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The status of Openhanced and the Layar Starter Kit
Posted in: Android, Augmented Reality, iPad, iPhone by openhanced on August 20, 2010 | No Comments
My last post is a long time ago (just did another one) and to respond to a few peoples questions, no the Starter Kit is not stalled!
The truth is, I have joined a company to work as a CIO but I’m still available on Fridays for other stuff. I have had many requests and seen many downloads for the Starter Kit and I think that is great. However, I have not been able to release any new features or do bugfixes. Even I have to realize that software can contain bugs or needs support.
Now that I’m back from my Holiday in Southern Spain,
it is hot in there, I have come to the conclusion that I want to release another product based on the starter kit. However, my first change is that it will be an online service to start with. I want to take the approach of an online service that can rollover to a downloadable product in the end (still to determine). I have lots of ideas on what to add but the first priority is to support all new Layar features and make a much better interface. Below are some of the exciting plans that I have for the coming 3-6 months:
Future feature set
It is always hard to cut on features because I like features but I will try no to promise too much at once 
Below is a list of stuff that I’m thinking off:
- Possibility to create multiple data/map layers (not Layar);
- Possibility to create a unique URL for each data layer;
- Adding support for all new Layar features;
- Support for other AR tools (Junaio, Mixare and others);
- More social features;
- Barcode scanner support;
- Map browsing on a public site, all GEO points of signed up users;
- Linking Tweets to locations;
- KML Tours;
- HTML5 capabilities for Layar and others (detail pages etc.).
Only the feature set above is already a big amount of work but I have done stuff on my Fridays and weekends. The trouble however is summer and holidays, lower productivity.
My end goal is not have have just another Layar GEO platform but a much broader tool that supports multiple consumer applications. In the end most location applications do the same trick a little different. Look at Foursquare, Gowella and now Facebook. I want to both support AR tools natively but also other tools capable of location. One thing that I love to add is the support of sensors on location, I’m working on something that will connect to ioBridge.com and even have had a few conversation on doing stuff for wineries.
I think the best thing that could happen is that everyone is capable of building an AR layer without the need to touch code or whatsoever.
My plan is to take enough time to get this going and the first phase will focus on usability and support for the new Layar features, that will be in the first new release. To get all this stuff done I’m going to work with a few fresh developers in India that are going to focus on the mobile pieces of the puzzle.
When re-launched it will be good, flexible, awesome and supported
Small changes in Layar web service script
Posted in: Android, Augmented Reality, Blog, Mobile, Open Source, iPhone by openhanced on April 13, 2010 | No Comments
OHLSK (Openhanced Location Starter Kit)
After some serious debugging last two days (thanks Josh) we have changed a few things in the script that is called by Layar. These changes are also finalized in the full version.
Please only download the update if you already have the full version installed, upload and overwrite webservice/layarpoints.php in your server but make sure to change the DB details for your situation!!!
Download latest full version | Download updated Layar web service script
On top of that we also show you a little more on what to do inside Layar to get it working.
In your Layar filter settings make sure that you have 1 Range Slider and one set of Radio buttons. The values of the radiobutton set need to match the Category ID of the OHLSK.
Above screen is the category list in the OHLSK solution.
Small bug in the Location Starter Kit
Posted in: Android, Augmented Reality, Blog, LBS, iPhone by openhanced on April 11, 2010 | No Comments
We discovered a small bug in the setup procedure for the Location Starter Kit (thanks Josh for the feedback). This bug writes the wrong username in the webservice/layarpoints.php file. Make sure that your db username on line 16 in this file is correct.
A Layar to show leisure/sports activities and an interview with GPSies.com owner
Posted in: Android, Augmented Reality, Blog, iPhone by openhanced on April 7, 2010 | No Comments
Besides building a freemium version of a Layar backend (to host your datapoints) we also joint forces with GPSies.com to bring you 300000 leisure/sports tracks from most countries in the world.
With the Layar you can find the start points of the tracks and advanced track, elevation and weather data.
Right now the database contains around 300000 + points and it is growing on a weekly basis. We will update our clone of the GPSies.com database once a week to bring you all the new tracks.
Interview with Klaus Bechtold of GPSies.com
What is your name and origin?
My name is Klaus Bechtold and I’m living in Berlin, Germany. I’m married and I do have two children. GPSies.com is just a hobby besides my job as a software developer at an internet agency in Berlin.
What is the goal of your company GPSies.com?
The goal of GPSies .com is to help everyone to plan and document their tracks. The focus is on the GPS technology and I tried to implement a simple user interface. So users without a GPS background can e.g. easy use the converter (automatically file detection) or the track creator.
