NathanHJones.comjust thinking outloud

The other day I read Justin Levy’s post on going mobile with WPtouch and just had to experiment.  I haven’t previously had a mobile specific version so it’s definitely an exciting move. Here’s a quick round up of my experience.

Installation

Installation was a breeze.  WPtouch is a WordPress plugin, all it took was downloading the files, uploading it to my server and activating it from the dashboard.  Once activated we were up-and-running with the vanilla install.  Now on to customizing…

Setup

WPtouch offers a wide array of customizing (sorry, this is a word I’ve gotten way too used to in the SAP world) options from enabling AJAX comment posting to custom CSS/Javascript inclusion.  I kept my install fairly simple but there were a couple things I changed.

1. I call myself a developer so I went with a snazzy App Store icon as my mobile banner image (see end of the post). WPtouch has a pretty good selection of images although they’re mostly centered around the iPhone.  If nothing meets your needs you’re more than welcome to upload a custom file.
2. Linking of my AdSense and Analytics accounts.  Must haves…AdSense to collect those occasional pennys and Analytics to obviously to continue to understand how people flow through the site.  Adding both was EXTREMELY easy to do with a custom section for each.

WPtouch gives you the option to display a ‘desktop’ (i.e. non-mobile) version of your website to users on their first visit and include the ability to toggle mobile vs. desktop in your theme footer.  I get the potential draw but if you’re going to go mobile, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t always default mobile and allow them to switch back if they want.

Anyways, you can also change what icon is used for each post and how much information about the post is shown (e.g. just the title, title and a teaser, tags, categories, etc).  I played with the settings a bit but I think that’s really more of a personal choice…at least until I get time to test and study analytic data.

Additions and Suggestions

For a donation supported plugin I can’t really complain.  It’s easy and relatively robust but there are still a couple things I would like to see enhanced:

1. I understand it’s a mobile device and landscape is limited but a second ‘title’ (under NathanHJones.com below) would be ideal.  Obviously, each blog owner would need to be smart about how it was used.
2. Better AdSense rendering.  This may be slightly out of the WPtouch developers hands but I noticed that AdSense ads show up very boxy compared to the smooth WPtouch design.  I don’t know if that’s anything they can fix or perhaps me just being new to AdSense mobile but it didn’t exactly flow together.

If you’re mobile version is powered by WPtouch leave a comment and let me know what you think!  Finally, here’s a fullscreen shot of NathanHJones.com…the mobile version…from my iPhone.

So, I’ve seen mixed reviews of Gary Vaynerchuk’s newest venture, ObsessedTV.com.  Some love it and a couple hate it, but I’m not sure they’re really giving it a chance.  I must admit, when I first loaded it up I was a bit shocked at the direction he took but I think it’s a pretty solid play.  I mean, it’s different than we’re used to from Gary (hell, it’s not even 100% Gary) but he’s expanding his empire…what did you want him to do another wine show?!?  Perhaps something dedicated solely to Cabernet Franc, Gewürztraminer or Burgundy?!?  What gives!  He’s been there and clearly conquered that and while it will take time for people to adjust, I think it’s a step in a great direction.

Now, onto the show – I watched the Mark Bittman interview.  I’m not really their target demographic which is why the “set” probably wasn’t what I expected.  I can’t really take it to them for that though, it’s what I would consider a pretty standard set for interview format shows.  Overall, the episode seemed pretty “early stage” to me in that Samantha didn’t feel totally at ease, maybe even a little nervous.  Maybe it was the new setting but some of that may have been Mark who, in my opinion, seemed a bit snarky.  I think he’s earned a little of that right and I still think he’s a very interesting man.  Anyways, I look forward to future episodes as they just off the jitters and I can’t wait to see what kind of guests they can swing.  Knowing the little I do about Gary I’m sure they won’t disappoint.

In closing, I think it’s great idea that has real potential and it’s a bold move into a new demographic for Gary.  I want to see how it plays out but like I said earlier, he’s conquered wine and is making a play to expand his media empire.  For that my friends, you have to respect him.  As Gary would put it, he’s hustlin’ and you can’t get down on someone for that!  Keep up the great work Gary and I look forward to the other stuff you plan on bringing us.

AOL launched a mobile version of it’s once king AOL Instant Messanger (AIM) the other day and initial findings are promising but they’ve got a ways to go. ReadWriteWeb thinks it’s a must have app for Windows Mobile devices and I tend to agree if they make some changes. However, hands down it beats what Google is offering for my mobile phone without downloading a third party application…a big fat goose egg. I understand they’re pushing their own mobile operating system but come on! Blackberry has one and Bill Gates isn’t even running the day to day operations at Microsoft anymore so let bygones be bygones. But I digress. I know it’s still in Beta but here are some thoughts.

