The latest from TechCrunch
- Stalqer Peers Into Your iPhone For A New Level Of Location-Based Creepiness
- Sprint Drops Call Forwarding Fees With Google Voice In Mind
- Consumer Review: The Best Smartphones On The Market
- Live Gamer Looks To Capitalize On Virtual Goods Boom
| Stalqer Peers Into Your iPhone For A New Level Of Location-Based Creepiness | Top |
| Foursquare and Loopt have put location-based social networks on the map, and have potentially created a viable business model as well. Now there’s a new kid on the block, called Stalqer, which best described as a Foursquare on steroids. The iPhone app, which will be free, should hit the app store in the next few hours. In theory, Stalqer is very similar to Foursquare in that it tracks your and your friends’ locations and broadcasts this information via the application and through push notifications. But one of the key differentiators is the fact that Stalqer updates the location in the background, which Foursquare, and most other apps, don’t do at the moment. This is because the device does not allow third party apps to run in the background. But Stalqer has found a way to record your location without you having to actually open up the application. So how does Stalqer do it? The app sets up an email account which operates in the background, and collects large amount of data out of the POP or IMAP handshake relevant to location, primarily via the IP address. Stalqer’s founder Mick Johnson also tells me that the app contains iPhone configuration profiles that make it easy to install an email account pointing to Stalqer’s servers on the user’s iPhone. So when the phone checks for mail, the app gets a location point, which Johnson says happens on average, every 15 minutes Johnson adds that the app uses DNS trickery to ensure that it WiFi IP addresses whenever possible (because they have the best location accuracy). By inserting an artificial delay in the DNS lookup, the WiFi hardware is running when the actual POP interaction occurs. Johnson says that without this trick, you only get the more reliable WiFi IP’s about 40% of the time. Loopt has also found a work-around the whole background update issue by partnering with other companies in the mobile industry for an "Always-On Location Service (which costs users $3.99 per month). In addition to background functionality, Stalqer lets you import your Facebook friends, via Facebook Connect, to the app. If your friends have made their general location public via Facebook, The app then syncs your friends with your iPhone contacts and will then show you where your friends are. So, Stalqer will basically pull any public information about your friend (i.e. what city they live in) and show where the friends is on your application, if if they haven’t downloaded the app. At the moment, you cannot see anyone on Stalqer who is not your friend on Facebook. You can see your friends’ locations via a list format and on a detailed, high quality map. Similar to FourSquare, you can check into listed locations rather then just the app recording your location via an IP address. Stalqer has close to a half million bars and restaurants listed in the U.S and you can add locations as well. Stalqer will steadily add non-U.S. locations in the future. The app is actually missing one of the key gaming aspects of FourSquare—the ability to collect badges or mayorships. Since the app operates in conjunction with an email account and your address book, it allows you to conduct a conversation with your Stalqer friends within the app. The app also features an augmented reality view of your friends’ locations. And while Slaqer is only available for the iPhone, Johnson is hoping to roll out versions for the Blackberry and Android in the future. So for me, the key issue with this app is privacy. The background location technology is certainly innovative but I really feel strange about Facebook friends knowing where I am at all times, even if I have not started up the app on my phone. Privacy has been an issue with Foursquare and I suspect that it will become an issue for Stalqer. But Johnson says that Stalqer has very powerful security settings that let you specify whether you want your location broadcasted and you can also indicate specific friends who can see your check-ins. Plus you can make sure the app only shows your greater surround area (i.e. San Francisco) vs. your exact location within the city. And you can make customer lists with close family and friends who can see your detailed whereabouts. At the moment, Stalqer isn’t monetizing the app because Johnson is waiting to see if the app will gain popularity. And Johnson adds that Stalqer is aimed towards a younger crowd (which is apparent from it’s demo video ), who may not be as concerned with the privacy issues. Stalqer seems to be focused exclusively on broadcasting background location and tapping into your social graph via Facebook whereas Foursquare’s new app includes gaming, Twitter integration and a few more bells and whistles. But Foursquare is addictive and Stalqer could be too, if you really want to stalk your Facebook friends. Of course, Facebook is rumored to be launching their own location based technologies, so it should be interesting to see how that effects Stalqer. Crunch Network : CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. | |
| Sprint Drops Call Forwarding Fees With Google Voice In Mind | Top |
