
Pokewalk - obilgic
http://www.pokewalk.com/
======
Willson50
I totally believed this until the $4MM of funding line.

~~~
walrus01
If "Yo" can raise $1.5m of funding at a $10m valuation...

[https://techcrunch.com/2014/07/18/yo-raises-1-5m-in-
funding-...](https://techcrunch.com/2014/07/18/yo-raises-1-5m-in-funding-
at-a-10m-valuation-investors-include-betaworks-and-pete-cashmore/)

~~~
yolesaber
Whatever happened with that? Was that like some VCs just playing a prank on
the plebs, a purposefully absurd stunt?

~~~
minimaxir
They pivoted to an app which lets you say more than just Yo. Yes, really.

[https://www.justyo.co](https://www.justyo.co)

------
BryantD
Non-satire versions:
[http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/lbs/5678169186.html](http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/lbs/5678169186.html)
&
[http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/pas/5676674461.html](http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/pas/5676674461.html)

This does, of course, violate Niantic's ToS.

~~~
minimaxir
And if you are going to violate the ToS, might as well skip the half-measure
and spoof the GPS.

~~~
sushid
I think Niantic's going to have a harder time figuring out if you handed your
phone off to another person vs. are using a GPS spoofer.

~~~
minimaxir
This raises a fun question: is it possible to spoof accelerometer/gyroscope
data such that it convincingly matches the corresponding movement of a spoofed
GPS?

~~~
jerkstate
Yes:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93U.S._RQ-170_incid...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93U.S._RQ-170_incident)

I temporarily defeated a GPS-based AR game about 5 years ago by writing a
transparent proxy that could automate repetitive tasks and spoof location
data. I'm sure it's possible with Pokemon Go although it probably has pretty
sophisticated protections against that sort of shenanigans.

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peternilson
Now if only they made some claim about how they were using ML the parody would
be 110% complete.

------
CobrastanJorji
Does taskrabbit have an API? If so, I bet I could implement this company in a
couple of days.

~~~
andrew13
[https://www.taskrabbit.com/platform](https://www.taskrabbit.com/platform)

------
frank_jaeger
>TECHNOLOGY Our technology stack is a unique use of complicated algroithms...

Sold

------
jonah
Relatedly: "Entrepreneurs Are Offering Uber-Style Rides For Pokémon Go
Players"

[http://gizmodo.com/entrepreneurs-are-offering-uber-style-
rid...](http://gizmodo.com/entrepreneurs-are-offering-uber-style-rides-for-
pokemon-1783453321)

------
smspillaz
I like how the map shows the walking route as down 6th street.

------
sandworm101
Why isn't this a real thing? It may be a joke, but services that play a game
for you are a real thing. WoW players have for years been able to hire firms
to level-up their characters. Having someone walk your phone seems far more
honest than sharing your login creds.

(I don't really understand the necessity of walking. Does this game reward
distance travelled?)

~~~
cableshaft
You can get eggs at Pokestops that will hatch into Pokemon after putting them
in an incubator and walking a specific amount of distance.

Or without the jargon, yes, some parts of the game reward you for distance
travelled.

------
janesvilleseo
This is great. It's like the professional line waiters. Great stuff here. A+
Would recommend to all my trainers. /s

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etr71115
Definitely shipped too late; no one would be embarrassed by this.

(fully aware it's a parody)

------
CM30
Honestly, I would have to believed it was real if I hadn't seen the point
about funding. Remember, some people actually pay money to have their new
Pokemon games hacked in advance so they don't need to spend the time filling
out the Pokedex. Or so they have a 'tournament level' team from the minute
they start the game.

If people are willing to pay for that stuff in regards to the main series,
they'd probably find an audience for this 'service' too.

------
tristanj
I wouldn't pay for this ... on iOS it's very simple to spoof your location
with Xcode. Xcode even has a feature where you can upload a list of GPS points
and it will "walk" your device along the path over a period of time.

Here's a video showing how it's done
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vqOWCNuZD4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vqOWCNuZD4)

I'm sure something similar exists for Android.

~~~
reddytowns
That's like claiming artificial diamonds are as good as natural ones.

The distribution of the kinds of pokemons you'd collect using such a method
won't be same as real walking would give you. Any expert would be able to see
the difference, and you'd be a laughing stock at all the country club parties.

~~~
tristanj
> _That 's like claiming artificial diamonds are as good as natural ones._

Really? In my comment I never claimed anything of the sort. There's only one
claim in my comment, which is that a similar feature does exist on Android. I
found one after a 2 second Google search.

[http://www.jesusamieiro.com/android-studio-simulate-
multiple...](http://www.jesusamieiro.com/android-studio-simulate-multiple-gps-
points-with-mock-location-plugin/)

> _The distribution of the kinds of pokemons you 'd collect using such a
> method won't be same as real walking would give you._

That's a very bold claim. Care to source this?

> _Any expert would be able to see the difference, and you 'd be a laughing
> stock at all the country club parties._

And now I think you're just being facetious.

~~~
reddytowns
Sorry, it was kind of a dumb joke

------
ourmandave
Aw, this begs for a FitBit tie in.

------
surds
I was shaking my head in disbelief till I came to the $4M funding line.

Then I was totally amused. That is one elaborate hoax. Wonder what email they
send when we sign up.

~~~
hatsunearu
Should I feel bad if I initially believed it?

~~~
surds
I did believe it till I read through half the page. Also, their description of
the tech stack is humorous.

------
tedmiston
> TECHNOLOGY

> Our technology stack is a unique use of complicated algroithms meant to
> optimize Pokewalker efficiency which leads to lower costs for you. We
> optimize for both the distance the walker will cover and how they will get
> back to drop off your device. Our backpack technology is derived from the
> same battery technology as The Tesla Powerwall.

Probably the best part.

Their startup parody skills are on point.

------
ecesena
Can I be a walker? You should crowdsource your service, sharing economy is the
future! :)

------
chdir
On-premises version : [https://www.amazon.com/s/?field-
keywords=treadmill](https://www.amazon.com/s/?field-keywords=treadmill)

------
minimaxir
Note: Parody

~~~
ebiester
There needs to be a corollary to Poe's law for startups.

~~~
Natsu
Yeah, but if this isn't real, someone will probably make it real by the end of
the week.

But why use humans? Phones are tiny. They should be dispatching their fleet of
drones to your front door and flying directly to all the best Pokemon catching
spots.

------
jayess
I get a blank white page.

~~~
mortenjorck
Mimicking the stability of the game itself, I see.

(Seriously, Pokémon Go has to be the buggiest launch of its scale that I've
seen.)

~~~
wyaeld
There hasn't been a launch of its scale

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kordless
Take my phone and take my money!!!

