Forget web mashups…what about “every medium possible” mashups?

Last night’s class project presentations were diverse, ranging in topic from Mars Rover communications (did you know there was a Deep Space Network? And that there is a 1.5h delay in transmitting to Mars?) to Google Earth technology.

One of the most interesting focused on Parlay X, which is a specification that allows third-party applications to communicate directly with telecom networks. In a nutshell, this means your application could send and receive text messages or phone calls or hook into mobile device location-awareness, among other things.

With Parlay X, developers do not need to worry about the underlying telecom details involved in actually sending or receiving a text message. Of course, this requires the cooperation of all the big telecom networks, such as Telus or AT&T. And they won’t just let you start hacking into their systems - Telus, for example, enforces a strict vetting procedure on would-be developers.

However, there are some great test suites that emulate networks behind the Parlay API, so you can build and test to your heart’s content. Once you do pass the vetting, you’ll be able to launch your app, which could be doing any of these cool things:

• Location awareness - traffic information delivered as per your current location
• Alert receipt - when a device is turned on/off or crosses a geographical boundary
• Machine-to-machine communication - broken elevator places call to repair service
• A “call-me” button on a website
• Call the closest mobile within a group - your family, for example

PS. Props to my colleague Eduardo and his group who presented on Parlay X.