The document describes BuddyMob, a mobile social networking application for Android phones. It allows users to share location, text, photos and videos with friends in real-time. Key features include seeing where friends are on a map, messaging them, and cross-posting to other social networks. BuddyMob launched on Android Market in December 2008 and has been downloaded over 17,000 times. It is funded by location-based mobile advertising delivered to users based on profile and location. Future plans include an iPhone version and expanded international availability.
2. What is BuddyMob?
Your friends at your fingertips on your Android phone
Share what you see, hear and think with your buddies. Follow what they post and
where they are, anytime, anywhere.
With BuddyMob, you will discover new ways to interact with your friends
What makes BuddyMob unique?
- Text and geo-tagged multimedia content micro-blogging
- Find out where friends are and what they are doing using GoogleMaps
- Chat with friends using the complete integration with instant messaging applications such as
MSN, AIM, Jabber and GoogleTalk
- Simultaneously cross post to favourite web and mobile social sites
- Keep up to date with friends' live feeds from other social networks such as Twitter (and
Facebook in March 2009)
- Receive location alerts when friends are close to you
3. Trends and positioning
New trends…
- Technologies (3G/3G+, GPS&CellID, XMPP, multimedia devices under $100, open-source mobile OS…)
- Ecosystem (unlimited data plan, APIs, location-based services, AppStore and Android Market…)
- Usages (mobile instant messaging, social networking, micro-blogging, content sharing, local search, GPS)
bring new concepts…
- Devices get connected to the Internet, to retrieve and post instant and localized information
- Phones become multi purposes communication tools
- Users want to communicate and keep tracks of their friends, anywhere, anytime, on any device.
and new applications
Share Retrieve
Localize
Texts Weather
Contact Friends Follow
Videos Traffic
Content
Photos Local news
POI
Audio Hot picks
4. How does it work?
Announcements,
Proximity alerts,
Friendship requests,
Posts and Messages are
displayed here
Direct access to key
features: Home,
Contacts, Timeline,
Maps, Messages
From this page users
can sign-in, search for a
friend, post a content or
enter their settings
6. Contacts tab
Users can chose an
avatar, be localized or
not, enter a presence
message
They can chat with
friends connected to
BuddyMob, MSN, Gtalk
or other IM applications
BuddyMob users can be
localized by their friends
if they publish their
location (see the blue
Earth icon)
7. Timeline tab
All friends feeds are
aggregated in a timeline.
Posts come from
BuddyMob, Twitter or
Facebook*
BuddyMob supports text,
audio, image and video
posts. They can be
public or private.
Posts are geo-localized
if they come from
BuddyMob and if the
author wants to publish
this information
Facebook support in the Public Beta release in March 2009
8. Post display
A long-click on a post
opens a new display,
with the content, the
author and other
available information
9. Location tab
Friends can be located
on a GoogleMap within
the application.
A proximity alert can be
set with a specific range
when a friend comes
nearby
Users must agree prior
to location publishing.
They always have the
option to stop it instantly.
10. Chat tab
BuddyMob provides free
instant messaging with
friends from major IM
applications
Several discussions can
be opened at the same
time
11. Settings
In the Settings, users
can define if they want to
stay connected all the
time
They can choose to be
alerted when a friend
approaches
They can enter their
MSN, Twitter or other
supported applications
to retrieve their existing
friends and content.
12. How does it work?
Technical background
- OS: Linux/Debian
- Client/Server connection protocol: XMPP and BOSH mobile connection
manager
- Developpement server side: Erlang, Python, PHP
- Developpement client side: Google Android SDK / Eclipse
- Application server, webserver and database engine: Nginx/PHP/MySQL
- Platform and hosting: Amazon Web Services cloud computing solutions
- 24/7 monitoring and alerting system
13. What users say about BuddyMob
quot;Great idea! This app is awesome.quot; Jesse
quot;Good app.. Seems real user friendly especially.. good things to comequot; Miguel
quot;Best app in the market.quot; John
quot;This is one of the more professional apps on the market.quot; Xenomorph
quot;Awesome app and recommend that everyone should download it...quot; Anonymous
quot;Very useful application!quot; Jonathan
quot;This app is definately fire... Me likey nice interface. smooth appquot; Larry
quot;Great concept! Works great!quot; Justin
14. The Android Launch
Why Android?
- As mobile application developers, we do not like to be stuck with proprietary and aging
interfaces. Android is the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices.
- Android is supported by dozens of hardware manufacturers and scales to every device.
- It is free, Linux-based, open-source and cheaper to develop with.
- Third party development is possible and encouraged.
- Android Market brings us worldwide reach and audience.
Launch results
- In less than 4 weeks, BuddyMob has been downloaded 17,000 times from the Android Market
- 15,000 members registered
- 4th most popular application in the Social category of the Android Market
- Rating of 4,2 on 5, from 1000+ users
- According to our figures, 2% of the active owners of a G1 phone have installed the application
15. Business model
Mobile advertising efficiency can be dramatically improved when using the unique advantages
of mobile phones : instant, personal and localized
Mobile users accept advertising if the message is relevant. Bring 10 people in a shop and 7 of
them will purchase something… For large retail chains with hundred of shops around the
country, location-based ads in mobile applications is key to developing their revenues.
BuddyMob is the ultimate tool to deliver these ads towards mobile end-users
Free to use, BuddyMob is ad-funded using a combination of
location-based advertising and adverts served according to a
user's profile, ensuring relevancy, higher click-through and
therefore better revenue generation.
16. Roadmap
Product
1st of December 2008: launch of the Private Beta application on Android Market (1.0.0)
20th of December 2008: following hundred of requests from beta testers, the 1.0.1 is released,
supporting AIM instant messaging protocol
March 2009: Public Beta stage, with Facebook connectivity, a public Timeline and a new
search engine to find new friends nearby your location
June 2009: iPhone version
Marketing
December 2008: launch of the Private Beta on Android Market and in the UK to fine-tune the
application
February 2009: launch of the Public Beta in the US and Europe
Spring 2009: launch in China, following the introduction of the first Android phone for the
Chinese market