We outgrew this WordPress hosted blog & site, so we’ve transferred all the content over & have expanded at http://www.PointAbout.com. Come visit our new site and expanded blog!
New PointAbout Update
We’ve recently released a new version of PointAbout on the Apple appstore. Its freely available here: http://install.pointabout.com
Here are a few of the enhancements:
1. Faster loading time of the homepage
2. Shows all of your apps on the homepage instead of having to scroll.
3. Increased messaging to alert you of any errors with the network or during location aquisition.
This is our most stable release to date and we think you’ll be happy with the results. Feel free to send any updates or suggestions to us.
PointAbout Featured in TechJournal South
PointAbout was featured in the TechJournal South today for its role in powering the MyTalk mobile social networking application. You can read the full article here.
University 311 Reporting System
PointAbout is working with several institutions to create a new type of reporting & alerting system – one where the users are the eyes & ears of the system, and can send user-generated reports into the institution. This is putting an entirely new spin on “311″ style non-emergency reporting and alerting.
To demonstrate this technology, we have created a fictional university called “ACME University,” which in the video above has implemented the 311 reporting & alerting system. Here’s how it would work:
An institution, say a university, would private-label PointAbout’s 311 reporting application so it showed the university’s brand. The university would then distribute this application to students across the various types of mobile devices they carry.
Students can then use the application to report maintenance items, noise disturbances, and much more. The trouble tickets they submit can also be managed through this application. Since the application is web-based, it can be changed & modified by the institution as desired.
Additionally, PointAbout’s Application Gallery allows for the institution to add a list of complimentary, related applications for students to use, such as local metro or bus system schedules, free wi-fi locations, etc. This increases the “stickiness” of the application.
This 311 reporting type system isn’t limited to use in universities. Condo or apartment buildings, for example, could private-label this application and distribute it to residents for them to be the eyes & ears of the building. Home Owner’s Associations or Neighborhood Watch organizations could likewise use this reporting tool for their communities. The possibilities and opportunities are vast! If you’d like to discuss applying this to your organization, please contact us.
Park It DC Using PointAbout for an iPhone Application
Park It DC, a silver medal winner in Washington, DC’s Apps for Democracy contest, is utilizing PointAbout’s thin-client springboard to create a location-aware downloadable iPhone version of the Park It DC web application.
You can follow its progress on Shaun Farrell’s blog. He is the creator of Park It DC.
How he’s doing it: Since PointAbout wraps a web micro-site with our native thin-client springboard, it’s an easy lift for Shaun to re-code his full-fledged Park It DC website application as a limited-functionality web-based microsite that renders well as a mobile iPhone web application.
Then, PointAbout wraps that microsite with our thin-client native iPhone code and we turn it into a private-labeled iPhone application, complete with its own icon and loading screen.
That application can then be distributed through the iTunes App Store. Anyone who downloads the Park It DC iPhone application will in reality be downloading a private-labeled version of PointAbout that opens directly into Shaun’s web micro-site.
By using PointAbout, Shaun is able to get the mobile user’s location off the phone, and into his site, so he can utilize that location to show the most relevant information to the user. So even though Shaun doesn’t have to do too much, he can still gain the functionality of a full-fledged native iPhone application while still being able to code in HTML standards.
Shaun, we can’t wait to see what you come up with!
PointAbout Featured in PBS Nightly Business Report
PointAbout was interviewed today for PBS’ Nightly Business Report, in a segment about DC-based start-ups that will air in the month of December, 2008 (full link to segment will be provided upon airing).
The segment will focus on the strategies PointAbout is employing to succeed in the current economic climate. PointAbout, which is comprised of four co-founders with previous start-up experience, was chosen by PBS as a case study for its approach to weathering the state of the economy.
Here is a gallery of photos from the interview:
PointAbout Featured on Craig Newmark’s Personal Blog
PointAbout was recently featured on Craig Newmark’s personal blog (he is the creator of CraigsList) for our role in the Apps for Democracy contest! Craig writes:
Point About (iPhone app) Do you find yourself in a hurry, walking down Connecticut Avenue wondering where the closest Metro is, Dupont Circle or Farragut North, and what time the train is coming? Point About is a real-time, location-aware D.C. alerting tool for the iPhone, which includes crime reports, building permits and more, all from where you are standing.
PointAbout to Power MyTalk
MyTalk has selected PointAbout to power its service. Full press release below, or click here to see the actual release.
Mytalk Selects PointAbout To Power Proximity Aware Mobile Networking Services
Firm to leverage PointAbout’s thin client applications for social network and mobile advertising platforms
Bethesda, MD (PRWEB) November 26, 2008– Mytalk, an early stage mobile networking firm, today announced that it has selected PointAbout’s thin client mobile device applications to power Mytalk’s proximity aware social networking service and opt-in mobile advertising platform.
Mytalk is developing a proximity aware services portal with powerful and easy-to-use mobile networking capabilities, including the ability to identify other members from closest to furthest based on proximity, and communicate via text or voice – quickly, easily and safely. PointAbout’s thin client applications provide location and user profile data for each mobile device user, which translates into a more robust experience for Mytalk members while creating new proximity based revenue streams for businesses seeking to engage with mobile consumers.
