furtiv adds Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Picasa to Share online

Published by Rafe Blandford at 16:46 UTC, October 14th 2009

'furtiv', a startup that creates social media solutions for mobile devices, has released a beta of their technology showcase, which allows you to use Nokia's Share online application to upload to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Picasa. This effectively adds one click upload to each of these services to the Gallery/Photos and Camera applications. The service works with most recent Nokia Symbian devices (Nokia Share online 2.0 or higher required). Read on for further details.

furtiv works by connecting the Share online protocol (Atom Publishing Protocol) to third party services via its own servers. It works by getting you to sign in with the respective service and then giving furtiv permission to upload media on your behalf. As such, furtiv does not require a furtiv account, does not store your media and, for most services, does not store your username or password (more information in the FAQ).

furtiv provides the download of settings for Facebook, Twitter, Picasa Web Albums and YouTube via their mobile site. To start using the services, all you need to do is download the settings and then activate them by following their respective procedures.

futiv set up

Download the settings from furtiv, configure them and away you go.

Once you have activated a service, it can be used like any other Share online service. You can create a new upload from within the Share online application (as shown below), or use the shortcuts provided in the Photos/Gallery application or the Camera application (after you have captured an image).

This means that you can have one-click upload to YouTube (videos), Twitter (images or video), Facebook (images or video) and Picasa (images) directly from the camera application. It's a definite improvement over the built in Flickr and Ovi Share support.

futiv set up

You can start an upload from within Share online, but the real benefit is the one click upload from Camera or Photos.

furtiv has added extra functionality to the Twitter service component. It takes advantage of Share online's ability to show recent photo streams. In the case of Twitter, these streams are for Timeline, Mentions (replies) and Direct Messages. The 'photos' in the stream are taken from the user profile of the Twitter account in question, with the Tweet available via the 'tag' shortcut button. It's a slightly cumbersome system, but would work fine for low volume Twitter users.

futiv set up

The Twitter service has extra functionality, including a basic Twitter 'viewer'.

If your upload is geo-tagged then furtive will also include a location link using MapTwits (see examples on Twitter and YouTube; additional information on the furtiv blog).

It's great to see another company making use of the open standards used in the Share online application, and the addition of these services could be popular. PixelPipe does allow such uploads, but it is more of a power user service; there's a lot to be said for the simple approach of furtiv.

Please note that the furtiv service is provided as-is, with no guarantees about service levels or provision. The company may, at any time, discontinue the public beta. furtiv's business model is to partner with operators and service providers to provide more seamless social media sharing experience on mobile devices.

More information is available on the furtiv website. You can follow @furtiv on Twitter and read more about futriv on their blog.

Rafe Blandford, All About Symbian, 14 Oct 2009

Filed: Home > News > furtiv adds Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Picasa to Share online

Platforms: S60 3rd Edition, S60 5th Edition

Categories: Software, Links of Interest

News Discussion

timsalmon

That's just great, Rafe! Well spotted. More excellent integration for me with the Google services from S60 :-) We were just talking today on Phones Show Chat about how Gravity now allows easy reading of Google Reader, now Picasa integration with Share Online - I'm almost re-converted! The N96 gets a dusting down again and new lease of life - hopefully followed by the N97 when the syncml is sorted in v20 F/W (pretty please, Nokia?). Tim

timsalmon

Strangely, Picasa has added it's logo to the HomeScreen of the N96, alongside Ovi and FlickR, but no sign of Twitter, YouTube and FaceBook... Having said that, I'm not sure that VOX was ever there (before I deleted it from Share Online)...

ggravier

So it's just like Pixelpipe?

davidgilson

I've set this up, although I'm not having a lot of luck with it.

The Twitter upload (which I presume goes to Twitpic.com) just fails. When I go to the Facebook upload, I just get sent to the mobile website.

So, I'm disappointed with it.

fernando20

tried twitter, isn't working here either. it goes thru the setup process normally, and the upload just fails with no error message. as in it connects, tries uploading, but just stays there hanging as "pending" after a while.

furtiv

We are investigating the cause of upload failures. We had a serious traffic spike because of this review. I'll post an update here as soon as the issue is resolved.

timsalmon

Quote:

Originally Posted by ggravier

So it's just like Pixelpipe?

One of the advantages is that PP puts another 'stage' in the process - in Share Online you get an entry 'PixelPipe' and then *inside* that option you get to dictate where to send stuff (as set up in PP home) whereas furtiv actually places the different services as separate items inside Share Online and it seems much more like a direct route to me. I'm not sure if under the hood it works in the same way but it certainly feels much better than PP. Also, the setup with PP was confusing, I found. When I sent a test picture out it seemed to dump it into *all* my destinations and I didn't see/notice an option to limit that to where I wanted it to go. With furtiv, it's obvious from the Share Online homescreen.

furtiv

Update: we have resolved the upload issues in the furtiv beta that were affecting some users today. If you experienced problems uploading to Facebook, Picasa, YouTube or Twitter, please try again now. More info at: http://furtiv.com/blog

If you are still having problems please contact us on http://twitter.com/furtiv or email us at help(at)furtiv.com

furtiv

@timsalmon Yes, that's exactly what we are trying to do: offer a very simple media sharing experience for the average user who just wants to upload a photo/video to her favorite service.

Nevertheless, for the power user we also have a few advantages. Unlike other solutions that integrate with Share Online, we use the Atom 1.0 protocol which allows us to offer:
* 50% more efficient uploads (saving bandwidth, battery life and potential data costs).
* Location tagging for photos AND VIDEOS using both GPS and Cell ID (when indoors)
* Content feeds and home screen notifications (as shown in this review)

On your question on the N96 home screen, it only fits three icons, so you'll get there the first three Atom 1.0 services that you setup. If you want to get the Facebook, Twitter, etc icons there, you'll have to temporarily delete your Flickr/Ovi credentials from Share Online and then activate again.

davidgilson

@Furtiv

Thank you for fixing, I've retested everything and it's now working. I think this will come in very handy.

fernando20

Same here, Camera app to Twitter working perfectly now, really convenient! Way better than PixelPipe

dstokoe

Works great thanks.

One thing though, I can't get Share Online on the standby screen - I don't think it's anything to do with furtive (wasn't there previously either) Is this a bug on E55?

timsalmon

Quote:

Originally Posted by dstokoe

Works great thanks.

One thing though, I can't get Share Online on the standby screen - I don't think it's anything to do with furtive (wasn't there previously either) Is this a bug on E55?

Share Online on the standby screen is reserved for N-Series :-( You need to place a shortcut in Apps bar at the top for quick access.

Tim

dstokoe

Ah right, that explains it then. Cheers Tim.

Unregistered

YouTube is a payed plugin, right?

timsalmon

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

YouTube is a payed plugin, right?

Nope - all the furtiv.mobi services are free for ShareOnline plugins

Unregistered

Quote: