CarDar (both full and lite versions) received a significant update last night. Much of it was rewritten so if anyone finds any bugs, be sure to let me know.
What’s changed?
- When first launching CarDar you are now immediately presented with a map view.
- A history of parking locations is also available.
- Overall look and feel has changed. ie. refreshed icon, graphics, etc.
What’s missing?
- The color selector was removed from the notes section. One can quickly enter the color in the custom notes field. There is also another feature still in development that may reduce the need for a color selector. If anyone desperately wants the color selector back, please leave me feedback via CarDar.
- The full version has lost RADAR support for now. This will be restored soon-ish, so don’t panic. (RADAR is a separate download found under the software libraries section in the Android Marketplace)
I have a list of new features to work on. Many based on user feedback. Thank you for your emails and supporting CarDar.
cardar
ParkMark has been renamed to CarDar. It was posted in the marketplace last night. ParkMark Free will also be made available again for several days to correct a bug and make the neccessary name change.
As previously stated, the name change is due to a registered trademark conflict in the UK. I was happy to change the name to avoid any conflict, though they handled it like spoiled children and cause a bit of trouble for me. You can google them using the term “Park Mark”, but you’ll notice that Google lists the site as malicious and stops you from visiting the site. The British Parking Association may not be the most friendly bunch of people, nor employ anyone that has even a glimmer of humanity in them, but best of luck to them in their quest to make the world a darker place (except with possibly safer parking lots).
cardar
I received a notice today from the Google Android Market. ParkMark has been suspended due to the cries of http://www.securedcarparks.com They are claiming a trademark violation in the UK. I don’t know why Android Market support didn’t simply disable the app for that location. Instead, the app is now suspended and I’m completely unable to update it.
This is unfortunate and it would have been nice if the UK Park Mark guys would have simply sent me an email saying
“Hi, we exist and have that name already. Plus the UK has some screwed up trademark laws. Please change your app name. Bye!”
Perhaps that would have been too easy for them. Needless to say, ParkMark will be changing names soon as I would still like to offer it in the UK. I will post the update asap after Android Support un-suspends my app.
Are there any lawyers out there that would like to chime in on this? Trademark law is confusing to me and I somewhat feel that the dill weeds over at Secured Car Parks are merely exercising their lawyers. I’ve been led to believe that I can still use the name ParkMark as long as it is not used in the UK. Also, how closely related must a product or service be to be considered a trademark violation?
Since my ParkMark is software and helps people find their car, that is too similar to the UK ParkMark which operates parking lots? What about Delta Airlines and Delta Faucets? Are they dissimilar enough that they don’t violate each other? Of course, the last time I was on a Delta flight, I used a faucet in the bathroom. Perhaps they will read this post and start sueing each other.
Anyways, a special hats off to ParkMark UK. Thanks for playing nice and making the world a brighter place, except for the part where you did none of that.
cardar
I’ve received a few emails, most simply inquiring about the prices for apps, though I should clear up what’s happening. My two public apps, ParkMark and Geodroid, are going to be priced when the Market opens this week. I believe that fact has been fairly implied by the expire dates posted with Geodroid, for which I’ve had solid plans for a while now. ParkMark on the other hand had no expire date until after the new year. The date was posted a time or two, but largely absent from the description in the market. This has been a bit of an oversight in some cases (hurried releases made at very late hours of the night), intentional at times since I knew an update would come long before the expire date would hit, but for the most part absent because I was still debating how I would handle ParkMark. As of the past few weeks, I’ve decided that just like Geodroid, a one time price for ParkMark is the best way to go. I am sorry for confusing anyone about expire dates and the plans for ParkMark or Geodroid.
A few weeks ago I started pulling together statistics on my apps and trying to figure out what it would really take to make them sustainable. I enjoy working on them and it’s all I do at the moment at around 60 hours per week. I have many features and improvements planned, not to mention a few other applications in the works or that I’m considering. The prices I came up with to keep the apps going are $1.99 for ParkMark and $9.99 for Geodroid with all future updates included. Depending on how the applications do over time, prices could certainly change. My goal with pricing is to make it possible to continue development, which includes me and my wife not becoming a vagrants 
and keeping them from becoming abandonware.
Update
I did a poor job communicating to users about ParkMark. After thinking about it, I decided to offer it for free until April 1st 2009. The paid version at $1.99 will be available soon that will include additional features and receive updates.
cardar, geodroid
The Market appears to be flipping out, probably due to the recent updates. Any “Demo” app you may have downloaded is different in name alone and due to the Market issues, will be removed later this week at least until the Market problems are worked out.
cardar, geodroid
The difference between the two was asked in a comment recently and I want to share the answer with everyone.
Until the expire dates for ParkMark (March 1st) and Geodroid (Feb 25th), the demo versions will each work fully. A few days before each expire date, the demo available for download will be updated.
ParkMark Demo will forget your location after 10 minutes. As for Geodroid Demo, I haven’t decided yet, but I believe waypoint coordinates will be skewed when you view them through the compass or map.
cardar, geodroid
Greetings all! The update went out this afternoon. I think this change is a step in the right direction. GPS on the G1 can be flaky at times, or take too long in some cases to find your location. Using the “network” location as a fallback on top of the option to manually set your spot is proving much quicker and efficient than waiting thirty seconds for the GPS to “possibly” lock on. The big changes are:
- Faster location setting
- Manual location setting if GPS signal is poor or absent
- Network location aware when GPS is absent
If you have any trouble, don’t hesitate to send me an email or leave a comment. I’m getting an increasing number of emails, so I may not reply back to you, but I do read everything.
Thanks for all of the positive comments on ParkMark! I received an email from the Google Android Market guys and they asked for some information to showcase ParkMark. Not sure when or if that will happen, but it’s great to know so many people like it.
cardar
ParkMark has done surprisingly well and should be showcased soon at http://www.android.com/market/. Thanks for all of the feedback, ratings, and comments. ParkMark has been fun to develop and I’ve had many requests for some features. In the coming weeks I hope to release ParkMark with some new features such as: ability to photo your location, timer for parking at a meter, directions to your car (requested by people parking on city streets), and a new method for handling the poor GPS signal problem that crops up occasionally.
ParkMark (and all applications for the G1) is currently free. The update will be a low cost app once the market gets going and a demo version will be available.
cardar
Posted v1.1.12 today. Some changes include:
- Color setting appearance update
- Checks for new versions
- RADAR alert popup every month
- Several other small UI updates
cardar
cardar
ParkMark update 1.1.12 is close to ready. Noteable changes include an update available alert and layout updates. Screenshots can be seen here. Also (and since you are reading this you know) this site is available now for tracking updates. I’ve collected some questions that fellow Androiders have sent me and answered them in a ParkMark FAQ.
cardar
cardar
