Fon11 Blog

Our collocation, HE Net, having router problem

Kevin — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:43:47 +0000

We just been told of router problem at the collocation. Some IP addresses are not accessible from outside. Most of our application servers are okay, except for the image server. Therefore, you will not see photos in some pages, unless they are coming from Flickr. It’s expected to be resolved by midnight tonight.

We will deliver Fon11 local apps

Kevin — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:48:38 +0000

We posted a comment on TechCrunch on why we will deliver a Fon11 local app. You can read Michael Arrington’s posting here. Our comment is as follow:

Michael – We (Mo’Blast) have been thinking about this for a while now. We started with local apps (on Windows Mobile and Nokia S60 using Java), and then we shifted to mobile Web (using the iPhone as a reference platform). We considered staying just in mobile Web. In the end, we decided that we are going to build local apps.

Why? The first reason is a go-to-market reason. We can’t get on the carriers’ decks and now iTune’s deck without a local app. I was hoping that the Apple SDK announcement might change the playing field. Now that Apple is also managing the deck like other carriers, I have decided that I will create local-app versions of our Fon11, OpenLandmark, and other future apps.

There is also a second reason. A European carrier has been telling me that by not shipping local apps, I’m leaving money on the table. People are willing to pay 5 Euros per download for useful applications, such as with location support and a faster user interface. If you do the numbers (given the huge carrier subscriber base), the revenue can be quite substantial for developers.

Actually, it’s not that bad to create separate local apps for the iPhone, Windows Mobile, Nokia, and Andrioid (not available yet) because of the interface builders. Forget about having a common local app code base. It’s not possible to create a user experience that is consistent with all devices. We already experienced the pain with Java 2 ME fragmentation. A common Java code for games is possible. There’s no way for social or business applications. Games have their own navigation. Apps must conform to the device’s navigation.

To play in both, developers must create a robust Web-based backend that can service both local apps and mobile Web platforms. This is very important. Carrier-grade scalability is key, especially on the carrier’s deck.

Regarding only one local app at a time, it’s not a big issue. The app can invoke an API on startup. Presence state can be managed with a time-out feature. It would be nice if we could update the inbox numbers on the Face page (like on the top right corner of Phone, Mail and SMS icons). I have not gone thru’ the API doc in detail. Does anyone know?

Trend - already supported by Fon11

Kevin — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:27:32 +0000

Right on…

Martin Sauter wrote on WirelessMoves…

” Trend: Mobile Internet Lookup Replaces Address Book Entries

Interesting to see how my handling of addresses and phone numbers has changed since mobile Internet access is possible for almost anywhere now. Here’s an example: Once or twice a year I need to call my shoemaker to bring in some shoes to repair and I need to know his opening hours. Of course I never remember his phone number but I am also just too lazy to create an entry in the address book of my mobile phone. No need anymore these days anyway since a simple Internet search from the phone with “shoemaker” + the town name and I get a web page with a clickable phone number to call instantly. It the small things that drive usability…”

If the shoemaker creates a landmark, it will appear in the Fon11 Landmarks page. From the Landmark page, Martin can initiate the call or request a map with one touch.

Another Chinese Blog: 会不会出现专门替iPhone打造的社区？

Kevin — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:42:29 +0000

会不会出现专门替iPhone打造的社区？

作者青成 | 2008-02-25 | 类型新兴技术 | 没有留言 »

iPhone的主人们，就像所有其他苹果产品的主人们，是一批有激情敢于尝试新技术的人群。一个专门为他们打造的社区？听起来是一个不错的主意，尤其是如果有合适的应用。当然，大的社区并没有遗忘移动社区，不过即使是Facebook的iPhone应用也只不过是其桌面软件的精简版。iPhone有定位功能，位置对于移动社区是非常重要的。

日本的移动社区非常发达，在那里用户可以通过移动社区提供的服务来交友。在社区内自己的信息里填写好兴趣爱好，当两个有着相似兴趣爱好的人遇到的时候（或者非常近），手机就能提醒主人，有个潜在的朋友可以认识一下哦。

