7 tips for mobile blogging

You can make your blog even more immediate and up to date - by posting directly from your mobile phone. We take you through the essentials of moblogging… 1. Why you need a mobile blog The world, his wife, his dog and a significant portion of his extended family, already write blogs. There are over 82 million blogs and 1.8 million blog updates a day on the internet - if you ain’t got one, you ain’t nobody. Moblogging is only going to get bigger too with the increasing speed of 3G mobile internet connections - particularly with HSDPA and HSUPA technology - and the availability of 3 or even 5-megapixel cameraphones like Sony Ericsson’s Cyber-shot models and Nokia’s 5-megapixel N95. So what are you waiting for? 2. What you need (hardware) Put simply, moblogging is the easiest way to blog. All you need is a mobile phone that can send emails, preferably with attachments. Though to get the most out of it, you’ll want a phone with a decent camera so you can take pics, then upload them straightaway to your online noticeboard. If you’re choosing a phone specifically for moblogging, think for a moment about what you’re going to be doing with it. If you lean towards text-heavy posts, it’s worth considering a phone with a Qwerty keyboard, such as the BlackBerry Curve or Nokia E70. If you really want to focus on the pics, one of Sony Ericsson’s 3-megapixel Cyber-shot models like the K810i or Nokia’s 5-megapixel N95 will be worth the investment. 3. What you need (software) Some phones come with blogging software already installed. Sony Ericsson’s K810i and others in its Cyber-shot collection come with Blogger, while Nokia’s Symbian S60 smartphones include Lifeblog. Other manufacturers are also planning to release phones with blogging-friendly software pre-installed. There’s also a wide variety of Java applications which you can download to virtually any cameraphone, usually for free. As with deciding which phone you want to use, some are better for certain types of blog than others. Shozu is ideal for uploading pictures and captions, for example, while LiveJournal will allow you to make entries by voice, which will then be translated into text for the web (they charge for this though). 4. How to do it Moblogging simply involves updating your blog from your mobile phone. You take a picture, add a caption, and send it by email to your weblog’s address, where it will be automatically uploaded as your latest entry. Your blog may have been initiated from your phone or your PC, and you can add pretty much anything you like - text, pictures, video, audio, whatever. Moblogs tend to take the form of photo journals with short captions for each pic, but mobloggers with Qwerty keyboards on their phones tend to make longer text entries. Also, it’s easy to add more text when you’re next at your PC. Most moblog applications are free to use, though some have extra charges for extra features, and some standard weblogs charge extra for moblog facilities. You’ll also pay your mobile operator’s standard data transfer rates for sending attachments via email - so posting video or audio files this way can get pricey unless you subscribe to a flat-rate data package. Check with your mobile operator (or look on its website) for the data deals they’re currently offering (some cost as little as £5 a month). 5. Moblog tips Be sure to save your blog’s email address in your phone’s address book so you can find it quickly. Experiment with your phone’s camera settings to see which picture size and resolution comes up best on your blog (most moblog sites will automatically resize your pics if they’re too big). Remember that it’s not just the people you want to see your blog who may have access to it - anyone in the world can see your blog, unless your moblog server has security features. If you’re posting holiday snaps from abroad, beware the demon roaming charges - posting data can have prohibitive costs. Be a part of the moblogosphere - drop into other people’s moblogs, make comments and invite them to your own. 6. Moblog services/providers Moblog Probably the biggest, and quite possibly one of the best specialist moblogging services in the UK. Website: http://moblog.co.uk Price: Free for a basic account. Subscriber accounts cost £5/month to £55/year (for which you get bigger, better pictures and more features, basically). Nokia Lifeblog Download the app to your mobile or PC for managing, editing and posting entries to moblogs (hosted on Typepad). Website: www.nokia.com/lifeblog Price: Free Flickr Probably the web’s most famous picture gallery. Lots of features like slideshows, voting and sharing. Website:www.flickr.com Price: Free Kodak EasyShare Gallery The photo giant hosts online galleries and offers photo downloading for mobiles as well as a printing service. Website:www.kodakgallery.com Price: Photo galleries are free, but downloads are charged at standard rates and the printing services cost extra. Shozu This online photo upload service is a quick and easy way to get pics from your mobile onto the web with captions. You can download the app direct to your Symbian, Java or Windows Mobile-enabled phone. Website:www.shozu.com Price: Free Typepad Aimed more at professional media types than the fun end of the moblog scene, Typepad offers advanced blogging services linked to Nokia’s Lifeblog. The software works on Palm, Symbian and Windows Mobile devices. Website:www.typepad.com Price: £2.59-£7.59/month LiveJournal This huge blogging provider includes voice messages and voice-to-text updating from mobiles (on paid accounts only). Website:http://livejournal.com Price: Free accounts can manage blog posts/replies by SMS/ voice on mobile. Paid accounts can also upload via mobile email or text (£19.95 a year). Blogger Used by Sony Ericsson’s Photo Blogging service in the UK, but you don’t need an SE phone to use it. The Blogger Mobile service lets you send text from phone to your moblog. You don’t even need to open an account, just send a pic and text to go.blogger.com and it will open a moblog for you automatically. Website:www.blogger.com Price: Free Wordpress This feature-heavy free service includes goodies like a comment spam catcher, well-defined categories and password-protected posts. Website: www.wordpress.com Price: Free 7. Moblogging phones Sony Ericsson K810i This svelte little snapper features a 3.2-megapixel camera with flash and BestPic (automatically takes pics after and before you press the shutter, so you’re assured of a good pic). It’s got 3G access and Blogger software is already loaded - all you have to do to start a moblog is take a picture and send it. Nokia N95 Five mighty megapixels on this camera plus a Carl Zeiss lens and flash, so the only excuse for crap photos is you. It also has high-speed HSDPA 3G internet access plus Wi-Fi and Lifeblog’s already onboard. It’s a do-everything smartphone, but it is a bit on the chunky side. BlackBerry Curve The latest BlackBerry has a full Qwerty keyboard (great for longer text entries) and a 2-megapixel camera onboard. You’ll need to download a Java-based moblog app though. Samsung U600 This sleek slider has a magnificently large screen and a 3.2-megapixel camera with flash and a nifty onboard photo editor. No 3G connection, but GPRS is quick enough for pics and text.