by Aner Ravon
Shozu is a simple, elegant, user centric service. They provide a mobile application which makes mobile picture posting easy. If you use Flickr, Webshots, Buzznet or Text America and if you have a camera phone, Shozu links the two together. Well, almost.
Let’s start with the positive Feedback. Shozu is a user centric service and it shows. Their mobile application is built for end users, does one specific thing and does it in a very insightful way. Their web site is very welcoming and easy to navigate. The help files are simple and effective and the counseling extends beyond the comfortable cocoon of their own application. For example, Shozu provides advise on how to avoid roaming charges and on how to use their application to send picture emails in a very cost effective way. That’s what I call an extra effort that makes a difference. Cool, user centric, effective.
Shozu provides their application in 2 flavors - Series 60 and J2ME. Downloading the application is very easy and smooth. You provide your phone number, get an SMS link which works like a charm. Their Series 60 application is a very good and mature one. They use the exact same look and feel a series 60 device user is already used to. Unlike many other applications, they let you operate the camera and access the picture gallery in the exact same way it already built. When you take a picture, a “load to flickr” link is added to the cascade side menu. Very intuitive. Uploading the picture itself takes a little too long, but that’s hardly in Shozu’s hands. The problem is lack of feedback during the wait, but that’s a misdemeanor, not a crime.
Which gets us to the less pleasant part. The J2ME application seems like a juvenile delinquent little brother compared to it’s Series 60 alternative. It is available to too few devices and is of a much lower quality. I tried it with a Sony Ericsson W800i and gave up after 15 minutes of trying to activate. Shozu, in general, drives you through too many permissions and decisions before you can use the application for the first time. For example, I had to add a specific permission to my Flickr account, then grant the mobile application access to the internet, then activate the application…too much. here is some advice to Shozu: there is such a thing called too polite! There is a limit to the decision making I have tolerance for. I understand you mediate between some services that are not yours, but save me a step or two, will you?
Now unfortunately I know a thing or two about porting multimedia applications to the J2ME environment. It ain’t easy. MIDP 2.0 does not provide a good environment for media capturing and for media gallery integration. It takes proprietary extensions and “freely interpreted” JSRs to get it done right and porting the application across different mobile device models is a nightmare. If Shozu did one thing well when it came to series 60, they compromised when it came to J2ME. I can relate to the heartache, after all J2ME is the mass market application platform, but the result is mediocre and does not fit the good reputation Shozu deserves.
On a more philosophical level, I wonder if Shozu can keep their advantage over the constantly improving native MMS clients. The interfaces provided by most photo albums will make it easier to post pictures using native and standard interfaces and without going through proprietary integrations. I believe that in the long run that’s how it will indeed be. Then again, there are so many things where an innovative company can stay ahead of the pack when it comes to MMS and web integration…. but it does challenge Shozu to constantly be innovative.
Overall Shozu belong with the good guys and deserve the “Fusion” certificate. They understand the challenges in linking the mobile environment and the Internet environment. They focus on one good use case, do not force the users to compromise existing habits and throw in a couple of good practices as a bonus. I bet that overtime their J2ME applications will get up to par with the expected standard (I am RAZR user myself and have no plans to buy a Smartphone - when can I join the circle of trust?)
Finally, after finishing this posting, I did notice another review of Shozu by Mobile Jones. Worth reading and I agree with every word.
Aner Ravon
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And wtf is that Phonebook backup ??? how does that relate to convergence or Photo Moblogging !? , They really need to get their act stright and decide if they are some office platform that manage your mobile content or moblogging app . Either way they need to invest their efforts in one of them .
03.08.06 @ 3:13 pmFirstly to Aner:
Thanks for your interesting and well informed observations on ShoZu, and for the Fusion certificate! I broadly agree with your comments about ShoZu, and have appended some further details below.
Firstly, one quick addition - ShoZu is available in UIQ and MS Smartphone flavors, as well as S60 and J2ME.
Regarding the lack of feedback during the upload, this is by design. The idea is that you get used to the fact that it just works, so you click once and consider the upload queued (a bit like sending email). This leaves you free to take more photos, make calls, and otherwise get on with using your phone for other things. If you want to check the upload status at any time, you can open the app and look at the icon next to your photo.