Do you have a long history in sports activities and what is your favorite sport?
My first marathon was in 1998 – so I’m an enthusiastic runner. And I’m a cyclist in summer, when I’m riding from home to work. Sometimes I’m on trekking tour with my family – never without GPS 
How did you come up with the idea of GPSies.com?
I bought my first running GPS device in 2006. The device was very expensive and my wife did not allow me to buy additional maps to document my running tracks. Exactly at this time Google launched the version 2 of Google Maps – so I started some experiments to plot a GPS track on the map. Because I made it public, I received many positive feedback from the community – so, here we are!
How much visitors does your site attract on a monthly base?
GPSies.com has about 300.000 visitors with about 1.4 million page impressions. In summer 2010 I’m expecting about 2 million PIs. The community has now more than 50.000 registered users and it is growing very fast. All statistics (tracks, users, countries and so on) are public and are accessible by the footer navigation.
How much tracks are there in your database worldwide?
GPSies.com has about 340.000 tracks worldwide (March 2010, public and private tracks). Most of them are in Europe and especially Germany (170.000 tracks).
But GPSies.com has also tracks in USA (8.000), Russia (7.000) – see the statistics to get it all.
How do you see the future for the site?
My plans are to force the mobile accessabilities of GPSies.com. GPSies.com has already a mobile site (m.gpsies.com) and many devices (Andoid, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and so on) are using the API to get tracks in an area or upload tracks to GPSies.com. I’ll open GPSies.com as a plattform for any mobile devices to let them store thier tracks.
GPSies.com is growing very fast. As you know, it is just my hobby site and I don’t earn my money by GPSies.com. My wife and my children are fighting for more time to spend with me. Ok, I’m getting a small income by the advertisement, but this is totally used to pay for the infrastructure (server, administrator, …). I don’t know what happens next – I try to carry on
Do you foresee a great future for Augmented Reality?
Yes indeed! This is a great opportunity to get much information within an intuitive and easy to use interface. Smartphone software like Layar is just the beginning. Later we’ll have e.g. glasses with GPS, compass and internet access like in some SF movies.
Is there anything else you want to add to this short interview?
Yes, I’d like to mention, that GPSies.com has also an Android version that let you view tracks by your search parameters. The app is free and available at the Google Market.
Last but not least, don’t forget to go outside and have fun with your outdoor exercises!
Launch of the Openhanced Location Starter Kit with #Layar functionality
Posted in: Android, Augmented Reality, Blog, Mobile, iPhone by openhanced on April 6, 2010 | No Comments
NEWS: Openhanced is releasing a new Sports/freetime activity Layar next week in cooperation with a German company. Above 300000 tracks listed worldwide including elevation/weather data.
We are, as planned, delivering the Location Starter kit to provide individuals and organizations with a solution that can be used in combination with mobile applications like Layar.
The development of this solution has taken a while and this Freemium version is the blue print for our GEO Data warehouse where people with different roles can manage location content in a user friendly way. Our first goal is to make the solution available to anyone who is interested in location oriented solutions.
For us Layar is the showcase application that we use a lot to provide people with an awesome demo. However, Openhanced is involved in several Enterprise location based solutions for users or employees. To fulfill end user solutions you need a flexible backend for demonstrations.
Some information before you start the download
As with every software solutions and deciding on releases and time frames there are a few small minor issues, mostly related to validation during installation:
- The install wizard can one click install but make sure all your MySQL details are correct;
- Double-check if you need the special 755 permissions on the mentioned files;
- Get a Google Maps key that is needed for the location picker.
Scalability
The backend location management system is built on PHP and MySQL and can be used in a live production environment if needed. We use it for a few solutions that serve a quarter of a million data points and we think that is still fine performance wise.
Downloading and unpacking
You can download the solution here. Make sure after downloading to unpack the zip file and to upload it to your PHP/MySQL server. Call the install.htm through your browser after uploading.
To get help before you upload and install visit our extensive online help.
EU VAT check Mobile Web Application (mowapp)
Posted in: Android, Mobile, Mobile Web Applications, iPhone by openhanced on April 2, 2010 | No Comments
Click here for the URL.
All companies in Europe officially need to check the VAT id of the partners/suppliers they work with, till now that has been difficult to do.
That changes from now on, we just have released a Mobile Web Application to check VAT numbers for the following countries:
- Netherlands
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Germany
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Spain
- Finland
- France
- Great Britain
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Latvia
- Malta
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Sweden
- Slovenia
- Slovakia
The mobile browser based application is usable on the Android an iPhone devices but you can also use it on the desktop on a Safari browser.
