Ontela and Photobucket today announced that they have launched the Photobucket Mobile Uploader. The new service automatically uploads users camera phone pics to their Photobucket albums. To access the service, users go to http://mobileuploader.photobucket.com, enter their phone number and model, and the Photobucket Mobile Uploader is sent directly to their handset.
In 2008, a study by Ontela claimed that uploading pics from mobile devices to the web is such a laborious process that only 19% of camera phone users can do it. If you have the Photobucket Mobile Uploader installed on your phone, every time you take a picture it is automatically placed in your Photobucket album. The service also uploads any pictures in your camera phone memory the first time it is run.
From the release:
“Our users are always asking how they can get their camera phone pictures to Photobucket,” said Alex Welch, CEO and Founder of Photobucket. “After seeing our customers struggle with individual email uploads and memory cards, we decided we should give them a truly easy way to do it. From there the Photobucket Mobile Uploader was born.”
“Ontela is all about creating the simplest possible experience for saving camera phone pictures,” said Dan Shapiro, CEO of Ontela. “In talking to our customers, we have found they are hungry for more ways to simplify their lives. Photobucket Mobile Uploader is as easy as it gets.”
What we think?
The first question I had about this service was if it’s really such a good idea. I don’t know about you, but there are pics I’ve taken on my cameraphone that I really don’t want appearing on Photobucket (usually at around 2am, in the pub). But the settings for the uploader allow you tag pictures as private or public as they upload, which is an essential ingredient in a service of this sort.
Beyond that, this really doesn’t seem like that competitive of a service to me.
Firstl, there was little info on pricing in the release. I had a look at the Mobile Uploader site, and discovered that the pricing model is wildly different depending on your operator. For example, the service has a one-time cost of $19.99 on Blackberry Curve and Blackberry Pearl through T-Mobile – this gets you unlimited use. On Verizon, however, it costs $2.99/month to download it to LG phones. Whatever the reason for that, I was frankly surprised that you have to pay for this service at all. There are completely free mobile social networks out there that let you share your phone pics already, as well as Flickr – which has been making moves towards the mobile market.
