4INFO Open Platform: a cool & easy way to deliver mobile content
Programming, Web Development July 23rd, 2007 - 1,569 views
Giving users mobile access to data is the latest vogue, but unless you’re a mega-corporation, or have a boat load of funding, it can be prohibitively expensive. If you’re looking into getting a short code and building your own SMS gateway, be forewarned: it’s an arduous process that’ll cost you upwards of $15,000. For the rest of us, 4INFO’s Open Platform is a pretty cool (and FREE) alternative that enables developers, content providers, and bloggers to utilize the 4INFO short code to deliver mobile content.
The 4INFO platform allows content providers and developers to register a keyword that triggers the retrieval of data from a content feed or some other web service. Users receive your content by texting this keyword (e.g., ’slashdot’) to 4INFO (44636). For bloggers, 4INFO makes it simple to provide updates via SMS by parsing your existing RSS or ATOM feed.
Developers who are trying to build more sophisticated services can do so by telling 4INFO to forward requests to an existing (or new) XML/REST-based web service. The XML response is transformed by 4INFO using a custom XSLT stylesheet that you provide. Thus, you can build sophisticated applications that support menu systems and generate dynamic responses, all using the familiar web-service paradigm.
There are some limitations. For example, the platform provides no easy way to send messages unless they’re in response to a user’s request. But overall, 4INFO Open Platform is pretty cool, and if you can live with the limitations it can save you quite a bit of cash.
July 24th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Interesting take on 4INFO’s Open Platform service, Mike. I’m a relatively long-time user of same and am a little confused by the following statement:
“There are some limitations. For example, the platform provides no easy way to send messages unless they’re in response to a user’s request.”
Can you clarify the above? Though users may query Open Platform services to receive information, another interesting feature of the platform is alerts, wherein the content creator/service owner can initiate the sending of SMS messages to users based on feed updates or by publishing a message via “SMS Broadcast.” Of course, users have to opt in to receive these alerts, but 4INFO provides customizable widgets to help with service adoption. Regards,
GFB
July 24th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Hrm, maybe I’m wrong. According to the FAQ though it looks like you can only create one “alert” per “service.” So if you’re trying to alert someone of blog updates, you should be good. But if you’re trying to make a personalized service like Twitter, 4INFO’s open platform probably won’t work for you.
It’s been a few months since I’ve built a service on top of the 4INFO platform, and I know things are changing quickly there, so my knowledge of the service could be slightly dated. So please correct me if I’m wrong!