untravelmedia.com & spooky Mobile Tours for Bostonians!
October 31st, 2007 by Scott Janousek
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“Creeping through Boston” - Mobile Tours
Boo!!! Just in time for Halloween week, untravelmedia.com is launching some mobile Halloween tours for fellow Bostonians to enjoy this week (3 in total, with one coming out this evening! - Update: Sorry, the 1st one will be available soon (from what I hear)!).
The official “Spooky Links”:
â–ª Mobile http://untrav.mobi
â–ª Desktop http://www.untravelmedia.com/creeping.html
Enjoy, and happy All Hallows’ eve!
This is all part of their “Creeping through Boston” series of content they are delivering.
Here is what untravelmedia had to say:
The “Creeping Through Boston� series leverages popular handheld devices to provide rich, illuminating site-specific narratives crafted by local filmmakers and artists using Untravel Media’s nascent Mobile Narrative System. The tours target new Flash-enabled smartphones, but versions are available for iPods and most mobile phones. These tours will be available for free for a limited time.
“Creeping Through Boston� comprises three smartphone Halloween tales that highlight the creepy and surprising aspects of Boston’s topography and history:
In “Boston’s Little Lanes and Passageways� filmmaker Sasha Mandel uses a music-video production style to reveal how little-known passageways and tight pedestrian alleys make downtown Boston so twisted.
In “Creeping Toward Eternity� filmmaker Mike Boudo guides walkers from Salem’s colonial witchcraft hysteria to New Age Wiccan movements and landmarks.
In “The Greatest Neighborhood This Side of Heaven� filmmaker Kate Majzoub presents a tour of what remains of Boston’s old West End neighborhood, which was the target of mid-twentieth-century ‘urban renewal’. Majzoub explores the series of events that led to the ‘taking’ of this neighborhood and speaks to numerous displaced residents.
The work of these local filmmakers was made possible through a production grant and revenue-sharing agreement created by Untravel Media.
“We wanted to honor the complexity and characters of Boston’s history,� said Michael Epstein, CEO of Untravel Media. “We see mobile technology - especially with the rise of the multimedia phone - as an exciting way to way to move beyond the historical anecdotes of typical tours and guide books, to immersive, narrative experiences. Partnering with local filmmakers and training them in our technical and production process has created an important bond between our technology and powerful storytelling,� continued Epstein.
Untravel Media will release “Creeping Through Boston� on October 31, 2007 through a variety of channels. The series will initially be available for download on Untravel Media’s website, and on iTunes and Audible.com in November. Also, handheld devices containing the series can also be rented from various locations throughout Boston. Audiences who want to experience the tour content off-site can view interactive online versions on Untravel’s website.
For additional information on this tour and to download any of the “Creeping Through Boston� documentaries, visit http://www.untravelmedia.com.
About Untravel Media
Untravel Media, Inc., founded in June of 2006, is a software and media company specializing in the production of Mobile Media Documentaries – multimedia presentations that enable personal, interactive, immersive journeys through enticing locales. Untravel Media’s proprietary Mobile Narrative System allows audio and video producers to develop behind-the-scenes travel media for distribution on a range of mobile devices, including iPods and cell phones. For additional information please visit http://www.untravelmedia.com.
You can check out the official press release here.
Untravelmedia utilizing Flash Lite for Mobile Tours!
What’s more … among other methods, untravel has been using Flash Lite (on Clix and other supported handheld devices) to provide customized mobile tours (see here for other examples) during this year!
The tours can be played within desktop browsers, mobile phones, iPhones, and devices that support Flash Lite 2.x, or (if your device is particularly a “lame duck”) by using legacy non-Flash video.
In terms of Flash Lite, Untravel’s Mobile-Media-Documentary format is used which provides more seamless distribution between devices and browsers.
In the course of time, tours will eventually be available in:
â–ª Untravel’s Flash Lite Mobile-Media-Documentary– Downloadable to devices
â–ª Untravel’s Flash Lite Mobile-Media-Documentary– Streaming to Browser
â–ª Streaming H.264 video for iPhones and compatibles
â–ª Streaming 3gp
â–ª Progressive 3gp
â–ª Downloadable 3gp
â–ª Officially supported devices include
â–ª Samsung Blackjack (and other Windows Mobile 5 devices)
â–ª Nokia S60 series with Flash 2.x support
â–ª Nokia N95
â–ª Apple iPhone
â–ª Later models of Palm Treo 650
… with more to come!
You can find some of their more recent tours over at untravelmedia.com if you’re at your desk … and if you’re on the go, (once they are available) you can check out untrav.mobi.
Right now (in terms of the Creeping Boston series), looks like they will notify you when it is “good to go”.
Untravel’s Authoring Tool for Mobile Tours
I also want to mention, specifically Untravel’s Authoring Tool for mobile tours. I had a chance to experience some of this first hand a few weeks back, and it is quite cool. For obvious reaons, I can’t go into specifics, but you can see some of it in action, here.
Wrap Up
Well, in addition to working on some Flash Lite content, and handing out candy to treaters … I guess I might just get a little bit of a scare courtesy of untravelmedia!
Thanks untravel for the spooks.
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