it's nothing but an idea at the moment, but take blockexplorer just as an example.

they provide an api to get various info, such as the 'received' amount of an address:

http://blockexplorer.com/q/getreceivedbyaddress/1A8JiWcwvpY7tAopUkSnGuEYHmzGYfZPiq

however, they also ask people not to query it too often, because of server resources, etc.

if such a service were paid for, it could help pay for server resources/profit for the api developer.

eg. http://blockexplorer.com/q/getreceivedbyaddress/1A8JiWcwvpY7tAopUkSnGuEYHmzGYfZPiq?payment_key=5fji23892u3dfj389kfjw8jij23fj2ifj2323f829jf82j3fffji

if payment_key is invalid or doesn't contain enough bitcoins, die(); else sweep the key and output the requested info.

there are millions of api's out there... some that you have to sign up for and pay a monthly subscription fee, some that currently have no subscription option but limit the number of requests.


pretty much any api you can think of could use this system... off the top of my head, let's say there's an api for a 'daily joke', where each joke costs 0.00001 btc, or a certain fx chartist might charge 0.01 per up/down/hold prediction.


edit: also a server could easily provide binary data for a given request, eg: http://pornsite/hotvideo.mp4?payment_key=5fji23892u3dfj389kfjw8jij23fj2ifj2323f829jf82j3fffji

I just had an idea. Make an instawallet with a "Double or Nothing" button. Just a huge irresistible button that either doubles your balance or takes it all. Take a 1% or whatever fee by giving only 49.5% odds. Have to publish the max amount you can handle covering, maybe make it dynamic. If someone actually wants to do this I could probably put up some cash.

import random
from django_bitcoin import Wallet

def double_or_nothing(request, uuid):
    main_wallet=Wallet.objects.get(id=1) # the main wallet, where the site's bitcoins are kept
    user_wallet=Wallet.objects.get(uuid=uuid)
    if random.random()<0.49:
         main_wallet.send_to_wallet(user_wallet, user_wallet.total_balance())
    else:
         user_wallet.send_to_wallet(main_wallet, user_wallet.total_balance())

is Flexcoin a safe way to hold bitcoin?

I'm thinking it would be better just to have a website designed for the small displays of mobile devices (like google or yahoo have). Then you don't need Apple approval and the mobile version would work on both iOS devices and Android devices. I guess this also beg the question of whether you'd prefer to have some BTC actually on the mobile device or just keep some on an exchange or online wallet and then access that site through the mobile device.

Google Goggles on Android 2.3

I think it might have something to do with starting the URL off with 'http:/', one slash instead of two.

It does allow sending coins, without the need of an external QR code reader

ok, I did not know about Bitpak.

FriendlyPay uses Instawallet, according to their website.
does that mean it runs javascript from the web, or does it have its own crypto module?

Couldn't say that better. At the very least get android over the iphone. Still though. My preference is WebOS-->Android-->Wp7-->Apple

Any reason http://www.easywallet.org shouldn't either resolve or get a redirect if it needs to be http://easywallet.org?

I'd love for the addresses to come 'used' so that they have firstbits already. And of course then you could display the firstbits.

Like that it's mobile friendly, but scanner bounces the QR code to a Google search for the URL. Might want to fix that when it goes gold.

As to "cheap hardware"... you get what you pay for.  If you buy a £99 ZTE Blade, then you can't really complain that it's not as good as a Samsung Galaxy or a HTC One.

Blockchain.info's app is native and works amazingly and is now on the app store.  I've been using it on my 4S and been really liking it, plus it is free!

It's also easily possible to to x with device y, just install kernel u with options v and w enable (be sure to disable z).

I have some iFriends, telling them to install more than one thing per time we meet is prohibitive.

question is: can you scan a qr-code to send someone money on the go this way?

I dont think it would be that simple.. mtgox sets prices and controls the majority of the market... the majority of the market uses mtgox to set btc->usd prices

Looks nice Here are a couple of suggestions for the UI:
- Find a way to add the fee automatically (i.e., I don't need to subtract 0.002 when I want to withdraw everything)
- Add a label to the checkboxes in 'Send Payment': address and amount.