I hope this isn't part of a thread. Comments inlined.
Joel Newkirk wrote:
Presuming that V1 devices will lack bluetooth, what other means exist
for one device to recognize proximity of another?
Even with bluetooth, you could only find a omnidirectional proximity -
signal strength. You would have to coordinate with two other cohorts to
triangulate position. That'd be neat.
With SMS we could communicate with a few 'friends' and keep updated as
to GPS locations, but that depends on cell carrier and manually
inputting number/email/something. GPRS wouldn't be useful, since most
GPRS services (in my experience) don't allow inbound connections, and
there'd be no easy way (short of an external server) to identify the IP
of a potential peer device, locate it, or push data at it.
You could have everyone sign up with a centralized tracking service -
everyone would be pushing GPS coordinates to it. Then you can give out
your key to people you allow to track you; or (to get away with
no-pushing-buttons) just allow anyone to see your GPS coordinates. This
could be done through periodic GPRS or SMS/Email push.
What about a scenario like a conference, where two individuals meet and
want to exchange contact data? I'm thinking about people who 'beam'
their business cards between PDAs, for example.
In the past it's been done with IRDa and vCards - but the beam was so
tight you had to hold your phones still for a while.
vCards (over SyncML, if you'd like) can be given through SMS; it's just
text.
Put two Neos in a room with no cell service - can they find each other?
Even with service, if nobody punches in 'codes' on each?
Oh, if only it had bluetooth.
But really the push-to-central-server could work - set it up so it
notifies you of anyone also on the service within .01 degrees of you or
something. Then exchange vCards with them.
Colin
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