Last month Google released a less complicated way of linking up your phone with one or more of your Blogger blogs as part of its Blogger in Draft program. It put the settings to post to a specific blog through your phone or e-mail next to each blog's title inside of the dashboard using small and simple icons. And as of today the change is now live to everyone.
The most important part of this seemingly minor update is that it takes two sets of settings that were previously tucked away and puts them front and center. Posting via SMS or MMS message can be set up in about 30 seconds if you have your phone handy, and you don't even have to leave the dashboard to do it. The same goes for creating a special e-mail address to post to each blog--something which was also, previously hidden away from non-savvy users.
While sending a post to Blogger through your phone is nothing new, Google clearly wants to make the process a little easier. Putting the icons and setup tools right there in front of you is a good start. The one big caveat that remains is that posting through SMS still only works in the US, so if you're a Blogger user from another country you're stuck having to use your phone's e-mail app--meaning you need a data plan.
There's also the continuing matter of a lack of an official, native Blogger application for mobile phones. WordPress and MovableType have had free mobile applications out for some time now--including some snazzy ones for the iPhone. These make it simple to work on and post entries locally, as well as edit and moderate posts while on the go. SMS and e-mail are nice, but at this point in the game a dedicated application would be a nice touch. Those with an iPhone and who are willing to part with $3 can have it with this app called BlogPress which also posts to WordPress, TypePad, Live Journal and others.
Here's the original demo on how to post from your phone from last October:
A little Web service called IMified caught my attention this morning. It is an ambitious service that lets you access several popular Web applications from your instant-messaging client. IMified is a messaging bot (like SmarterChild) that lets you manage your apps via text commands. In theory, it could also be used on any IM-equipped mobile phone to turn the phone into a remote control for your Web apps.
Signing up to the service requires no site registration or passwords. To begin, you just add the messaging bot to your buddy list and send it a message. Adding additional services (like Blogger, Basecamp and Wordpress) is done through a special section of the IMified home page. Besides these services, IMified doubles as its own productivity tool with notes, reminders, and to-do lists.
There are some interesting real world uses for IMified, particularly using collaborative apps like Google Spreadsheets. Here at Webware, we created a couple of Google Spreadsheets to share our ideas. Theoretically, IMified could be used to add items to our spreadsheets. IMified could also be used to live blog from your phone using a service that wasn't intended to do so, such as Backpack from 37Signals.
Adding services to IMified
(Credit: CNET Networks)Accounts are managed through a special section of IMified's Web site. There you can set up user names and passwords for each service. Compatible IMified sites are set up to work through the developer's API, so if your favorite service doesn't have one, it likely won't be added to IMifieds list.
Having a group of Web apps to access while on the go is an exciting idea. What piques my interest is whether or not the casual user can handle a text-based interface for multiple and visually rich apps. After thoroughly enjoying Google's mobile Gmail application, I'd like to see IMified evolve into a downloadable Java app for phones that could incorporate an easy-to-use graphical interface, yet combine the simplicity and the ease of use that IMified was designed to provide.
[Found on Museum of Modern Betas]
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