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.
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.
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.
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