For those of you who got an iPhone or iPod Touch recently, a new web app called iPortal is available for browsing the VO Registry
and Data services using only the native Safari browser.
To get started, point your iPhone/iPod to
http://iraf-nvo.noao.edu/iportal
A web page description with a
test interface and screenshots is also available. This app provides access to hundreds of image and catalog services, and thousands of published journal tables, from a mobile device. Image displays and table scrolling use the native interfaces of the device.
See below for a full list of features.
The test interface is only an approximation of what you'd see on the actual device, and please note that non-Safari browsers may not work at all.
iPortal is a one-box Google-like interface styled to fit the screen of an iPhone/iPod. Its features include:
Display an image of any part of the sky (color if in the
SDSS DR6 footprint, B&W from DSS otherwise).
Full keyword search of the Registry. Categorized resources
found may be browsed by type, or user can drill down to
view full description, including a 'Try It' feature
Object name resolution: an image of the object is displayed
along with the resolved coords
Arbitrary coordinate input: Sexagesimal (whitespace or
colon-delimited) or decimal values allowed, and image of those
coords is displayed.
Cone search capability for Cone services, results table
displayed on the interface
SIAP capability for image services. Results containing a
Graphics JPEG/GIF have links to the image displayed on the
interface
Full access to Vizier tables displayed locally.
Zero download for user, all done on server-side (w/ VOClient)
and web pages
Qualifiers may be put on the input to constrain the search to a particular type (see the Help button). Coordinates may be decimal or sexagesimal (colon or whitespace-delimited)
Further development (e.g. a Dashboard Widget version) and similar apps are planned, please feel free to send me your comments, bug report or suggestions.