Meetings, movie theaters and important events are just some of the situations where you need to turn off your phone-but what if you still need to receive important messages, reminders, and phone calls? Of course there’s an app for that. Mobi.ON is an app that provides you with updates on important activities that need your attention while respecting your privacy and the privacy of others. It acts like a personal digital assistant by collecting important information for you even if your phone is locked or turned off and alerts you in a subtle way. I spoke with Gunjan Goel, Founder of Plexlane+ about this intuitive technology.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/s2mT2cRR6Bw[/youtube]
You say that Mobi.ON is like a digital assistant – how so? What are some of the main features?
Mobi.ON allows you to keep your mobile phone “on” in places where we typically discourage use of mobile phones, such as movie theaters, meetings, places of worship, etc. The challenge is that many people have a need to be able to take emergency calls. Without Mobi.ON, people will typically put their phone on vibrate but cannot take the phone out of their pocket as the large screens will glow in the dark or sometimes the continuous vibrate sound is also bothersome to people around you-this is where our app comes in and gives people a tool to handle these situations.
What has the response been like since the launch?
We launched a free version of the app back in April of this year. There was some in-app purchase capability and we got some good feedback. We then decided in July to make it a paid app for $1.99 and make all features included in it. When an activity happens, say a call comes in, Mobi.ON picks up the activity and displays it to you in an extremely non-intrusive manner to you and others around you. Even if your device is locked or in sleep mode we still capture these activities.
How did your software company, Plexlane+ come up with this idea?
The idea came out of personal needs. There is an expectation from society that we will not use our phones in certain places like the movie theaters but what do you do when you have a sitter with two premature kids at home or sick parents or family? You need to take time to enjoy but be in touch as well. Given penetration and adoption of mobile technology we need to find ways that are a win-win for everyone.
Have you raised money?
The app was a pet project and self-funded.
Where can our readers get the app?
It’s currently on Google Play for $1.99. The app will also be available here for free distribution until December 31, 2013.
What’s next?
Currently the app provides notification for Phone Calls, SMS, Calendar and To-Do reminders on the device. We want to add other features like social media updates and updates from specific apps like What’s App and others. It is a balance as we want to keep the list short as this app is only meant to inform you about the most urgent things that matter to you.
Download the app here.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/s2mT2cRR6Bw[/youtube]
You say that Mobi.ON is like a digital assistant – how so? What are some of the main features?
Mobi.ON allows you to keep your mobile phone “on” in places where we typically discourage use of mobile phones, such as movie theaters, meetings, places of worship, etc. The challenge is that many people have a need to be able to take emergency calls. Without Mobi.ON, people will typically put their phone on vibrate but cannot take the phone out of their pocket as the large screens will glow in the dark or sometimes the continuous vibrate sound is also bothersome to people around you-this is where our app comes in and gives people a tool to handle these situations.
What has the response been like since the launch?
We launched a free version of the app back in April of this year. There was some in-app purchase capability and we got some good feedback. We then decided in July to make it a paid app for $1.99 and make all features included in it. When an activity happens, say a call comes in, Mobi.ON picks up the activity and displays it to you in an extremely non-intrusive manner to you and others around you. Even if your device is locked or in sleep mode we still capture these activities.
How did your software company, Plexlane+ come up with this idea?
The idea came out of personal needs. There is an expectation from society that we will not use our phones in certain places like the movie theaters but what do you do when you have a sitter with two premature kids at home or sick parents or family? You need to take time to enjoy but be in touch as well. Given penetration and adoption of mobile technology we need to find ways that are a win-win for everyone.
Have you raised money?
The app was a pet project and self-funded.
Where can our readers get the app?
It’s currently on Google Play for $1.99. The app will also be available here for free distribution until December 31, 2013.
What’s next?
Currently the app provides notification for Phone Calls, SMS, Calendar and To-Do reminders on the device. We want to add other features like social media updates and updates from specific apps like What’s App and others. It is a balance as we want to keep the list short as this app is only meant to inform you about the most urgent things that matter to you.
Download the app here.
Sounds like a great idea. In practice, I’ve found that typical Android smartphones are just not designed to play well in the dark, and that’s because of the backlight which hates being turned off, but which is overwhelmingly glowing brightly when in the dark.
It’s why I could not really use a Nexus One or Galaxy SII as a night time clock/radio. Way too bright even when “dim”.
But that was my experience from a few years back. Perhaps newer Android devices don’t have that limitation.
The link to download their app for free is broken and returns a 404.
Sorry, case mismatch. The download link should be working now. Thanks.
Thank you!