mobilefutures

Scary Alarms

2011-10-11T21:27:00.003+08:00

Just in time for Halloween, my new application, Scary Alarms is out!

Scare your friends and family silly with surprising scary sounds! Just choose a scary sound, set the date and time, and the phone will play a scary sound to surprise anyone nearby! It works even when the app is not active or closed!

There are 10 scary sounds that you can choose from:
- MUMMY
- OWL
- CAT
- SCARY LAUGH 1
- SCARY LAUGH 2
- SCREAM
- DEATH SCREAM
- THUNDER
- WITCH LAUGH
- RINGING PHONE

After setting the alarm, make sure the volume is on maximum and hide your phone from plain sight for a better scare! Great to use in the following situations:

1. A sleeping roommate!
2. A studying classmate!
3. A partner alone in the bedroom!
4. A family member alone in the house!

Download it now from the Appstore.

New Twictures Version On the Way!

2011-08-14T08:56:00.002+08:00

I've submitted a new version of Twictures to the Appstore. The version fixes the bug introduced when twitter migrated all links to their t.co URL shortening service. Once the update is available, people will be able to view the photos and videos again.

Thanks for the patience guys!

New iPhone Application Twictures Lets People Easily View Photos and Videos from Their twitter Stream.

2011-08-12T09:27:00.003+08:00

I'm glad to announce today the release of Twictures, a new iPhone application that lets people instantly view pictures, photos and videos from their twitter stream in a gorgeous, slick interface. Each photo or video is shown on screen, and users can easily reply, retweet or favorite each post. Tapping the photo or video will let the user view them in full screen.

Twictures shows photos and videos in a continuous stream for easy viewing. All the user needs to do is swipe up to reveal the next post, and a simple tap will play any video. Currently, Twictures supports photos from instagram, twitpic, plixi, lockerz, imgurl, posterous and yfrog and videos from YouTube. The developer promises to add support for more photo and video sites in later updates.

Another fantastic feature of Twictures is that it lets users share their own photos to twitter. Before uploading the photos, it lets users apply various effects and filters to each photo - sepia, grayscale, brightness, contrast and other lomo effects. Users can apply multiple effects to the same photo, making each creation unique!

Download Twictures now from the Appstore!

Text Groups for the iPhone

2010-10-12T23:22:00.006+08:00

Do you send text messages to a group of people over and over again? Maybe you have a group of friends or colleagues that you usually text/SMS all at the same time? Or maybe you usually send the same message to a person or group of persons? Then Text Groups is the application for you.
Text Groups allows you to create groups from your contacts, and you can easily access these groups to send a text message, without adding each contact again and again. You specify a group name, a default message, and even a group icon so that you can differentiate between groups. You can then add, edit and remove contacts easily, and even define new phone numbers not coming from your phone's address book.

Text Groups uses in-app SMS, which allows you to send the group text message without leaving the application, making the experience easy and seamless.

Yes folks, it's my new iPhone app. Download it from here.

iPhone Apps Featured on TV and in Print

2010-08-07T00:06:00.005+08:00

Credit: ANC

It is with great pride that I share with you two articles that came out in print and online about the iPhone apps that I've built. I was contacted by a major daily (Businessworld) and they interviewed me about my iPhone apps. Coincidentally, a news TV channel (ANC) also contacted me to appear in a live TV interview.
Suffice to say, the experience has encouraged me to work harder on my iPhone apps. They may not be bringing in the revenue that I expect, but I am sure that somewhere in the world, I have helped someone with one or two of my apps.

I'm sharing with you the two articles that were written about me:

Entreprenews - Digital Diversions

ABS-CBN News: Extra Raket Anyone?

I would also like to invite everyone to buy the August issue of Sense and Style magazine. I have a review article on the iPhone 4.

SMS Templates Version 1.5 is Out!

2010-07-23T08:46:00.002+08:00

The new version of SMS Templates is out! It now supports iOS 4.0, allowing users to now send SMS directly from the app, no cutting and pasting needed!

Download it here.

Profiler for the iPhone Released!

2010-04-15T10:44:00.003+08:00

Profiler - Search People in Google Images, Facebook, Twitter and WhitePages.

We just released our newest iPhone application, Profiler.

Ever wanted to know detailed information about a person you've just met or are going to meet? Profiler for the iPhone is an application that allows you to easily search Google Images, Facebook, Twitter and Whitepages.com for a particular person.

