Chicago based artist Leon Grant Bussinger’s been busy creating Light Sound & Motion “previewing several current design and technology projects including multi-touch, large scale sms interaction, and experiential lighting design.”
Leon wanted to a simple solution that would enable him to create an interactive SMS project. Treasuremytext for Android to the rescue!
Essentially Treasuremytext for Android auto archives all messages received on an Android (G1) handset. All messages get archived in a user’s private SMS account. We created a little tweak just for Leon that let him publish a text stream of all of these received messages. Leon then displayed the text stream in his artwork - essentially allowing his friends to speak voice messages which are then displayed on screen.
Essentially Treasuremytext for Android acts as an automatic SMS gateway - which we think is pretty neat!
Leon’s work involved inviting his audience to leave him voice messages (Google Voice), which automatically get turned to text, then sent to the web via the Treasuremytext Android app. Pretty nice hack!
Our Dutch speaking friend Alper tipped us of about Hi (a Netherlands MVNO) who are offering something very similar to Treasuremytext the Bewaarbox!.
We just checked them out and although similar in nature there are still plenty of things different about our services. One thing we do love is they let you print a tiny book of your messages. We’re looking to work with Moocards or someone similar to bring such a thing to Treausremytext because it’s really nice to be able to do that. The other big difference is they do MMS also but although we’re asked a lot about it we still prefer to concentrate on doing SMS and doing that as well as we can. MMS is such a different thing that it’s hard to make one thing that could do both really well.
Interestingly as an operator providing this, they don’t seem to be doing anything more magical than we are when it comes to the archiving process. When you want to save an SMS you send it to a number which is the model we’ve been using since we began which we think is the right one for most users. We tried to sign up, obviously to have a look around but couldn’t because it is tied to the Hi network (we’re with Vodafone). This makes sense because they can offer it as a nice service differentiator from the other networks. The downside is if you don’t happen to be with Hi you can’t use it. What happens if you ever switch networks is not obvious.
So if you’re not with Hi (or even if you are) Treasuremytext works just great in the Netherlands on any network and with a local Dutch 06 mobile number it’s probably going to be free with an inclusive SMS bundle for you to use!
If anyone is with Hi and has had a chance to play with it please share what it’s like and a couple of screen shots.
Treasuremytext for iPhone (Version 2.0) is now available to download via Cydia courtesy of iSpazio.
Features of the app:
- Archive and Backup your SMS messages to your Treasuremytext account
- Delete Individual SMS from your iPhone
Added benefits for use with Treasuremytext:
- Messages appear in Treasuremytext with the original date sent
- Messages appear in Treasuremytext in the right date order
- Treasuremytext figures out the right ‘from’ contact info for you
- A new contact is created if the from address is not yet in your Treasuremytext contacts
Keep an archive of your iPhone SMS on Treasuremytext.com
To install, use Cydia; you’ll find us under “T”! More info on the app, and installation instructions here. The app works for iPhone 2G and 3G with 2.0 software and superseeds the original Treasuremytext for iPhone app. This app does require a jailbreak. For more info on why we can only make this app work for jailbroken iPhone read this post.
This is a first sneak preview so if you do find any bugs please let us know over at Get Satisfaction.
Enjoy!
Not a mockup! The real thing!
Marco Wessel just dropped a nice surprise in our inbox! …A new version of ‘Treasuremytext for iPhone’ application! Here’s a very sneak preview. We hope to have this available soon, probably through Cydia and in time for iPhoneDevHouse Amsterdam on the 30th August. (If we can work out an appropriate reward for Marco!)
It lets iPhone users archive their favorite SMS and delete the ones they don’t want!
If you want some I *heart* SMS stickers, we’re happy to oblige. Just send your name and address and we’ll stick some in the post. Send your sticker requests to iwantstickers
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