Tom Spring from PC World put together a nice collection of Android apps for T-Mobile’s G1.
The lion’s share of these apps is compelling thanks to their novel use of camera, GPS, communication capabilities – or all combined.
Tom listed 15 Android “killer apps”. I pick 4 apps which could inspire the augmented reality world.
You will judge if they “kill”, Bill.
1. BreadCrumbz
First step towards user generated Geo tags
BreadCrumbz is a different kind of navigation application.
Navigate-by-Pictures: Navigate your route using pictures instead of a map (there’s also a map, if you like).
Users Create Routes: Easily record routes using your smartphone. Share them with your friends, share them with the world.
2. CitySlikkers
Attempting a real-world social network
City Slikkers is a Pervasive Game (alternatively Location Based Game) which takes place in the real-existing city. It is designed to connect a large number of players through-out the world and change the way the surroundings are seen. The central idea behind the concept is to give people the opportunity to symbolically interfere with the everyday urban environment and come into contact with previously unknown people.
3. ShopSavvy
Using the oldest Marker technology: barcode
ShopSavvy™ is a shopping assistant developed exclusively for Google’s Android mobile phone platform and is one of T-Mobile’s featured applications in their 2008 US and UK launch. Users can scan the bar code of any product using their phone’s built-in camera. ShopSavvy will then search for the best prices online and through the inventories of nearby, local stores using the phone’s built-in GPS. ShopSavvy won Google’s Android Developer Challenge and is available in Google’s Android Market.
4. Get a Life
Getting folks out of the house is a good thing
Locate your friends and family– LifeAware gives you the ability to create your own network of friends and family members and locate them. Unlike other location services, LifeAware will provide you with their last known location, providing insight even if their phone is off or out of range.
Establish safety zones for family members – Create geographical zones and setup notifications for when a family member enters or leaves the defined zone. Setup a zone to be notified when Johnny arrives or leaves school, or when a loved one arrives at their destination when taking a trip.
Tag locations for yourself or for sharing– Tag locations you visit, or find on the map and share with the members of your network.
Send locations– Send your current location or location of your choosing to friends in your network, or to any email address. Send the favorite meeting place to friend and have them meet you.
Now, you be the judge!
Filed under: AR Applications, AR Games | Tagged: Android, BreadCrumbz, CitySlikkers, Get a Life, google android, ShopSavvy |
Games Alfresco 
I’ll have to vote for ShopSavvy out of these reviews, while its the least “wow” its probably the most usefull, with an added bonus people can use it right now.
I do like geo-based games though. I played a few even without AR technology. (Perplexcity event in london was particularly fun).
I can certainly see a *lot* of those games springing up in citys once gps becomes standard in phones.
Oh, also, BreadCrumbz link seems broken :-/
Regarding ShopSavvy,
NeoMedia has patents that cover this technology:
Patent #6,651,053 — Interactive system for investigating products on a network
An interactive search system for use with a global computer network, e.g., the Internet, using a search identifying barcode to rapidly and effectively obtain a supply of related information for presentation to a user. A computer, either landline based or mobile, may be used to input a UPC code, taken from a package or advertisement or prestored in the computer, to an implementing server on the network. The server contains a database of product and manufacturer identifying UPC codes and uses the input UPC code and the database to identify the manufacturer and is programmed to then perform a search of the network to locate sites relating to or operated by the manufacturer. Also, the server may search the network on a product basis to locate other sites containing the UPC under search. Using “parsing” technology, the server “pulls out” the product description, transmits it to and places it in a random access memory (RAM) or storage of the computer, and proceeds to perform further searching relying on the product description to uncover relevant information. Accordingly, using a single input, a collection of product-related and manufacturer information is quickly assembled in the computer available for a user’s consideration all at once at any time.
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