Regarding the J2ME client, you’re absolutely right that the user experience is less good. This is largely due to the constraints of the J2ME platform. Lets take a look at your points:
(1) Too few devices
Acknowledged. The J2ME client will be available for a wider range of handsets in the next few weeks. The main constraint is the availability of JSR 75 (access to the phone’s file system where the photos and videos are stored). This is only just becoming available from a variety of handset manufacturers. As well as Sony Ericsson, Nokia now has JSR 75 on its newer S40 devices, Motorola has it (but restricts access only to selected partners), and several other handsets manufacturers have either recently introduced it or will have it soon. I can’t yet give you a delivery date for the RAZR, but we are working on it.
(2) Too many permissions etc.
Agreed. Sadly the phone part of this is pretty much out of our control. Even certified Java apps like ShoZu cannot set their own permissions. The Java security model requires the end user to grant these permissions - in ShoZu’s case we need access to photos and videos on the phone’s file system, and also access to the Internet.
Having said this, we do agree that it’s our responsibility to make things as easy as possible for the end user, and we are working with some of our partners to make the web part of the set-up smoother - this is much more within our control.
(3) Comparison with MMS clients
MMS is getting better. However, it’s always going to be a fire-and-forget system. If you want to add tags, titles, descriptions etc. to your photo after you’ve uploaded it, you have to send it all over again (and get a duplicate in your web gallery). ShoZu is based on a two-way sync framework, which lets you edit tags, titles, descriptions, even the orientation of your photo, at any time after upload, without sending the photo again. It also means that ShoZu can get data back to your phone from the web - for instance, when people comment on your Flickr or Buzznet photos, these comments appear on your phone so you can read them there.
We are also about to introduce the idea of “secondary destinations” - which are places where you might want to send occasional photos or videos (your personal blog, a public video-sharing site, the BBC’s citizen journalist web page, Grandma’s email address…). With ShoZu, you can send your photo to as many secondary destinations as you like, at any time, without a repeat upload of the image file. The main benefit is saving data costs (not to mention your phone battery life).
Now to Aloni’s points:
Firstly, I can understand where you’re coming from. I can upload photos via email or MMS. I can add tags and see comments via Flickr Mobile. ShoZu makes these things a lot more convenient, but fundamentally doesn’t let me do brand new things that I couldn’t do before. We accept this, and it’s not really what we set out to do with ShoZu. I think you could still argue that ShoZu does solve a real problem - if you count usability as a problem which prevents people from doing things that are just too much hassle.
Some of the innovative stuff in ShoZu is well hidden (like resuming automatically from the point of failure after interruptions).
Another problem ShoZu solves is not an issue for end users, but for handset manufacturers. The problem is how to support multiple web-based photo sharing / blogging services with a single, generic client that can be pre-installed in handsets. The ShoZu client dynamically configures itself to show appropriate features and terminology depending on which web service the user selects. (For more discussion on this see http://mobhappy.com/blog1/2006/03/01/great-new-moblogging-app-as-long-as-you-use-blogger/).
Regarding address book backup, you do have a good point about focus. There’s a long story there…
Hope this is helpful, and thanks for stimulating the debate.
Cheers
Andy Tiller, CTO Cognima (creators of ShoZu)
03.08.06 @ 8:28 pmHey Andy , Many thanks for the reply , First i didnt mean to attack or disrespect you or the program itself .
Its a great program . But from my point of view it really lakes the “Convergence” tag because it solves a problem and nothing more . its sits exectly on the boat on wheels def’, It takes a problem that boats cant move on ground and solves it by adding wheels to the boat . It doesnt create a new type of hovercraft that moves between water and ground if it elborate my thoughts enough .
I used it alot , Not to mention the phonebook feature erased a few phonebook contacts after i synced it but i guess thats the pain and gain of using a beta software . concering your Innovation on the backend , Im sure it has some patent pending stuff on the backend but it still doesnt bring real value to the customer using it , To be bold i can say i dont care that it has a wonderful and innovative engine . Its like saying you reinvented the car by building one that has a built in internet , Just because it does more or better doesnt mean its real convergence . I hope i made myself clear on that issue .