Meeting someone for the first time? How about looking him/her up first on Google Images or Facebook via your iPhone? Maybe you want to know what he/she tweeted about?

Or maybe you need to get someone's phone number and address easily? Just type in his/her name in Profiler and through WhitePages.com, get all this information instantly. (US residents only)

Download now from iTunes - Click here

Ping.fm's problem with any app with the word Ping

2010-04-10T08:39:00.009+08:00

It all started April 9, 2010, when Apple sent me a message from Ping.fm:

So apparently, Ping.fm thinks that my app's icon/logo QuickPing, looks like Ping.fm's logo.

My app's logo:

Ping.fm's logo:

The font of my Ping logo is Helvetica, the most common font in the whole world. I like Helvetica, and I use it for most of my work. They were telling me that I copied Ping.fm's logo. Ludicrous.

Since I am just an individual, independent developer, I agreed and changed the app logo from Ping to a simple P, as shown below:

And submitted the change to Apple, both for QuickPing and QuickPing Free.

I thought everything was fine, until I received a new note from Ping.fm:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you for your e-mail below.

We noticed that changes were made to the app entitled "QuickPing Free" (see, e.g., the logo).

We would very much appreciate it if you can inform the developer that if similar changes were to be made to the app entitled "QuickPing" and also using a lower-case "p" to read "Quickping" in the name and the description for both apps then that would be in the right direction to help resolve this matter.

Now Ping.fm wants me to change the NAME OF MY APPLICATION to Quickping from QuickPing. Not a big change, I know, but it looks like Ping.fm is now claiming that every word that has the word Ping in it is theirs. What the hell?

If that's the case, did Ping.fm also complain to the Apple about these following apps? Why haven't they changed their names?

Pingle
Ping! Lite
PING
Network Ping Lite
Network Ping
ping
SuperPing
FreePing
Ping For Fun
Ping Later
Ping'N'Drive

This is really stupid. I'm a fan of Ping.fm and all (and that's why I made the app), but this is ridiculous.

Sherwin

SMS Templates Version 1.3 is Out!

2010-03-10T20:00:00.004+08:00

The new version of SMS Templates (1.3) is now available at the AppStore!

New features include:
- Ability to edit templates
- Type a contact number directly without the need to select from the Address Book
- Ability to edit a message before sending it out, without affecting the template
- New, attractive icon

Get it now at http://bit.ly/smstemplates!

Encrypt SMS - Send Secret Text Messages

2010-01-14T09:46:00.004+08:00

Hello all,

My new application, Encrypt SMS, is now available at the AppStore!

Encrypt SMS is a tool that allows you to encrypt messages that you send out with a password, and only those that have the same password can successfully decrypt and read the messages. (Recipient must have the same application on their iPhone.)

Encrypt SMS uses AES-256 encryption, a military-grade encryption composed of a 256 bit key to ensure that it will not be easily broken. The US government itself uses AES encryption to secure classified information! You too can have access to this high level of security with Encrypt SMS.

Available only in the US and Canada for $0.99.

The app download link is http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=349861478&mt=8

I have promo codes available, first come, first served!

67YXAXKNHR9H
NP7YAPX7KRWP
7XRTKMETMJ3Y

Check it out!

SMSTemplates v1.2 now for sale!

2009-09-28T19:29:00.004+08:00

SMS Templates v1.2 now live at the AppStore! All bugs introduced by 1.1 have been fixed. Full functionality available, along with reordering the templates.

Critical error in SMS Templates V1.1

2009-09-16T18:56:00.003+08:00

Hello all,

Please DO NOT UPDATE to SMS Templates version 1.1. There is a critical error that will cause problems when you add a new template and try to send it. It will also affect sending of templates that have no default contacts.

I have fixed the application and have submitted an update to Apple. Hopefully, Apple will provide the updated app in a few days. Meanwhile, I have pulled the existing application from the AppStore.

Thanks.

SMSTemplates Update

2009-09-15T13:20:00.003+08:00

SMS Templates has now been updated to support rearranging of templates. This will allow users to put those templates that are most frequently used at the top for faster access.

Download SMSTemplates v1.1 at the AppStore now! http://bit.ly/2ZmxQo

2009-07-31T20:25:00.003+08:00

SMS Templates is now available at the Apple AppStore! SMS Templates allows you to create predefined text message templates, useful if you send the same messages again and again. You can also associate a template message with a default contact, for the times you send the same message regularly to the same person ("I'm home" to your wife).

