All About Symbian - Symbian, Nokia and S60 unwrapped.
Lifecasting opens up the geo-location social web for Nokia
Published by Ewan Spence at 10:42 UTC, January 21st 2010
Summary:
Ewan takes a sideways look at the addition of Lifecasting to Ovi Maps this morning - what implications are there for bringing this social element into a mapping and navigation product? And what challenges remain in this area for Nokia?
One of the interesting parts of this morning's Ovi Maps announcement was the addition of the Lifecasting code to the Ovi Maps. On the surface of it, the functionality is not a huge addition to the repertoire of the handset – you can already upload a photo and status message to Facebook, and tell your friends where you are with some geo-tagging. But of course putting this all under one button, and available when you take the phone out the box means it is going to be used far more than using the Gallery app to upload a photo via email to a specially crafted address with some relevant text in the body of the message.
But this is more than a cute little way to make nice with Facebook, this is addressing one of the emerging markets of the 2010. Geo-location is starting to be leveraged by many companies in the start-up scene who are recognising that people are happy to reveal their location if they believe there is some value in doing this. Foursquare is a notable entrant here – by grafting game mechanics onto your reporting (you score points for finding new places and badges by doing special tasks, e.g. checking into a venue tagged with “Karaoke” four times gets you the 'Gleeky' “Don't Stop Believing” badge). There is a genuine buzz in the air, and lots of people are trying to work out what to do with GPS-enabled phones.
It's also been looked at by larger companies. Google added personal tracking and status updates to Google Maps with Google Latitude last year but it never caught on in the ways some people (e.g. Steve!) expected. I suspect that the Latitude experience has been noted by Nokia and thus their approach is doing the opposite to what Google did, as you'll see below.
The most important thing about Lifecasting is that it is connected at both ends. On the handset, not only is it part of the Ovi Maps application (which is going to be shipping in every GPS-enabled handset, as per the rest of today's announcements), but you can also have it appearing on your home screen as a widget. Making this incredibly accessible, instead of hidden away as a menu option in a third party application almost guarantees that people will use the the Lifecasting part of Ovi Maps. Currently only available on the N97 mini, I'd expect to see homescreen plug-ins for all devices in the future.
Consider the prominent placement the widget gives, and now match this up with being included on every Ovi Maps-enabled phone... That's expected to be 27 million devices this year, all shipping with one touch sharing of where you are, the prompting to take a picture, and then letting you tell your friends through Facebook, the biggest established social network in the world.
Because the Facebook connection is the second big thing to note. Latitude did not have a social group for you to immediately plug into and receive feedback from people. You had to scour your address book online and ask for friendship connections to be made. Here, you plug straight into something you've likely been building for years – and you don't have to rely on other people in your network having the same phone or application as you have.
Also worth pointing out is the sheer volume of relevant data that Nokia's purchase of Navteq has provided them. Whenyou share your location you do have the option of simply posting “I am near this street” but Ovi Maps also lists all the nearby places of interest, giving context to your location, speeding up the check in process, and making this sharing as easy as possible – anything that becomes a chore on your mobile will quickly be ignored. Is it as useful as the old man on the street corner who knows everything? It's very close to it, and has the added bonus of letting you tell people where you're having coffee.
So you have the volume of phones using this service, plus the volume of people who will be exposed to it through Facebook, and you have a strong potential ecosystem. And Nokia have something else.
The so-called social graph, that new mythical phrase in Web 2.0 that represents what you are doing and how you are doing it, now has an additional component... where you are when you are doing it. This use of location has been seen before by Nokia (e.g. the promise that the Ovi Store will take into account your location to deliver relevant software) but now the promise is starting to be delivered in an elegant way that the mass market can get behind.
Yes, there are still issues – the home screen widget needs to be globally available and not just on the N97 mini; there needs to be a tighter integration of this into Nokia's existing Facebook application (that's hopefully going to come in later firmware releases as it is a system-wide change, not just one application); and Nokia need to get the rest of their devices into the programme as soon as possible (they've promised to do so for all phones that ship from mid-March); and most importantly they need to open up the programme so other networks (such as Twitter or smaller companies like Foursquare) can be added to the sharing list. It might be an idea to back-port at least the sharing element of Ovi Maps to existing devices like the venerable N95 and aging-rapidly(!) N97 to get that volume effect.
