5 reasons why Share on Ovi is a kick-ass service
Do you know "Share on Ovi"? If not, you probably ought to check it out because IMHO, "Share on Ovi" is one of the best ways to store and share pictures, videos and other media - online and for free.
"Share…" was originally called "Twango" (still is, if you look closer at the site URL), but was purchased by Nokia last summer and "re-launched" in February this year as part of "Ovi" - Nokia's online service portal for music, maps, media, games and more. I have been using "Share…" since the "re-launch" in February and I really think it is a great service. The team behind "Share…" seem to have spotted and copied things other services have done right, plus added a few tricks of their own.
I am not going to do a thorough review of every feature on "Share…", but here is a few reasons why you might consider using it.
Note: I started writing this post a few days ago and noticed yesterday, that flickr.com now supports video. Video uploads are only available to flickr »Pro« (i.e. paying) members and each video is limited to 90 sec/150 mb.
1. "Share…" is open
Since "Share…" is owned by Nokia, I imagine some people might get the idea the service is somehow restricted to, or intended for, owners of Nokia handsets. This is actually not the case - "Share…" is for everyone. You do not even need to own a mobile phone to use the service. "Share…" (and "Ovi" for that matter) is a manifestation of Nokia's "Nokia-as-an-Internet-company" strategy, which should result in more and more Nokia products and services that extend further than to owners of Nokia handsets.
"Share…" is also open in the sense that any stuff you put up there can be shared in numerous ways. Each channel you create (see below) has its own RSS feed, plus an iTunes podcast link; channels and individual media files can be added to other online services like Digg, StumpleUpon, del.icio.us and so forth; There are various HTML and flash widgets that enable you embed channels, slideshows or individual files on other websites. Here is an example:
2. "Share…" is flexible
Flexible about how stuff is uploaded, and how it is later organized. "Share…" provides several different ways in which to upload media files - naturally you can upload directly through share.ovi.com, and upload by email is also a given. There are additional ways however - on Windows there is something called the Web Publishing Wizard, which allows you to add "Share…" as a recipient in the "Send to" part of contextual menus. Another option - which I cover in more detail below - enables camera phone owners to upload directly from their phones. Read more about the upload options on "Share…".
The stuff you upload to "Share…" ends up in something called "My Media" - as sort of file repository, and you then organize your uploaded stuff using channels. Channels can be seen as streams - or collections - of media files, each containing a subset of the contents of "My Media". Files can be added to more than one channel and if you delete a file from a channel, it is only removed from the channel - not from "My Media" (unless you choose to). The thing about channels is that a lot of settings can be configured for each individual channel. Using privacy settings you can control who can has access to the channel, who can comment and who can upload. If you are really advanced you can have notifications sent to specific email addresses when you add media to a channel. Even if the channel is not publicly viewable. All a recipient needs is an email address - he or she does not need to have an account on "Share…".
3. "Share…" integrates with your Nokia S603rd handset
Everyone can upload from a mobile device by emailing files to the special address that comes with each channel. If you do own a recent Nokia S60 3rd edition handset however, some additional features are available to you. Download and install the "Share Online" application from Nokia and you are all set to upload media directly from your handset. "Share Online" not only works with "Share…", but also with services like flickr and vox.
If you assign "Share…" to be the default service (In the "Share Online" settings) a nice shortcut (globe-with-arrow icon in left-most image below) will appear when browsing the image gallery. Clicking this shortcut uploads the image to "Share…"…with just one click. The image to the right illustrates how "Share Online" keeps track of the media you upload.
4. "Share…" is accommodating
Around 100 different file types can be uploaded to "Share…" (see the list of supported file types) and there is practically no restrictions. Both storage and number of uploads are unlimited - the only restriction concerns the file size, which has to be no more than 100 mb per file. That is it.
5. "Share…" is mobilized
If the browser on your mobile phone supports Flash you can just visit the full site and play back videos using the embedded Flash player. If not, there is also a dedicated mobile version at mobile.twango.com with videos in .3gp format (supported by most phones). These videos are streamed to your phone if you click them.
The only feature I am missing on "Share…", is the ability to view media full screen.
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April 13th, 2008 at 13:01
[...] Gersbo-Moller wrote yesterday 5 reasons he thinks Share on Ovi is a great service. Gersbo, as he likes to call himself, explained that although owned by Nokia, Share on Ovi is open [...]
April 15th, 2008 at 13:45
I thing the max. upload is limited to 2GB a month - used to be 250MB.
April 15th, 2008 at 21:10
@a.nie: No, the 2 Gb limitation is also gone. It used to be there - I remember it, but it has been removed.
September 23rd, 2008 at 17:54
Hi, thanks for this article. As I upgraded the firmware of my N95-8 I found ovi on my phone. I wanted to share a video I made on my phone with my girl friend and just tried it. Your post “hits the nail on the head” Ovi is absolutely amazing. I was sceptical at first because it is from Nokia.. BUT no it is truly amazing….
September 24th, 2008 at 00:40
Hi Andre, and thanks for commenting. I am really glad you liked the post and I wish you all the best with “Ovi” - I am sure you will enjoy some of the new “Ovi” features that were introduced recently.
January 28th, 2009 at 11:07
[...] what else she thinks, then leave a comment. If Dotsisx’s five reasons weren’t enough, check out Gersbo’s pages to see what his five [...]