Vincellar Iphone Site, VinCellar goes mobile Options

[Yilmaz Oztanir]

We're very excited to announce the availability of an iPhone version of VinCellar. This is an iPhone-optimized web site and we've worked very hard to incorporate all the most important features that you've requested.

Here is a brief tour of what you can do on the go:

• Search and browse wine within the community and your cellar
• Search for tasting notes
• Add tasting notes (and update Twitter if you have it linked to your VinCellar account)
• Add wine to your cellar
• Consume wine
• View public profiles of other users

Due to the space constraints of an iPhone screen we've had to analyze the layout of each page to expose only essential data and features. On the technical side we've also looked closely at performance and have optimized network access for mobile networks. The result is that the site should be accessible and responsive no matter where you are.

How to start using the site now

You can access the new version of the site using your iPhone by going to the regular VinCellar URL: http://vincellar.vinfolio.com

[Conrad K]

Hi Yilmaz,
I am now using the Iphone optimized vincellar. Question: Is the add a wine and add a tasting note screen available now? I did not see it and could not navigate to it.

Thanks,

Conrad

[Yilmaz Oztanir]

Hi Yilmaz,
I am now using the Iphone optimized vincellar. Question: Is the add a wine and add a tasting note screen available now? I did not see it and could not navigate to it.

Thanks,

Conrad

Hi Conrad

Yes, both these functions are available now. The easiest way to access them is to search for a wine and then go to its wine detail page. Make sure to search within community wine if you don't already own the vintage. Once you see the search results click on any row to access the wine detail page and you'll see both actions available directly below the wine's name and score information. Tap either 'Add wine' or "Add tasting note' to get to the corresponding action (you may be prompted to the sign in before you see the add screen). I've tried to illustrate the process below.

Hope this helps

Yilmaz

[pvcleave]

I like the site so far, however I do have one suggestion.

It would nice to be able to have summary information on my collection. To do analysis of what I have by multiple catagories.

[Kristin Vinfolio]

Thank you for posting. We're definitely interested in hearing what capabilities are required from VinCellar on a mobile device. When you get a chance can you provide more specifics on the type of analysis you might do from your mobile device as opposed to your PC/Mac?

e.g. Summary of your collection by category (which primary categories?) for determining what to buy while shopping? Are there specific categories which are most important to you? What would you like to see summarized? Number of bottles, etc?

[stolix]

One thing I'd really like to see on the iPhone app is a "remember me" checkbox so that it won't time out and force you to log in again. And actually, although there is that checkbox for the web based VinFolio - it never seems to work for me. When I leave my PC on overnight, in the morning I'm always prompted to log in even though I checked the "Remember Me" box..

Still, it's a lot more annoying to have to log in using the iPhone keyboard, so that's more important to me.

[stolix]

e.g. Summary of your collection by category (which primary categories?) for determining what to buy while shopping? Are there specific categories which are most important to you? What would you like to see summarized? Number of bottles, etc?

Maybe rather than adding a ton of categories or full filter functionality to the mobile app, you could add support so that the saved filters created using the web app are available on the mobile device. I don't imaging that I'd often want to create a new filter from the iPhone, if for no other reason than it's a pain to type on, but certainly the filter system is very powerful and having access to it remotely would be nice.

[Yilmaz Oztanir]

One thing I'd really like to see on the iPhone app is a "remember me" checkbox so that it won't time out and force you to log in again. And actually, although there is that checkbox for the web based VinFolio - it never seems to work for me. When I leave my PC on overnight, in the morning I'm always prompted to log in even though I checked the "Remember Me" box..

Still, it's a lot more annoying to have to log in using the iPhone keyboard, so that's more important to me.

Hi Stolix,

We have just updated our site to be able to handle this. The standard behavior is that once you're logged in from your phone your login will be remembered automatically. Please let us know if you have any further problems with this feature.

Thanks

Yilmaz

[Curtis N]

Does the app work with other web enabled phones, besides the iPhone?

[Kristin Vinfolio]

It is not actually an application. What we've done is optimize the existing VinCellar site so that it looks good on the iPhone browser. This involved tweaking some of the pages and removing some of the functionality. That said, the optimized site should also look good on the latest version of the Blackberry (Storm). Before you can view it on this device, however, we need to 'enable' the site so that we can automatically detect the browser that you're viewing the site from. Give us a couple of days to do this. I will update this posting when complete.

[KatonahCharles]

It would be nice to have a 'My Cellar' tab as a straightforward way to see my cellar...

[Jonathan B876]

We're very excited to announce the availability of an iPhone version of VinCellar. This is an iPhone-optimized web site and we've worked very hard to incorporate all the most important features that you've requested.