While the impact of navigation and GPS has been recognised this morning, the Web 2.0 impact of sharing in such a simple way should not be forgotten. When this feature was pre-announced at Nokia World, I thought that the name Lifecasting carried a little bit too much promise and was too powerful a name for a simple “I'm here” service.
But that's the whole point. One of the major uses of voice calls on mobiles is to ask “where are you?” More and more people are sharing information online everyday, and it's those people who will be instantly comfortable finding out where someone is not by a voice call, but by just glancing at a screen and spotting a flashing icon with the message “getting ready to share a tripe shot latte” beside a name.
That's why Lifecasting is a key strategy in the software and services world that Nokia is hoping to conquer. Perhaps it's better if nobody recognises what they're up to, but they are making progress to becoming a 21st century technology company, even if the online reporters ignore the signs.
-- Ewan Spence, Jan 2010.
Discussion
Lifecasting doesn't make Nokia a "21st Century company" - just one that fatally misjudged the needs of the market.
I thought it was the other way around , google noted nokia's friend view and then made google latitude
Still makes me bit nervy tho :o and no that's not a guilty conscience (err mostly)' definitley would be a turn off and onner (I sound like creature comforts Ad).
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
There might be another reason this creepware hasn't taken off yet - people don't want it!
Lifecasting doesn't make Nokia a "21st Century company" - just one that fatally misjudged the needs of the market. |
Fatally?? Who died?
oh the other issue i had was the people i DO know werent using it and i cant make them install google maps onto their phone. so if they dont use it, its not useful to me.
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Originally Posted by RogerPodacter
its funny because i too thought google latitude was, and still is, a GREAT idea that would have taken off. i dont know why it hasnt, i guess the market really doesnt want it. i mean i tried it, and used it here and there, but i have a rather boring life so not many friends that i need to keep track of. but if i DID i certainly could see me using something like latitude. i'm baffled why other more "social" people are not using it.
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I tried latitude out on a few phones and all the GPS processing and data transmission absolutely hammered the battery.
So, I suspect like the vast majority of people, if I want people to know where I am I phone them up and tell them. Or text them. It's yet another solution looking for a problem.
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
I use latitude all day, every day and have noticed no impact on the (N86) battery at all. Same goes for my wife's 5800XM. It also replaces any calling or texting about if I'm on my way home, a simple call of "got yer maps on?" in the morning is enough to keep us both informed all day. And there's always the manual location setting for maintaining visibility while making those illicit trips to Maplin. Hoping lifecasting will be as flexible and un-intrusive.
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And having a strangely unnatural lifestyle.
Reminds me of another dead end - front facing camera for video calls. I have yet to see anybody making a video call on a cell phone.
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
Congratulations on acquiring the worlds only pair of magic phones.
And having a strangely unnatural lifestyle. |
There must be TWO pair of these magic phones then, in fact, ney, THREE, as me, my partner, and my son do this, all the time as well as the poster you responded to, using Google Latitude also, with minimal battery impact, and maximum "where are you at just now" flexibility and knowledge.
Oh, and so there's clearly more than one lot of people who live unnatural lifestyles too then.
Oh but wait, maybe we're no such thing at all.
Maybe YET ANOTHER "unregistered" user (one day this bloomin' site will BAN guest posting), sprouts forth another load of codswallop, offers absolutely ZERO evidence to support it, expects the world to take his word for it, and furthermore, will no doubt break into abuse, when challenged sensibly over his post.
*lol*
/sarcasm alert, in case you didn't spot it...
"What gives any one of you the right, to tell us the WHOLE WORLD doesn't want this technology?"
(See any number of posts above, as to who this could be aimed at).
I WANT IT.
MY PARTNER WANTS IT.
MY SON WANTS IT.
MY THREE MATES ON MY LATITUDE FRIENDS LIST WANT IT.
THE PEOPLE UP ABOVE WHO SAY THEY USE THIS LOTS WANT IT.
So will you please DO US A FAVOUR.... STOP telling us all the whole world does not want this.
