Show HN: GPS + Calendar + Traffic = always on time • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: GPS + Calendar + Traffic = always on time

#31

Post by fraserharris » Mon, Mar 05, 2012, 11:47 PM UTC

justinwi wrote: post #29

schiffmand wrote: post #28

We built this same APP at Startup Weekend Boston two weeks ago, but didn't release it because we still wanted to finalize some features. Nice to know we have copycats. Also: The data provided by Bing's API was minimal, this app won't be accurate. There is also the issue of how do you know where I am leaving from in the future?

Rest assured, this was rolling around in our heads longer than two weeks ago, and we had no idea a SW team had tried to build something like this. Not that, that would have changed anything anyway... :)

I've been thinking about this for at least a year. Good ideas tend to be invented simultaneously... good luck with Bounce, looks awesome (apart from the battery draining GPS usage)

Re: Show HN: GPS + Calendar + Traffic = always on time

#32

Post by nbclark » Tue, Mar 06, 2012, 12:37 AM UTC

Pretty cool. I made something like this for Windows Phone a while back that would let your routes to & from work, and your estimated departure times. It would then run traffic data on a server before your departure time, and let you know how long your commute would be. It would then track the times historically and let you know the best times to leave.

http://www.windowsphones7app.com/windowsmobileapps/4/2011-03...

Re: Show HN: GPS + Calendar + Traffic = always on time

#33

Post by dfc » Tue, Mar 06, 2012, 1:19 AM UTC

justinwi wrote: post #10

jonschwartz wrote: post #2

Couple of quick thoughts after installing: 1) It appears to be continuously getting GPS data. That will kill my battery. Dead battery = I'm late anyway I may need to uninstall until this is fixed. 2) I don't need to be reminded of everything on every calendar I have access to. Have it so I can select which calendar I need to bounce for. 3) Along the same lines of 2, allow me to ignore specific events. I subscribe to…

Big thanks for the feedback Jon. 1. Bounce doesn't actually (at least it isn't supposed to) use your GPS all the time. It should poll for updates every 30 minutes until it gets closer to when you need to leave, then we ask for updates the closer we get to your "Bounce time." 2. Yeah, we'll make it smarter so you can customize which events it notifies you for and which it doesn't. Thanks again.

If I do not have any appointments all weekend you are going to poll my location from 8pm friday till 6am monday for no reason all?

Re: Show HN: GPS + Calendar + Traffic = always on time

#34

Post by ynniv » Tue, Mar 06, 2012, 5:01 AM UTC

justinwi wrote: post #24

ynniv wrote: post #20

Thought of this one a while ago. Some of my thoughts: - How will you know where I am? It would be expensive to run my phone's GPS continuously to figure this out. - My car might not be immediately available. The time it takes to get to the car will have little or nothing to do with my GPS distance from it. - Parking can take a significant amount of time. - Traffic estimates are often wrong, sometimes greatly underest…

Thanks for sharing. Our take: - We try to only run GPS when your next calendar event is coming up. - Right now we have an application-wide setting that says, "Add X minutes to my travel time." We're hoping people will use that to accommodate the fact that they have to walk to their car, find parking, etc. Eventually we'll make this configurable for each event. - Yeah, traffic estimates aren't 100% accurate, but they'…

We try to only run GPS when your next calendar event is coming up.

That could be a problem. Perhaps you want to run it near the last appointment? This is a complicated problem.

Right now we have an application-wide setting that says, "Add X minutes to my travel time." We're hoping people will use that to accommodate the fact that they have to walk to their car, find parking, etc. Eventually we'll make this configurable for each event.

Some things are better done earlier than later. In "new development" cities, this is okay, but in more complicated locations it will be a serious per-appointment issue. In a time when people say the first mover advantage is an illusion, getting ahead of the UX game could mean everything.

Yeah, traffic estimates aren't 100% accurate, but they're better than crossing your fingers and hopping in the car.

Just remember to err on the side of early. ;-)

Re: Show HN: GPS + Calendar + Traffic = always on time

#35

Post by hmeh » Tue, Mar 06, 2012, 5:22 AM UTC

fraserharris wrote: post #31

justinwi wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rest assured, this was rolling around in our heads longer than two weeks ago, and we had no idea a SW team had tried to build something like this. Not that, that would have changed anything anyway... :)

I've been thinking about this for at least a year. Good ideas tend to be invented simultaneously... good luck with Bounce, looks awesome (apart from the battery draining GPS usage)

I actually patented this about 6 years ago. Now I just got to dig up the patent...

Re: Show HN: GPS + Calendar + Traffic = always on time

#36

Post by srik » Tue, Mar 06, 2012, 8:18 AM UTC

justinwi wrote: post #23

srik wrote: post #22

You should have a privacy policy if you're going to collect emails, even if its for something as simple as a waiting list. It would make people who signup feel secure about giving you their emails and as we all know people who have explicitly signed up are probably gonna have a better chance of being your potential customers.

Good call, thanks for the suggestion. I'll see if I can come up basic privacy agreement. Thanks.