I know I have talked about this before but I recently rediscovered how incredibility cost effective current mobile device are as data acquisition devices. The world is scrambling to create an “Internet of connected things” with custom built hardware, but almost everything they need is in a smart phone. Smart phones are mass produced, cost effective platforms for applications of all kinds.
In the coming weeks I will post examples of code to make a smart phone boot into an application, use GPS to geo-tag audio and video and use Google maps to display navigation data. The only sensor that phones don’t come standard with is a temperature sensor. I’ll investigate ways around that short coming.
Android and IOS platforms have similar features and design environments, making it easy for developers to write apps and let the user choose their preferred hardware. Lens are available to enhance camera vision and most of the cameras have compensation for low light conditions. Yes there are apps for many things and apple would claim “There is an app for that.” Many of the apps however are prototypes for ideas that could be turned into real products with a bit of focused effort.
Google play and the AppStore provide great deliver mechanisms, reducing the cost of deployment and advertising. I think it’s time to start a business that leverages the knowledge of mobile app development. I’m collecting ideas…