Bottom line , its a great software and i’d love to see it interact with xmlrpc protocols and not just big time apis of flickr and such . I wanted to use shozu to post to my personal mobile blog and i had to setup a flickr account to pass the pics thru there and to my blog . Why go sideways when you can go stright ?
Great software and alot of improvment from the old ver .
03.08.06 @ 10:43 pmHi Aloni
I definitely understand your point about the convergence thing, and it’s a valid point. No offence taken 
We’ll have a think about how to solve your blog integration scenario.
Cheers
Andy
BTW, the lost contacts thing should definitely not have happened. Were there any exceptional circumstances (e.g. more than a couple of thousand entries in your address book)?
03.09.06 @ 12:16 amAndy,
Many thanks for your comments. Your deep and serious approach to the blog entry is certainly flattering and says a lot about Shozu’s commitment to end users. Chapeau!
Now to the comments themselves:
(1) I missed out on the Windows Mobile version. My thinking is that windows mobile is not really worth the effort, which is why I probably missed it. My bad.
(2) Too few devices and problematic integration with J2ME - I am aware of it all. However that’s a major caveat, wouldn’t you agree? J2ME is the soft belly of mobile apps. Right between overly simplified MMS and overly crowded Smart Phones. The path to mass market goes through J2ME. It’s a nightmare right now to get across all those J2ME devices, but perhaps that’s a key flaw in the overall plan? I’d really appreciate your thoughts.
(3) MMS vs your client - you got me convinced right there.
(4) Re Aloni’s point and your reply to focus / addressbook - I personally think focusing on providing a web 2.0 mobile connector to end users is a well defined strategic focus. That is if that’s your focus. Contacts backup and picture posting fit into the same focus in that case. What it does require is handpicking the applications you provide and then providing what you do at a very high standard of quality.
(5) Final question - what about BREW? Any plans?
Thanks again Andy for your serious approach and attention. I look forward to seeing great products from Shozu!
03.09.06 @ 6:27 amI think i got couple of hundred contacts for sure . Its a nokia 6680 with Tons of contacts on it and Multiple phone numbers for each contact .
03.09.06 @ 8:04 amThe path to mass market does look like it’s through Java - at least in the short term. You only need to look at handset shipments to see this (and we can also verify it by looking at ShoZu activations).
Despite the current challenges on J2ME, we’ve been encouraged by recent developments in the Java platforms available in mid-range feature-phones. A few months ago it really wasn’t worth us doing any work on a Java client, but now (complexities of sign-up, permissions etc. aside), we feel the ShoZu J2ME client is actually pretty good once you’ve got it activated.
On the subject of convergence, the technology underpinning ShoZu is completely generic, and can be used for any kind of data or content. In fact it’s similar to the sync technology Yahoo is using for its Yahoo! Go services (which include photo integration to Yahoo! Photos, as well as address book sync).
As for BREW - we do see this as important (not only for Verizon subscribers, but also for other parts of the world where ShoZu is popular). We’re looking at what we can do. As you know, client platform support is the biggest development challenge for a mobile software company like Cognima, but we think we have some core competence in this area.
Cheers
Andy
03.09.06 @ 12:33 pmAloni - a couple of hundred contacts shouldn’t cause any problem. We’ve tested this pretty thoroughly for thousands. Would you mind sending further details via http://www.shozu.com/portal/main.do?operation=feedback - one of our support guys will help you fix any problems. Thanks!
Andy
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Shuzo isnt that good franky . It doesnt bring any new innovation in convergence… its still boat on wheels .
I could send pics to flickr befor shuzo and i am sending pics to flickr without shuzo . They just combined technologys , They merged or mashed but they certinly didnt Innovate something . Picblogger for example is a similare app that supports 50 times more blogs and web services and its not convergence either .
Its just a nice lookin UI (not even that nice in both cases) that knows how to send XMLRPC protocols or Webservices api’s . Its not convergence . It does make life bit simpler with the symbian intergration but it didnt solve any real problems or invent anything .
And with the mass of “Web 2.0 apps” out there we need to start thinkin about what are real innovative web 2.0 apps and what are more mashup apps that makes ya think your doin convergence .I want an app that lets me do stuff i couldnt do befor . Not simplify stuff i did befor .
03.08.06 @ 3:09 pm