By Jatindra Dash, IANS
Bhubaneswar : Thanks to a young web developer in Orissa, one can now send and receive animated as well as customised e-greetings on GPRS-enabled mobile phones and PCs with Internet connections.
The software application MobileWish, developed by Samir K. Dash of Rourkela city, 450 km from here, has proved to be quite a hit, with its latest version launched just last month.
The software can be downloaded from the website www.mobilewish.com. Dash already claims to have over 2,000 users – most of them from Europe and the US.
“It was a challenge to deliver interactive content with animation, sound, visual effects like in an e-card from a mobile to another handset,” Dash told IANS.
People usually send and receive e-cards using a PC with an internet connection. E-greetings using the mobile phone have so far been sent through MMS (Multimedia Messaging) – but this does not allow for any customisation of the e-card. This mode is also dependent upon the wireless operator providing the MMS service.
But Dash, who works as a Systems Consultant at Enterprise System Solutions Private Ltd (ESSPL), a private IT company based at Infocity in Bhubaneswar, has broken new ground.
“Currently, more than 30 models of Nokia handsets support this application, which I have built using Adobe Flash Lite(r) technology,” he said.
Flash Lite is the mobile version of Adobe’s familiar web technology Flash, which has become one of the dominant ways to deliver graphically rich and interactive content to desktop computers.
“Upcoming models from companies like Sony Ericsson, LG and others will also support this application,” he said.
“A user first needs to download the software which is available at www.mobilewish.com. Then this software has to be transferred into the user’s handset using either a Bluetooth or a cable or infrared (if supported by phone).”
After transfer the application will be automatically installed on the mobile set.
Those who don’t have a compatible mobile set can use MobileWish by downloading a desktop version.
“Using MobileWish, a user can select a card which is available in the gallery section and can send it to the desirable destination by providing the recipient’s e-mail and mobile number.
The first beta version of MobileWish was released to the public Dec 25, 2006. Three months later in March, the very first production version was available online with the desktop version.
The current version, MobileWish 2, has been available since last month.
Dash had won the Flash Lite Application Contest 2006, sponsored by Software giants Adobe, Moket and Adobe Mobile and Devices User Groups of Boston, Brazil and Australia.