say. At first glance you might think to yourself, “why should I bother with this app, I already use Nokia Sports Tracker?” It’s true that each app offers similar functionality, but GPSed takes the concept of track recording and applies a social networking / sharing twist as opposed to a sports tracking twist. Social networking = popular within our online target demographic. Working out = not so popular within our online target demographic. Sad but true, and lord knows I certainly fall within that first category lately.

At the core of GPSed lies an app and a service working in tandem to record GPS tracks and publish them to the GPSed site. The site uses Google maps as the backbone, and displays paths that you track and provides coloring options to distinguish one path from another. Tracks are recorded by the app and then uploaded to the site. You can even upload GPS tracks that you already have (in a variety of formats as opposed to just GPX, as with Sports Tracker) if you have been using a different service prior to GPSed.

Next come the management and social aspects of GPSed. The web service provides a variety of management functions to enhance core functionality. Options like changing track colors, managing multiple tracks and adding track information are among a few supported functions. In terms of social aspects, users can also adjust privacy settings to determine whether or not each track record is available for public viewing. Individual trips can also be shared with friends very easily. What’s more, a recent update allows users to add waypoints either from the mobile client or from the online account. Waypoints are essentially notes that can be tied to a specific point on a trial. For example, while on a walk a user can input “great cafe, check it out” as a waypoint in the app. The map will add the note to the tracks along with the latitude and longitude reads recorded while the note was being typed.

The web service is complemented by Take’n'pin; a PC application that allows you to geotag photos and upload them to your GPSed account. Photos can be taken with a camera phone or any other digital camera. Take’n'pin will then add location data and tie each photo to a point on your tracks. You can use the software to preview photos on a map using Google Earth and upload your them to any service you like (Flickr, Picasa, etc). Photo support within the GPSed web app itself will be added shortly - remember it’s currently in beta right now so development is fast and furious.

In terms of where I would like to see this app go, why not take the social aspects of it a step further? The wide device compatibility and ease of use make this app tremendously accessible. The GPSed mobile client is java-based which is usually a bad thing in my eyes. For a social LBS however, it’s great that GPSed is compatible with a huge range of smartphones and standard-OS handsets as well. If your device has internal GPS or is capable of communicating with an external GPS unit, odds are pretty good that you can utilize this app. As such, I’d like to see SHAPE expand on friends, sharing and communication. Features like the ability to instantly share waypoints across two devices running the app would be great. Imagine walking around town and hearing a chime. You glance at your device and a pop-up message from your friend states, “meet me here in an hour!” Enhance that with the ability to export waypoints to Google Maps and Nokia Maps so that you can easily get directions or even navigate to the location, and now we’re in a whole different league.

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I’ve been sitting on this app for a while with the hopes that it would soon reach a state stable enough to be discussed on SiMo. Thankfully, I believe it finally has! You may have read about S60Ticker (Google translated) on some other blogs and original versions were a bit confusing to say the least. Since it initially surfaced however, a good deal of work has gone into the app though and it even received Symbian Signed status making it accessible to the masses. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m a big fan of apps that feed content to the Active Standby screen because it really is an underutilized resource.

S60Ticker is a useful (and ultimately flexible) tool that automatically publishes real time content to your Active Standby screen (and / or other screens). By default, it covers SMS but the ticker is configurable in terms of the content it can display (not easy quite yet) along with colors, active duration, position and more. A public SDK is also available if coding is your thing and you want to play with content sources.

I won’t go too deep into it because it’s the kind of thing that you really have to play with to get a full understanding of, but here’s a good example of a setup: S60Ticker is configured to be hidden when inactive. Upon receiving a new SMS, S60Ticker activates and scrolls the sender’s mobile number along with the content of the message for 60 seconds, then the app goes back into sleep mode.