1. IT’S A HUGE BATTERY KILLER!!! I know the TREO 750 already has ‘poor’ battery life according to critics but this drains it faster than Britney Spears bounces in and out of rehab. I can normally get through a full day with moderate email/phone usage but when I’m running Mobile AIM my battery is ready for charging by 11AM – that’s roughly 3.5 hours of use for you bean counters. This has got to be fixed before launching the final version.
2. IT’S A MEMORY HOG!!! I’m not sure if it’s just intense processing or if it’s an actual memory leak but I gained 12MB of memory after shutting down AIM. Gained means it allocated it back to usable memory when I shut it down…it was using 15% (give or take) of my processing power. On a mobile device that’s a HUGE amount of processing power!
3. It doesn’t give external notifications (other than sound which is just obnoxious) when you have a new IM. If you choose to turn on sound it will play the standard new IM sound. However, if your phone is on vibrate it doesn’t do anything to alert you.
4. The interface is visually pleasing and mostly functional, here are a few comments:
   • Good:
     • Navigating between various conversations and your buddy list is extremely easy, especially if you have a touch screen. I think without a touch screen many of the features I enjoy would be difficult
     • You can add/edit/delete groups and friends which is pretty slick for a mobile Beta release
     • You can easily toggle between available, busy and invisible (major plus considering Google Talk hasn’t even got that right in their desktop client yet)
     • Setting messages (away or status – however you use them) is a breeze
   • Bad:
     • There are some issues with how it ‘pages’ when you scroll through your buddy list – it’s a little clunky. This may be attributed to the fact that it’s using so much processing power and the system chokes a little when you try and scroll
     • When you’re in the conversation mode the ‘send’ button is on the wrong side – at least compared to the TREO 750. Text messaging on the TREO is displayed a lot like IM conversations and the send/close buttons are on different sides than AIM Mobile has them. This is big from a usability stand-point – I’ve already had several messages that didn’t get sent because I clicked the wrong button. Just takes getting used to I suppose…
     • There is an ‘alert me when’ option on the menu that I can’t seem to activate. Not sure how it would work given the fact that I don’t get notified of IMs unless I’m physically in the application
5. There isn’t an automatic updater. Not a huge deal but definitely an inconvenience. Now I have to go to the Beta site and download the new version every time they release a fix. They have said an update notification is on it’s way in a future version though. In the mean time it would be nice if the site included dates/times of the most recent release so I could guesstimate whether I should install again. Maybe I’m just missing it because that seems like common sense.

Here are a couple things I’d like to see them add on top of general usability/performance:

1. Add an option to my photo menu to set a particular image as my AIM icon
2. Add an option to my photo menu to send images to AIM buddies if I’m logged in
3. Allow me to add a link to my Windows Today screen that will take me to a new IM if there is one

My current client has blocked AIM/Google Talk so if you’re in the same boat this is definitely worth the download. Here’s a shot of the user interface from the AIM Mobile site.

(image courtesy of AIM Beta site)

I recently upgraded to WM6 and am slowly getting things working the way I like. Throughout the upgrade and re-setup process I’ve found a couple pretty odd settings. One of those pesky settings has been the type-ahead feature. Similar to most type-ahead features you’ve probably seen around the web, after you type a couple characters it suggests words so you don’t have to type them out.

It’s a great feature but the default configuration has it suggesting words after the first character which taxes the system (very noticeable delays) and just doesn’t make sense. If I’m typing the word ‘the’, I don’t need the computer to suggest the word for me. I’m pretty sure I’m not that poor of a speller. So, for those of you who have also become frustrated by the ridiculous type-ahead settings here’s a quick fix. Nothing mind boggling…just felt it should be documented.

Fixing:

1. Go to the ‘Start’ menu and enter the Settings
2. Select the Input option (looks like a small keyboard)
3. Choose the ‘Word Completion’ tab at the bottom of the screen
4. You can now turn it off completely or just set it up to only trigger when you really need it. Mine is configured to suggest 4 words after I type 4 letters

Hope this helps someone else out!!

So I upgraded from Windows Mobile 5 to Windows Mobile 6 last week and I’ve spent a decent amount of time tinkering with the enhancements and think WM6 is a nice improvement.  They’ve added some great new features such as enhanced calendaring and HTML formatted emails.  For those of you who use a WM5 device, you know what I’m talking about.  While I didn’t mind the strictly text email, the new features are greatly appreciated.

After poking around some of the settings I found that WM6 doesn’t have MSN as the default search engine for the web search feature on the ‘today’ screen.  I know Microsoft has paid penalties out the wazoo for monopolistic practices in it’s PC operating systems so I figured they just didn’t want to get nailed for this and set a different default.  But why Google of all people?!?  At least they tried to purchase of Yahoo…why not set them as the default?!?  After some more searching I was surprised to find that not only is Google the default search engine, it’s the only search engine that you can set.  One of Microsoft’s biggest competitors holds the sole search rights on Windows Mobile devices…weird!

After thinking about it a bit I figured it had to be something that Palm or AT&T configured and it wasn’t Microsoft’s choice.  The thing that bugs me is I don’t even have the option to add a new search engine.  I wonder if AT&T or Palm is getting kickbacks for this nonsense?!?

Then, after reading my blog news a few days ago I heard that Google launched a downloadable plugin for Windows (and here) that allows for ‘fast’ search from the ‘today’ screen of your WM device.  That’s cool, except it already exists and doesn’t require a download.  Not like it takes up much space, but there is just no need.

Now, as many of you are aware I show a lot of love to Google.  I normally approve emphatically of what they do but I just don’t see the point here.

Overall Google, I think it was a waste of time and money to build.  But that’s just me.  Better luck next time.