Nimbuzz Mobile on the N80i

A few days ago I’ve installed Nimbuzz on my N80i.

As already explained, thanks to the Nimbuzz team I was able to recover an account I had created a few months ago, when the “voice” capability was still not available. There was a little issue, IMHO, in the account management, since they don’t send an email containing the summary of your account’s details and, moreover, the email address’ field is not mandatory. They told me they were going to solve this issue soon, so I guess they’ll fix it.

Here are a few screenshots (please note the cool appearence due by the high resolution of the Nokia N80i). First of all you have to insert your account details for Nimbuzz and for any community you would like to access from their client. You can easily do that through Menù -> Settings -> Communities.

In particular, for Nimbuzz:

Yahoo, ICQ and AIM are still not enabled. For MSN, you can easily insert your userid and Password, then you’ll be able to see your contacts in the Nimbuzz contact list:

Unfortunately, this option is not available for Google Talk and you are requested to insert your GTalk’s contacts manually. For me this is an issue, since it would be really painful to insert all your contacts manually. A way to automatically download your GTalk’s contact list by inserting your GTalk’s account details would be appreciated.

Another important option is the ability to insert your mobile phone number. It will be used for managing the call option.

This done, here’s your contact list.

If you click on a contact, a few options are available:

The “call” option is only available if the other contact is using Nimbuzz and he’s online. “Start chat” lets you initiate an IM session (while you are chatting, it’s great to receive a “buzz” through the phone’s vibration in order to be advised that a new IM has arrived) while “Send message” lets you send a sort of IP-based SMS to your friend, if he’s a Nimbuzz’s user (and, again, only if he’s online). In this case, my collegue Roberto is a Nimbuzz user but he’s offline. The ability to send a message to him even if offline would be appreciated, in order to offer exactly the same user experience of SMSs.

When I tried to call my friend, I was prompted from my mobile phone that a mobile-to-mobile call was going to start. So, how does Nimbuzz Voice work ? I didn’t get it completely. From their website:

Nimbuzz Voice

Nimbuzz Voice is a revolutionary concept that already is changing the world of mobile communication.

With Nimbuzz Voice you eliminate the huge tariffs mobile operators charge you for international calls you make with your friends.

Nimbuzz Voice services will change the way you use your mobile today. Experience the fun of mobile group calls with your friends, or calling your buddies on their mobile or PC. At your lowest local rate. Much more services are being developed. Check out our website reguarly!

* No need to change SIM card
* No need to buy credits
* No need to make any payments to Nimbuzz
* No need to change telephone number
* No need for WiFi or UMTS

So, it seems you can make mobile to mobile phone calls to your friends at local rates, but when I try, it seems that a normal mobile to mobile call occurs. In addition, if I try to call him through his MSN nick, the “call” function is disabled.

You can do even more with your contacts, like manage them (profile etc.) and send them your contact list. Again, to do that, they must be online Nimbuzz users.

In conclusion, Nimbuzz seems a great Voice 2.0 application, many options are available and it’s not bad in terms of user interface and features. Anyway, some important functions (like the latest “Voice” function) are not so friendly and most user can find some issues while using it. I still couldn’t call my friend “at local rates”

In a nutshell, a promising application but still some usability issues to be addressed. I’m pretty sure the Nimbuzz’s team will promptly check them out.

Technorati Tags: luca filigheddu, mobile voip, n80i, nimbuzz, nokia, nokia, voice 3.0