Posted on February 7, 2008
We’ve decided to make it easier for developers to access the Devicescape client source code. As our community of users grows, and as our business with device manufacturers evolves, we’ve had numerous requests for new features and evaluations. While we’ll continue to respond to those directly, we thought it would be good to open up the technology to enthusiasts as well as make it easier for commercial developers to evaluate Devicescape. So, there’s now an application form at developer.devicescape.com which allow individuals and corporations to apply. There is a click through license agreement which we hope won’t be too onerous, and a place where you need to tell us your intended usage. We want to understand what developers are doing prior to approval and release of the code. We’re making all our various platforms available, with the exception of the S60 as it has some restrictions. Anyone using the source code will be given a license key which allows up to 10 devices to be attached to our system. It’s completely free for non-commercial use. If you’re a commercial developer, our hope is that you’ll be able to experiment and prototype faster, without needing 10 levels of sign-off from management…
Posted on February 6, 2008
Yesterday we released the first major upgrade to Devicescape. We racked our brains for ages and consulted the finest creative minds to come up with an appropriate name for the release, and after much argument settled on “Devicescape 2.0”. Very creative! Internally the codename was “Instant Access” or as many Devicescapers ended up abbreviating: “IA”. Whenever companies announce new products they often seem to say something like this being the results of lots of feedback from users or customers. Not to repeat the cliche, but that’s definitely been the case for us. When we launched Devicescape in its 1.0 form, we required the user to create an account at our website and then register their devices with us. They then had to select the networks they wanted to use, including their commercial accounts and any free networks in the system. That seemed like a good idea at the time, but quite quickly things got out of hand. It just became too tedious to go through all that process, and as the number of networks in our system escalated we started hearing consistent comments and suggestions. We heard: Can you make this work straight “out of the box?” Can you make…
Posted on December 26, 2007
2007 has been a remarkable year for Devicescape. Although we slyly turned on the service in December ’06, we were in stealth mode until our announcement at DEMO in February. Back then, we supported only three networks: T-Mobile (since there’s a Starbuck$ across the road serving as our test environment), FON (because we’re FON fans), and Google Mountain View (because resistance is futile they’re a useful model for muni installations). Over the course of 2007 we started adding networks, initially by visiting locations ourselves, but later by asking our members to report. Now, we have close to 1000 different networks in our system, and it’s growing rapidly. We have most of the big commercial networks, of course, but the great thing about Devicescape is being able to provide access where our members need it. It’s really exciting for us to see all the usage at local and community networks, especially universities, throughout the world. Similar to our network growth, we’ve also seen a widening of device support. The distribution on Nokia phones has been cool, swelling our membership along with surprising adoption on the iPhone and iPod Touch (big thanks to Null River for their installer application). It’s somewhat ironic…
Posted on September 15, 2007
Our friends at Nullriver added Devicescape Connect to the package list this afternoon, so everybody can now download it and try it out. Please be aware that this is very much an alpha release. We’re looking for your feedback on this one. Tell us whether it works (and, just as important, if it doesn’t). Also, we don’t have personal networks or Wi-Fi buddies in there yet, though we’re looking at how that can be done. If you haven’t installed it yet, the email responder for iphone@devicescape.com will be updated on Monday with download and installation instructions; if you can’t wait, install the Nullriver Installer.app and follow your instincts. If you get stuck, post something in our forum, add a comment here or send us an email – whatever works best for you.
Posted on September 12, 2007
So you’ve got what is perhaps the coolest mobile device on the planet, an Apple iPhone. Now you make it even better by adding Devicescape Connect. Then you too can be standing in line at your favorite coffee shop and feel your iPhone vibrate as new email comes in over high speed Wi-Fi. We’re in the process of getting it ready for download, hopefully later this week. If you’d like to take part in our early access release, let us know via an email to iphone@devicescape.com and we’ll send you installation instructions as soon as everything is ready.
Posted on August 7, 2007
Devicescape users who are attending the Linux World 2007 show in San Francisco can add the show’s free hotspot network to their ‘My WiFi’ list to have their devices connect automatically. No need to see that captive portal just to sync your email, or to make that VoIP call home. I’ve tested it on my laptop (running Linux of course since this is Linux World), and my Nokia N95 mobile. Check out my history below, and please leave a comment if you use the service while you’re at the show.