“By partnering with PointAbout, Mytalk can seamlessly extend its Web-based mobile networking service to millions of users in a short period of time,” said Michael Hodge, founder and CEO of Mytalk. “And because PointAbout handles the heavy lifting by providing location and user profile data for each mobile device user, Mytalk can focus its efforts and resources on designing a feature-rich, proximity-aware mobile social networking application.”
Mytalk will also offer an opt-in mobile advertising platform and other strategic partner services for businesses to connect and engage with mobile consumers based on the proximity and personal preferences of each Mytalk member.
“Mytalk is building a truly innovative location-based services portal, one that is poised to change the way consumers and businesses utilize and benefit from proximity social networking,” said Daniel Odio, co-founder, PointAbout. “PointAbout’s thin client springboard will enable Mytalk to mobilize its brand across multiple phone platforms efficiently and cost-effectively.”
The Mytalk portal is currently in development with an anticipated launch planned for January 2009. Individuals interested in joining the MyTalk community or receiving email or sms updates on participating in our upcoming beta launch can visit http://www.mytalk.mobi. To receive more information on Mytalk and its service, please contact info@mytalk.mobi.
About Mytalk
Bethesda, MD-based Mytalk is developing a proximity aware services portal with powerful and easy-to-use mobile networking capabilities, including the ability to identify other members from closest to furthest based on proximity, and communicate via text or voice – quickly, easily and safely. In addition to Mytalk’s social networking application for mobile users, the firm is also developing an opt-in mobile advertising platform and other strategic partner services for businesses to connect and engage with mobile consumers based on the proximity and personal preferences of each Mytalk member. For additional information visithttp://www.mytalk.mobi.
PointAbout Extends iPhone Accelerometer to Web
PointAbout just announced today that it has extended the functionality of the iPhone’s accelerometer to the web.
This means that clients who use PointAbout to distribute their web applications as native iPhone applications will have access to the accelerometer functionality of the phone. (To learn more about private-labeling PointAbout’s springboard for your mobile website click here.)
This is quite significant because the accelerometer information is not typically accessible to websites. However, with PointAbout acting as the “bridge” between the phone itself and the web, clients are now able to do all types of innovative things, such as:
- determine where the user is physically standing (latitude & longitude, or we can reverse-geocode to the nearest physical mailing address)
- determine the unique device ID of the phone (so you’ll know when a phone is returning to your site after having been away; this can also be used as log-in credentials)
- phone vibration feature; allows you to make the phone vibrate when certain actions are taken by the user
- accelerometer functionality, as shown in the video above, from the user’s phone to your website, wrapped with PointAbout’s thin-client springboard!
Example of Source used for apps for democracy submission
Its a fairly simple implementation of a xml reader combined with a
distance calculator. Once the current location of lat long is passed
to this code from the PointAbout mobile software. It is an example of how basic code and location information can completly change the use and power of simple data streams and web sites.
An example xml doc is also appended to the bottom of this post for testing.
—-EXAMPLE OF DISTANCE FORMULA—-
def getDistance(fromLat, fromLong, toLat, toLong ):
lat1 = float(fromLat)
lon1 = float(fromLong)
R = 6371; # km
lat2 = toLat
lon2 = toLong
dLat = math.radians(lat2-lat1)
dLon = math.radians(lon2-lon1)
a = math.sin(dLat/2) * math.sin(dLat/2) +
math.cos(math.radians(lat1)) * math.cos(math.radians(lat2)) *
math.sin(dLon/2) * math.sin(dLon/2)
c = 2 * math.atan2(math.sqrt(a), math.sqrt(1-a))
d = R * c
return d
——EXAMPLE OF XML TO ORDERED BY DISTANCE———–
#logging.info(file_xml.toxml())
listings = {}
for item in itemNodeSub:
try: name = item.childNodes[1].childNodes[0].data
except: name = None
try:
html = item.childNodes[2].childNodes[0].data
p = re.compile(”ADDRESS:</td><td>(.*?)</td>”)
m = p.search(html)
address = m.group(1)
city = “Washington”
state = “DC”
address = address + ” ” + city + “, ” + state
except:
address = “No Data”
logging.debug(”Error”)
data = {
”name”:name,
”address”:address,
}
