Mobiguides: FAQ's

FAQs

What are mobi-guides?

Mobi-guides are video guides that can be downloaded onto your mobile phone or video ipod, PDA, or PSP and watched anywhere. The first series of mobi-guides, are walking tours of some of London's finest sites, presented by TV historian Dan Snow. Filling the gap between guide books, tours, and TV documentaries, they are jammed full of fascinating facts, archive film, and works of art. The guides last about 10-15 mins, but the walks they describe take around 1-1.5hrs.

How do they work?

Each guided walk has 5-8 main stops, and each stop has a 2-3 min film to tell you about the location and its history.

There is a 'read_me'.pdf included with each guide download. This includes basic instructions for using the guides, as well as maps and a description of the location of all stops in the guide.

How do I download and play the guide?

Simply download the correct file type to your computer, and then transfer to your mobile device. Once the .zip file has been transferred to your computer, extract the individual files ('unzip') and transfer them to your mobile device according to the manufacturers instructions. This may involve connecting a lead up to your device from your PC, or it may be possible to transfer them wirelessly via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

The exact method of playing the video will depend on the type of device you have.

Headphones - will I need them?

Whatever type of device you are using, we would advise taking headphones with you, as a number of the locations can be noisy, and the on-board speakers may be difficult to hear.

How long will the guides take to download?

Download times depend on the speed of your internet connection. Some of the files are large in size, so may take quite a long time. The mobile phone files are between 10-20MB, and some of the video ipod files are up to 80MB in size.

Can I play them on my device?

It is your responsibility to check that your mobile video device is capable of playing the video file prior to payment and download. The following sections are intended as a guide only.

Which file should I download?

Video iPods

Simply download the video ipod guide file to your PC, transfer the file to iTunes, and then load it onto your video iPod.

Mobile Phones

The majority of today's mobile phones can play video. In order to play the mobi-guides video, your mobile phone must be capable of playing .3gp video files, with a resolution of 176x144 at 128kbps. All that sounds a bit technical, so we've created a list of some of the most popular mobi-guide compatible phones here. This is not an exhaustive list - 90% of phones sold in the UK in the last year are capable of playing the guides.

PDAs

As with mobile phones, most recent PDA's can play video. Depending on the exact model of your PDA, and it's video capabilities, you may be able to play either the .3gp or the .mp4 video. It may be necessary to obtain additional software to play the video successfully, and you should check this prior to downloading the guides.

Sony PSP

The .mp4 file is compatible with most versions of the Sony PSP. Follow the manufacturers instructions on the transfer of video files to the player.

PC

Even if you don't have a suitable mobile video device, you can still download the guides to your PC and watch them whenever you like. The video iPod file will play on Quick Time, the .mp4 file will play on most PC media players.

Can I download the guides direct to my mobile phone?

We have recently launched the mobi-guides mobile internet site: www.mobi-guides.mobi The site contains a number of mobi-guide previews that are free to download. There are also a number of short guides to single locations. If you're not sure whether or not your phone can play the longer video guides, this is a great way to find out for free!

Text 'guides' to 80880 to receive the link to the mobile site - costs only your standard operator text rate, or just type www.mobi-guides.mobi into your phone browser.

There are free preview guides for the mobi-guides available to download, as well as mini guides short guides (around 1.5-2.5 mins long) to some of London's most famous sites.

Mini mobi-guides are available for the following locations:

Horseguards Parade (Trooping the Colour)
Banqueting House (Whitehall)
The Cenotaph and Downing Street
Big Ben
The Houses of Parliament
Westminster Abbey
The Tower of London
Royal Festival Hall and Waterloo Bridge
The Globe Theatre
The Golden Hinde and London Bridge
HMS Belfast
The Millenium Bridge
Lord Nelson's Life
Trafalgar Square and The British Empire
Trafalgar Square Heroes
King Charles I and Nelson's Column

Payment - BT Click&Buy

Mobi-guides has partnered with Click&Buy to ensure your payment is taken quickly, simply and securely.

It only takes a few moments to pay and you can choose to use your, credit card/debit card, BT Phone Bill, or set up a direct debit.

There's no ongoing monthly fee to pay with Click&Buy. Simply register your personal details once with Click&Buy. From then on you can purchase from mobi-guides, and any of over 6,000 other Click&Buy partner sites, by just entering your secure Click&Buy username and password. Quick, easy and very secure, the benefits of click&buy are already enjoyed by over 6 million account holders.

This means that you do not have to reveal your personal or financial details online each time you wish to make a purchase from any click&buy partner site.

All your transactions can be viewed in your secure 'My Account' area at www.btclickandbuy.com.

What happens if my download fails?

Once your payment has been processed, you will be re-directed to a screen which contains links to download the mobi-guide. It is possible to download the guides for up to 24hrs after purchase in the 'My account' section of the mobi-guides.com site. If for any reason your initial download fails, you can try again later. If you experience a persistent fault, you can email us at help@mobi-guides.com and we will investigate.

Safety on the walk

The guided walks are all in busy city areas so we would advise you to take the usual precautions:

Always stop walking before playing the video track to avoid accidents!
Always make sure your possessions are secure
Don't turn the volume up so loud that you can't hear what's going on around you
We suggest taking the walks during daylight hours

Mobi-guides compatible mobile phones*

To play the full guides your phone must have enough memory to store the guide, as well as being capable of playing the videos. mobi-guides are between 10-20mb in size, and the video requires a minimum mobile screen resolution of 176x144.

The mini mobi-guides require only a small amount of phone memory. The preview guides can be downloaded for free if you want to check the compatibility of your phone.

Nokia

3250, E60, E61, E65,E70, N90,N91,N92,N70,N71,N73, N80, N93,N95,3230, 6155,6155i, 6230i, 6670, 6620, 6630, 6680, 6681, 6682, 7270, 7600, 7610,7710, 8800, 8801, 9300, 9500, 7373, 7360, 7390, 6300, 6233, 6151, 6131, 6080, 5300, 5200, 3250, .

Sony-Ericsson

K510, K600, K610, K750, W550, V600, W600, W700, W800, W810, Z520, Z525, Z550, Z710, W710, K790, K800, K800i, W850, W850i, W900, P990, M600, M600i, W950, W950i, W810i, Z610i, P990i, W880i, V630i, K608i, W888c, W610i, W610c.

Samsung

D900, E900, D600, E500, D830, i320, X820, D840, Z150, E880, Z500, Z720, X520, B600, M500, E570, u620, u740, Z650i.

LG

KG800, U400, KE970, U830, KG320, U300, VX9400

* This list is intended as a guide only. Inclusion of a mobile phone in this list is not a guarantee that the phone will play mobi-guides.

Mobi Guides