Ask HN: Check out my little app
huddle.im
huddle.im
My primary envisaged use for your app was on the move. I have a phone, and need to talk to several people at once. No problem, conference call. Whip out the app, add a few contacts, have the conference call.
If I gave you a list of my contacts, could you automatically call them all into the conference once I joined?
And if you do well they will ask. Most iPhone apps are just web-apps w/a "phone-top" interface. Running your app through Safari on the iPhone feels too slow and looks crappy next to a native app. I think having an iPhone app is going to be as standard as having website soon, if not already.
Also agree w/ sibling poster about access to your contacts + other richness.
Otherwise, good luck! I really like how you ritually slaughtered all the BS.
But if they did have a trademark case, this would likely strengthen it. If you benefited from a referral program, huddle.net could prove you profited from domain infringement.
If they do, however, I think they might chill with the fact that I would be giving them some customers. Even if not, it's a good thing that I'm not living in the US at the moment (and not moving back until late 2010).
It is a nice service though, and awesomely simple.
IANAL, however, just a programmer.
I don't think huddle in the UK would be considered to lack the distinctive quality that makes it suitable to be a RTM but perhaps in the USA?
TM are registered in an area of business, as companies grow they tend to fill [almost] all areas, I'm sure you can get MS clothing, MS food, MS surfboards, ... if huddle isn't registered and can be then registering it is fine but as mentioned it does not prevent current use from being continued IIRC.
* I'm clearly not a TM lawyer and this ain't advice.
[edit] Actually, I'm not sure about twilio's conference call abilities, so maybe I spoke too soon.
@jazzychad I've got you on there already
-danielle @ twilio
The security of this scheme worries me, though. Here's several requests for the same key:
Location: /chinashop
Location: /chinashop9556
Location: /chinashop3025
Location: /chinashop1230
Location: /chinashop5900
It looks like I could probably write a little program to slow-poll for conferences on targeted keywords and find out other people's conference IDs.
If I see enough demand, I will make my own system with the Technology from Twilio, which would allow me to have more control over the system, and add a bunch of extra features like optional call recording and whatnot.
Use a 128 bit hex string from /dev/urandom or Java's securerandom or whatever you have that isn't PHP's mt_rand, and you'll be fine.
In other news, why not give this place a test? If you're reading this, call in!
* Audio recording and storage
* Speech -> text for transcripts
* Fax/email results to those who didn't attend
* Embedded meeting agenda in the web interface
* Voting app that participants can use during the conference
Fixed your typo. ;)
A few questions come to mind: - Who are you and why are you giving away free conference calls? - Will participants hear ads during the call? - Is there a limit on the number of participants? - What about international callers (btw what country is this for?)
I like the clean and simple design and I encourage you to keep it that way. Perhaps linking to a FAQ or a page with a little more background.
Good luck and congrats on the release!
In fact, most of the information you want is in the links "learn more" in the homepage, and "about this number" in the number page.
And maybe separating the phone# and the PIN would simplify it a bit. something like "Call this number to begin a conference call: XXX-XXX-XXXX. This is your PIN. You will be prompted for this after dialing." Or whatever..
2. Not sure how serious you are about this app, but the next features I would want would be to allow users to register and permanently reserve pin numbers. This will ensure I can set up numbers and put them into my meeting invite for that meeting next week
The pin is the only thing between an outsider and your conference. (assuming the phone number is the same, which seems to be the case right now).
Professional conf systems offer that all the time
Pluses:
+++ It is very nice and simple. I never subscribed to any teleconferencing solutions simply because I think it may get complicated and it probably requires subscription.
Minuses:
- The phone number & pin shows up intermingled in Firefox.
-- I need a global teleconferencing solution, and I don't see myself saying, come on guys lets call this number in new york for connecting up.
Good luck.
And, one of the reasons I would like to redo it in Twilio would be the ability to provide a 1800 number instead of a NY one, which would make it easier for people in the US. Unfortunately, I haven't found a way to provide numbers outside the US.
Nice simple and clear introduction.
Your target market are business execs that are currently paying a lot more than free for thus service. Convincing them that your app is stable and credibile is your challenge.
My target audience isn't really business execs, rather the more causal web users market who want to collaborate together. Let's say a twitter user and his/her followers, or a freelancer and his/her client(s).
what i would LOVE though, is a free, simple, web-based screensharing tool.
i've used skype but it requires, obviously, installing their software. drop.io comes close, but only allows me to share content already on a drop. and tinychat sounds cool, but isnt free.
thoughts?
I would also check out Twilio if you're interested (http://www.twilio.com/).
I do plan on adding twilio, I am playing with their conferencing API as we speak. I'm also checking out an alternative, that looks pretty promising. I'll see how it turns out.
I made it with Dropio as a proof of concept.