当然，Facebook和MySpace肯定会推出类似的服务，尤其是在iPhone开发包发布之后。我们相信也会有很多初创公司想要涉足这一领域。Fon11就是其中一家。Fon11提供的服务只能通过iPhone才能访问，如果使用电脑进行访问只会显示有关该服务的介绍。不过有个办法能让您不用iPhone也能访问，如果您安装了Safari浏览器，您可以通过testiphone.com来模拟一台iPhone访问该网站。目前，该网站的服务还比较简单，甚至还不能使用iPhone的定位技术。

移动社区近日来开始受到各方关注。黑莓(BlackBerry)也是有着GPS定位的手机，而且有着广大的用户基础。相信黑莓也会有相应的社区诞生。同时，弯曲评论会留意谷歌Android的发展，毕竟移动是趋势，谷歌肯定想领导这一市场。

Fon11 discussion on Jeremiah Owyang’s blog

Kevin — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:11:09 +0000

Jeremiah wrote “Fon11 is a vendor planning on creating a social network for iPhone users. But why limit this to a particular phone type? Why not extend this to all mobile devices.”

Here is our reply on this blog:

Joshua, you’re right. iPhone is only our reference platform. Our strategy is to release a library of REST APIs for both Fon11 and OpenLandmark, and a development sand box. This is coming soon.  There are so many phones, and the platforms are very fragmented. We can easily modify the current mobile Web code to support other WebKit browsers. However, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile will require some rewrites. Phones without a full browser will require rich clients (local apps). It’s impossible for us to target so many platforms. Therefore, our strategy is to partner with independent developers to spread the network.

Jeremiah, thanks for raising the question. I also agree with the fatigue observation. Our goal is not to create another network, but to participate in existing networks. To put it in another way, we want to bring location-based services (LBS) and crowd computing (social network) to the applications we use everyday.

You can follow the active discussion on Jeremiah’s blog here.

German version of Peter S. Magnusson story

Kevin — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:41:44 +0000

Social Network als Killer-App?

Montag, 25. Februar 2008 11:16

Michael Arrington spielt aufTechCrunch mit der Idee eines“iPhone-only”-Netzwerks. Mit den richtigen Anwendungen könnte dies in der von sich überzeugten und elitären Gemeinde der iPhone-Nutzer zu einem Erfolg werden. Mit der entsprechenden Verbreitung wäre ein mobiles soziales Netzwerkwahrscheinlich für sämtliche Endgeräte ein Hammer. Man stelle sich vor - natürlich mit Zustimmung des Nutzers - könne man sehen, was die Freunde / Kollegen so machen und wo sie stecken. Mit derLokalisierungsfunktion wäre es leicht möglich - privat wie geschäftlich - zu erfahren, wer noch auf der Messe, dem Kongress oder der Party herumläuft.

Das amerikanische Startup Fon11macht das bereits ansatzweise. Für die großen Netzwerke wie Facebookoder Xing sollten das einfach zu realisierende Anwendungen sein. Sie haben bereits die kritische Masse an Nutzern. Mittels GPS oder der WPS-Lokalisierung von Skyhook Wireless ist die Ortung sogar in geschlossenen Räumen möglich.

Die Diskussion um Arringtons Artikel führt zu einem interessanten Blogeintragdes schwedischen Unternehmers Peter S. Magnusson. Seine Theorie lautet:Steve Jobs ist richtig gut in der Produktentwicklung, wenn er den Nutzer versteht. Doch Jobs versteht nicht das Nutzungsverhalten im 21 Jahrhundert. Es ist nicht mehr nur der eMail-Versand, der mobile Kommunikation ausmacht. Die Leute chatten, bloggen, tauschen Fotos, Filme und Songs. Sie diskutieren, verlinken, bewegen sich als Avatare durch künstliche Welten, stimmen ab und teilen ihr Wissen in Wikis. Jobs versteht nichts von Social Networks und genau das wäre die Killer-Applikation für das iPhone.

