Cellnotes

CellNotes is an online word processing and file storage tool accessible from any device with internet access.

History
In 2002, the concept of CellNotes was developed by Jason Miller and Julian Pullara. They recognized the need for an application that would connect mobile phones with computers over the internet. The mobile application had to be light weight and compatible with all brands of phones that had access to the internet at the time, so a website format was suggested and modified to become a useful document management site.

During the early months of 2003, a new interface for cellnotes was designed, in an attempt to modify the site for the new wave of cell phones. The interface was a minor success story, and the site remained unmodified until late 2004. At that time, the free hosting service which was kind enough to support CellNotes through its early growth began a series of service outtages that provoked a change in the URL of the website. The new hosting service was again ad-supported, and CellNotes users began to complain about the use of space for advertisements when accessing their documents from mobile devices. Despite the changes and complaints, styles were changed and the new CellNotes version 2.x generated a small growth in registered users.

Version 2.8 was the final release of CellNotes during 2004, and concluded the 2.x era of the site. In early 2005, a user proposed that CellNotes allow users to upload small files, and allow them to be viewed and downloaded on mobile devices. The response to this suggestion was the first modern version of CellNotes, version 3.0. This new series of releases attracted a much larger number of users than CellNotes was capable of handling, thus versions 3.1 and 3.2 were quickly released as significant updates to the back end of the website. Minor updates continued throughout the rest of that year, and into early 2006.



February of 2006 became both a notorious and celebrated month for CellNotes and its users, when the site experienced a server outtage that lasted almost the full month. Unknown to users, a new version of the site was quietly being created on a much faster server that had been recently discovered. On the 27th of February, users were finally able to access version 3.5 of CellNotes, but none of them did. Instead, they found a message stating "CellNotes has moved to a new server, located at www.CellNotes.co.nr", a were redirected to a completely new and much more user-friendly Version 4.0 of CellNotes. The new URL, which was significantly shorter and easier to type on a mobile device, came as a courtesy of co.nr. The 4.x series was the first CellNotes release designed to be not only cross-browser compatible, but browser independent. Users accessing CellNotes from Mozilla FireFox found that the site had been designed much more thoughtfully and was easier to navigate using the new menu style. The second and last release in the 4.x series was made public in April 2006, and was thought to be the version that would end the website's development.


Such was the situation for a full year, with development of CellNotes halted and registration proceeding at a slow rate. Smartphones and high-powered handheld devices had become overwhelmingly popular, and uses for CellNotes gradually disappeared. Registration increased dramatically in winter 2007, following a small but effective advertising campaign for CellNotes.co.nr as "A word processing and file storage tool for any device with internet access". It was during this registration boost that CellNotes quietly began to develop once again.

The Future
The website was closed on June 28th 2007 for a massive concentration on developing the new version, which will use the power of PHP and MySQL, delivered to users as W3C compliant XHTML with Unobtrusive JavaScript. The version 4.1 login page states that the new version of CellNotes, codenamed "CellNotes 2008", will be released before the end of this year. Along with the complete reconstruction of the website itself, CellNotes.co.nr will become CellNotes.ca, a step that had been planned for version 4.x, but was not possible using the 4.x web server. CellNotes 2008 promises to be completely user customizable, featuring a graphical user interface option involving semi three dimensional interaction. This version will be the first version to serve completely different interfaces based on the device used to access the site. It will also feature a full forum and live messenger unlike what was available in previous versions.
 
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