Nokia WeMeet App is interesting

Nokia R&D invited some of us to preview their pilot project of WeMeet application. Its an interesting application. Its a simple application which allows you to have threaded sms conversation with friends as group chat generally does. Its a simple application though still in its testing phase or the pilot as the Nokia guys call it.

It has a simple interface (screenshots nicely compiled by Prashanth at TechBangalore). You can create groups in simple steps. Send message to friends is a breeze as  well. Just like other group SMS services like SMS Gup Shup, it allows you to send SMS to all your friends in that group in a single SMS. It sends a message to a local number in Bangalore(not a premium number), which in turn broadcasts this to all the people in the group. As this is currently only in pilot phase, its free and available only in Bangalore. To join create, modify and send message to groups an SMS is sent for your cellphone. When you receive an SMS from a group message, thats delivered directly to WeMeet application. If your application is closed, it will start up automatically and show you the message.

I think the beauty of this application is not the fact that it can send group SMS, but the fact that it can display the messages in a threaded manner is a killer feature. Another killer feature its that it runs also on S40 devices like my 5130 and others like 5310, 3600 etc besides the S60 based phones like the N and E series phones from Nokia. That kind of assures connectivity with most of my friends and family. Yeah we all trust Nokia with the low end phones.

The major difference between  this and other services is the location information which is encoded in the message so you can know an approximate location of the users. For phones which are devoid of GPS, the CellID & CBS messages are used to identify the location. This information seems to be optimally encoded in the SMS. It sure is really an innovative use of existing technology.

All said but this app is not without flaws. But then it being a Pilot project of sorts, it makes sense. Some limitations are like, max number of users in a group can only be 5 and only the creator can add new members. It crashed a few times on my 5130. One consistent failure I found was when trying to add a contact to a group from phonebook. It showed low memory error on my cell phone.

More information on it and downloadable apps are available at http://wemeet.nokiapaloalto.com/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

[24th November 2024] Interesting Things I Learnt This Week

Image
1. AI Makes Tech Debt More Expensive - The core argument is that generative AI significantly widens the gap between codebases with low and high tech debt. Companies with clean code can leverage generative AI to write code much faster, while companies with messy legacy codebases struggle to adopt these new tools. This widens the gap between the two codebases, making tech debt even more expensive for companies with outdated systems. My Take : Legacy systems inevitably accumulate technical debt. A common analogy for this is the state of urinals over time: missed targets lead to increasing mess, keeps pushing people away from urinals and leading to more mess in turn. AI-powered coding tools could potentially accelerate the accumulation of tech debt. However, skilled engineers can leverage AI to reduce and even eliminate it. Ultimately, AI is just a tool, and human judgment remains crucial for making informed decisions. I hope AI will be used responsibly to drive positive outcomes. 2. Make...
Read more

[17th November 2024] Interesting Things I Learnt This Week

Image
 1. Booleans are a trap : Booleans, while seemingly simple, can introduce complexity and limitations into domain modeling. When used to represent complex states, booleans can lead to unclear code and potential errors. To avoid these pitfalls, consider using enums or enum sets. These approaches provide a more expressive and maintainable way to model complex states in your applications. My Take : I wish I had learned this earlier in life. When working with Google Docs, I realized the limitations of booleans. Expanding boolean-based behaviors often led to adding more fields, making the system complex. Enums would have provided a simpler solution. The problem wasn't just the booleans themselves, but also the need to pass them through multiple layers of the stack, often requiring additional parameters. Another important aspect of enums is the inclusion of an " enum not specified " state. This state explicitly indicates that an enum value hasn't been set, which can be usef...
Read more

[1st December 2024] Interesting Things I Learnt This Week

Image
1. C++ Pitfalls - this article, explains some of the pitfalls you can fall into when programming in C++ and shares their experience with them. This includes Operator precedence, Arithmetic conversion rules, Right bit-shift, Implicit conversions and Order of evaluation.  My Take : We've all read about JavaScript's quirks, leading to unexpected outputs. But let's remember that such behaviors aren't unique to JavaScript. Even languages like C and C++ have their share of ambiguities and compiler-specific behaviors. While it's tempting to dive deep into these intricacies, I've found that focusing on clear, consistent, and unambiguous code is often more practical. However, understanding these nuances is essential for any experienced programmer. It helps us avoid pitfalls and write robust, reliable code. Remember, mastering a language isn't just about writing "Hello World." It involves delving into its intricacies, including its counterintuitive and ambi...
Read more