Fortune wrote about TechCrunch post

Kevin — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:05:21 +0000

Here is a “must-read” Fortune follow up to TechCrunch post “describing the promise of an iPhone-only social network — one that, among other things, could tell you where your friends are and what they’re up to at any time — hits a topic that a Swedish ex-pat named Peter S. Magnusson nailed back on July 1, 2007, three days after the iPhone was released.”

Check it out here.

This is really hilarious

Kevin — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:03:27 +0000

The screen is doctored, but it’s hilarious by Brandon Miles

Welcome to the (iPhone) Social

This article at TechCrunch poses the question, “Will there every be a (successful) iPhone-only social network?” They outline a Berkeley startup called Fon11which is working on just that.From the article: “iPhone owners, like users of most Apple products, are a fairly passionate, elitist group of people. I think an iPhone-only social network, if it had the right features, would be a huge hit with these users. Actually, I think any mobile social network would be a big hit, if it had presence awareness and was able to tell you both where your friends are and what they are up to. And also let you meet new people around you who were open to it.”What is kind of cool (and kind of scary) is that it seems they are trying to use the iPhone’s “Locate Me” technology to show you where your “friends” are in relation to your location. Have a friend who never tells you when they’re coming to town? If you are both a part of this network, you can be alerted when they show up. Get your landlord on here, and you’ll know when to turn the lights off and pretend your at work.

Fon11 in China

Kevin — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:58:04 +0000

Feb

会有一个（成功的）iPhone 专有的社交网络吗？

胡维 on 2008-02-25,18:22 评论(3) 引用(0) edit

本文原载于 TechCrunch，作者：Michael Arrington, 原文链接:[Will There Be A (Successful) iPhone-Only Social Network?]

iPhone 的拥有者，像大多数苹果产品的用户一样，是一个相当有活力的、杰出的人群。

我认为，一个 iPhone 专有（iPhone-only）的社交网络，如果它有合适的服务和特色，将会在 iPhone 用户群中取得巨大的成功。事实上，我觉得任何一个移动的社交网络，如果它有在线感知功能（presence awareness，当有处在同一网络的手机出现在你周围一定距离以内时自动提示），也能够显示你的朋友在哪儿，他们正在忙些什么，而且能够通过网络认识你周围的在线的陌生的人，它将会取得巨大的成功。

我去年九月写过一篇《移动社交网络的早期试验（early experiments with mobile social networks）》（相关的还有我们对 LimeJuice 的报道）。当然，大型的社交网络也没有忽视移动性。但是即使是 Facebook 的 iPhone app 也只不过是桌面版的优化精简版。它并不能够让 iPhone 告诉你什么时候你的朋友在附近。

这里的目标并不只是让用户看到他们的朋友在什么地方，正在干什么。它的杀手级应用在于促进新人之间相互认识，或者是为了约会（查看你周围每一位单身的照片，相貌，基本的个人信息简历），或者是商业用途（查看鸡尾酒会上每一位专业人士的个人信息简历和照片）。当然，还要遵循隐私控制。

一旦这个社交网络的用户达到临界的数量时，就需要隐私设置。用户到任何一个聚会上，都能够看到到场的人的信息。任何到场的人所获得的信息的价值要远远超过在 MySpace 和 Facebook 里得到的信息。社交网络就在于聚集，而聚集就意味着在其他人周围。人们聚会时随身携带并且能够增进社交的设备就是手机。要实现这些应用的关键是通过 GPS 或手机网络的发射塔来定位（iPhone 已经实现）。

我们所报道的移动社交网络还没有一个能够达到临界的用户量，赢的关键就在于争夺那些拥有GPS或手机发射塔定位功能的手机用户，用手机软件应用取代用手机直接访问社交网站点。在欧洲，手机获得 Java apps 要比在美国容易多，这也是为什么大多数移动社交网络都诞生在欧洲。

尽管 iPhone 上拥有两种社交网络，或者更确切地说将会有两种（允许第三方应用的软件开发工具包 SDK 发布将可能会被推迟）。一旦 SDK 发布，肯定会刮起一场 iPhone 第三方应用的小旋风，并且出现一个 iPhone 上的社交网络。

