iPhone app updated

Filed under Technology, Updates

BlooSee updated & other news

BlooSee website updated on January

You may have noticed some changes on the system, as we’ve updated it to improve useability.

Better groups

First thing you’ll see is that we’ve split the former “Community” area into two new tabs: “Friends” and “Groups”. The latter has seen major changes: you now have the ability to create private groups, you can search groups by different criteria and, in general, we’ve improved all that has to do with groups and discussions so you can use them to build your own sea-loving community within BlooSee.

The “Friends” tab will be improved as well, with the ability to search for people you might know, using different criteria.

Improved dashboard

You’ll also notice that the dashboard shows now global statistics on infopoints and routes (we’ve gone beyond the 2,000 infopoints mark now!), as well as those created by you and your circle of friends. And for those, it will allow you to keep track of who is more active in terms of infopoint and route creation, uploading of pictures, etc.

General improvements

Changes don’t end here, as we’ve tweaked and optimized different minor aspects as well. On the “Explore” tab, for example, the taxonomy has been slightly refined once more. Call us perfectionists, but we want to make sure that users have the most comprehensive, logical, and clear way of adding geolocated information to the global chart.

BlooSee on your mobile device

We’re also happy to anounce that it is now possible to access the BlooSee geolocated information on an augmented reality application, Layar. For those of you who have an Android-based mobile phone or an iPhone, you can get the Layar application for free [edit: the Layar application cannot temporarily be found on the iPhone App Store for technical reasons, it should be available soon, but please note this is beyond our control]. Once you have it installed, simply search for BlooSee within the application. You’ll be able to access all of our infopoints, with their information overlaid on the real images from your phone. It’s pretty neat!

And, in case you were wondering, our very own iPhone application is in the works. We don’t want to disclose dates for things yet unfinished, but soon you’ll be able to download the first version of the iPhone app, with the ability to access the same map you see now on you web browser. And an Android version will follow.

Filed under New Features, Updates

BlooSee updated

We’ve just updated our production server with a code refresh.

Changes include:

• Extended data panel for infopoints automatically opens when adding/editing infopoints. Also, more types of infopoints have extended fields than before.
• Photo albums have a clearer navigation, where you first see all pictures as thumbnails, and then choose which one you want to start with.
• Message when accepting friends invitations has been corrected, with no overlapping of buttons over text — it will, however, be improved in the future.
• Much better search results, organized by type.
• A meaningful “404 page not found” message — it was a shame to have kept the old one for so long (ouch!).
• Long user names appear now correctly on Dashboard.
• Improvements on the comments interface.
• Other minor miscellaneous corrections.

And we’ll keep improving… but you knew that already!

Filed under Updates

Improved infopoint taxonomy

We’ve re-worked the infopoint taxonomy — and we all know sometimes small changes make big differences!

The addition of a couple of types under Facilities (namely Yacht club, and Sailing school) is something we should have done a while ago, and some users were asking for them. So here they are.

But we’ve also re-thought the placement of certain types and put them under different categories than they were originaly. We believe it makes much more sense like this.

Finally, we’re very happy to have a couple of new and important categories: Art and history, and Ocean conservation. Hey, this is when we can actually say our system is for sea-lovers! Even though we know many users will want to use our system to exchange critical data (facilities, aids to navigation, dangers…) or practical information (services, hotels and restaurants, shops…), true sea-lovers will appreciate those two layers to learn about nautical traditions and history, as well as get conservation related info.

Humankind has been tied to the ocean since the origin of history, and the seas of the world have been the backdrop to adventures, explorations, battles, but also fears and hopes throughout the centuries. Isn’t it cool to be able to mark those places where special events took place, or where traditions and legends originated? (I, for one, have already started: http://www.bloosee.com/r/i3eySCy)

And regarding our ocean conservation layer, we’ve said many times the ocean is not a mere highway for our boats: it is a living entity that we need to protect as much as we enjoy. So on BlooSee, users will be able to publish particular spots to see certain types of species (whales, sharks, seals, seabirds…), but also mark areas needing special protection, tag spots with a pollution concentration level higher than normal, etc. From BlooSee we want to contribute as much as we can to having a “green approach to the blue world”, and this new layer is only the beginning.

All in all, we hope you’ll like our new layer set!

Filed under New Features, Updates