You’d be forgiven for thinking Nokia’s Ovi Files service is the sole preserve of those packing one of the Finnish phone firm’s products, but you’d be wrong. We’ve discovered it works just as well with the Big N’s arch nemesis: the iPhone.
If you’ve never heard of Ovi Files, it’s a simple way of tapping into your PC or Mac at home while you’re out on the road.
The concept is simple. You install a bit of software on your computer which lets you tap into its contents from any web-enabled device, whether that’s another computer in an internet cafe, or at work, or indeed: the iPhone.
Fire up the iPhone and you’ll see Nokia’s web interface is immediately usable, and since Apple’s handset is able to understand Office documents, PDFs and most media files it makes it the perfect portal through which to peep your home PC. We’ve used it to gawp photos on our desktop Mac, and dive into documents stashed on its hard drive.
It gets better too: Nokia’s Anytime Files service lost its subscription price tag in July, meaning up to 10GB of files can be automatically synced to Nokia’s servers by your home computer, so you can tap into them (and know they’re always up to date) even when your desktop machine is switched off.
Clever, eh? It’s a bit like the Back To My Mac service included in Apple’s own Mobile Me, but even that doesn’t work on the iPhone and, of course, Nokia Ovi Files is completely free whereas Mobile Me wants a slice your your pay packet.
What’s more, Ovi Files works even when your computer’s switched off. And it’s available on PC and Mac, whereas Mobile Me is a Mac-only product. We really can’t think how it could be improved. Can you?
Out now | £free | Nokia
