Abstract

Mr. Robb and four classmates have been developing an iPhone application called Rover, named because cellphones rove. Most nights, the friends are in a small office near campus where a pyramid of empty Diet Coke cans sits in the corner. They huddle around laptops and desktop computers, often writing code until 7 a.m. Rover began when seniors Alexander Bick and Winston Yan decided to make a mobile application for a guidebook to Cambridge restaurants and services. Mr. Bick built the initial application for his final project in Computer Science 50. "The Unofficial Guide to Life at Harvard" had been published by the Harvard Student Agencies for since the 1970s, but students didn't want to carry a book when they wanted to find out where to get Chinese food, Mr. Yan says. Last year, Mr. Yan and Mr. Bick released their first version of their iPhone application. The free guidebook has been downloaded about 2,500 times. Users can read about 900 different restaurants, cafes and other businesses in Cambridge and find deals offered by local merchants. They won a $10,000 prize from an AT&T-sponsored competition and $2,500 from a Harvard competition. The Harvard Student Agencies, a student-run, non-profit that helped sponsor the Harvard competition, continues to provide aid and funding to the Rover group. Last summer, the team added Joy Ding, Cameron Spickert and Mr. Robb to work on improving the application and new projects. (From the Wall Street Journal)

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Learn More

Visit http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/rover/

Email Bick@fas.harvard.edu