distance = 0.0
try:
lng, lat, alt =
item.childNodes[4].childNodes[1].childNodes[0].data.split(”,”)
distance = getDistance(currLat , currLng,
float(lat.strip()), float(lng.strip()))
except:
lat = None
lng = None
search = requestHandler.get(”search”)
if search == None or name.lower().find(search.lower()) >= 0:
listings.update({distance:[data, round(distance,2)]})
orderedListing = sortedDictValues1(listings)
——-SAMPLE OF XML FEED—–
<kml xmlns=”http://earth.google.com/kml/2.2″
xmlns:atom=”http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom”>
<Document>
<open>1</open>
<name><![CDATA[Layers]]></name>
<Folder><name>Legend</name><visibility>0</visibility><ScreenOverlay><name>Legend</name><visibility>0</visibility><overlayXY
x=”0″ y=”1″ xunits=”fraction” yunits=”fraction” /><screenXY x=”0″
y=”1″ xunits=”fraction” yunits=”fraction”
/><Icon><href>legend.png</href></Icon></ScreenOverlay></Folder>
<Folder><name><![CDATA[Banks]]></name>
<visibility>1</visibility>
<open>1</open>
<Folder><name>Data</name><visibility>1</visibility>
<Placemark id=”pm5504″ ><Snippet
maxLines=”0″>empty</Snippet><name><![CDATA[Adams
Bank]]></name><description><![CDATA[<b><font size="4"face="Arial">Bank
Locations</b><p></p><table cellpadding="1"
cellspacing="1"><tr><td>NAME:</td><td>Adams
Bank</td></tr><tr><td>ADDRESS:</td><td>1729 Wisconsin Ave,
NW</td></tr><tr><td>ZIPCODE:</td><td>20007</td></tr><tr><td>ADDRESS_ID:</td><td>275259</td></tr></table><p></p><b><font
size="4" face="arial"><form>Provided by: </form></b><a
href="http://dcgis.dc.gov/">District of Columbia
GIS</a>]]></description><styleUrl>#Style_92</styleUrl><Point
id=”g7177″><altitudeMode>clampedToGround</altitudeMode><coordinates>-77.0668994099031,38.9145339105088,1
</coordinates></Point></Placemark><Placemark id=”pm5505″ ><Snippet
maxLines=”0″>empty</Snippet><name><![CDATA[Adams
Bank]]></name><description><![CDATA[<b><font size="4"face="Arial">Bank
Locations</b><p></p><table cellpadding="1"
cellspacing="1"><tr><td>NAME:</td><td>Adams
Bank</td></tr><tr><td>ADDRESS:</td><td>1501 K Street,
NW</td></tr><tr><td>ZIPCODE:</td><td>20006</td></tr><tr><td>ADDRESS_ID:</td><td>279201</td></tr></table><p></p><b><font
size="4" face="arial"><form>Provided by: </form></b><a
href="http://dcgis.dc.gov/">District of Columbia
GIS</a>]]></description><styleUrl>#Style_92</styleUrl><Point
id=”g7178″><altitudeMode>clampedToGround</altitudeMode><coordinates>-77.0351181683022,38.9029520625695,1
</coordinates></Point></Placemark><Placemark id=”pm5506″ ><Snippet
maxLines=”0″>empty</Snippet><name><![CDATA[Adams
Bank]]></name><description><![CDATA[<b><font size="4"face="Arial">Bank
Locations</b><p></p><table cellpadding="1"
cellspacing="1"><tr><td>NAME:</td><td>Adams
Bank</td></tr><tr><td>ADDRESS:</td><td>50 Massachusetts, Avenue,
SE</td></tr><tr><td>ZIPCODE:</td><td>20002</td></tr><tr><td>ADDRESS_ID:</td><td>293243</td></tr></table><p></p><b><font
size="4" face="arial"><form>Provided by: </form></b><a
href="http://dcgis.dc.gov/">District of Columbia
GIS</a>]]></description><styleUrl>#Style_92</styleUrl><Point
id=”g7179″><altitudeMode>clampedToGround</altitudeMode><coordinates>-77.0061791229437,38.8975384697844,1
</coordinates></Point></Placemark></Folder></Folder>
<StyleMap id=”Style_92″
><Pair><key>normal</key><styleUrl>#Style_92n</styleUrl></Pair><Pair><key>highlight</key><styleUrl>#Style_92h</styleUrl></Pair><BalloonStyle><color>ffdcf5f5</color><textColor>ff000000</textColor><text><![CDATA[
$[description] ]]></text></BalloonStyle></StyleMap><Style
id=”Style_92n”><IconStyle><scale>0.5</scale><Icon><href>Style_92n.png</href></Icon></IconStyle><PolyStyle><fill>1</fill><color>ff00a838</color><outline>0</outline></PolyStyle><LabelStyle><scale>0</scale></LabelStyle><BalloonStyle><color>ffdcf5f5</color><textColor>ff000000</textColor><text><![CDATA[
$[description] ]]></text></BalloonStyle></Style><Style
id=”Style_92h”><IconStyle><scale>0.5</scale><Icon><href>Style_92h.png</href></Icon></IconStyle><PolyStyle><fill>1</fill><color>ff00a838</color><outline>0</outline></PolyStyle><LabelStyle><color>ffffffff</color><scale>1</scale></LabelStyle><BalloonStyle><color>ffdcf5f5</color><textColor>ff000000</textColor><text><![CDATA[
$[description] ]]></text></BalloonStyle></Style>
</Document></kml>
Private Labeling PointAbout – A Case Study
PointAbout has private-labeled Washington, DC’s feed of real-time crime alerts as an example of the power of PointAbout’s private label offering. You can download the private-labeled application from the iTunes AppStore by searching for “DC Alerts” in the Applications section of the AppStore. This video explains how the private-labeling works, and how your brand can white-label our thin-client springboard application.
