38 replies to this topic

[Sp00k]

I drew Jon's attention to this thread, typically he'd forgotten about it but says that...

"If people are now ready to use java+gprs then it can work again,  how neat the system will be depends on the java app. so any smartphone/java/symbian developers who can code should contact me, [email protected]  if they want to work on a simple app to drive it,  it's always worked on gprs, msn etc, just no-one used it."

[Jay3gsm]

Sp00k! Old timer, glad you are still with us! Good to see you here, too. So, what's new?

And yes, someone please code this damn app so we can start with Locust 2.0!

[mwright]

sp00k, on Jun 1 2006, 08:47, said:

I drew Jon's attention to this thread, typically he'd forgotten about it but says that...

"If people are now ready to use java+gprs then it can work again,  how neat the system will be depends on the java app. so any smartphone/java/symbian developers who can code should contact me, [email protected]  if they want to work on a simple app to drive it,  it's always worked on gprs, msn etc, just no-one used it."

To save everybody emailing Jon - could you ask if it is still working/can be made to work via IM (MSN/Jabber) etc?

Cheers

[Sp00k]

mwright, on Jun 5 2006, 15:04, said:

To save everybody emailing Jon - could you ask if it is still working/can be made to work via IM (MSN/Jabber) etc?

Cheers

I'll do my best to get the info, or better yet, I'll try and get him to come out of the woodwork!

P.S. Hi Jay... You have a PM....

[JonAnderson]

Hi Everyone,

Its nice to hear that people would like Locust to return. It is a real shame that Orange closed it down.. At the time GPRS was (and still is too expensive) but I hear there are now flat rate unlimited options which really would open some doors for what could be possible. Also, most phones these days are much more advanced with decent JAVA etc which all helps.

Those who've been following what I've been doing will know about LocustWorld and how busy it is keeping me! The concept with that is basically that you can build your own wireless network.

More info in this ZDnet article about LocustWorld or see the main site at LocustWorld.com

All my work these days is really with LocustWorld as it is what pays the rent, but if Locust Cellular were possible, then it is something I might consider restarting given sufficient motivation. All the old mail forwarding is still up and running, but I disabled the aim/msn bots as there was virtually no usage and I didn't want to have to worry about getting my ip's blacklisted by aol/msn and maintaining the database servers that ran them.

I've never really learnt to program MIDP JAVA or Symbian C++ or Windows Mobile C++, or .NET CF c# so it isn't really something I can do to knock up a custom bit of handset client software. I also haven't seen a reliable messaging client that could work on a phone as a substitute for text messaging (eg with the nice push notifications) - mine kept signing off when I went out of coverage or just said I was online when I wasn't.

I also notice that even the "push email" upgrade for the Orange smartphones basically involves rapid server polling, rather than push technology. This would get expensive unless you have unlimited GPRS, perhaps someone can give me more info on these talk plans. I find it difficult to get to speak to anyone at Orange customer services these days (they seem to have removed all those menu options) and 151 is also discontinued. Their on hold message says to visit the website but I can't get Orange.net working most of the time and it helpfully disables text alerts at random and doesn't appear to text you when you're out of coverage. None of this is very helpful. Overall Orange seems to be totally dying. I've been an Orange customer for 12 years and the service appears to get worse and more expensive by the day. Sorry rant over.

If people want to get Locust up and running again. What we need is a bullet-proof instant messaging client. Ideally Jabber based, as then I can run my own messaging server and not have to ab(use) AIM or MSN, also I've got a gigabit of bandwidth and fleets of servers these days, so really the sky is the limit for what the service could do.

Someone find me a jabber handset messaging client that works properly and I'll set up a test server but beyond that I can't make any promises.

Best Regards,

Jon Anderson

[mwright]

JonAnderson, on Jun 6 2006, 14:14, said:

Someone find me a jabber handset messaging client that works properly and I'll set up a test server but beyond that I can't make any promises.

Best Regards,

Jon Anderson

As far as series60 is concerned - there is Agile Messenger and IM+ for starters. They both seem pretty stable.

Although there is still the old problem with using IM - that it does not always work very well if you connect/disconnect all the time. You stand a chance of losing messages.

[PaulOBrien]

Agile Messenger is available for Windows Mobile too...

P

[Jay3gsm]

Agile is a good app, I used to use it before on one of my first S60 phones to access Locust when SMS was pulled. Agile have a beta app for S60 3rd edition phones available now which I am using, so far so good. IM+ is also going to be available for S60 3rd Edition. I tried it and it works well (Also works with Google Talk)

For a Java app, could something like Tex2 work? Tex2 is designed to replace SMS. Whilst I doubt that will happen, it does offer a cheap way of sending messages via GPRS. The sender and the recipient need the app installed. You send a message, the recipient gets it on their phone, same as SMS works. Major difference is in cost. Firstly it is much cheaper to send via GPRS, secondly the recipient incurs a charge for receiving the message (but this is a minimal data charge for downloading the message, nothing expensive at all)

If you happen to not be logged in to Tex2 when you receive a message, it will be stored until you next login. As it stands at the moment messges are stored for an unlimited amount of time, and an unlimited number of messages are stored. Something like this app would work really well for Locust 2.0 as a java app is going to be more open to more mebers than a Symbian app. Or, even worse, a Windows Mobile only app! (That would *really* suck!)

More info on Tex2 here:

http://www.tex2me.com/index.html

[Jay3gsm]

Is the Locust rebirth project still active?

[PaulOBrien]

Yes!

P

[mwright]

Paul (MVP), on Jul 19 2006, 16:44, said:

Yes!

P

<_<

[Jay3gsm]

So now the Orange tariffs are being tweaked, and for ?35 a month you can get a Dolphin tariff with unlimited text, can Locust be set up in the old way? Orange are on record saying unlimited really means unlimited. As I recall we used to pay subs for Locust, wasn't it ?3 a month? That would cover tariff costs, no?

[mwright]

Is this still alive?

And please do not tell me that Twitter is the new Locust

[PaulOBrien]

Lol, yes, it's still alive... something *could* happen in January.

If that doesn't pan out, i'm tempted to do something from scratch myself

P

[mwright]

Paul (MVP), on Dec 15 2006, 15:59, said:

If that doesn't pan out, i'm tempted to do something from scratch myself

P

I would certainly like to help with that if you decide to go that route. I did think of doing something once Locust started to go t**s up

[PaulOBrien]

I'm still undecided what to use as a medium.

It did strike me that push email would actually work quite well, lol, but i'm not planning to go that route

P

[Jay3gsm]

Locust, locust, where for art thou locust?

[mwright]

Jay3gsm, on May 31 2007, 15:00, said:

Locust, locust, where for art thou locust?

[Tries to think of something witty - fails!]

Any news on this at all?

[Jay3gsm]

Heh, two years later, and Jay walks back into the Mobiholics forum....

"Hellooooooo???" Seems a bit empty in here, Jay thinks. Jay starts looking for hidden Locusts.....

Wonder where they could be...??!?