Posts Tagged ‘Handy’
Mobiles Internet ist den meisten zu teuer
18 Aug. 2009 | Author: Ute De Mitri |
Lokale Suche bewährt sich vor allem unterwegs mit dem Handy. Glaubt man den Hamburger Marktforschern von Fittkau & Maß, dann sind die heutigen Kosten für die Nutzung des mobilen Internets dabei jedoch ein ganz klarer Hemmschuh.
Teure Tarife sind der Studie zufolge mehr als 70 Prozent der Befragten ein Dorn im Auge und demzufolge die Hauptursache dafür, dass die Deutschen mit ihrem Handy das Internet nach wie vor eher meiden. Nur jeder vierte Befragte geht überhaupt mal mit seinem Mobilfunkgerät ins Netz. Neben den hohen Preisen ist immerhin noch für 44 Prozent die mangelnde Usability mobiler Internetseiten ein Hinderungsgrund.
Posted in Local Search on the go, Local Search per Mobile phone, Local Search, Studies, News | 
Tags: Handy, Kosten, Marktforscher, mobil, mobiles internet, Studie, Local Search | 
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Poynt – lokale Suche für BlackBerry Smartphones
12 Jun. 2009 | Author: AWo |
Poynt, eine lokale Such-Applikation für BlackBerry-Handys des kanadischen Unternehmens Multiplied Media, stand bislang nur in den USA und Kanada zur Verfügung. Nun gibt’s den Dienst auch für deutsche Nutzer.
Dazu kooperiert Multiplied Media mit der Searchteq GmbH, dem Betreiber der lokalen Suchmaschine suchen.de. Diese liefert die Datenbasis für die deutsche Version des Dienstes. Laut einer Pressemitteilung können Poynt-User dadurch nun auch in Deutschland über ihr BlackBerry-Smartphone Geschäfte, Ämter, Dienstleister oder andere Anbieter in ihrer Nähe finden. Zu den jeweiligen Treffern erhält man auch weiterführende Informationen wie Adressen oder Telefonnummern. Um den Ausgangspunkt für seine Suche zu bestimmen, könne sich der Nutzer entweder über GPS auf seinem Handy lokalisieren lassen oder manuell einen Ort festlegen. Poynt ist kostenlos und für BlackBerry-Nutzer in Deutschland vom BlackBerry-Browser erreichbar über http://m.mypoynt.com.
Nuremberg: cellphone positioning via WiFi launched
For approximately two years, the Fraunhofer Institut für Integrierte Schaltungen (IIS) has been testing a special WiFi-based cellphone location system in Nuremberg. (See our post). Apparently successful, the project is about to launch in combination with the first applications for end users.
In a press release, the Institute elaborated; the advantages of WiFi-location over other localization solutions such as GPS, is that it also works within buildings. GPS in contrast offers limited accuracy or at times no position at all. WiFi-based positioning therefore helps not only in pedestrian malls, but also in shopping centers, Underground stations, airports and parking garages. A change between inside and outside location is easily implemented. As the autark technology developed by the Institute is installed directly on the end device, such as a WiFi-enabled cellphone or PDA, no central overview or tracking is possible (quelling the usual red flags from the privacy advocates).
The IIS is collaborating with IT2media, a daughter company of the Nuremberg Telephone Directory publisher Hans Müller on this project. Hans Müller director Dr. Gerhard Baier, in a press release, announce that a range of applications for download will be available sometime in April – general area information detailing localized information such as cafés, restaurants, banks (with support infomations such as phone numbers with direct dialing) etc.
According to the Institute, the test area will be expanded to Munich and Berlin for the next phase. Further cities will follow, also outside of Germany.
Posted in Local Search on the go, Local Search per Mobile phone, Localization technology, News |
Tags: Fraunhofer-Institut für Integrierte Schaltungen, Handy, IIS, IT2Media, Nürnberg, Ortung, PDA, Smartphone, Telefonbuchverlag Hans Müller, WLAN, WLAN-Lokalisierung, WLAN-Positionierung |
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Android handsets: new local services
There is a new version of Android, Google’s mobile platform, making the use of Google maps easier. Further, the search engine giant has launched “My Tracks”, a new localized service for mobile phones running on this platform.
Android 1.1 has been available since the start of February 2009, as mentioned in by the smartphone platform developer in its blog. This update delivers many improvements and new features, as listed in the release notes. One new function is that for Google Maps, allowing users of local search to display details and ratings for search results generated.
Only a couple of days after this release, Google unveiled a new application “My Tracks” for the G1-mobile phone. With the help of GPS, it tracks the routing of users of the application. How this is implemented is outlined by Dylan Casey in the official Google Blog. Using this application, one can for example, record routes travelled while engaging in sport-activities like cycling, jogging or hiking, and display these for private or public consumption. The app registers also the average speed of the user, distances and altitude. One can export this data via spreadsheets to Google Docs, allowing for a quick overview of training and other stats.
