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Sunday 6 September 2009

Talkonaut fixes bugs but forgets Skype, fring twitters faster, Nokia Messaging plays with Facebook, Fake Messages reads your phone book

Talkonaut Symbian call and chat instant messaging and SIP VoIP fring VoIP Skype instant messaging Twitter Facebook orkut on Nokia Symbian S60

Still no Skype and Facebook in Talkonaut

Instant messenger and VoIP client Talkonaut talks to Jabber (including Google Talk), ICQ, MSN, AIM, and Yahoo. And it lets you call using almost every VoIP service that uses the SIP protocol.

The latest update fixes some very minor bugs, but the main Talkonaut flaw remains: Talkonaut doesn't work with Skype. It doesn't work with Facebook Chat either.

On the bright side, Talkonaut lets you store multiple SIP VoIP settings, which competing programs Nimbuzz and fring still do not.

Talkonaut


Faster Twitter for fring

VoIP client and multi-network instant messenger fring connects you to Skype and standard SIP VoIP, GoogleTalk, MSN (Windows Live), ICQ, Yahoo, AIM, Twitter, and social networking sites like Facebook and orkut. Fring is also a GMail notifier, last.fm radio player, Facebook tool, Twitter application, and it includes Wi-Fi hotspot finder WeFi.

The latest fring version adds support for the Nokia E52 and E72, fixes some connection bugs, and Twitter on fring is faster now.

fring


Push email - Nokia Messaging
Nokia Messaging adds HTML email to touchscreen phones and plays with Facebook

Nokia Messaging is an instant messaging progr...- oh wait, that would be Ovi Contacts. Nokia Email is dead, and its replacement carries a confusing name which hints at instant messaging rather than email.

The latest update adds HTML support for touchscreen Nokias like the N97 and 5800 XpressMusic, but the page layout in HTML emails is still not always what the author intended, and some inline images don't display at all.

Nokia Messaging leaves many processes running when you close the program, and these processes keep your internet connection alive. To make sure you really go offline when you shut down the email client, enter the options menu and go offline before you shut down the email program.

Nokia wants to know your phone number before you can download Nokia Messaging. Why can't they simply put a download link online instead of insisting on an on-the-fly install from an SMS?

The push email service is free for the time being, but it may cost money after the beta trial is over, and payment by SMS is definitely an option. Maybe that's why Nokia wants to know my phone number?

Or maybe they want my number because of this:

According to Nokia Beta Labs, "As a part of Nokia Messaging, we expect operators to offer email, IM and in the future, mobile social networking all for one fixed low price."

Mail, IM, and social networking only? Are the people at Nokia Beta Labs aware of operators offering all of the internet for a fixed price? Whether this fixed price is "low" is a matter of opinion, but "fixed high price" doesn't sound good to the guys and girls at the marketing department.

Nokia's answer to their expectation of what operators may offer for a fixed high/low price is the integration of Facebook in an experimental version of Nokia Messaging. This test version is aimed at the Nokia N97 and Nokia 6700 Classic, and it probably won't work properly on other phones. Other social networks may be included later, and support for other phone models is sure to follow.

Nokia Messaging with social networking installs itself on "C" (your phone's internal memory), and that's where it caches pictures too. If you have a crowded C drive and plenty of space on your memory card, the inability to make the program store its files on "E" becomes annoying real quick. To make things worse, all those Facebook images show up in between your photos in Symbian's gallery too. They've got plenty of things to fix at Nokia Beta Labs.

Nokia Messaging
Nokia Messaging beta test version


Fake Messages SMS creator for Symbian
Fake Messages talks to your phone book

If nobody sends you an SMS, why not send some to yourself? Fake Messages by Jukka Silvennoinen does just that. Receiving a fake SMS at the right time may be your escape ticket out of a boring meeting (sorry boss, gotta go, girlfriend just told me house is on fire).

The user interface of Fake Messages is now available in 17 languages.

The message entry box of Fake Messages doesn't support T9 predictive text, and the program only fakes incoming SMSs. If you want to fake outgoing messages as well, try the fake SMS feature of ActiveFile.

The unsigned version of Fake Messages is free, but you'll have to run it through Symbian Signed before you can install it on your phone, or sign it with your own certificate, or hack your phone to break free from Symbian Signed.

The signed version is comes bundled with adtronic. Adtronic is an intrusive piece of adware that pops up advertisements when you receive calls and messages, so better get the unsigned version. Signing the program or hacking your phone takes a bit of time and effort, but allowing adtronic to pollute your phone is much worse.

Fake Messages


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