PointAbout is charged as a flat monthly fee for distribution on all the mobile platforms we support. If you’d like to learn more about our pricing, please contact us.
Thoughts on the massive leverage effect of mobile
Many businesses are very interested in mobilizing their brands, usually because they simply want more access to their user base, and they see a lot of potential in opening up a new channel of communication through a mobile device that the user is carrying around with them anyway (more often than even your wallet, after all, if you leave your wallet at home, you might not turn around because you can always borrow cash from a friend. But if you leave your phone at home, most people would turn around to pick it up.)
But we’ve identified what we believe is an even more powerful argument for mobilizing your brand: the massively leveraging power of mobile content creation.
So what do we mean by this? Let me start by asking you a question: If only 2% to 5% of your user base is carrying around a smart-phone, does it make sense to put the thought, time & resources into creating a mobile version of your brand?
Your initial answer might be ‘no,’ but we have a strong argument as to why that answer is a resounding ‘yes’.
Let’s start by analyzing a pattern of behavior on the Internet (and in other parts of life too): Typically, most people “consume” content, and few people “create” content. It’s like this with TV, and it’s like this on the Internet. Many fewer people are out there creating the content than the size of the audience that’s consuming it. Let’s call this the 90/10 rule, where 10% of the user base is creating the content, while 90% is consuming it.
Another interesting trend with smart phones is that people with these types of phones, which are basically mini-computers, are much more active on the Internet through their phones than the typical phone user. In fact, even though a vast minority of users have an iPhone, they are big Internet users, because the iPhone has made it easy to browse web pages through the mobile device. The ergonomics here become very important.
So then, these pieces come together. You have very active mobile users within your user base that could be creating very rich, original content for the rest of the passive user base to consume.
And even though those users might be a minority of the entire user base, or might only be in certain geographic areas, the content they make can (and will) still be consumed by the entire audience, and your brand, and site, will be much richer because of it.
This is illustrated very clearly by a “Twitter Vote Report” app that NPR did for the elections (pictured at left, you can also find the link here courtesy of FortiusOne). Although the actual amount of data produced was small – on the order of what appears to be several thousand submissions nationwide, the effect is stunning when viewed on the full desktop experience. And here’s a link showing the twitter comments people were making about their wait times – again it’s as if these mobile users were all reporters, sending in “news from the front lines” that passive desktop users crave.
We encourage you to think about mobilizing your brand in this way: You will get a new channel of localized communication between you and your user base by extending your brand to the mobile handset, and making it easy for current and future customers to interact with you from their phones. But you will also have a tremendous opportunity to leverage the data from this small subset of your users over your entire userbase, so make sure you put some thought into how you can apply this for maximum effect.
PointAbout Wins 11 Awards in AppsForDemocracy Contest
PointAbout was just notified by the Office of the CTO of Washington, DC and Mayor Fenty that we have won the Silver medal + 10 others for our AppsForDemocracy submissions. You can find all the medal winners here.
Daniel R. Odio, COO of PointAbout above with Washington, DC Mayor Adrian M. Fenty
Here is a video of the entire awards ceremony:
(PointAbout mentioned in minute 14 of the video above)
PointAbout Submits 14 Applications to Apps For Democracy Competition
PointAbout has submitted the following 14 applications (!!!) for iStrategyLabs “AppsForDemocracy” competition utilizing the Office of the CTO’s data feeds:
- Marinas near you
- Libraries near you
- Gas stations near you
- Banks near you
- Hotels near you
- Construction projects near you
- Embassies near you
- Places of worship near you
- Vacant properties near you
- Building permits pulled near you
- Crime alerts near you
- Post offices near you
- Housing code violations near you
- Police stations near you
You can see screenshots of the applications below.
PointAbout will be submitting all of these applications to Apple’s iTunes App Store, so each will be available for download on the iPhone, and soon, the Blackberry. The Apple approval process takes approximately 21 days. However, all the applications above will be available for use by Thursday 11/13 just by downloading our flagship application, titled “PointAbout” in the iTunes App Store (click here to open the app’s iTunes page on your computer), and then “checking out” the applications from our Application Gallery of 100+ applications we’ve made location aware. Detailed instructions are in the video above, so start using these applications on your iPhone today!
PointAbout featured in Inman News
PointAbout was profiled in Inman News for mobilizing The Best Home Search Ever, a popular MLS search site for residential property for sale. The Best Home Search Ever is branding PointAbout’s service to create a downloadable application for installation on customer’s phones.
Here is the article; you can also find it on the Inman site here.
IPhone users can test beta home-search app
DROdio Real Estate, which recently launched a beta version of its home-search application — The BestHomeSearch Ever Mobile — is looking for beta testers to provide feedback and any bug reports before an official launch in the Virginia-Maryland-Washington, D.C., region in November.
TheBestHomeSearchEver Mobile runs only on iPhones right now, but DROdio said it’ll be adding Blackberry support within the next 90 days. The tool searches the complete MRIS database of MLS listings when queried.
According to DROdio, the tool is “incredibly easy to use. We add a ‘TBHSE’ icon to your phone, and it launches our tool. Then, wherever you are, we bring up the homes for sale or for rent that match your search criteria. You can easily see the property on a map, and we even give you directions on how to get there based on where you’re currently standing.”