It is our aim to provide businesses worldwide with vertical applications on mobile devices.
The data is provided by the EU and a wrapper web service is developed by http://isvat.appspot.com/
Preview of a complete POI/Layar backend, frontend and browser based mobile solution
Posted in: Android, Augmented Reality, Blog, Mobile, Open Source, iPhone by openhanced on March 8, 2010 | No Comments
Layar client
Last couple of weeks we have done some extensive development to get a complete working concept (some will be used at current projects) around POI’s, Layar and backend integration PLUS Jquery based clients for Android and iPhone.
After analyzing some of the solutions available I think there is a lot to improve and also ways to extend the experience. A lot of layar developers for example focus just on the Layar client (which is perfectly fine) but we took this approach and extended it into an approach where Layar actions (available in the specification) kick of Jquery clients (Android and iPhone) where you can even execute more location based services. Below is a sample screenshot of how this looks inside Android (in Dutch):
By linking these almost native clients (nothing to install) for example the Layar experience can heavily be extended. When people select an action in Layar above screens can be opened from within Layar:
POI/Layar backend
There are a few POI/Layar backends available but again we think they are not flexible enough. We think that one infrastructure can facilitate both Layar data but also any other location based information. On top of that we are working on:
- a commenting system for POI’s/Layar;
- location based advertising;
- invitations by SMS for location based surveys or ads;
- generating coupons and a way for users to claim a coupon (location based);
- a retailer interface where store owners can add ads;
- and may other interesting solutions…
Below some screenshots of the backend:
The backend is suitable for multiple users and user groups. Users that register as a retailer will have an option to create location based messages or coupons.
All above work is in development and some will be rolled over to a live environment. A freemium version will be available so that you can create your own Layar in an easy way. We plan to release this around April.
Openhanced is announcing the Layar (@layarmobile) starter kit
Posted in: Android, Augmented Reality, Blog, Open Source, iPhone by openhanced on February 23, 2010 | No Comments
In the last month we have been working on a complete starter kit for Layar, including: an Open Source backend (multi user level) with supporting database, a GEO spatial search routine and supporting mobile web pages that behave like native apps (Android and iPhone). We will launch this web starter kit in the first week of April and everyone will be able to download the starter kit and install it on a shared or dedicated host.
Now that Layar (@layarmobile) really gains momentum we really want everyone be able to play around with it in an easy way. Right now there are a few solutions out there that support the creation of layars but we wanted to create a full system that can be used by everyone with just a small understanding of PHP and MySQL.
It is just a solution to check out how Layar works and it will not support 3D objects.
Below you can see a few first screenshots of the solution:
backend
mobile web apps.
yes this is the Nexus One
We use the mobile web apps. for providing access to different API’s when executing a layar action, all these actions are related to a nearby selected point. You can think of things like: nearby station, –tweets, –shops etc.
The backend system that we use allows administrators to setup different users that all can add and maintain their own points from within the same database, however, users cannot edit other peoples points.
We will release the solution free of charge and you will have all freedom to install it on your own environment to try it out.
P.S. I want to thank Johannes (@jlapoutre) for his tip on the GEO spatial search.
Use MockApp to design the next killer iPhone application
Posted in: Blog, iPhone by openhanced on February 1, 2010 | No Comments
Dotan Saguy has designed an awesome Powerpoint template to design your next iPhone application.
This is a great idea and let’s hope Android will be supported too soon.
The status of HTML5 for mobile devices
Posted in: Android, Blog, iPhone by openhanced on January 29, 2010 | No Comments
After doing some work on cross platform web app deployment (Hybrid Mobile) the conclusion is that it isn’t easy to do but doable with a few workarounds. As anyone knows Google has pushed Google Gears for a while and did not support HTML5 in the Android 1.5 and 1.6 (not 100% sure of this last one). Apple with the iPod, iPhone and iPad however does support HTML5 for the features that mobile developers need.
As a web app. developer that brings in a few difficulties. Probably you would prefer local storage of private information (possible in HTML5) and that works for Android 2.x, and all Apple devices. However, this rules out the G1 and Hero (HTC refuses to release the update till now). In practice this means you have to either use Google Gears (lof of problems till now) or stick to the cookie solution or live SQL storage (slower). A cookie solution is ok but has some security issues if not programmed in a decent way.
That basically means your web apps. have to support two methods till every Android device is upgraded to version 2.x. Luckily Google is now giving heavy support to HTML5.
Till that moment Openhanced and other developers have to stick to both above described solutions 