Posted in Local Search on the go, Local Search per Mobile phone, Local Search, News, Local Search Engines, Practical features |
Tags: Android, Android 1.1, Betriebssystem, Bewertungen, Details, G1, Google, google maps, GPS, Handy, My Tracks, Plattform, Smartphone |
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DasÖrtliche and HRS: free hotel reservations by cellphone
DasÖrtliche now offers its users a practical new feature. Using its mobile portal, cellphone users can book hotel rooms, using a free phone call.
This is made possible by cooperation between the telecommunication directory with the hotel booking service “Hotel Reservation Service” (HRS).
Users with internet-capable phones en route, who access mobil.dasoertliche.de, to search for suitable hotel accommodation, are then forwarded to the HRS-hotel site. As detailed in a press release, users who click on a hotel link will be rerouted through the HRS-call center, where a direct free telephone connection to the hotel is facilitated. If the desired accommodation is full, the user can then return to the HRS site and try suitable alternatives.
mySonar: local community with ‘currency’
Using mySonar, a local web community, members can find friends, dates, parties, as well as locations such as restaurants, cafés, gyms or gas stations in their immediate vicinity, using either cell phone or PC.
The operators, mySonar GbR, in a press release explained: purely by entering one’s current location and the desired search radius. At the start of the service in July 2008, mySonar already offered almost 30,000 such locations in their databank. According to the service, there is now access to more than 61,000 similar locations across Germany.
If your favorite location is not yet available, one can simply register it oneself, and even be rewarded for the entry using the so-called $onars. $onars are a community currency, with which users can send SMS or pay mySonar partners for entry or services. The latter is actually a really good ad idea, enabling those firms accepting the $onars to gain new clients and to reserve ad-space on mySonar.
Those wishing to use mySonar must register and needs either a PC or internet-ready mobile device. The service requires no software installation and is free. However the standard (internet/telephonic) connection fees apply.
skobbler – cell phone navigation and Local Search with User Generated Content
As of the end of September, skobbler has been in ‘public beta’ status and as such is available o the general public.
Developed originally by the Hamburg navigation provider Navigon, skobbler was rounded out in September and now run by skobbler GmbH in Hamburg. The name ’skobbler’, according to Oliver Kühn, a member of the management team, in an entry in the company’s blog, is derived from the Latin word “copula” – meaning tie, cable or connection. By their own statement, skobbler wants to bring people together.
skobbler has two strengths. One is the so-called off board navigation system for cell phones, where the required data is only sent upon request from the server to the end device, incurring costs to the user for data, calculated according to the providers and contracts involved. Otherwise skobbler is free. To use the system for navigation, the user needs a GPS-enabled device or external add-on, plus the “skobbler mobil” software, which is available on the website. There, users can also check on compatibility with mobile devices.
The offering above doesn’t differ much from other similar alternative competitor solutions such as Ö-Navi (see our post), however one specialty of skobbler is that alongside a route planner option for motorists using distances under 5 km, a special pedestrian navigation option is available.
The other strength of skobbler is their locality-specific search and ratings platform with ‘community-character’ on the Internet. There, registered users can perform a local search, for cafés or hairdressers in a particular location, and also rate them and upload appropriate photos. In an interview with Locale Suche Blog, Oliver Kühn detailed how the service uses data from providers including Navteq and Mecomo, as well as User generated Content (UGC). Also really neat is the SMS-function – search result addresses discovered through the local search option, can also be sent to the user via free SMS. The extensive contents of the website is also accessible per mobile devices using local search.
Posted in Web Communities, Local Search per PC, Local Search on the go, Local Search per Mobile phone, Local Search, Localization technology, News, Practical features |
Tags: Auskunftsportal, Bewertungsportal, Community, Fußgänger, google maps, Handy, Handy-Navi, lokale Informationen, Mecomo, Mobiltelefon, Navigationsystem, Navigon, Navteq, Netzwerk, Ö-Navi, Oliver Kühn, skobbler, UGC, User Generated Content, web2.0, Wegbeschreibung |
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Google Maps mobil hört zu
30 Jul. 2008 | Author: AWo |
Die mobile Ausgabe der lokalen Suchmaschine Google Maps kann nun auch per Spracheingabe gesteuert werden. Allerdings befindet sich dieser Dienst noch im Test und ist bislang nur in den USA für wenige Handy-Modelle verfügbar.
