S60 Open to new features

A couple of things came to my mind when exploring the voice commands in my new phone. It is relatively easy for a user to call someone by saying the person's name, or to open an application using the voice commands. Unfortunately, voice commands cannot be used for opening any application or view - even though there are quite many alternatives available. Also, after a promising start, having opened an application using a voice command, a user cannot proceed much further using only voice. It would be handy, for example, to start the text message reader using voice command--but this may not be possible (I could not find a way, at least). And it would also be nice if the user could select a speech synthesizer speaking one's mother tongue - at least Finnish messages sound quite funny with the English-speaking synthesizer. :-)

So, while there are interesting voice-related features, they are not used to the extent they could be. Could the user, for example, activate a kind of “voice command profile” in which messages and other texts could be heard? To make it more fun for the user, different kinds of speech synthesizer voices could be offered for listening - maybe even with varying emotional tones. As for emotional expression via mobile, the nature of potential solutions is limited by just one's imagination - as is illustrated by a monkey* developed at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory.

* The page works with Microsoft Internet Explorer.

This entry is not that S60-specific, but still something that deserves an entry on this very day: Helsinki City Transport, the public transportation organizer in Helsinki, Finland, updates its SMS-based ticket purchasing service today. Here's an insight for you non-Finns out there how things are done over here.

A quick recap: in the service, you can send an SMS to a service number to instantly receive an SMS-ticket that is valid for one hour on Helsinki trams, subways and commuter trains. The service has been around for quite a while and the whole concept is absolutely brilliant: forget about standing in a queue or trying to find loose change for the ticket vending machine; simply send an SMS and be on your way.

But. Enter the usability problem.

Users often comment that they would like to have a good quality mobile phone camera. Usually taking photos is the only consideration...but what about other ways of using the camera?

In some situations the camera could help a user to "take notes". A user could, for example, take a picture of a book cover that her friend recommended (to later look up further information) or capture the opening hours on a shop door. (These could possibly be stored separately from rest of the photos.)

If this does not seem terribly helpful, what about reading 2D barcodes using one's phone camera? There has been some earlier discussion about this in Tommi’s S60 Application Blog. I tried generating and reading Semapedia tags, which is basically phone-readable barcodes that take you to Wikipedia pages.* Quick and easy.

A mobile user perhaps does not need to browse Wikipedia daily, but the idea could be applied to various everyday situations, e.g. being in a movie theater or video rental store and trying to decide which movie to see. It would be handy to read a barcode on a movie list or on a DVD cover and then instantly receive a link to the movie trailer. For some time, several friends have been waiting and hoping for a phone-readable barcode solution to pay their bills.

Other suggestions?

* Semapedia.org is a "non-profit community-driven project to bring the knowledge from Wikipedia to relevant places in physical space".

Hi S60 enthusiasts! I’m Joonas, a fresh addition to the blog contributors. I’ll kick off with one of my favourite applications: Contacts aka Phone Book aka Address Book. The application is vital for me. It’s my vault of contacts, addresses, phone numbers and birthdays. It has replaced my memory. However, it’s not a particularly easy memory to use.

Couldn't help laughing when I saw this fantastic thing. This is a microwave oven with a FM radio. It is a convergence product, isn't it?

Maybe what people really want from the much-hyped convergence is everyday items that really cross the boundaries of conventional product development thinking. The owner of this oven was very delighted when he found the product. The designers of the product have understood what kind of usage patterns there are in many kitches. People listen to radio while cooking or eating. So, let's offer them a radio in a space-saving way!

New technology leads to new innovations and application concepts. When the technologies mature and become commonly available, users can reap the benefits and enjoy the new services and experiences.

One of the things I personally look forward to is the continuation of the location-based services boom. As the writings on the wall suggest, device manufacturers are taking steps toward increasing the focus of location services - perhaps the time of having integrated GPS/Galileo-capable devices from major manufacturers is sooner than we think!

New technology brings new concepts and killer applications. With something as revolutionary as location data, there are plenty of innovative applications out there, waiting to be discovered.

Example. Being an enthustiastic photographer, I just love the idea of combining digital photos with geotagging (basically, adding location metadata to the image - technically quite simple). So, a few years from now, when look on my collection of thousands (and thousands) of unorganized digital images, I can smile and enter queries such as: "Organize the images according to the city where the picture was taken" or even "show me all the pics I've taken in Europe, excluding that awful trip to Manchester in 2002". So simple, so effective.

What could the next mobile big hit be?

One user recently complained during testing: I wish I had more applications available on my Active standby application list (note: the user did not actually say this; he said “…on my primary screen”). Users generally do not like to “travel” too far to do anything on their mobiles. If, for example, they don’t have the Clock application on their shortcut list, they have to complete several steps to actually set an alarm.

One possible solution is to create a more “active” interface. Take again the clock example: What if the clock were an icon to which the user could move the cursor and select the clock? Then the user, without leaving the primary screen, could set her alarm, check her various World clocks etc. And, even better, the user can replace the Clock application on the Active standby application list with another application he uses regularly!

I witnessed a very interesting moment with my friend when he tried to synchronize his new phone, powered by Windows Mobile, with the email server. His works in a small company and it does not have huge IT support available - people have to do these things by themselves. The system was asking for certification and did not allow us to perform the installation. When we looked for more information about synchronization, we discovered that the system will not work with sites without certification. Fine with me…but maybe not for everyday consumers. Is this clear for consumers who are buying these devices (I don’t think so)? Is it possible that these kinds of definitions will exclude a lot of people from the mobile community?

Unfortunately, the whole theme – to have my device interact with the mail server – is too challenging for basic users, which is shame; with well working and easy-to-use features (should be close to plug and play ideology) platforms can create a real value to their users. This case, once again, raises big questions: how free is the information and is it possible for everyone to have internet on their mobiles? As I mentioned in my previous entry, there are big challenges that we’re facing on the road to a fully working mobile internet – just start with the issues like security and information overload. However, these challenges are not impossible to overcome. If we can make the technology work for us and not the other way around, I’m sure that we will witness a true revolution of mobility.

As I started to write a different entry, I wanted to take a screen shot on my mobile device to support a point that I was trying to make. Instead of completing the task, my phone was locked by the same command that was supposed to take a screen shot. So, at least two applications on my phone are "initiated" by pressing the "pen" key and the * button.

So what does this mean for the end user? Installing several applications onto a user's phone may lead to major usability problems later. Does this mean that the user can only install one application at a time? Is the user forced to find out how to work 2 or more applications that require the same shortcut command? This experience needs to be an intuitive one: a user finds an application that appears useful to her, she installs it, she uses it. Because she has a good experience, she goes to find another application; she installs it, and she----doesn't use it, she cannot use it because she can only use that shortcut command to start one application. Is this right?