Home shoppers can request a showing via e-mail, and get a copy of the property details e-mailed — or press a button to connect with an agent who can provide more property details.
If you have an iPhone (1st generation or 3G) and would like to try this service out, please send an e-mail.
PointAbout Featured in Bisnow Publication
HELPING YOU FIND THE POLLS
We met yesterday in DC with Daniel Odio, co-founder ofPointAbout, whose start-up just created a shell mobile application that lets iPhone users locate the nearest polling locations using the phone’s built-in GPS. The company has created similar programs for the D.C. Metro (so you can see the nearest stations and when the next trains are coming). “We pull GPS info from your phone and plug it into sites that can send back useful info based on where you are,” Daniel says.
We caught Daniel just before a meeting with iStrategy Labs CEO (and Twin Tech promoter) Peter Corbett. Here the duo is atop Peter’s new Dupont Circle offices, which just happens to be the former home of George Stephanopoulos. Peter even showed us thetwo-headed shower and sauna we can only assume George installed. (See what you learn here?) Peter is busy hyping a Nov. 19 launch party for DubMeNow, a service that saves contact information (like stuff found on a business card), but updates it as people switch jobs.
LBS Today = Television in 1930’s
The problem with a really, really great idea is that nobody quite knows quite what to do with it.
Take television, for example. Here’s a quote from TIME Magazine, Feb 22, 1926:
“In London, a concern called Television Ltd. obtained licenses to retail the ‘televisor,’ a radio device invented by John L. Baird of Glasgow that permits ‘looking in’ as well as listening in. Broadcasting from a televisor station in London was to begin at once.“
The television. The device so many of us can’t live without today. The device many people spend hours in front of each day. But when it was first invented, many people didn’t know what to make of it. ”A radio with pictures?” In fact, early television shows mainly consisted of a newscaster sitting in front of the camera, reading a script. It was basically just that: Radio, with pictures. Nobody had figured out how to take advantage of this new medium.
Contrast that with television today:
We’ve probably gone about 98% up on the value curve in terms of exploiting the television medium. It’s doubtful we’ll see any major innovations until the technology changes again (3-D TV’s, etc).
PointAbout is in the same position as TV was in the 1930’s.
What we are enabling by mobilizing brands is an entirely new channel of communication between the user and the brand.
For the first time, a company’s website knows exactly who and where the user is the moment they go to the site.
That’s a really big deal.
For example, when you walk into a Walmart today, you don’t visit Walmart.com as you’re walking in – there’s no reason to do so. It wouldn’t make sense.
But what if Walmart.com wasn’t the main corporate site, but instead it was a site that was personalized and individualized for YOU. What if, when you were near or in the store, you could interact with your phone to find out whether Walmart had something in stock, or heck for that matter, what if Walmart could invite you to come into the store because Walmart knew you were nearby and knew that you needed to buy toothpaste.
What if, in fact, your phone reminded you that you needed to buy toothpaste. What if you had forgotten, but Walmart was telling you because you were in the neighborhood? ”Why not stop in while you’re nearby, after all, you’re right around the corner.”
These ideas are really just scratching the surface of what’s possible with PointAbout. The web has been blind, but we give it vision. So for the first time, the web can see you, and see where you are and interact with you on a very personalized level. And I’m confident that we haven’t even started to figure out how to take advantage of it all. But if there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that the PointAbout crew will be helping brands figure it out.
Our thoughts on why PointAbout is so needed
Our goal is to get our users to the “How did I live without this?” moment. But that can be hard to see before-hand. For example, people lived just fine without cellphones, but can you imagine living without one these days? Our goal is to accomplish the same thing by overlaying the virtual world over the physical world.
This video will explain what we mean with a specific example. Daniel Odio, one of our co-founders, had to get the oil changed in his car. Now, the real question is, when you’re driving down the street, why don’t you have immediate access to know:
- What oil change places are around you
- What each one of them would charge you for an oil change, and
- (most importantly) Which one of them wants your business the most?
Take a look at the video to see in more details how we’re planning on resolving this issue…
PointAbout Featured in Potomac Tech Wire
As seen in Potomac Tech Wire today:
o PointAbout Launches iPhone App to Help Voters Find Polling Place
Washington, DC — With the presidential election now less than a week away, DC-basedPointAbout, a developer of mobile applications, said that it has launched a downloadable application for the iPhone that allows voters to find their nearest polling place. The company said that it has taken an existing web service developed by Google and made it location-aware. Now, with one click, users of the company’s “Get Out To Vote!” application can find the closest voting station to their actual physical location. “Based on an informal poll of friends and colleagues, we’ve realized that many people don’t know where to go to vote on election day,” said the company. PointAbout said that it has made the tool a featured application on the front page of the PointAbout iPhone Application Gallery through Nov. 4.
http://pointabout.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/find-your-nearest-voting-station-on-election-day/
Find Your Nearest Voting Station On Election Day
PointAbout’s downloadable iPhone Application (link opens iTunes) allows you to find the closest voting station on election day!