Wie die Google-Mitarbeiter Jonathan Matus und Luca Zanolin im Google Mobile Blog berichten, können Besitzer von Black-Berry-Geräten (Pearl 8110, 8120 und 8130) in den USA nun ihre lokale Suchanfrage nach Unternehmen ins Handy sprechen, statt sie über die Tastatur einzugeben.
Besonders praktisch sei diese Art der Suche dann, wenn man gerade nicht tippen könne, der Name des Unternehmens lang sei oder man nicht wisse, wie der Name buchstabiert werde. Die Suche per Stimme sei einfach. Man halte – nachdem man die Kartenansicht auf den eigenen Standort zentriert habe – die Sprachwahltaste auf der linken Seite des Black-Berry und spreche den Namen oder die Branche des gesuchten Unternehmens. Darauf hin lasse man den Knopf wieder los, worauf die Spracherkennungstechnik die Frage interpretiere und das gewünschte Unternehmen finde.
Dieses neue Google-Maps-Feature nutzt die gleiche Spracherkennungstechnik wie die kostenlose computergesteuerte Telefonauskunft GOOG-411 des Suchmaschinenriesen (wir berichteten), erklären Matus und Zanolin. Allerdings scheint die Genauigkeit noch nicht vollständig zu überzeugen, denn die beiden Googler versprechen auch, dass sich die Technik im Laufe der Zeit, wenn mehr Leute diese Suchfunktion per Spracheingabe nutzen, verbessern werde.
Media Directory Association awards “Branch Oscars”
The Association of German Information and Directory Media (VDAV) recently presented the German Directory Media Prize 2008.
As reported by the VDAV, the winner was announced during the VDAV-BranchMeet, a congress of the German directory media industry, which took place from 18 -20 June 2008 in Bremen. The ‘Branch Oscars’ were assigned in three categories for especially innovative products and applications.
In the ‘Electronic Directory Media’, the victor was the free mobile phone navigation Ö-Navi, a product of DasÖrtliche. This free software has been on offer by the telecommunications directory portal since mid-2007, with which one can effectively convert a mobile phone into a navigation device. Financed entirely through adverts, the user receives not only a route description, but also has access to the entire online-database of DasÖrtliche, therewith all private and business addresses and is able to connect this data to the navigation interface.
The decision of the award for second place was deemed problematic by the 6-person jury, resulting in a tie for 2nd place. The first of the ’silver’ prizes went to the mobile version of meinestadt.de. The mobile version of the town-portal was praised by VDAV, according to its operators Allesklar.com AG, especially for its wide-spectrum offering of local information, including their mobile ’situations vacant’ section and the ability to receive job training classifieds, via free SMS.
The 2nd ‘Silver’ trophy went to the online-cooperation between the association “gesundheitstadt berlin” (en=’health city berlin’) and the branch portal “gewusst wo” (en=’knowing where’). The operators of gewusst-wo.de, the publications group Beleke, announced this in a press release.
Alongside the digital sphere, prizes were also awarded to print media and marketing-events. All prize winners can be found on the VDAV website.
Posted in Local Search on the go, Local Search per Mobile phone, Local Search, News, Practical features |
Tags: dasoertliche, DeTeMedien, Handy, Handynavigation, lokale Informationen, meinestadt, meinestadt.de, mobile lokale Suche, Navigation, Navigationsgerät, Ö-Navi, Städteportal, VDAV, VDAV-Branchentreff, Verzeichnisdienst, VerzeichnismedienPreis |
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GoLocal.de now available out and about
At the beginning of March 2008, the local ratings platform GoLocal.de was launched (see our report). And as then announced, its operators GoLocal GmbH&Co. KG (a daughter of GoYellow Media AG) implemented a mobile version of this Web2.0 portal in June 2008.
As detailed by the operators in a press release, the whole ‘desktop’ offering is now available in a mobile equivalent (accessed at m.golocal.de) and useable on any internet-ready mobile device.
GoLocal mobile phone or PDA users can now search for providers in a chosen town, such as businesses, restaurants or doctors, call up event listings and also view the location of the generated results on a map. To do this, one enters the desired ‘location’ (town/postal code and a key word, and a list of results is presented. An aside– in our test, the entry of a street name as a search word did not work for us. Pity too, that there is no Route Planner.
As to be expected for a ratings portal, the user can call up location rankings assigned by fellow users, as well as creating further ratings themselves. Anyone is able to score short ratings, without being registered. Whoever so wishes, can choose from preselected key words and assigned up to 5 stars. In order to rate in more detail, registration is required. Using the mobile version of GoLocal.de, the same username and password as the desktop-version are valid. Members can also save their most-liked locations under ‘Favorites’, save interesting events (under ‘My Events’) or flag specific locations under the ‘Notes’ (de=’Merkzettel’) section.
