Alright - so echoecho is finally live. (EchoEcho if you're reading this on a PC - m.echoecho.me directly from your phones). S60 3rd edition and higher is supported fully.
So - you're thinking - what's news? you share your location - so what ???
😉
I know you guys probably all know all about latitude, loopt, gowalla, foursquare etc etc...
(first and foremost - there is a version of echoecho on S60, iphone, android, blackberry, windows mobile so you don't have to worry about what phone your buddy has when you send them an echo...errm - so long as they have a smartphone 😉 )
but the key thing is this - I don't want to broadcast my location.
I want to share my location. With specific individuals only. Think of it as more of an SMS (or permission-based location sharing) than a twitter feed.
It appears that significant numbers of our beta users so far think likewise.
We decided to streamline the s**t out of the whole process because let's face it - for everyone apart from a group of hardcore users who live on facebook the idea of joining yet another social network is kind of a pain. well ...we already have a social network on our phones...it's called our phone book 😉
Install + full configuration (from the moment you get invited) on symbian takes just under 60 seconds. It's exceptionally easy to use - I've got parents using it to find their kids - and friends using it to find each other...
We've got push-like functionality on all platforms (and a bunch of other tricks coming up shortly) a fully open API (in both directions) - because we want this to be mashed into as many things as possible. We have avoided complicated user preference screens and profiles entirely - and focused on the core requirement to share location as easily and as quickly as possible.
This is the inbox 😉
This is the inbox with context menu...
This is the popup notification - we call it echo flash
Last but not least - this is the map view.
If anybody wants more information go check out the website at echoecho - now start sending some echoes...
Thanks for reading this...
Nick