Here’s how:
For those people not living under a rock, you know that the US presidential election is 8 days away. Based on an informal poll of friends & colleagues, we’ve realized that many people don’t know where to go to vote on election day.
Google has launched a great web service to help people find their voting location. And PointAbout has made it even better by making it location-aware, so with one click you can easily find your nearest voting station!
We’ve made the PointAbout ‘Get Out To Vote!’ app a “Featured By” application on the front page of the PointAbout iPhone Application Gallery through November 4th, 2008.
This will be the first use of the “Featured By” functionality, which lets us highlight applications that are especially relevant to certain events. Let us know what you think!
For more information or to discuss a specific implementation of PointAbout for your business, please Contact Scott Suhy at Scott.Suhy@PointAbout.com or Daniel Odio at Daniel.Odio@PointAbout.com
View Several Screenshots Below. You can download the PointAbout application here (link opens iTunes) to use the “Get Out To Vote!” application through November 4th, 2008.
PointAbout Surpasses 145,000 Page Views and 5,000 users in First 7 days
PointAbout just surpassed 100,000 145,000 page views and 2,500 5,000 users in our first 5 7 days. We are currently averaging almost 2,000 unique visitors per day, and that number has been increasing daily.
Additionally, we’ve gotten requests from around the world, including the UK and Hong Kong, requesting PointAbout internationally. For example, here is one person’s request:
“Can I use this appl in Hong Kong?
Sent from my iPhone”
PointAbout is US-Only to date, but we’ll be working on International expansion in 2009. It’s nice to see the international demand.
PointAbout’s First Branded Application
PointAbout just released its first private-labeled application, called “DC Alerts”. This video shows the differences between the regular PointAbout application and the branded version.
The beauty of our branding approach is that it allows your business to quickly & easily “mobilize” your brand across multiple phone platforms, which right now include the iPhone, with BlackBerry and Android in testing, and WindowsMobile, Symbian and others to follow. We will have BlackBerry released within 2 weeks with other phones rolling out over the next 90 days.
All your business has to do is code to HTML, just like you’ve been doing. PointAbout takes care of the rest. All of the infrastructure investment you’ve put into your website or web application can be leveraged in the PointAbout application. We pass you the pertinent user information from the phone, including latitude & longitude, city, state & zip, the device ID, accelerometer information, etc. You can then use this information in your website, which is now “location aware”, because you are sitting inside the PointAbout thin-client springboard.
You also get the added benefit of having the PointAbout Application Gallery included, which vastly increases the stickiness and usefulness of your private-labeled application. You can filter which applications are included in the Gallery, so complimentary applications can be included to enhance the value of yours.
For more information or to discuss a specific implementation of PointAbout for your business, please Contact Daniel Odio at Daniel.Odio@PointAbout.com or 202.250.3846.
PointAbout featured in Bisnow
PointAbout featured in Bisnow for its participation in the Deloitte Tech Venture Center panel on mobile advertising.
Click here to view the full Bisnow write-up. Bisnow writes, “Yesterday morning¸ we rose early to hear about a certain market that’s growing despite the economic downturn: mobile advertising. We joined about 30 others for an executive briefing at the Deloitte Tech Venture Center in McLean, where we learned the number of mobile devices in the U.S. will jump more than 32% next year. You mean there’ll be even more than there are Starbucks?
PointAbout co-founder Daniel Odio and Mobile Posse CEO Jon Jackson. Daniel’s three-month-old startup creates shell mobile applications that use the phone’s GPS to retrieve useful information. They even created a Metrorail app to show your nearest stop and scheduled wait time. (We hope the 2.0 version will help us find an empty seat on the bus.) Jon tells us Mobile Posse is a targetedmobile advertising platform and just inked a deal to carryGaithersburg-based Weather Bug’s info.”
PointAbout Coming for BlackBerry!!!
We’ve been busy porting the PointAbout Thin-Client Springboard to our 2nd device, the BlackBerry. We’re almost done with it, and we already have several clients lined up who want to have us make them location-aware on the BlackBerry. We’ll definitely have it out within 2 weeks but it might be even sooner. If you have a BlackBerry and would like to be a beta tester, we’d love to hear from you at Feedback@PointAbout.com
PointAbout Is Now LIVE On The Apple App Store!
It’s a big day here at PointAbout, as we were just approved through Apple’s Application Store (click here to go to the application – this will open iTunes on your computer). Now anybody can download PointAbout to their iPhones.
We’ve had over 600 iPhone users download the application in the first 12 hours with no marketing efforts! (yet 
) Here are some other stats that are knocking our socks off:
- Over 11,000 page views in the PointAbout “thin-client” native app in first 12 hours
- An average 12.82 page views per visit
- A bounce rate of just 5.79%
- Average time on the PointAbout thin client of over four minutes
- The top applications are “cheapest gas near you” and “weather in my area”
Here are some of the reviews we’ve been getting:
“The first benefit I see is that this FREE application could replace a half dozen lesser apps I have on the iPhone which would give us more room and less clutter on our Springboards.
