Nokia Chat Hits Beta Labs, Possibly Awesome
I’m still trying to figure out whether this new app at Beta Labs, Nokia Chat, is a forward-thinking, revolutionary piece of software or a complete waste of time.
As you might have figured out, Nokia Chat is Nokia’s first real full-fledged instant messaging application, complete with some really cool features: presence, status, support for voice messages, decent compatibility with current S60 devices, and integration with Nokia Maps. It’s definitely a huge step from the IM client on S60 phones that I still have not managed to get working successfully.
There’s just a couple drawbacks. First is that it only supports Nokia instant messaging accounts, not AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, Google, or whatever you’re currently using. Sure, the features are great, but what’s the point if no one has or wants to have a new Nokia account? Getting friends to shift over to Nokia’s app is a tough prospect at best. However, if there were support for other IM services…
Second, there’s just far too few people with compatible devices to really make good use of Nokia Chat. At least in the USA. Maybe it’s different where you live.
Also, there’s definitely some bugginess going on. I tried multiple times to create an account using the phone client, but other than getting hit with blank error boxes, I more or less got nowhere. Tip: http://account.nokia.com lets you create the account from the comfort of your pc.
So I’m going to have to reserve judgement until I can actually get my version of Nokia Chat working. I’m currently waiting for a verification email as it appears you can’t start using Chat without verifying your account.