In terms of content, here are some of the options that have been made available:

• SMS
• News feed
• Exchange ticker
• Mobile Banking information
• Weather forecasts
• Current music titles (playlist)

Adjusting the content fed to the ticker is still a bit tricky so we’ll save that for a later time once content adjustments can be made quickly and easily. For the time being, adventurous users with a good technical knowledge can check out the S60Ticker SDK and have a play. For the time being, just having SMS content displayed by this great freeware app will likely suffice. Make note that this is a two-part installation and you’ll need to install the server file first, followed by the GUI file. For some more good info on using the app, read through the author’s site and also check out these posts on the Symbian Web Blog.

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Sometimes, there’s nothing like an original. Many, many companies have developed security and device recovery applications for the S60 3rd platform but the simple fact is that each and every one left us wanting more. Whether there was essential functionality missing or it was just a case of too many useless features gobbling up resources, the ideal app has yet to be released. While that is still true, I’m glad to let you know that we’re much closer than you might think! Marco Bellino, Forum Nokia Champion and head developer of Symbian Toys, was kind enough to share the latest beta of their upcoming security solution with me and I’ve been impressed from start to finish.

In a nutshell, Guardian is exactly what other S60 3rd security solutions have tried to be; with a twist. It is designed to perform two core functions:

1. Greatly assist in the recovery of a device that has been lost or stolen
2. Restrict unauthorized access to any or all applications on a device

Light on resources and heavy on performance, Guardian 3rd really does attack each of the items above better than any other app I’ve seen. It’s remarkably easy to set up and my testing has gone phenomenally well. But as is my motto, talk is cheap. Let’s have a look:

In terms of setup, there are two main items that I’d like to highlight above all else. Why? Simply because they will give you a good idea of what this app is all about. It’s the little things and the attention to detail that really set Symbian Toys’ solution apart from the pack.

Firstly, as with several other competitive apps, Guardian 3rd has the ability to trigger an alarm and notification messages if the SIM is switched at any time. Of course this is essential functionality but what if you’re like me and you have several phones and just as many SIM cards? This app allows you to register multiple authorized SIM cards so dealing with changes is no longer a drill that involves punching keys as fast as possible, deafening alarms and needless SMS notifications.

The second item is with regards to application access restriction. Yes there are a few other apps that provide similar functionality, letting you scroll through a list and select each app that you would like to protect. All selected apps will then require the user to enter a password at launch before it can be utilized. The problem with these solutions is that if you use several protected apps in one sitting, you must continually enter the password as you open each app. If a user enters the password properly once, then obviously they will be able to enter it successfully for each other app. Why make it a PIA?

As you can see above, Symbian Toys has implemented an inactivity timer. Thank you! Now if you open one restricted app by successfully inputting the password, you will not be prompted for the password again when opening subsequent protected apps. This allows you to use all of the apps on your device without interruption as if Guardian 3rd wasn’t even installed on your device. When you’re done using the device and it becomes inactive, Guardian 3rd will automatically reinstate application protection after the defined amount of time has passed. Above you can see that I have it set for two minutes so once I enter my password correctly once, I won’t have to enter it again until my phone has been inactive for two minutes.

In terms of device recovery, no other app can come close to touching the effectiveness of Guardian 3rd. It supports a variety of remote SMS commands just as competitive apps do, in terms of operation at least. Specially formatted messages come in to the device silently so that a thief is not alerted to their arrival. Let’s take a look at the current list of commands:

• Delete: Deletes SMS/videos/pictures/records/contacts
• FakeSMS: Receives an SMS using a fake sender as specified
  
• Forward: Forwards sent/received SMS and the incoming/outgoing calls list
  
• Alarm: Sounds a loud siren
  
• Config: Modify Guardian’s configuration parameters
  
• Localize: Continuously sends (at a defined interval) the device’s current GPS location or the device’s cell-id retrieved from network.

