Ironwulf En Route OVI App

I know from personal experience that mobile phones are getting much powerful these days that I sometimes find myself browsing through my favorite sites whenever I’m on the move anywhere. Just spreading the content of my sites in different platforms, I’m launching the new Ironwulf En Route OVI App for Nokia based phones. It delivers the latest updates from Ironwulf En Route, The Digital Dispatches and My Flickr Stream.

The App is Free which you could find here at the OVI Store. If you have a Nokia device with OVI Store, just search for Ironwulf and you’ll find the App there. It’s compatible on most Nokia Devices but is optimized for the latest handsets like the Nokia N8 where you can add a widget on the homepage to see real time updates.

App can also be added as a Widget at the homepage

The Ironwulf En Route App was made using OVI AppWizard. It was an easy (at least) 5-minute run to create. However there’s an approval period (usually 24 hours) before it becomes available at the OVI Store. This is really handy for non-programmers to create an application for OVI.

Get updated mobile site content

Hope you do check it out and install on your devices.

Ironwulf En Route Content Outline

Latest Content from Flickr and Digital Dispatch

Nokia N8 USB On-the-Go Field Test

I’m always trying to find ways to travel lighter, especially with all my gadgets in tow. My current setup is bringing along my netbook for my daily obsessive-compulsive image back-up whenever I’m on a trip. I was ecstatic to learn that Nokia’s new flagship model, the Nokia N8, has the USB OTG (On-the-Go) capability, making the handset a useful portable drive as well. So I put the feature to the test to see if I can possibly leave my netbook on my upcoming travels.

The Nokia N8 with the MicroUSB to USB Cable

The Nokia USB OTG (On-The-Go) can connect to USB Flashdrives and devices via a MicroUSB-USB Cable. When the Nokia N8 reads the devices, it automatically opens up the File Manager where the connected device would show up. Users can easily copy, transfer or delete files from one device to another. The feature works but there are some caveats as well. I tried connecting the Nokia N8 on several devices to see if there are compatibility issues.

USB Flash Drive Connection

USB Flash/Pen/Thumb Drives. This works but USB Flashdrives that requires a driver to install (like the Imation 4gig Thumbdrive) on the device would not work. It would show an “Unsupported USB. Disconnect Device” error.

Directo Camera Connection with the Nokia N8

Memory Card Readers. This one worked easily well. Nokia N8 read the CF Card in the slot and transferred without a problem.

Camera to Phone. Using the Olympus PEN E-PL1 here, the Storage option showed up on the screen when I connected the device on the Nokia N8. The drive showed up in the file manager and was able to transfer some files.

Unsupported USB Device Error

Portable and Desktop Hard Drives. Trying both on 60gig, 180gig to 500Gig and 1 TB, the N8 could not read this. Probably it needs a software driver to read.

Phone to Phone. This was a surprising last test that came to mind after taking photos. I connected my Nokia N86 to the N8. I chose the Mass Storage option on the N86 and it showed up on the drives on the File Manager. Real cool.

Things to take note on the Nokia N8 USB OTG (On-the-go).

• It doesn’t work on devices that need to install a software driver to read
• Able to read memory card readers
• Direct from Camera to Phone compatibility
• Compatible device with mass storage must have its own power
• Compatible with Phone to Phone USB connection (At least on tested Nokia Phones)

Transfer Speed is fairly average. Transferring around 1gig of JPG and RAW Image files took around 3-5minutes.

File Manager Options

Verdict. I’m quite impressed with the USB OTG (On-the-go) feature of Nokia N8. There may be some limitations but it works where it matters for me, particularly the Memory Card Reader and Direct from Camera Transfer. The Nokia N8 already has a 16gig built-in hard drive separate from the Phone Memory and there’s an option to expand via a MicroSD slot that supports MicroSDHC cards with a capacity up to 32gig. With a combined 48gig capacity on a handphone, that’s one wicked back-up device on a small package. Now I may think of leaving my netbook on some trips since the Nokia N8 is as powerful as a mini computer as well.

Nokia N8 in the Philippines

All the buzz lately has been on the Android and IOS4 wars, but Finnish Company Nokia is not about to give up on their native Symbian OS yet as they unveiled their latest Symbian ^3 on their current top-of-the-line Smartphone, the Nokia N8. Will it be able to stand up to the rapidly growing Android market? Probably, but as far as Nokia handsets are concerned, this could be their best handset at the moment.

