It's good to be a BlackBerry abuser. The connectivity I hold in my hands (or belt clip) never ceases to amaze me. You can be on vacation, out on the town or at a job site capturing video, pictures and audio. It's always nice to share - you might send it off for others to enjoy. Even the more advanced users know that this isn't instantaneous, especially if (for whatever reason) you want to include your current co-ordinates. You might get dizzy with all of the back and forth navigation.
Vayyoo's vPost takes on the task of helping you share your life with the world, in style. A couple of months ago, Bla1ze understandably, and passionately, announced its official unleashing upon the world. With vPost, you can easily handle multiple media files, your GPS location, and email them off, all without leaving the application. More recently, Vayyoo accounted that they are also offering a FREE version of vPost through the BlackBerry App World. I thought it would be fun to check out vPost, seeing how you can't say no to free, I dare you. Let's get to it shall we?
About vPost
Vayyoo's Premium edition of vPost is currently in 2.1.0.85 and their free edition is version 2.0.0.79. vPost requires you to be running an OS of 4.5 or higher and (as they state) virtually all BlackBerrys running said OS will be supported. For this review, I'm using my trusty Bold and the Premium edition of vPost.
the vPost equation
You may wonder why one would need such an application. Advancements have allowed us to increasingly stay connected to everyone without being stuck in front of our desks. It's only natural to want to share our experiences, while on the move. The benefits are seen on a personal or professional level. Sending "play by play" images of your child's hockey game to your family and friends, updating your blog about an event you're covering or even capturing images of a potential building site; there are numerous ways to apply vPost's features.
the main menu
the main menu...CrackBerry style!
Before you get started, vPost will display a list of quick tips you can use to enhance your application usage. This new version of vPost sports a new, sleek interface, which can be effortlessly navigated with your trackball. Its background can also be swapped out for any wallpaper/image found on your device or media card. The interface is broken up into three sections:
The top section displays the media files you have chosen to attach to your message. Multiple images will appear side by side and can be scrolled through. Clicking on an image, will let you view it in full screen mode. The application has an attachment limit of 15 (originally 5); still a huge enough number to make sure that all of your pics of the latest BlackBerry will be sent out.
The middle section allows you to enter in notes.
The bottom section maintains your control panel; where you can attach media, launch the voice notes recorder, camera or video applications, or send the email off. The control panel also has 2 ‘favourite" widgets, where you can have a one click access to your main point-of-contacts. The free version has 1 favourite widget. Within each widget, you can identify which email account you want to email from, the recipient/CC/BCC, a signature, whether to add BBMaps and/or Google Maps to the email, and more. A recent update allows you to enter multiple email addresses in each widget by putting a comma between address. This is an excellent way to manage group emails.
your files are easily viewed and managed
setting up your favourite widget
the recipient will be able to see your location
The application allows you to manage the file size limit you want to work with. Initially it's set for 1500kb and vPost does make note that, for optimal performance, the total files shouldn't exceed 1000kb. vPost will sound a warning when the total size of your media exceeds 1.5MB. The lower the total file size, the greater success rate of uploading your files. It should be noted that the file size limit of the free version is 1MB.
the limit is up to you
On the online community side of things, vPost can be used to upload your media via email to several sites (as long as you have an account with the sites). Some sites, including Flickr, Blogger, Skout and CNN IReport can be easily accessed. Other sites, such as Twitter, Facebook and Xanga, require you to utilize the services found at Posterous to update. For more information, head over to Posterous.com. vPost has included Hot Keys to allow you to post even faster, these include:
The Call Button. It doubles as the send key, enabling you to open up the native BB email composer.
The left Convenience Key opens the Voice Record application.
The right Convenience Key launches the camera.
I, M, and S grant access to Add Image, Show Map and Settings (respectively).
The Settings menu helps you configure GPS Settings, Voice Record Settings, Favourite Widgets, and General settings. You can also reassign the send button and convenience keys.
While I did find the application quick to master and beautifully laid out, I did have a couple of issues to tackle. Although I can turn the GPS on, I had to access the native GPS menu and update my location. Without doing so, my coordinates would not appear in my outgoing email. Also, when selecting pictures, I had to scroll through file names, not thumbnails as you can with the BlackBerry media folder. This does force me to rename the files to something more recognizable. This is counteracted by being able to easily remove attached files.
Conclusion
Overall, I was impressed with what vPost offers. I found that the application did save me some time when it came to emailing/uploading media. It makes Facebook updates and Twitter much easier. As I stated earlier, vPost can be used for various purposes (hopefully for the side of good). Adding GPS into the mix expands this even further. The Premium Edition of vPost is available through CrackBerry for $9.99, to try before you buy, a free trial is available. There isn't a link to the free version through CB, but let me tell you something. Vayyoo says that, after the trial period, the Premium version will downgrade to the free version. That's easy enough. So give vPost a whirl and get posting! For more info, a free trial, or to purchase vPost, click here.
Pros
- easily attach up to 15 media files
- handy Hot keys
- utilize GPS to email your location
Cons
- some may find the file size too small
- cannot scan through thumbnails
Download
