Part of the assignment this week for mobile apps was to name and describe our favorite moble application. This was somewhat difficult for me because I don't really use any mobile applications, partly because up until a few months ago I had only one phone, a Nextel, that wouldn't run anything and partly because I find that most java applications I've seen are very game oriented. However, I do really like the java mobile application for radar.net. For those who don't know, radar is a photo sharing application that allows you to upload camera phone pictures to a website via a unique email address, or their fast java app- which runs very nicely on my Nokia 6682 although it won't work on my Nextel. In order to see someone's pictures you have to be their friend. When it first launched, you had to know someone's email address in order to invite them (or provide them with your personal invitation code), now however, if you see someone's name next to a comment they made on a friend's picture you can invite them by clicking on the name. This was a particularily interesting change. Although, presumably, these people may already be in your network of friends because they are friends with one of your friends, the site in generally so ultra-private that such a feature initially seemed quite strange. The site is completely unsearchable, meaning that the only information or media you can access is that of the people you have directly invited to your radar. Pictures come in and become part of a stream, most recent first, although you can view all of the photos from one particular friend or yourself by clicking on their or your name. You can also easily toggle viewing comments on your pictures, on your friends pictures or on pictures you've commented on. You can also see which of your friends has been the most active on the site in the last week.

The mobile version of radar provides most of this functionality. After logging in the first time, it gives you the option to bookmark the page so that you will never have to login again, which is nice, expecially for those who are not fast in typing letters on a phone. The pictures are small enough that they load quickly but large enough that you can still see them. The java app itself is also nice because it means that you don't have to search for a place to send your photos once taken and the upload time is very quick. Overall, even though I am still a huge fan of flickr, I like radar a lot. I think it is structured very simply, which also contributes to it being very easy to view and use on your phone. I would like it if I could send a url to a friend who is not registered with a code so they could view my pictures, however, as I do with flickr. Many of my friends don't have camera phones or cheap data plans that would allow them to use the site frequently, yet I still may want them to be able to see my pictures without making them sign up for something they can't use. I am also interested in when and if radar plans to come out with a video version of the app. So far mobile video has been treated very poorly by most sites that have included such capability, with the exception of certain applications like eyespot. It would be interesting to see how the mobile version of radar would work with video, both the mobile site and the java app. I also wish that the java app would work with more phones, but this is more of a carrier/manufacturer issue then a radar issue. I also would like it if I could send out mobile alerts to my friends when I post a picture so they could see it immediately. Right now, I believe they only provide email alerts, which is kind of silly since the site in general seems to be trying to get people off their computer. Still, I think it has the potential to catch on. I would be interested to know how many users they now have.