Each of the above commands is quite useful but wait, what was that last one? That’s right, Guardian 3rd is capable of utilizing your device’s internal GPS (or external if available) to transmit the current location of the device at time intervals that you specify! Plug the data into Google Maps or a similar service and you can see the exact location of your device. But what if the device is indoors or does not have access to GPS, internal or otherwise? Guardian 3rd will instead utilize cell-id data to determine approximate position and transmit that data. Even still, the app will continuously attempt to retrieve GPS data and once it becomes available it will transmit; even if that is hours after the command has been sent! Also noteworthy, cell-id data will also be transmitted automatically with the initial SMS in the event of a SIM change.

Once available, Guardian 3rd will be offered in three different variants. Platinum (includes all available functionality), Gold (some limitations) and Free (basic functionality). For a better idea of what each version entails, check out the December 16 entry on the Guardian 3rd page. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If you have the option to spend a small amount of money on a security utility this advanced and it will assist in protecting your investment of $400 - $800+ along with all of your private data, you would be crazy not to take advantage of it. Guardian 3rd is still in private beta but I’m fairly confident that we’ll see a public release soon enough. Once this great app does become available, rest assured I’ll post a notice.

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Wireless Labs have released Message Mirror for all S60 3rd Edition devices. Put simply, Message Mirror is a mirroring service for all incoming and outgoing messages. Upon installation and reboot of your handset, it will start to mirror all incoming and outgoing messages from your device. In the event you delete a message by accident or even on purpose you can retrieve it using Message Mirror.

Other features include the option to export your mirrored messages to another device using Bluetooth, Infrared or MMS as TEXT/HTML/CSV/XML file.

There is also an option to password protect Message Mirror giving you that peace of mind everything is securely protected from curious friends, spouses or even your parents.

The application is available in two editions, Lite and Standard. The Lite version is Freeware but does not support password protect, backup, detailed info and outgoing messages. The standard version is available for 8.50€ / $12.50 and includes updates to later versions and all aforementioned features.

For more information, to purchase or for the User Guide visit the Message Mirror website.

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Skyestream has just announced the release of their latest app titled SkyeSpy. My first mention of this app stirred up some interesting comments and emails but I’ll be curious to read your reactions now that the app is available for trial (if commenting ever works again on SiMo!). In a nutshell, SkyeSpy is a remote audio monitoring, detection and notification utility. Huh? Don’t worry, I’ll clarify… :)

With the operation and settings within SkyeSpy are quite versatile, the purpose of the app is relatively straight forward. SkyeSpy monitors the audio levels in your device’s surrounding environment and allows you to remotely monitor audio at any time, or via an alert once a defined audio level (volume) is exceeded. By placing your SkyeSpy-equipped S60 device in a remote location you can be alerted to audio volume elevations in the area surrounding your device in three unique ways:

1. SkyeSpy will send an SMS to a predetermined number
2. SkyeSpy will initiate a phone call to a predetermined number
3. SkyeSpy will automatically record an audio clip and transmit it via MMS to a predetermined number

Pretty cool! You can also call into your device at any time to immediately listen in on the surrounding sounds. Your incoming call will not ring on the device, so no one around will be alerted to the device’s presence or know that you are listening. Very Bondesque.

There are plenty of ways that this app can be used. Here’s an example I mentioned in the last post:

Just a few months ago my speedpass (a small keychain that you can use to pay for gasoline) was stolen while my car was parked in a garage and I didn’t even realize it until I got a call from the supplier asking why I was uncharacteristically spending hundreds of dollars each day on gas. If I had SkyeSpy at the time, I could have caught the attendant in the act and reported him to management.

Truth be told, many things have been stolen from me while parked in a garage or valet parked. I’ll definitely be testing this app out sometime this week while at a restaurant and we’ll see what really happens to my car while it’s out of my possession. Just imagine - if Cameron’s father had SkyeSpy back in the 80s, he might still be rocking his classic 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California today!

Definitely click through and check out the free trial provided by Skyestream. If you decide that you like it, they are also offering a limited-time 25% discount. Just make sure that you use SkyeSpy responsibly and don’t do anything illegal!

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