Palm Pre and Pixie users no longer have to look jealously at their friends with iPhones, Blackberry’s and Android phones. We all owe a huge debt of thanks to Brightkite users barkerja and kylepauljohnson who have built Parafoil – a native Brightkite app for the Palm webOS.

You can download the app from Palm, starting today. For more information on Parafoil, see their site or follow them on Twitter or Facebook.

Today is also barkerja’s birthday – so as well as thanking him for Parafoil, be sure to cut him a slice of cake, pour him a glass of something, or tickle his ferret. Happy birthday John!

Thanks once again to John and Kyle. Screenshots of Parafoil below:

Posted by lanky at 2:06 PM in Apps, Mobile 30549 commentshttp://blog.brightkite.com/2010/01/22/parafoil-brightkite-for-palm-pr/Parafoil+launches%21+Brightkite+for+Palm+WebOS2010-01-22+21%3A06%3A17lanky

Like the Brightkite iPhone app? You can get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at our design process and thinking in the recently released book iPhone User Interface Design Projects. Chapter 3, which is exclusively dedicated to the Brightkite iPhone app, covers such topics as:

• web vs native app
• the motivation behind using tab navigation
• why we redesigned the entire signup process just before release
• how we accomplished virtually infinite detail drill-down without running out of memory
• best practices for address book integration

The chapter covers the Brightkite 1.0 iPhone version, so some stuff has changed since then, but all of it is still relevant. Thanks to Dan Burcaw of Double Encore for writing this up…you rock!

You can purchase the book on Amazon.com.

Posted by Martin at 1:26 PM in Apps, Brightkite, Mobile, iPhone 27984 commentshttp://blog.brightkite.com/2009/12/10/learn-how-we-built-the-brightkite-iphone-app/Learn+how+we+built+the+Brightkite+iPhone+app2009-12-10+20%3A26%3A36Martin

Attention Brightkiters, you may have already noticed that you’re receiving SMS notifications from 41414 instead of 80289, this is because we are switching our US short code to 41414. We love paying attention to detail and we felt that our current short code was too complicated. This new number should be a little easier to remember and key in on your phone.

The short code is the only thing that’s changing, all of the SMS commands will remain the same, as will SMS notifications. 80289 will still work for the time being, but in the near future it will point you to 41414, so be sure to update your address books.  We have thoroughly tested this new short code for any bugs, but if you experience any problems (hey, it happens!) please email support[at]brightkite.com.

…and yes, Brightkite’s 41414 may be similar to Twitter’s 40404, but it’s just 1 better. :)

Posted by Lesley Yarbrough at 3:50 PM in Mobile, Product 18482 commentshttp://blog.brightkite.com/2009/07/30/brightkite-short-code-has-changed-to-41414/Brightkite+short+code+has+changed+to+414142009-07-30+22%3A50%3A55Lesley+Yarbrough

We have exciting news for our Android users — Brightkite is now available in the Android market! This is our latest application, after our iPhone app, and we have extended the user experience and functionality to the Android platform while taking advantage of the features that are unique to Android. As TechCrunch mentioned, we have an even smoother interface and we’ve added some cool, new features. The Android app includes integrated Google Maps and background notifications, so now you won’t need to open the app to know you have a direct message or friend request!

To quote TechCrunch: “If you liked what you saw of the iPhone app, you’ll probably like the Android app just as much — if not more.”

As with all things Brightkite, the app can be downloaded for free – so stop by the Android Market and check it out! Please don’t hesitate to give us your feedback — we’d love to hear what you think!

Posted by Lesley Yarbrough at 4:50 PM in Android, Apps, Brightkite, Mobile 15629 commentshttp://blog.brightkite.com/2009/06/25/brightkite-now-available-in-the-android-market/Brightkite+Now+Available+in+the+Android+Market%212009-06-25+23%3A50%3A00Lesley+Yarbrough

Want to join our team? You’re in luck, we have some openings. Currently, we’re looking for the following:

Ruby on Rails Engineer (Denver, CO)

We are looking for a rockstar Ruby on Rails software developer to help us improve Brightkite. Feel at home on MySpace or Facebook? Use your cell phone everywhere you go for texting? Like tackling tough problems? We’d like to meet you!