我猜想，前面的奔跑者将会是 Facebook 和 MySpace，他们会尽快让他们的用户在 iPhone 安装软件，而且会为那些选择共享信息的用户添加实时位置信息。

但新启动的移动社交网络也同样会出现，有一个让它变得与众不同的方法可能是让这个社交网络仅对 iPhone 开发，不接受其他手机。这种排他性因素可能会是一个正确的选择来吸引足够多的 iPhone 用户来启动服务。

Fon11－－尝试

我们跟踪的位于加州伯克莱的 Fon11 就是一个，他们的计划就是做这个。他们的服务已经在通过 iPhone 的网络浏览器在工作了。事实上，你只能通过 iPhone 才能使用——这是你注册帐户、添加朋友或做任何其他事的唯一方式。这个网站，如果是从 iPhone 以外的其他的浏览器访问，只会显示服务的相关信息。（注释：其实不完全是这样的，你可以先到 testiphone.com 网站，然后通过这个站点进入 fon11.com/home，就能够看到和在 iPhone 上显示的一样的页面，当然只有用 Safari 浏览器才行。）

这项服务现在还只能显示非常有限的“在线/状况”信息，它不能使用 iPhone 的手机网络的发射塔定位功能。所以他们设立了一项单独的服务叫做OpenLandmark 可以显示人们所处位置的信息（对你经常出入的地点有很好的效果）。这项服务受到了苹果 iPhone 开发团队的注意。并且在本月早期的时候得到 iPhone 团队的认可。

黑莓（BlackBerry）拥有真正的 GPS，并且允许在其手机上安装第三方应用。Google 的 Android 也同样会作这些东西。不过有东西告诉我 iPhone 的用户可能会是加入移动社交网络的第一大群体，而且他们也最不会介意让同一个屋子里的人知道，原来他们都是苹果教派一分子。

类别: 事件标签: iPhone, Social Network

这个应用很牛逼，以前我们酒吧的时候，就有过类似的想法，为什么不能不用搭讪就得到美女的资料呢。

我觉得应该建立一个平台，不只是苹果手机可以加入。

其實類似的概念，幾年前就有人提出來了。只是硬體的 info structure 還沒 ready。今年會是很精彩的「行動之年」。

另外，Navizon 也有點類似概念的應用。。。

@ISYS 388 wrote about Fon11

Kevin — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:44:47 +0000

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2008

A better social network device: iPhone

Electronic device is getting new and updated nowadays since people have a demand of high technology in order to improve their life quality. For examples, people used cassette player or walkman to listen music, but later they chose CD or MD player, and now most of them probably are using mp3 player such as Ipod. The reason is that more and more features are improved and installed in the device to fulfill people’s demand. People are attracted by the most updated products because they are improving people’s quality of life. The article “Will There Be A (Successful) iPhone-Only Social Network?” by Michael Arrington in Techcrunch.com can support my point of view. There is no doubt that iPhone is one of the best soical network device.IPhone is not just a mobile phone, but a multi high technology features electronic device. Youtube, music, movie, photos, wireless internet, and GPS are the basic and popular functions installed in iPhone. In the article, Michael Arrington mentions that Fon11 is an iPhone based social network, which is a live phonebook and a friend locator. It helps the users to get know of the people around themselves. Although Ipod has a function of sharing music library in a local network, it is just a way of sharing files. Comparing to Fon 11 in iPhone, Fon 11 is an excellent way to help people having more friends, maybe they will become a couples later.Moreover, comparing to the video conference service in 3G mobile phone, meaning to make face-to-face communication simultaneously anytime and anywhere with using the 3G (third generation of) mobile phone (http://www.three.com.hk/website/template?pageid=41100&lang=eng), Fon11 in iPhone can have better archievement in helping people socialized. It is because even though people can see each other’s face during the call, people cannot socialize very much to know more friends who they did not know before by enjoying this features.Therefore, I would not say iPhone is the best and the most successful social network device in our community, but iPhone with the software such as Fon11 is really a very outstanding product to help people having or getting into a social life.