Those who have been reading this column know I have been harsh in my comments about the types of applications we are seeing enter the market-even those written for Android as part of the Google contest [1]. You also know I have great respect for those who are able to write programs and deliver them to desktop and/or mobile devices. It is a talent I don't have that is a valuable asset to those who do.
I believe if you are going to be negative about a product or a group of products, you should be able to offer some positive suggestions to either "fix" them or provide some guidance to those who write them. In my next few columns, I will describe several programs I would find useful that I believe others would also want. I will lay out the general ideas and functionality, but I won't even pretend to provide all of the details of what will be needed.
Nor can I offer millions of dollars to those who build these programs in an effort to follow my ideas and provide solutions to problems I identify. However, what I can and will do is review beta copies of the first five programs submitted to me (under non-disclosure agreement). I will critique what you have written and offer suggestions.
Program One: A Travelers Concierge suite of applications
First device to be implemented: BlackBerry followed by others
Market: Those who travel in their work
Problems to be addressed
1) Tracking awards programs for airlines, hotels, rental cars, etc.
2) Identifying which airline or hotel to book based on how many rewards points are needed to achieve the next level of status and additional perks
This could be built in three phases
1) Program would run on both the desktop and wireless devices with manual entry on the PC that is then download to the handheld
2) Program would be tied into websites for automatic updates for all rewards programs
3) Traveler enters the planned trip-city, number of nights, rental car (yes or no) and program recommends airline, hotel and car rental based on reward levels
Phase 1 of this program would have the traveler enter in rewards cards, status level, number of points and awards program plans (what it takes to reach the next level). Phase 2 should be able to be pre-programmed with the traveler's user ID and password for each rewards program and then be updated automatically, and the final phase would be recommendations generated by the program after reviewing all airlines, hotel and auto rewards cards.
An associated program would generate a trip-specific expense report that would be downloaded to the mobile device to use in real time during the travel, updated as time permitted or filled in afterward. I would spend a few minutes before my trip mentally figuring out where I would be spending cash and blank fields would be generated for me. For example, if I planned to take a cab to my hotel, a field for the cab fare would be included in the expense report and I would fill it in after I paid for the ride.
Getting back to my Travelers Concierge, this suite of applications should ultimately be tied into my calendar on both my desktop and my wireless device. There should be hooks that can be tied into turn-by-turn direction programs (for when I rent a car) and road traffic software so I can be notified of the right time to leave the office for the airport or a meeting based on traffic. For corporations that have travel guidelines, these should be tied in so when someone has to rebook a flight, the choices would be within corporate spending limits.
There are many other things I could add, but I think this is a good start. Why start with the BlackBerry? Because it is the corporate wireless tool of choice by a wide margin, it has a keyboard for quick entry of data and it can "talk" to a desktop machine pretty easily!
So there is my challenge. If this is something you might want to do and you would like a limited amount of my help along the way, the first step is an NDA after which I will review your detailed program specs and make suggestions. Then I will review your alpha and beta offerings, again offering suggestions and recommendations.
If anyone believes they already have what I described above, feel free to contact me and I will take a look at it. I am not sure I would write this type of program for the Android since it is too early to see if there will be any corporate uptake. Some of you might want to write this for the iPhone since Apple seems to believe the new iPhone provides for the needs of corporate road warriors. However, the people I know who put their BlackBerrys away and bought an iPhone are now carrying two devices-the iPhone for fun things and phone calls, and the BlackBerry for email and other tasks that are critical to their everyday business life.
To take part in this application challenge, please email me at aseybold@andrewseybold.com [2] with the subject line, "Application Challenge." I am looking forward to seeing some really innovative applications!
Andrew Seybold is an authority on technology and trends shaping the world of wireless mobility. A respected analyst, consultant, commentator, author and active participant in industry trade organizations, his views have influenced strategies and shaped initiatives for telecom, mobile computing and wireless industry leaders worldwide.
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/andrew-seybold-android-winners-lack-innovation/2008-09-24
[2] mailto:aseybold@andrewseybold.com