It's maybe more than fair to say that the vast majority do not want it. I will happily accept that claim.
But hey, just a minute... NO ONE FORCES YOU TO USE IT, just because it happens to EXIST.
If 'you' don't want it, fine and dandy. But please, stop making claims NO ONE wants it, and risk those that DO lose out on it as a result by companies no longer developing for it, when instead you can quietly go about your business, completely unaffected by the existence of these technologies, and that way those that DO want it, won't lose out on it, and those like you, that don't, do not suffer any inconvenience or privacy issues at all either.
So, back to my original question, I ask again, what on earth is so hard about that...?
Well...?
What gives them the right to tell other people what they can post? Are they self appointed moderators?
If you don't like what you read then ignore it and go quietly about your business completely unaffected by the existence of these posts. Or better still counter the arguments with facts you can back up.
Nobody forces you to pay attention. Do you not think that denying someone an opinion is far worse than just disagreeing? It is a vey self important, selfish and extremely arrogant to believe that a discussion forum is a place where you tell people you don't agree with to shut up.
It is also very hypocritical to suggest that 'no-one wants' and then also to claim that somebody is suggesting that the 'whole world' doesn't want latitude when clearly they are not suggesting that.
Somebody just said that Latitude "hasn't caught on'. Other people discussed reasons why. You suggested that people should not post because your family and your mates use it. Brilliant debate. I congratulate you.
Breaking news. This world and even this forum is not all about you. They are just opinions, and people have a right to them, just as you have a right to disagree.
Anybody who wants to see the effect that GPS has on a battery can use the power measuring app that Nokia supply and see for themselves. Instructions are right here on AAS.
Oh, and you need to restart the phone to see it. 8-)
Steve
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Originally Posted by RogerPodacter
Can anyone help me? the lifecasting login will simply NOT accept my facebook login credentials when i click on share in ovi maps. i've tried so many times now, i even tried my nokia login info just in case. but it wont accept my facebook login. and i've triple checked. anyone know what is wrong? yes i did a reboot too.
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Originally Posted by RogerPodacter
ok thanks but i've been trying it for 2 days now. and also tried at all hours of the night. the servers cant be busy ALL the time.
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Some more advice I've found is to make sure that your Ovi account details, user name and password have the box checked to save the information before you attempt the facebook login. I had a trawl round google earlier looking for similar sufferers and there were some people testing the beta that were having the same problem.
This sharing location service will be great for me because I travel a lot. I can update friends about what fabulous wonder of the world I am at and even post a pic and comment while on the fly.
My only problem is where I live we dont have unlimited data plans, so too pricey really. Still could be useful on the road if I wait until I get to a cafe with wifi.
Unless I lived abroad and travel abroad, I wouldnt use it. I would just text my friends where I am and send a pic via MMS.
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
I just tried it and its brilliant as far as I am concerned. GPS found my location, clicked on share location, added a comment and photo and uploaded to Facebook. Checked my Facebook account and there it was with a link to OVI maps in Facebook, so friends could see where I was. Couldnt be easier.
This sharing location service will be great for me because I travel a lot. I can update friends about what fabulous wonder of the world I am at and even post a pic and comment while on the fly. My only problem is where I live we dont have unlimited data plans, so too pricey really. Still could be useful on the road if I wait until I get to a cafe with wifi. Unless I lived abroad and travel abroad, I wouldnt use it. I would just text my friends where I am and send a pic via MMS. |
I see no reason for them to slow down, especially with the rumoured C series announcement imminent.
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
Nokia seem to be suddenly hitting big again with a series of sweeteners, they seem to be turning the corner.
I see no reason for them to slow down, especially with the rumoured C series announcement imminent. |
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
Ya Nokia, just give me a nice big capacitive screen with current standard specs, a zippy OS and I'll dump my Ipod touch/N86 combo.
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Somebody did speculate that the C in C series stands for Capacitive. They are nice in normal use but a bit crap for many situations.
Anyway, I am surprised AAS hasn't covered the C series. Nokia registered the trademark at the same time they registered X series.
I've been playing more with these new map functions. Excellent work, I think that Nokia must have decided to buck up about 6 months ago and the results are now just coming through.
Worth the wait so far.
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