Yeah, sadly the bit just before that about them putting their heads together "to create something that could have a real impact on the lives of millions" doesn't really give it away. It's too believable that a real startup offering this product would use that language these days.
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?
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.
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?)
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.
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.
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.
> 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.
> 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.
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.