Just a quick rundown, I really like the feel of the sleek anodized aluminum unibody on hand. It has a gorgeous 3.5″ 16m colors AMOLED screen perfect for HD Viewing since it has an HD Video capture as well and, a larger than the usual mobile camera sensor on its 12mp camera with Carl Zeiss Lens and Xenon Flash. What’s more notable as well is their USB-on-the-go which I’ll try to test if I can back-up some images on the go.

Will get in-depth with the Nokia N8 soon, particularly on its camera and HD recording capabilities. For the meantime, it is now available for pre-order in the Philippines at www.nokia.com.ph. SRP is P23,699

Ironwulf.net: GO! now on mobile

Go now and point your mobile browsers to http://go.ironwulf.net and you’ll find yourself on the mobile version of Ironwulf.net which I call Ironwulf.net: GO!. It’s basically a Mobsite (Mobile Site) which you can publish feeds from your blog sites whether it’s wordpress or blogger generated, show your more recent uploads on flickr, add a form so people can send you emails through their mobiles and other stuffs. I know most mobile devices now can browse web sites but the benefit I see on this one is that it’s a simple summary of your content, a quick contact page and compatibility to most mobile browsers out there. This is basically one of the things I like on the new Smart Sandbox.

So what basically is a Sandbox? To make it easier, let me quote Jayvee:

Sandbox is an online platform that allows anyone to connect with friends and share blog posts, photos and videos. Apart from this, Sandbox is also an online content store where you can buy music and games. So what sets it apart from other social networks? Sandbox is also locally developed and thus there is a continuous stream of offline fulfillment through giveaways, raffles and prizes.

In other words, Sandbox is in the business of building communities because not only is there interaction between your friends, there is also conversation between the developers and the users. In marketing terms, it isn’t just horizontal exchanges between consumers, but also vertically, where the product talks back and gives value to insights and suggestions from the community — alongside promotions and giveaways!

Mysandbox Web Interface

Sandbox Mobile Interface

I’ve been playing around with the Sandbox for a few months before its launch being one of the hundreds of beta testers for the platform. From what I understand, Sandbox is really intended to be a social network on a mobile platform. Aside from its Site Publishing features to create Ironwulf.net GO!, it’s also a mobile blogging platform, a mobile forum, a video and photo gallery and a mobile download site. So it kinda made me scratch my head when Smart launched this half-baked. Currently the mobile version is not up and offered the online version first which I found clunky.

While I like the promise of Sandbox there are still some things to improve on.

1. Make the online site simple and  intuitive. Honestly it’s hard to go around and find what you’re looking for. One thing to turn off new users and close their browsers is to confuse and infuriate them.
2. On the context of Mobile Blogging, it should be a lot easier to mo-blog. Maybe look at the mobile versions of Plurk, Facebook and Twitter. I found their implementation easy and functional but with Sandbox I have to dig-in to write a blog entry.
   

   Sandbox Mobile Screens (Profile on left and Photo Viewer on right)

3. I like it that there are clubs, groups and sites but it’s also confusing which is which. Sites are produced via the site publisher which creates your Mob Site, I found that clubs are like sites but doesn’t do much of anything, while groups are like forums with specialized topic. I like the idea of the groups, but a feature I would like added is that we can also attach pictures on topic conversations like the blogs. I created a Mobile Photography Group there too but found out we can only add photos on the group section. I can’t initiate a sub topic there so we can share photos on certain themes.
4. Integration with other social networks would also be a great addition if possible but I think I’m pushing it too far with this one. But hey, anything is possible.
   

   Sandbox Mobile Screens (Groups Home, Left and Topic Conversation, Right)

For now, Sandbox has a lot of promise and also a lot to improve on as well. I think they should focus  more on mobile usability since  this is the main platform but also not neglect their online version as well. Rest assured the people behind them are listening and are bent on doing improvements on the platform. A sandbox has many possibilities, but like a castle made of sand, if you’re not careful it could easily crumble.

If you’re interested, sign up at www.mysandbox.com and add me ferdzdecena