To use SMS Templates, just tap on a template, then you can choose to straight ahead send the message, or pick a contact to send the message to. The Messaging application will then start. Double tap the message body and tap Paste, to paste the template into the message body. Tap Send to send the message!

SMS Templates comes with some predefined templates, including messages with emoticons! (Emoji for the Japanese public).

Note - you may be wondering why I didn't just start the Messaging application and prefill the message body automatically. Unfortunately, the iPhone SDK does not currently support this functionality, but I will update the application once it is available.

Download SMS Templates now via http://bit.ly/2ZmxQo

QuickPing Update

2009-06-10T14:50:00.003+08:00

Submitted an update for QuickPing to the Appstore. The update addresses 3.0 incompatibilities, as well as added the feature of being able to clear the post at a touch of a button. (Thanks to one of my Twitter friends who suggested this.) Screenshot of the new app is above.

Thanks.

QuickPing is now in the AppStore!

2009-06-03T19:43:00.003+08:00

Ever wanted to easily update Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Bebo, FriendFeed, Plurk, or any of your social networks easily and on the go?

QuickPing is an iPhone application that interfaces with the Ping.fm service, a service that allows you to easily update more than 40 social networks.

Just open the QuickPing application, type out your status message and click Send, and instantly all your social networks are updated!

Download now for $0.99 at the AppStore http://bit.ly/11hIty

EasyTweet is now available!

2009-05-30T19:44:00.002+08:00

As of today, EasyTweet is now available in the Apple Appstore via this iTunes link. As mentioned in my previous blog entry, EasyTweet is an easy to use and simple iPhone client for Twitter. With EasyTweet, composing a status message is as easy as writing an SMS!

To use EasyTweet, all you have to do is to start the application, and then start typing away your message and tap "Tweet It" to tweet your message. Your message immediately gets sent to Twitter, and because a message is very small, the total mobile internet usage is <1 kb, which can save you a lot of money if all you want to do is to tweet out.

Check out the app, available at the AppStore for only $0.99!

EasyTweet

2009-05-21T00:26:00.002+08:00

Just finished and submitted my Twitter application to the AppStore. It's called EasyTweet, and it allows you to easily compose and send a Twitter update without the fuss and hassle of reading other people's tweets.

It's useful for those times that you just want to send an update out quickly on Twitter. Since's it just updates, it takes up less than 1 kb of internet bandwidth, which is a great benefit to those people who are not on an unlimited data plan.

I'll post again once the app get's approved! Would appreciate your support!

Japanese Shop Find - Saizen

2009-04-29T12:54:00.005+08:00

Shop Find - Saizen

I was over at Galleria today and I found this nice Japanese product shop called Saizen. It's like the Japan Home Center but has tons of other stuff, not just home accessories. There's kitchen ware, office accessories (cable organizers, folders, plastic cases, pens, staplers, what have you.), fashion accessories (headbands, earrings, etc...), garden accessories, and other home accesories.

The best section that I found was the one on cable organizing. They had 10 different types of cable organizers in different shapes and sizes, and different cable attachments that I haven't seen before. But my real find were cable tags! These are tags you can put in cables to tell you that this cable is for the TV, DVD, computer, etc.. so you don't mix them up. I've posted a few pictures. They have cable tags for your home entertainment system and for your PC setup.

If you're interested to visit the shop, it's at Robinson's Galleria, 3rd floor.

Top 5 Webapps for the iPhone/iPod Touch

2008-04-29T00:10:00.005+08:00

I've had my iPod Touch for several months now, and I'm happy to say that I really, really love it. I use it not only to watch videos, podcasts and listening to music, but I use it primarily to surf the internet. Somehow, Apple got the formula right for an internet device - and the Safari browser on the iPhone/iPod Touch is the best mobile browser I've ever used (pity it doesn't have Flash!) So without further ado, let me tell you about my top 5 webapps for the iPhone/iPod Touch. This is my personal opinion only, so disagreement is very welcome!

1. Google Reader - This is my top webapp. Since the iPhone doesn't have a built-in RSS reader, and I didn't want to jailbreak mine just to install one, I use Google's web-based RSS reader for my daily news fix. They've optimized the display just for the iPhone so it's very easy to use.

2. Digg - My day isn't complete without reading up on one of the best news sites on the internet. Although the news isn't exactly the most relevant, they've divided the news articles by Topics which make it easier to read through. Props to Kevin and team!

