Re:call launch - Vancouver Sun gets scooped by Urban Vancouver
By Roland Tanglao on April 9, 2005 - 1:06am
A day after my post about the Re:call launch, a Vancouver Sun article came out. Some comments, observations and followups:
- Jim Fawcett: Re:call would truly be mobile blogging had they used a the same platform as Urban Vancouver which not only offers the content management they need but a true multi-person blogging environment 'out of the box'.
- I think Julie was misquoted about the Australians. As I said in my 2010 Vancouver Olympics Online Community blogging vision, this system would be useful to everybody: all athletes, all visitors and Vancouverites, not just Australians!
- I forgot to mention Tejinder Randhawa in my article. As well as being involved in Re:call, Tejinder appears to be a computer science instructor at BCIT and researcher at Mobile Muse. I say "appears" because there's nothing definitive in Google.
Click "read more" for an excerpt from the Vancouver Sun.
From Vancouver Sun (link will break in 7 days, full article scan is on my Re:call launch - Vancouver Sun flickr set.):
QUOTE
It's an electronic tour guide, camera and multimedia travel diary all in one hand-held PDA.
Re:call knows where you are, and as you wander, it offers multimedia snippets on history and culture within your line of sight.
Want a coffee or showtimes at a nearby theatre? Re:call's got the details along with reviews posted by previous users. Take a photo or make notes, and re:call saves it in your electronic journal along with the time, location, and information links related to that location.
Re:call is an application prototype from Mobile MUSE (Media-rich Urban Shared Experience) Research Network -- an industry and academic consortium including Telus, Nokia, New Media BC, Simon Fraser University and the University of B.C.
...
"It's a tour guide and travel diary with the ability to engage in community sharing," said project leader Julie Zilber who was testing the prototype with passersby at Vancouver's Granville Island Thursday.
Users can attach reviews or personal comments to specific geographic locations.
"It's a way of leaving digital graffiti around a city. It's almost mobile blogging," said Jim Fawcett, president of Exponentia, a Vancouver-based software development and new media company involved in re:call's back end content management system.
"It's a way to say 'I was here' without messing up the bridge," Fawcett said in an interview.
Another use could be as a means of networking for all Australian visitors to the Olympics, Zilber suggested.
UNQUOTE