Required:
- BS in Computing Science or similar field
- Ruby on Rails experience
- SQL experience (preferably PostgreSQL)
- Familiarity with Subversion or Git
- Strong HTML and CSS skills, with a focus on standards
- AJAX experience
- Excellent teamworker, self-starter

We have another opening below, but here’s a sneak peek at what life is like working for Brightkite:

Mobile Developer (Denver, CO)

We’re also looking for a mobile developer to join our development team. Love developing for mobile devices, and enjoy playing around with the latest and greatest gadgets? Interested in location based services and augmented reality? We’d like to meet you!

Required:
- BS in Computing Science or similar field
- Experience developing on one or all of the following: iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Symbian
- Knowledge of Cocoa Touch Framework and related technologies
- Knowledge of web service technologies and services (specifically REST APIs)
- Experience with iPhone SDK

Nice to have:
- Experience developing other mobile applications (Windows Mobile, etc)
- Ruby on Rails experience
- Experience with Macintosh OS
- SQL experience (preferably PostgreSQL)
- HTML and CSS skills, with a focus on standards
- AJAX experience

What can we provide to you? A competitive salary & benefits, great work environment and stock options.

To apply, please send your resume and why you want to join our team to jobs AT brightkite DOT KOM. We’re looking forward to talking to you.

Posted by Martin at 3:35 PM in API, Android, Brightkite, Culture, Mobile, iPhone 13044 commentshttp://blog.brightkite.com/2009/04/21/were-hiring/We%27re+hiring2009-04-21+22%3A35%3A28Martin

Brightkite for iPhone version 1.1 is now in the app store. Download it now!

Brightkite for iPhone v1.1 delivers a number of great updates. Here’s what’s new:

• Ability to sign up through the app
• Larger radius options on Nearby Stream
• Lots of new settings
• Friend discovery via Address Book
• Invite users using email or phone number
• Ability to join users
• View more information on friend requests
• More control over place snapping
• Have the app open from SMS notification URLs
• Simplified “I am” screen
• Check in from place screens
• Lots of bug fixes, performance improvements and tweaks

Better location finding, improved performance and simplified “I Am” screen.
In this release you will notice the “I Am” screen got a small facelift. Due to some place snapping enhancements, we were able to simplify this screen. We’ve also added a somewhat advanced feature to dismiss a guessed location. Simply swipe across the guessed location (as shown below) and Brightkite will display your last checked in place. This becomes useful in large venues such as airports or conference centers in which the guessed location may return a different value. Additionally it can be useful for “lying” and posting at places you’re not. ;)

We hope you enjoy this update. As always let us know if you have any comments or suggestions.

Posted by Brady Becker at 5:58 PM in Apps, GPS, Mobile, iPhone 35612 commentshttp://blog.brightkite.com/2008/12/15/brightkite-for-iphone-v11-better-faster-and-open/Brightkite+for+iPhone+%28v1.1%29+Better%2C+Faster+and+Open2008-12-16+00%3A58%3A06Brady+Becker

Coming soon to the App Store…

Posted by Brady Becker at 8:18 PM in Mobile, iPhone 23836 commentshttp://blog.brightkite.com/2008/10/16/sneek-peek-at-our-iphone-app/Sneak+Peek+At+Our+iPhone+App2008-10-17+03%3A18%3A29Brady+Becker

Yesterday evening we quietly released a generic mobile version of Brightkite. Cheers to Tony for whipping out this alpha version in a couple days. We haven’t yet tested it on every device so if you encounter issues on certain devices, please tell us, and specify the device.

You can find the mobile version of Brightkite at m.brightkite.com

In addition to the mobile version, we have been working away fixing some of the major issues discovered in the past few weeks. Things to look for in the coming weeks: improved mapping functionality, improved friend discovery, improved profiles, refinements to the iPhone app, and fixes to many other little issues such as the login cookie annoyance.

Posted by Brady Becker at 10:51 PM in Brightkite, Mobile, Product 7412 commentshttp://blog.brightkite.com/2008/05/15/generic-mobile-version-of-brightkite/Generic+Mobile+Version+of+Brightkite2008-05-16+05%3A51%3A56Brady+Becker