3. Facebook - What can I say? I'm extremely attached to my Facebook, and it's iPhone webapp just shows me the right amount of information with a great, easy to navigate interface. I only wish though that it also supports Facebook applications. How about it Superpoke?

4. Flickr - I don't have a lot of pictures in Flickr, but if I did, I'd fully recommend using the iPhone interface. It shows interesting photos on the top screen, with a search bar at the bottom for searching through public photos. Once you're logged in, it shows your photos in a 3x2 grid, and clicking on the photo zooms in. The page then shows the image with navigation arrows for the next and previous photo. Very simple and slick!

5. Twitter - Admittedly, I'm not a Twitter addict yet. However, with a very simple interface that gets right to the point, I give 5 stars to the Twitter iPhone webapp. The homepage just shows the ever familiar What are you doing? field, and a list of posts by people you follow. What's else do you need?

And that's it folks. What's your favorite webapp? I'd like to hear your comments!

Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Buy a Mac

2008-04-12T23:40:00.011+08:00

I made the switch to a Mac about 2 years ago, and I'm actually trying to remember why I did it. I think my primary reason was that it took less space on my desk. I don't have a big bedroom, so everything I buy should fit snugly. Couldn't do that if I had a typical PC CPU.

Now if you're thinking of switching to the Mac, I have noted down a few reasons why you really should.

1. It looks great. Ok, you're probably saying - what the hell do I care about how it looks like? It's supposed to look ugly - it's a computer! Well, it shouldn't! Computers should look good - they're normally found at some easily-accessible location in your house, so it better look nice! The iMac is really beautiful - with it, you can really show off a computer to your guests. It doesn't take up too much space, and the cord clutter is minimal.

2. It runs Windows. Yes, I made this my #2 since this running Windows is something very important to a lot of people. Maybe you still have some antiquated software that you absolutely need to use. Or maybe you don't want to get limited by the few games you can play on the Mac. Then no need to worry - you can run Windows on the Mac perfectly, either virtualized or natively through Apple's Bootcamp. I think this was also one of the main reasons why I switched.

3. Everything just works. Plug in your digital camera, and the pictures get instantly imported into Apple's built-in photo management software, iPhoto. No installation discs needed; No patches to be downloaded. It's really that simple. Oh, that also goes with your printer and your video camera. Absolutely painless. How about connecting your phone via Bluetooth? Same thing. It just works. Syncing your phone with Entourage/iCal? No problem at all. I tell you, you'll almost always never have to scour the internet for another driver again.

4. No viruses. Well, not really. There are some viruses out that affect the Mac, but not enough for you to urgently install anti-virus software. Gives me a lot of peace of mind though!

5. Photobooth. Nope, I don't mean the photo management software, but the software that takes your picture using the built-in iSight camera and gives you the power to distort your face or change the background. This software along gave me almost an hour of fun when I first set up the Mac. And my kid absolutely loves it! The picture below is one of her moments.

6. It runs Microsoft Office. Yes, really, it does. It has Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Entourage (Outlook), all created by Microsoft. I am still looking for a Visio replacement though.

7. You never need to reboot. I don't even remember the last time I had to reboot. The reason for this is that Mac OS X uses the Unix platform, where every application really runs on its own independently of everything else. So, if a program is causing a problem, just Quit it (or Force Quit it), and it won't affect the rest of your system.

8. It's not that expensive. Honestly it isn't. Of course, a clone PC costs less, but not by a large margin. For example, the lower-end Macbook costs around $1,099, which converts to roughly only P46,000. That's not too bad for a 2.1 Ghz Intel Core Duo machine with 1GB of RAM and 120GB of hard drive space. It also has a built-in camera and the fantastic set of iLife software.

9. The display is f******* great. The display that is built in into iMacs and the Macbooks are really spectacular, bright and crisp. I was looking at a picture on my Windows machine, but when I saw it on a Mac, it was literally blown away. I said to myself - that's how a computer should display a picture that you took with your 4-megapixel digital camera.

10. Most software you need is available. Despite what you might think, there are a lot of freeware and commercial software available for the Mac. Here are a few of my recommendations - Firefox for internet browsing, Transmission for torrents, iSquint to convert video files, and VLC, to view any video. Mac versions of Google Earth, Yahoo! Messenger, and Skype are also available.

So there you have it. If you're thinking about buying the Mac, I highly recommend you go ahead and buy one. I have one, and I'm never going back to Windows. (Except for games!)

