SMYLE. Find, Share, Do...Together!
SMYLE allows users to form social collaboration groups where they can chat, view one another’s location on maps and collaborate via shared “smylets” – photos, images, maps, etc. A smylet is also a shared virtual whiteboard – users within a group can collaborate by drawing and/or placing icons on any smylet.
Features:
* Create and manage your personal collaboration groups
* Group-based messaging and photo sharing
* Use any image or map as a shared whiteboard
* View the real-time location of yourself and your friends
* Download specialty maps and floor plans from the Smyle Zone
The current Beta version allows a registered user to create up to five groups at any time. SMYLE can also be accessed at https://smylenow.com
Details:
Smyle centers around friends and groups. A Smyle friend is similar to friends in other social platforms - you request another Smyle user to be your friend and if the request is accepted, you become friends with that other user. Groups are like parties - a Smyle user hosts a group and invites Smyle friends to the group. Upon accepting the invitation, a Smyle friend joins the group. Anyone can join the group as long as they are invited by a friend. One of the key features of Smyle (unlike other social platforms) is that users are not placed into groups without their permission - instead, users receive a group invite, so they can see who is in the group, and then accept or decline the invitation accordingly.
Once inside a group, users can begin to use Smyle's group collaboration capabilities. Group messaging allows users to chat with one another. Users can also share Smylets. Currently, a Smylet can be any photo, image, or map. In the future, we will support other types of Smylets, such as audio and video. Photos can be be captured from your Android phone and instantly shared within the group. In addition, images can be imported into a Smyle group from your Android's gallery or from your computer's files. The locations of users inside a group are displayed on the group's map. Of course, only the locations of users with Android phones that can obtain a GPS fix can be shown.
One of the special features of Smyle is that all Smylets can be used as collaborative whiteboards. Using freehand drawings and our set of icons, users can annotate any photo, image or map. Using this feature, users can indicate meeting places on a map, point out interesting aspects of an image, or just have fun drawing on a photo together. Users can also share Smylets by posting them on their Facebook page.
Finally, a few important notes about Smyle: First, all Smyle groups are persistent. This means that when you sign on, you will be able to see all the group message, photo sharing, and whiteboard activities that may have taken place while you were away. Second, Smyle understands that sometimes you do not want to share your location. Thus, users have the option of turning off location sharing on their Android phones. Third, we have begun to develop the Smyle Zone, where you download some special Smylets. The Smyle Zone is still in its experimental phases, but we invite you to try downloading some of these Smylets, including a blank Smylet. Some Smylets from the Smyle Zone are geo-spatial surfaces, which means that you can view users' locations on these Smylets.
Here are some basic instructions for using Smyle:
1. Register an account with Smyle. You need to provide an email address, a display name, and a password. Login to Smyle.
2. Have another person also create a Smyle account and login to Smyle.
3. Search for this person using this person's email address. Then invite the person to be your friend. This person needs to accept the friend request.
4. Create a group and invite your friend to the group. The friend needs to accept the group invitation.
5. Enter the group, and start Smyling (chatting, viewing locations on a map, exchanging photos and images, whiteboarding).
