Dash Express - MyDash and the Open Content Platform
Hello, I’m Brandon Bidlack and I serve as the product manager for Dash’s web and service business - specifically focused on our web portal, MyDash. After 3d view, the next most requested feature to discuss was how dynamic information gets created and placed on the Dash Express, so let me shed some light. Through MyDash, Dash users can create three different types of “Saved Searches” that they can access from their devices. Before jumping into the details on each type of “Saved Search” I want to explain what a “Saved Search” is. For those of you familiar with navigation devices, you can think of them as customized POI content that is “live”, meaning that it lives on the internet and therefore can be highly dynamic. To find the list of “Saved Searches” on your device all you do is select “Search” from the main menu and you will end up on this screen:
By tapping the “browse” button you will see the list of “Saved Searches” you sent down from MyDash and that screen will look like this:
Now, back to the three types of saved searches: Yahoo! Local searches, MyLists, and MyFeeds. In addition, Dash users can search through content created and shared by other users in order to find the local information they’re looking for. Let me describe the function of each of these search lists and how the user experience works.
Yahoo! Local:
The feature allows users to create a shortcut for the Yahoo! Local searches that they perform most frequently. For example, I’m always looking for a free wifi hotspot (both to do some work and to download automatic software updates to my Dash), so rather than type in “wifi” on the Dash Express each time, I just sent that keyword down to my device and saved it as a favorite for easy access. To create the Saved Search, users simply have to enter the keyword in MyDash and send it to their Dash Express, where it will appear as a button in their search list. Then, each time the user touches that button, Dash will return the nearby Yahoo! Local results for that keyword.
MyLists:
MyLists serve as personal lists that users can create for their own errands or to share recommendations with other Dash users. For example, you can create a MyList with the locations and dates of your daughter’s softball games and keep it private since it may only be relevant to you, or you can create your Top 20 list of the best burritos in town and share it with everyone because you’re a resident burrito expert. (By the way, El Farolito on Mission & 24th is the best burrito in San Francisco in my humble opinion.) To create a MyList, users enter the addresses one at a time into MyDash and then give the list a title, description, tags, a category, and determine whether you want it private or shared with the Dash community. Finally, hit “save” and that MyList is sent to your Dash Express and published to MyDash’s Saved Search Library if you decided to share it with the Dash community. On the device, each time a user touches that MyList button, Dash will return the nearby locations within that MyList.
MyFeeds:
Perhaps the most interesting and question-generating feature is MyFeed, which allows users to take a GeoRSS or KML feed and make it a search on your Dash Express. As a result, every time a user pushes that MyFeed button on the device, Dash will return the updated list of items in that feed, pulled directly from the source of the feed. Now, not just any RSS feed will work - it needs to have a lat/long associated with each item in the feed. However, there are plenty of formats within that space that we support - including GeoRSS Simple & GML, WGS84 (Geo Casual & Geo Formal), GeoURL, Google KML, Chefmoz, and Geom2d - and there are plenty of websites out there providing location-aware feeds - such as Platial, Google Maps, Craigslist, Mapicurious, and Yelp just to name a few. And if you can’t find a feed you like, specs and examples of supported formats are available on MyDash, so that any users that want to hack a little can create their own feeds for their Dash - just remember to spread the wealth and make it a shared MyFeed so that all Dash users can take advantage of your genius. Adding a MyFeed to your Dash Express is really just as simple as entering the URL for the feed into MyDash, naming and describing the MyFeed, setting it as private or shared, and then clicking “save.”
Dynamic Search API:
But what if you’re a developer and want to tailor the Saved Search a little more to return the results in a particular order, or you want to make sure that Dash users sign up for your service in order to add the button to their Dash Express? As announced, Dash’s Dynamic Search API will give developers the tools to create and test their own search buttons in order to make them available on MyDash for Dash users to add to their devices. We will be expanding the API more and more over time, but for now, we have finished the first phase of our API and are working with a group of early developers to create content and fine-tune the specs and documentation. As we launch, we will be building out the developer community for Dash and refining the front-end developer environment, giving everyone from the garage hacker to the large corporate development team an opportunity to create content for Dash users. More news on this in a later post.
March 11th, 2008 at 2:39 am
Brandon - one review (CNET perhaps)indicates the Dash Express does not have text-to-speech. Is this true?
If you do offer test-to-speech is it the “turn left in 50 feet” variety or does it give turns by street names?
March 11th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Hi Ned,
Dash does have text-to-speech, with street names. If you have the device on mute, the next turn with the street is shown at the top of the screen.
Thanks,
Brandon
March 11th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Great info - thanks! Looks like there’s a lot to get involved with…hopefully we’ll have some good activity in the forums too!
March 11th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Is there a poi button with common points of interest? Or do I need to type out what Im looking for?
March 11th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
nday -
There are a few ways you can find POIs on your device:
1) Type it into the search box. This lets you do a search for anything.
2) Go to the list of buttons (which include common POIs (gas, movies, food, hospitals, etc) as well as the Saved Searches you’ve sent to your device. Then, you can just hit the button.
3) Add a common POI button or search to your Favorites screen. Then, you can just hit the button to perform the search.
Let me know if that doesn’t answer your question.
Thanks, Brandon
May 11th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Hi,
I am interested to know how I can extend the api to send info on ur gps devices. I am a web app developer.
Thanks