Sending file from mobile phone to Rails app

Rails
1

Hi guys,

So I’m trying to add the ability to send files (pictures) from mobile
phones to my Rails app using an SMS number, NOT an email address.
Can anyone share how this is done?

Thanks,
Adeel

2

Won’t you need the help of a company that deals with SMS numbers? You
can’t randomly pluck them out of the air.

Then, odds are, you’ll want to covert it to an email to make life
simple. But most people these days can send SMS messages to email, so
why pay the extra for the SMS number?

-Ryan

On Jan 29, 12:12 pm, Adeel A. [email protected]

3

Hi Adeel,

Theres a few ways to do this. I am not sure SMS is the correct way for
you as inbound SMS generally carries text based information and you
want to receive pictures.

You should look at writing an application to receive MMS. Its fairly
simple as all you need to do is set up a mailbox with an address like
[email protected] and then write a script that polls the mailbox and
decodes the MMS.

Heres some psuedocode from devx

Hope this helps.
Ivo
http://www.me2mobile.com
Roll your own mobile apps

On Jan 30, 5:12 am, Adeel A. [email protected]

4

Thanks, everyone.

Yes Ivo, I actually meant MMS. But it looks like the pseudocode you
reference requires the user to send to a traditional email address.

For some web apps, the user can simply enter a number (say ‘12345’) as
the recepient of the MMS. Does anyone know how this works? Would this be
the solution by Singlepoint that Alex refers to?

Thanks,
Adeel

[email protected] wrote:

Hi Adeel,

Theres a few ways to do this. I am not sure SMS is the correct way for
you as inbound SMS generally carries text based information and you
want to receive pictures.

You should look at writing an application to receive MMS. Its fairly
simple as all you need to do is set up a mailbox with an address like
[email protected] and then write a script that polls the mailbox and
decodes the MMS.

Heres some psuedocode from devx
http://www.devx.com/wireless/Article/21882/1763?supportItem=4

Hope this helps.
Ivo
http://www.me2mobile.com
Roll your own mobile apps

On Jan 30, 5:12 am, Adeel A. [email protected]

5

Hi,
We’ve just launched a new low cost SMS Gateway where you can set up
inbound SMS.

Its called http://www.me2mobile.com

Give it a go - possibly it will match your requirements

Ivo

6

You’ll have to signup with a company that acts as a Mobile Aggregator.

One for example: Singlepoint.

Be aware that this is very pricey.

Alex

7

These solutions all seem to be text-only SMS.
Are there any MMS solutions for RoR where a user can send pics to my
app?

Thanks,
Adeel

[email protected] wrote:

Hi,
We’ve just launched a new low cost SMS Gateway where you can set up
inbound SMS.

Its called http://www.me2mobile.com

Give it a go - possibly it will match your requirements

Ivo

8

On 30 Jan 2008, at 03:11, Adeel A. wrote:

Yes Ivo, I actually meant MMS. But it looks like the pseudocode you
reference requires the user to send to a traditional email address.

For some web apps, the user can simply enter a number (say ‘12345’) as
the recepient of the MMS. Does anyone know how this works? Would
this be
the solution by Singlepoint that Alex refers to?

Yes, you basically pay for a service that accepts the sms messages
for you and then enables you to either fetch them. Depending on the
service you choose, you can make the sms sender pay for the cost of
the sms, but mostly you still have to pay a service fee to the
company accepting them (the more sms you receive, the less your
personal cost becomes). The e-mail based solutions are a lot cheaper.

Best regards

Peter De Berdt

9

Why do I see .php at the end of your webpages? Change them to /webpage/
pagename and then we’ll be happy. Lol, jk.

10

On 30 Jan 2008, at 21:09, Adeel A. wrote:

These solutions all seem to be text-only SMS.
Are there any MMS solutions for RoR where a user can send pics to my
app?

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=inbound+%2Bmms
+solutions&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Just choose one like 2ergo that has an XML api and write a ruby class
around it.

Best regards

Peter De Berdt