In my previous post, I talked about how it was possible to share any content from your S60 phone. This post details the entire process of setting up and configuring Raccoon on your S60 device.

Where to download:

Read the instructions from the Nokia Research site.

Make sure you apply for a Raccoon ID first. By my experience, it takes about 1-2 days to get the ID. Save the email containing the Raccoon Id.

There’s a wiki with some FAQs that you might want to read as well.

Also check out the Cool Stuff section to see its usage in the real world.

Installation and set up:

You will need to install the Raccoon bundle if you don’t have Python installed, otherwise downlaod the standlalone zip file and install all 3 sis files.

Once Raccoon is set up, use Y-Browser (or similar) to head over to C:/Data/apache/

The ‘conf’ folder contains Raccoon’s configuration files. The ‘htdocs’ folder is the default display folder for Raccoon.

Inside the conf folder is a file: httpd.conf. Move it to your pc as we will be editing it.

Do not try to edit the file on the phone!

Make a copy of the file on the pc!

On your pc, look for the line that says DocumentRoot. There should an address that says “C:/data/apache/htdocs”. Change it to the folder you want to share. For e.g. it could be: “E:/Sounds/digital” or simply “C:/” or “E:/”. Remember to use / slashes and maintain formatting of the original file at all costs.

Once that’s done, move the file back to C:/data/apache/conf and replace the old one.

Using the app:

Fire up Raccoon. Once it loads,go to Options -> Settings and enter your Raccoon ID and password. Once that’s done, Options -> Start w. Connector.

This should start up the web server.

When you receive your Raccoon ID, you will also receive a link in the email.That is your personal mobisite. Open it in a browser and the contents of the directory you shared should now be visible.

If you’re good with html, then add a few web pages to that directory to make things prettier!

I don’t have a Raccoon ID yet:

No problems, you can still use Raccoon, but only on your LAN. That’s why Raccoon has the ‘Start w/o Connector’ option as well. You can still use Raccoon to share data between multiple computers in your home.

Apache is highly configurable and you can even set access permissions, passwords to multiple files and folders. If you’re interested then definitely head over to Apache’s web page and take a look at how it works.

From the article at SearchEngineWatch:

Here’s a roundup of the mobile search interfaces for some of the web’s most popular shopping sites. The boldfaced links navigate to each service’s primary web interface. The other links offer mobile access via web-enabled phone or other handheld device, typically with slimmed-down interfaces designed for smaller displays.

Amazon.com

Mobile interface at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/h.html or
http://www.amazon.com/access.

More Amazon:

• Search Amazon.com SMS
• Wireless with TicTap
• Search Amazon.co.uk Via SMS with txtbux
• Amazon-OnTheGo

Become.com

The main url http://www.become.com does a nice job of detecting browsers from mobile devices, so there’s no special URL for mobile access.

eBay

Mobile interface at: http://wap2.bonfiremedia.com/

Froogle

Mobile interface at: http://wml.froogle.com or via SMS
http://www.google.com/mobile/sms/index.html.

Frucall

Frucall is a new free service that brings you Internet shopping when you are in a store or on the street. Frucall does not need any software downloads to your phone, or SMS data plans. I covered Frucall briefly in a ResourceShelf mention, and ComparisonEngines.com ran an interview with Frucall’s CEO.

PriceGrabber

Mobile interface at: http://www.atpgw.com/

Smarter.com

Mobile interface at: Details here.

XP Bargains

PDA Interface: http://www.xpbargains.com/pda.php
WAP Interface: http://www.xpbargains.com/wap.php

Yahoo Shopping (Beta)

Mobile interface at: http://us.wap.yahoo.com/p/shopping; more info about the new service here.

And, a few lesser known mobile shopping search services:

• ShopWiki Mobile
• SCANBUY
• Slifter, a location-based shopping search (here’s an interview with the CEO.
• UpSnap