| As the endless brouhaha ringing from all corners of the Internet has proven, AT&T (or Apple, or whoever takes the blame in the end) really dropped the ball on this Google Voice thing . Whether it was rejected outright or shelved indefinitely, competing parties have been quick to play on their delays. First, Palm essentially put third-party Google Voice dialer gDialPro on its shoulders and carried it across the finish line by ensuring that it was one of the first (and still one of just a few) applications to land on the webOS App Catalog. Now, Sprint has come along and done something rare: they’ve dropped long-established fees. With Google Voice’s new keep-your-number feature in mind, Sprint will be doing away with the call forwarding fees associated with third-party voicemail services come mid-November. Read the rest of this entry at MobileCrunch >> Crunch Network : CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 | |
| Consumer Review: The Best Smartphones On The Market | Top |
| With the Holiday Season nearly upon us, we at TechCrunch thought it would behoove us to share with everyone a definitive list of the best smartphones currently available (or launching shortly ), so as to help with any possible purchasing decisions which may occur in the upcoming months. In making our decisions, we looked at these phones from the standpoint of the consumer. Thus, developer struggles , business security, and other such problems were not taken into account. Instead, functionality, price, and the overall usefulness of various smartphones made up the criteria which we adhered to during our reviews. These phones can be found on a multitude of carriers, operating systems, and continents. Feel free to comment below on the merits of this list of the best smart phones currently available. iPhone 3GS You know you’re on top when phone manufacturers are constantly struggling to produce an “iPhone killer” . The iPhone 3GS boasts a massive App Store (with nearly 100,000 apps now), the largest developer base, and is simply put, the best phone on the market. Status : Launched June 19th, 2009 on ATT Screen : 3.5-inch 480 x 320-pixel resolution at 163 ppi widescreen Multi-Touch display Dimensions : 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm; 135 grams Camera : 3 megapixels w/ AutoFocus, No flash Battery : 1150 mAh Li-Ion Standby Time : 300 hours Talk Time : Up to 12 hours on 2G; Up to 5 hours on 3G Processor : Samsung S5PC100; 600 MHz Internal/External Memory : 16GB or 32GB Extras : 3.5mm Headset jack, accelerometer, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled Operating System: iPhone OS Price: $199 for 16 GB; $299 for 32GB Motorola Droid If any phone is going to challenge the iPhone’s supremacy, it will be the Verizon Droid . The Droid is on a superior network than the iPhone, and will be running Android 2.0 which has a much improved user interface over previous versions of Android. Status : Rumored to be announced October 28th; Verizon Wireless. Screen : 3.7-inch/480×854 Full Touchscreen with Full QWERTY Slider Dimensions : 60 x 115.8 x 13.7 mm; 169 grams Camera : 5.0 Megapixels with AutoFocus Battery : Li-ion 1400mAh Standby Time : 450 Hours Talk Time :7 Hours Processor : Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 processor; 600MHz Internal/External Memory : 512MB Flash, 256MB RAM/MicroSD (16GB capacity) Extras : 3.5mm Headset jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled Operating System: Android 2.0 Price: Unknown Palm Pre The Palm Pre signaled the resurrection of Palm. It is well-designed, and has a very promising OS, which if tweaked and improved slightly, can challenge any OS on the market. Status : Available June 6th on Sprint. Available October 13 in Germany and October 16 in UK and Ireland Screen : 3.1-inch touch screen with 24-bit color 320×480 resolution HVGA display and full QWERTY keyboard Dimensions : 100.5 x 59.5 x 16.95 mm; 135 grams Camera : 3 megapixel camera with LED flash and AutoFocus Battery : 1150 mAh Standby Time : 250 Hours Talk Time : 5 Hours Processor : Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 processor; 600MHz Internal/External Memory : 8 GB Extras : 3.5mm Headset jack, accelerometer, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled Operating System: Palm webOS Price: $149.99 HTC Hero/T-Mobile G2 Touch/Sprint HTC Hero The inclusion of HTC Sense makes the Hero the best Android phone currently on the market. It is fast, stylish, and easy to use. Status : HTC Hero Launched July 24th for Orange UK. T-Mobile G2 Touch Launched July 29th. Screen : 3.2-inch/ 320×480 HVGA resolution; Full Touchscreen/TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen Dimensions : 112 x 56.2 x 14.35 mm ; 135 grams Camera : 5 Megapixels with AutoFocus Battery : 1350 mAh Lithium-ion battery Standby Time : Up to 750 hours for WCDMA, Up to 440 hours for GSM Talk Time :Up to 420 minutes for WCDMA, Up to 470 minutes for GSM Processor : Qualcomm® MSM7200A™, 528 MHz Internal/External Memory :288MB/MicroSD 2.0 Extras : 3.5mm Headset jack, Wi-Fi, accelerometer, Bluetooth and GPS enabled Operating System: Android Price: $179.99 BlackBerry Bold The BlackBerry Bold is RIM’s crowning achievement thus far and the impending Bold 9700 should see widespread adoption. Status : Available on AT&T; Bold 9700 available November 2nd, 2009 Screen : 2.6 inch Half VGA resolution Dispay Screen; 480 x 320 pixels; 65,000 colors Dimensions : 114 x 66 x 15; 136 grams Camera : 2.0 MP w/ AutoFocus Battery : Li – Ion, 1500 mAh Standby Time : 324 hours Talk Time : 4.5 