Friendster MMS Photo Uploads

2008-03-30T12:57:00.002+08:00

A new service was recently launched by Globe that allows users to upload photos to their Friendster site via MMS. All the user needs to do is to register in Friendster Mobile, and once registered, they just send the MMS containing the photo and caption to 2276. The photo is then uploaded to their Friendster site in a few minutes.

This is probably just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the convergence of mobile and social networking. Any social network that's wants to get far cannot NOT have a mobile component. After all, a social network is by nature composed of people you interact with regularly, whether they're on the web or not. And what's the most convenient way to get in touch with them? Via mobile! (Of course, getting people to pay to use a social network via mobile is a totally different thing.)

Just some examples of mobile social networking - Facebook SMS/MMS, Multiply's mobile interface, myspace mobile and even Mixi in Japan.

The thing is - I think there's still a lot more to go - it's not as simple as translating the social network site to the mobile and offering the same features. It's looking at new opportunities and mashups that mobile provides. Presence, location information and push to talk are just some services a social network can take advantage of once it's mobile.

One thing that I'm forecasting to hit big though - Twitter (if ever it gets popular here.) It's content has a 140-character limit, making it ideal for SMS. That's 40 million potential Philippine users instantly.

Hmmm... could this be an idea for a new Philippine startup?

The Internet in Plain English

2008-03-29T01:21:00.006+08:00

Have you ever tried explaining RSS, Twitter or even social networking to your mother, your sister or someone who's clueless about technology? That has happened to me several times. I even remember my mom hesitating to use a mobile phone, although now she texts left and right.

But getting back to the point, I just discovered a site called Common Craft, which contains videos about some technologies explained in, well, plain English. Some of the videos featured are RSS in Plain English, Twitter in Plain English, and Wikis in Plain English. Check it out guys and girls, and never need to explain to your mom why you just have to post your vacation pictures on the internet again.

By the way, I learned about Common Craft through this new podcast I discovered, produced by Revision3 - PopSiren. It's a video podcast about modern culture, technology, science and DIY from the point of view of women. One of the hosts is Jessica Corbin of InDigital and Tekzilla fame.

Guy Kawasaki interviews Steve Ballmer

2008-03-29T00:46:00.005+08:00

Every March, developers and Microsoft enthusiasts troop over to Las Vegas for the Mix event. Through the Mix event, these developers get a chance to attend workshops and interact with Microsoft. I have never heard of this event before last week, when I saw an Mix 08 excerpt at Microsoft's Developer Roadshow at Megamall.

The highlight of this year's Mix event was Guy Kawasaki's no-holds barred interview of Steve Ballmer. Questions like "Why do you want to buy Yahoo?" and "What's the deal with Vista?", as well as Apple being referenced as a chihuahua and Steve Ballmer shooting down the Macbook Air were some of the highlights.

Head on over to Mix 08 website, and you can also view/download the video of the interview.

iPhone SDK 2 out!

2008-03-29T00:10:00.004+08:00

Yes folks, the iPhone SDK 2 is out! Apple sent me an email last Thursday. When the SDK first came out, I immediately registered to become an iPhone developer (even though the iPhone isn't officially offered in the Philippines yet.) I downloaded the Gigabyte-sized SDK (whew!), downloaded the instructional videos, but haven't installed it yet. Why, you may ask? I have a Powerbook G4 and an Intel iMac, both running Tiger, so I can't really run the SDK, can I?

Going back to the SDK version 2. The biggest difference with version 1 is that it now has an interface builder, so that you can just drag and drop to create your user interface. Part of my hesitance in using the 1st SDK (aside from not having Leopard) was that it would be pretty difficult to do an application's UI without an interface tool. Well now, that's no longer a problem! (but me not having Leopard still is!)

I do hope that SDK version 3 would allow me to use my iPod Touch (yes, I don't have an unlocked iPhone!) as a test device, so that I can create programs for myself and run it on my iPod.

Welcome!

2008-03-28T23:55:00.003+08:00

Welcome to the mobilefutures blog. In this blog, I plan to talk about mobile technologies, the internet and gadgets from the Philippine perspective. I work for a telecom operator, so some of my posts might be colored because of my background. Please note however, that all my views are my own and not of my company's.

Feel free to comment on any posts I have, negative and positive alike. My feelings don't easily get hurt! =)

Have fun reading!