Survey Hints at Possible Next-Gen Experiences!

[Figment632]

Thanks to WDW Vacationer at ClubD23

EPCOT INSIDER:

AT HOME:

Video welcome from imaginer.

AT PARKS:

Insiders Map: Tips stories on map. Also wake up call from Sklar or Lasseter.

Use phone to reveal EPCOT history: See the park as it looked in the past as your mobile device becomes a time portal- visit an attraction, choose a year on the portal, and hold it up to the ride to see the ride transform back to the way it used to be. Use time portal to take pics of you with old ride (way used to look/old ride).

SSE Alternate Imagineer soundtrack: Ride SSE with imagineers who designed the ride give alternate audio commentary during the ride.

Inside info on phone: Your map leads you to special locations where you get a call with insider info from original EC designers and Walt himself. These are added to your journals.

 

[Golf4food]

Sounds cool to me.

 

[Figment632]

Yea I like the part where you can listen to SSE with WdI commenting.

 

[anthony2k7]

wonder which phones this will be available on.

If its iphone only I can imagine a situation where iphone users think its cool for a few minutes then get bored of it, mean while everyone else is annoyed/disappointed it doesnt work on their phone.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

Why??????????

 

[nytimez]

wonder which phones this will be available on.

If its iphone only I can imagine a situation where iphone users think its cool for a few minutes then get bored of it, mean while everyone else is annoyed/disappointed it doesnt work on their phone.

No biggie -- they could always upgrade, and trade in that little toy for an iPhone.

 

[doconeill]

Sounds more like something they could be planning to include on those in-park Mobile Magic "appliances" they are making out of converted HTC phones. A super-Mobile Magic they could upsell more.

 

[CandyMandy]

U

No biggie -- they could always upgrade, and trade in that little toy for an iPhone.

Or if they're really smart get out from under the micro-management of the evil empire called "Apple" and get onto the open source future. It's called Droid.

 

[nytimez]

U

Or if they're really smart get out from under the micro-management of the evil empire called "Apple" and get onto the open source future. It's called Droid.

For a moment, I thought you said "if they were really smart."

 

[doconeill]

For a moment, I thought you said "if they were really smart."

Here we go..."Apple vs. Google wars, now on the DIS!"

I think it is telling that they are testing the in-park appliance on an Android OS, for a variety of reasons:

1) More commodity hardware. Various vendors, specs, etc. available. And cheaper.

2) More provider support. All the major U.S. providers support Android. iOS has one.

3) Verizon exclusivity agreement on the Mobile Magic application

Supporting an app that makes use of advanced features on multiple platforms can be an issue and expensive. It looks like they are going for a long term broad base support - but then again, they still haven't released the base Mobile Magic on any smartphone platform yet...

 

[nytimez]

Here we go..."Apple vs. Google wars, now on the DIS!"

I think it is telling that they are testing the in-park appliance on an Android OS, for a variety of reasons:

1) More commodity hardware. Various vendors, specs, etc. available. And cheaper.

2) More provider support. All the major U.S. providers support Android. iOS has one.

3) Verizon exclusivity agreement on the Mobile Magic application

Supporting an app that makes use of advanced features on multiple platforms can be an issue and expensive. It looks like they are going for a long term broad base support - but then again, they still haven't released the base Mobile Magic on any smartphone platform yet...

The only one of your reasons I agree with is #3. I don't think the others matter -- it's no biggie to release an app on both platforms simultaneously, and it's done all the time. Most of them use the same "guts" anyway -- the audio, video and actual content are all in the same formats inside, the app itself is really just a "shell" in which to hold/read them.

That said, remember who Disney's biggest shareholder is. No matter what they're testing now, or what agreements they have in place, when they're ready to make a major move in this space (and, sorry, Mobile Magic doesn't count) there's no way they'll exclude him.

 

[doconeill]

The only one of your reasons I agree with is #3. I don't think the others matter -- it's no biggie to release an app on both platforms simultaneously, and it's done all the time. Most of them use the same "guts" anyway -- the audio, video and actual content are all in the same formats inside, the app itself is really just a "shell" in which to hold/read them.

But the "shell" is the part that needs to be reprogrammed, as it interacts with the OS and the hardware. And if you want the app to run on (at least almost) any Android phone, it needs to have a flexible interface due to screen differences, etc. etc. It can actually be more challenging to program for, but potentially get a wider audience.

It's not impossible, but it's not trivial. You need to program in different languages, etc. unless you are using one of the "super-languages" that can be converted, and Mr. Apple has already made his feelings known on that...

 

[nytimez]

But the "shell" is the part that needs to be reprogrammed, as it interacts with the OS and the hardware. And if you want the app to run on (at least almost) any Android phone, it needs to have a flexible interface due to screen differences, etc. etc. It can actually be more challenging to program for, but potentially get a wider audience.

It's not impossible, but it's not trivial. You need to program in different languages, etc. unless you are using one of the "super-languages" that can be converted, and Mr. Apple has already made his feelings known on that...

I'm not a programmer. But the sheer number of apps available on both platforms would strongly suggest that it's not as complex as you seem to be suggesting, and certainly no challenge at all for a company like Disney that already has the talent in-house and a track record of creating apps on both platforms.

 

[doconeill]

I'm not a programmer. But the sheer number of apps available on both platforms would strongly suggest that it's not as complex as you seem to be suggesting, and certainly no challenge at all for a company like Disney that already has the talent in-house and a track record of creating apps on both platforms.

The number of apps available on the iPhone I'd love to have on my Droid but aren't available is pretty high. There may be equivalents, but they aren't the same apps.

And I'm not aware of Disney having any talent in-house for these things - most of development is outsourced in that regard - or a track record of creating apps for both platforms. Other than a test version that runs on their modified appliances, I've not seen any applications from Disney at all. Everything is third party mindless stuff or wait time apps.

This is, after all, the company that has trouble keeping the web sites up to date and working.

 

[Figment632]

Here is a link to the rest of the experiences.

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=636984

 

[nytimez]

The number of apps available on the iPhone I'd love to have on my Droid but aren't available is pretty high. There may be equivalents, but they aren't the same apps.

And I'm not aware of Disney having any talent in-house for these things - most of development is outsourced in that regard - or a track record of creating apps for both platforms. Other than a test version that runs on their modified appliances, I've not seen any applications from Disney at all. Everything is third party mindless stuff or wait time apps.

This is, after all, the company that has trouble keeping the web sites up to date and working.

Didn't Disney just buy a major app developer? Maybe they outsourced before, but it seems to me that more of this is going to be done in-house, unless I totally misread (or misremember) the news.

 

[doconeill]

Didn't Disney just buy a major app developer? Maybe they outsourced before, but it seems to me that more of this is going to be done in-house, unless I totally misread (or misremember) the news.

Forgot about that one...they bought Playdom, a "pacesetter" social game developer. However, at the time of the announcement, I had never heard of any of the games mentioned - and still haven't. Looking at a couple of them, they look like knockoffs of the really popular ones on Facebook, but it looks like they started on MySpace instead. But they don't appear to have dipped into the mobile space at all, at least not yet.

 

[nytimez]

Forgot about that one...they bought Playdom, a "pacesetter" social game developer. However, at the time of the announcement, I had never heard of any of the games mentioned - and still haven't. Looking at a couple of them, they look like knockoffs of the really popular ones on Facebook, but it looks like they started on MySpace instead. But they don't appear to have dipped into the mobile space at all, at least not yet.

I just looked it up too -- in addition to Playdon, they bought Tapulous, as well.

Clearly, they want to be a big player in the mobile space and they want to do it in-house, and iPhone is a priority for them.