App store link http://appshopper.com/link/pointabout-let-your-favorite-websites-find-you
More info http://appshopper.com/navigation/pointabout-let-your-favorite-websites-find-you
Study the app store images and read the reviews to see if you agree with me that this application could simplify your life and iPhone. Couldn’t you get rid of apps like Where! and similar ones like gas buddy, Starbucks etc? Did you notice you can expand this application for new services and web sites?”
And here are some reviews from the iTunes store:
Go ahead and download PointAbout yourself and tell us what you think!
Daniel Odio speaks at Deloitte Tech Venture Center
Listen to a complete audio transcript of the event here. Note – the voice recorder was set to pause during silence so some parts were cut out (so sorry!).
Today Daniel Odio was on Deloitte’s Tech Venture Center panel on mobile marketing, along with Jon Jackson of Mobile Posse, Michael Avon of Columbia Capital, and Kevin Bertram of Distributive Networks. The panel was kindly hosted by Carl Grant of Cooley Godward Kronish, LLP in lieu of Jason Siegel of Qorvis whose wife went into labor the night before!
Thanks to Ellen Mundell of Deloitte for setting this great panel up.
Using PointAbout for a “Second Life” type game
A 1 1/2 minute video blog about an idea: How to use PointAbout to create a “virtual world within the physical world” Second Life type game. If you’re interested in pursuing this idea, please let us know
PointAbout location enables State Newslines
Here’s a video showing how PointAbout has location-enabled the “State Newslines” website.
Our first submission to the “Apps for Democracy” contest
*** PLEASE VOTE FOR OUR APP!!! *** INSTRUCTIONS BELOW.
Here’s a short video showcasing our first entry to iStrategyLabs‘ “Apps for Democracy” contest. Our first submission is a Realtime, location-aware DC alerting tool for the iPhone, which includes crime reports, building permits and more. This data is provided by Washington, DC and we’re making it “location aware,” meaning the crime alerts in your area, for example, show up first.
In fact, we can easily location-enable any RSS or XML feed that contains location data, and turn that into an application on the iPhone, and soon Blackberry, with many other phones coming. If you have an RSS or XML feed you’d like to have behave as a location-aware application, complete with your own custom-branded icon, just let us know!
Click Here To Go Vote For Us!
VOTE FOR OUR APP! IT JUST TAKES 1 SECOND
Our application is featured on the Apps for Democracy website.
Visit the site and click on the word “VOTE” below the number of votes. It’s that easy! Then tell all your friends! :)
We’ve been busy – Safari browser now inside the native app
Here’s a 2 1/2 minute YouTube video showing what we’ve been up to. Needless to say, we’ve been busy! The PointAbout springboard now has a Safari browser integrated into the application, meaning we no longer have to close the native app and open Safari. Everything happens inside our application now, which gives us much more control over the process of determining the user’s location and sending that data to the web.
Detailed information PDF on PointAbout
PointAbout Detailed Information PDF
I’ve just finished creating a 12 page marketing brochure for potential PointAbout clients. I call it “on demand marketing” where I’m creating the PDF collateral as clients are requesting specific information. That’s how this specific document was created — based on client requests for information. Since we’re still a small company, I’m handling both marketing and sales, so I’m getting to flex my Photoshop and InDesign skills in addition to being on the telephone all day. As we grow we’ll bring in a dedicated marketing person. Like any entrepreneur knows, the entrepreneur’s life is like a lake: A mile wide and a foot deep in various skillsets. Gotta know how to do a little bit of everything!
I’d love any feedback you have on what makes sense and what doesn’t. You’re welcome to email me anytime at Daniel.Odio@PointAbout.com.
PointAbout Grubstake Presentation
PointAbout was one of 5 companies that presented at the Grubstake Competition. Click Here to listen to the audio of the presentation, or watch the video here:
Here are some pictures from the presentation:
*** ORIGINAL POST ***
We’ll be presenting PointAbout at the Grubstake business funding competition tomorrow. I’ll post a video of the presentation here after it’s done.
PointAbout is one of five companies selected to present out of a field of 30+ entries in front of an audience of 200+ people. Grubstake is the longest running competition in the region. More details on Grubstake available here.
Company Tutorial – How to Leverage PointAbout for your Brand
This tutorial shows how a company can leverage PointAbout to extend to mobile.
PointAbout is a great way for companies to extend their business or brand to the mobile space with minimal effort and less cost than trying to code to each phone handset, operating system and carrier themselves– let alone the opportunity cost of having programmers working on a non-core project (like coding applications to various phones) vs. core businesses.
Where can I learn about UI standards for iphone web development?
I’ve been getting asked this allot. Here is my standard email reply so far….
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/AppleApplications/Reference/SafariWebContent/Introduction/chapter_1_section_1.html
Is where you can learn about style guides as they pertain to safari within the iphone.
An even easier approach is to you popular toolkits out there that account for all those guides within their templates. All you have to do is apply them to your sites data sets.
1) http://code.google.com/p/iphone-universal/downloads/detail?name=UiUIKit-2.1.zip&can=2&q=
2) http://code.google.com/p/iui/downloads/list
Hope this helps…..
Export Datastore from Google App Engine to MySql
PointAbout is built on the Google App Engine platform. We love experimenting with new technologies and its free, so why not?