hours Processor : 624 MHz Internal/External Memory : 1 GB Extras : 3.5mm Headset jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS capable with extended ephemeris Operating System: BlackBerry OS Price: $199.99 HTC Magic/T-Mobile MyTouch 3G The MyTouch 3G is an easy to use, stylish Android phone. The absence of a standard 3.5mm headset jack is a bit of a disappointment, but otherwise this phone is quite powerful and useful. Furthermore, Mike quit the iPhone for the MyTouch, and that has to mean something. Status : HTC Magic Launched May 1, 2009 and July 10th, 2009 in Japan; MyTouch 3G launched July 8, 2009. Available through T-Mobile, Vodafone, and Docomo Screen :3.2″ /320 x 480 HVGA Touchscreen/TFT, TFD, LCD 262k Dimensions : 113 x 55 x 13 mm; 118.5 grams Camera : 3.2 Megapixels with AutoFocus (MyTouch has a 5MP camera) Battery : 1340 mAh Lithium-ion battery Standby Time : 420 hours Talk Time : 7.5 Hours Processor : Qualcomm® MSM7201a™, 528 MHz Internal/External Memory :192/288 MB (Underclocked)/ MicroSD up to 32GB Extras : HTC ExtUSB Headset Jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled Operating System: Android Price: $99.99 (T-Mobile MyTouch $149.99) BlackBerry Storm 2 The BlackBerry Storm 2, while an improvement over its predecessor, still lacks the “wow” factor necessary to push it higher up on this list. Status : Available on Verizon Wireless October 28th, 2009 Screen : 3.25 inch 360 x 480 pixel touchscreen; 65k colors Dimensions : 112.5 x 62.2 x 13.9 mm; 160 grams Camera : 3.2 Megapixels w/ LED flash and AutoFocus Battery : 1400 mAh Li-Ion Standby Time : 270 hours Talk Time : 5.5 hours Processor : 528 MHz Qualcomm processor Internal/External Memory : 2 GB/16 GB microSD Extras : 3.5 mm headset, GPS, bluetooth, and wi-fi enabled Operating System: BlackBerry OS Price: $179.99 BlackBerry Tour Our biggest qualm with the BlackBerry Tour is its lack of Wi-Fi. Other than that however, the Tour is a great phone if you’re a chronic email user or if you text message a lot. Status : Available on July 12, 2009 through Verizon and Sprint. Screen : 2.4 inch 480×360 pixel display screen; 65,000 colors Dimensions : 112 x 62 x 14.2 mm; 130 grams Camera : 3.2 Megapixels with AutoFocus Battery : 1400 mAHr removable/rechargeable cryptographic lithium cell Standby Time : 336 Hours Talk Time : 5 Hours Processor : 528 MHz Qualcomm processor Internal/External Memory : 256 MB RAM Extras : 3.5mm Headset jack, Bluetooth and GPS enabled. No Wi-Fi nor accelerometer Operating System: BlackBerry OS Price: $149.99 Nokia E71x The Nokia E71x is a sleek and stylish phone, but like the Magic, lacks a 3.5mm headset jack. Nonetheless, this phone is just right for those on a budget, given its $99.99 price tag. Status : Available on AT&T Screen : 2.4″ LCD (Color TFT/TFD) display screen; 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA); 16.7 million (24-bit) Dimensions :114 x 57 x 10 mm; 126g Camera : 3.2MP w/ Autofocus and Flash Battery : BP-4L 1500 mAh Li-Po standard battery Standby Time : 480 hours Talk Time : 4.5 hours Processor : ARM 11, 369 MHz Internal/External Memory : 110MB/ MicroSD Extras : 2.5mm Headset jack, bluetooth, wi-fi, and GPS enabled Operating System: Symbian OS Price: $99.00 Crunch Network : CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 | |
| Live Gamer Looks To Capitalize On Virtual Goods Boom | Top |
| On the heels of its recent acquisitions of microtransaction platforms Twofish and N-Cash, Live Gamer, an online marketplace for players to trade and buy video game virtual goods, is seeing success in managing virtual economies for online games, virtual worlds and social networks. In conjunction with game makers, Live Gamer's platform lets online game players trade virtual goods they earn in games. The company is using Twofish and N-Cash’s micropayments technologies to power commerce in these gaming marketplaces. Gaming customers including Everyplay (Finland), friendscook, Fotochatter, Hangout, Hooked and Radius IM (United States), ph03nix (Canada) and GPM (Korea) are using Live Gamer’s virtual goods exchange to power an economy platform around their games. Live Gamer’s platform includes virtual currency and virtual item systems, inventory management, publisher-sponsored secondary market trading, analytics, fraud management and support features. Currently, Live Gamer has over 72 customers and supports over 56 million registered users across all of partner implementations, exceeding 3 million micro-transactions per month. Live Gamer co-founder and president Andrew Schneider said that the microtransaction and gaming industries are evolving at such a rapid pace, that the requirement for his company extends beyond just creating a safe e-commerce transaction. He says that with competition and innovation, virtual economies include a host of more robust and interactive features, including advanced merchadising of virtual goods. Schneider said that Live Gamer is also particularly excited about Apple’s recent ruling to allow in-app commerce for free apps. He see this as new and potentially huge dimension for microtransactions and payments to gain even more momentum in the space, and says that Live Gamer will definitely be trying to be a part of this opportunity in the future. Competitors to Live Gamer include PlaySpan (which also made a recent acquisition of a micropayments startup). Crunch Network : CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. | |
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