Has the site been "enabled" to be used on other devices like blackberries?

[Kristin Vinfolio]

I apologize for the delay. We have not yet enabled our VinCellar optimized site on the Blackberry. Please expect an update within the next two weeks.

[cvdo]

It would be nice to have a 'My Cellar' tab as a straightforward way to see my cellar...

I second this. A mobile device the _perfect_ tool for searching and for looking up a wine's location in one's cellar. I would love the ability to sort by drink date(s) and also see locations within my cellar as well. I would like to be able to browse my collection using increasingly specific criteria (color->year->vineyard->varietal->etc) on the mobile website as well.

My ideal use case would be: I'm making a juicy steak for dinner and I want a wine that will pair well with the meal...what strong reds do I have that are drinkable today? Also: I will be serving desert later and I want a white dessert wine that's also drinkable today. I think you see where I'm going here...

Mainly, adding the cellar location and position to as many views as possible would be greatly appreciated! It's a lot easier to bring my iPhone into the cellar than my PC.

[Kristin Vinfolio]

I second this. A mobile device the _perfect_ tool for searching and for looking up a wine's location in one's cellar. I would love the ability to sort by drink date(s) and also see locations within my cellar as well. I would like to be able to browse my collection using increasingly specific criteria (color->year->vineyard->varietal->etc) on the mobile website as well.

My ideal use case would be: I'm making a juicy steak for dinner and I want a wine that will pair well with the meal...what strong reds do I have that are drinkable today? Also: I will be serving desert later and I want a white dessert wine that's also drinkable today. I think you see where I'm going here...

Mainly, adding the cellar location and position to as many views as possible would be greatly appreciated! It's a lot easier to bring my iPhone into the cellar than my PC.

Great feedback! Thank you for sharing specific use cases. Development resources are still very focused on enhancing the Vinfolio Marketplace experience but we will document your feedback and use it in building out requirements for our VinCellar mobile site/app.

[Jo J]

Thanks for posting this Iphone info for VinCellar. I will use it.

Jo

www.brokenbarrel.ca

[WineDuo]

I am new to VinCellar but I am lovin it so far.

I took some time to add some professional reviews on a few of the wines I recently added and I notice they do not show up on the mobile version when viewed from my iPhone. Wondering if it needs to be approved or something of that nature. They show in the non-mobile site and the IWC reviews show in the mobile version but the ones i added do not.

[sanfransoxfan04]

VinCellar properly detected my Palm Pre and directed me to the mobile optimized site. My two main use cases for this mobile site are not currently met.

When at the Wine Shop be able to easily view my wishlist so I know what to buy.
When dining out or with friends and I try a wine I like, be able to search for it in VinCellar mobile and Add it to Wishlist.

I understand both can be accomplished if I created a new Location called Wish List, but as you pointed out before it skews your inventory and stats. I would like to use the Wishlist feature.

While on the topic of Wishlist, is there an easier way to access it? Ideally there would be another Tab in Cellar View, something between Pre-Arrivals and Consumed?

[aldiwa]

I am currently in the process of purchasing a new phone, and I am taking all factors into account when making this important purchase. One such factor is the ability to use vincellar on my new phone. I saw a post about the blackberry in July, but no follow up has come on how usable vincellar is on a blackberry since then. Anybody have any thoughts? Also, I am considering purchasing a palm pre. How well does vincellar work on its platform? Thanks for any of your thoughts.

[sanfransoxfan04]

I am currently in the process of purchasing a new phone, and I am taking all factors into account when making this important purchase. One such factor is the ability to use vincellar on my new phone. I saw a post about the blackberry in July, but no follow up has come on how usable vincellar is on a blackberry since then. Anybody have any thoughts? Also, I am considering purchasing a palm pre. How well does vincellar work on its platform? Thanks for any of your thoughts.

Hello Aldiwa, I used a Blackberry before moving to Palm Pre. My wife and I both LOVE our phones and are excited about the free software updates announced at CES this week that will hit out phone next month.
When using the Palm Pre's web browser, VinCellar automatically served up the mobile version of their site, same as you see on the iPhone screenshots. I've only used it for a maybe 15 minutes so far to search and add some wine but everything seemed to work fine. I also bookmarked my wishlsit on the Palm Pre which loads the FULL version of the site that is not formatted for mobile devices. I did have to zoom in and pan around but it was definitely usable. Palm has an excellent browser, nearly identical to iPhone, come February Palm's browser will also have Flash Plugin support.

See my previous post for what I think would be welcome enhancements to the current mobile site...mainly wishlist access.