It has been a great learning experience for us. Just by usisng the platform we learned allot about database scalability, although it took some arm twisting and mostly by force. After taking the time to think about why they did some thing the way they did we realized what most people do, Google had a great reason and we succumbed to the logic.
The inability to export and back up our data has been frustrating. I know that Google is coming out with one “soon” which I’m sure will be bad ass but since I only could find rumors of the date for release and mere claims that someone has shared some code I figured I would post the one I had to make for us. (I’m not one to wait for perfection, get ‘er done). I know its not perfect, heck its not even that great but I was able to get out data from google datastore and list it in sql. Since PointAbout is a part of the ‘open initiative’ we figured we might as well make it public. Let us know if you have improvements (which I’m sure the far smarter developers out there will).
Datastore Export/DataDump (http://code.google.com/p/pointabout/downloads/detail?name=datadump.py&can=2&q=#makechanges)
PointAbout Beta Testers
PointAbout Beta Testers:
Thanks for your TREMENDOUS response to our beta testing program. We’ve had over 50 Realtors from across the US say they want to beta test PointAbout on their iPhones.
Since the demand is so much greater than we expected, we’ve decided to roll out a more formal beta testing program for everyone. Please visit www.PointAbout.com/download for details & to send us a screenshot of your device ID. We may not start you on the beta for 2 to 4 weeks, but we will respond confirming receipt of your information.
See PointAbout In Action
Here is a video of PointAbout in action. The user is able to find the nearest Metro station & next train using PointAbout. He also finds homes for sale around him, finds the nearest ATM machine, WiFi hotspots & more.
PointAbout – How It Works
We just released a video describing what PointAbout is, what it does and how it works.
Find Real Estate For Sale Around You, Wherever You Are
We’ve enabled our first website client to be location aware through PointAbout’s technology, a popular real estate MLS search tool called TheBestHomeSearchEver.
The mobile version allows users to find homes for sale around them, wherever they are. It’s currently open for beta testing for iPhone users. You can find details about it here.
We give websites their eyesight
Welcome everyone, this is Daniel Odio, the COO of PointAbout. This is my first post, and I’m very excited to begin the process of telling you all about some very innovative and exciting things we’re doing at PointAbout.
Let me start by telling you what our mission is – to give websites and web applications their vision.
Here’s what I mean by that: The web is currently blind. That has been OK because the entire web has been blind. It’s as if billions of people are walking around without eyesight. Nobody knows the difference. But PointAbout is changing that. We’re making web applications “location aware” which is akin to giving a website its eyesight.
With PointAbout, a website knows who its users are, and where they are physically located when interacting with the site. For the first time, a website knows if a user is standing on the corner of 5th Ave in NYC or the pier in San Francisco.
It takes a minute to digest the significance of this, since the whole web world has been blind to date. But the possibilities are absolutely astounding.
To date, websites have been charged with giving all their users one consistent message, and web infrastructure has been built this way. So for example, the Walmart.com site looks the same to a user in California or Virginia. PointAbout’s technology means that can change. We allow websites to customize their message based on the user’s location. So a user in San Francisco can see a Walmart site that’s specific to the Walmart stores nearest the user. And that too opens up many new channels through which brands, retailers and web applications can communicate with their users. Once the site knows where the user is, the site can load up specific information to help that user.
If the user is near Walmart store #253, Walmart could show the user a localized version of its inventory management system for that store, meaning the user could see if an item is in stock before going to the store.
But why stop there? We can also tell the website about the user – whatever demographic information the user has chosen to allow us to share with the brand. We can tell the brand if the user is male or female, what their age is, and what their shopping preferences are. So, not only can the brand customize its message to the user based on his or her location, but also based on these other characteristics. Imagine a brand being able to give two users two different messages based on where they are and what they want. Brands can entice users into their stores with messages like “Stop by in the next 15 minutes for 15% off” and much more.
Needless to say, we’re very excited about the possibilities. If you’d like to learn more, just contact us!
Leaving a mark…
A few of us were sitting around and talking about what market we would invest in if we were to start a company…
In just a few clicks we found:
Cellular News reporting that Converged Mobile Device adoption will Reach 82 Million Units by 2011 (today there are 9.6m WW and 4m in US). IDC reporting that the mobile phone market surpassed a record one billion handsets in 2006 (shipped) and the worldwide phone market continuing to grow at a 2006–2011 CAGR of 6.9% to break 1.4 billion units shipped. IDC reporting that new handsets shipped into emerging markets and upgrade handsets in emerging markets and mature markets are driving growth. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicting that Apple will ship 45 million GPS enabled iPhones by 2009. Telematics Research Group reporting that 20 million navigation-enabled mobile phones were sold last year and estimating 500 million by 2015. Juniper Research reporting “Global mobile advertising will surpass $1 billion for the first time in 2008, reaching $1.3 billion by the end of the year and increasing to almost $7.6 billion by 2013”.
We also found it interesting that the Location Based Services (LBS) space was incredibly crowded yet no company had cracked the code on the phone…
The next day we were building PointAbout Inc…
