Instant Messaging on Mobile

Over the years, people are constantly seeking ways to maximise their online presence to be a part of their daily activities.

Personally, I have been in constant juggling in trying to keep up with the happenings and events with my friends and family all around the world, seeking online services offered by Skype, Yahoo Messenger and MSN Live messaging to bring down the distance and barriers of telecommunication (apart from the e-mails and blog sites). In the earlier days, prior to the wireless telecommunication development and mobile technologies, I have been subject to a sedentary lifestyle (mostly during the working days) ; forgoing other activities to make sure that I am connected to the fixed network through my PC. Then, I realized that there are more to life than me, my PC and my virtual social network.... technology is meant to close the gap of communication, not to keep you away from society... :-D

Most mobile phones these days are multimedia enabled and with internet access (either through GPRS, EDGE or 3G {some even have wi-fi}), allowing for third party applications to be installed for specific purposes.

Main thing to do, subscribe to the best data rate plan that suits your data usage, or else… you’ll see red at the end of the month when the bill comes to your mailbox.

Now…. There are several options to look into for enabling instant messaging services on your mobile phone, it depends on what application that you are using, features you want to incorporate and how much you are willing to pay for it.

My favourite is IM+ from shapeservices

It is an application that combines all my IM services (google talk, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, ICQ and AIM) into one. I am very happy with it that I bought the application for both my phones ( Nokia 9500 and Nokia 7610 – Symbian 80 & Symbian 60 os ). For Malaysians, you can get them at Mypdacafe.com with Ringgit pricing unless you want to pay for it in USD or EURO.

Here is a snapshot of the application :



IM+ is pretty easy to use, the interface is very much similar to the PC version, the only drawback is just the fact that it does not include skype.

For skype users, or those wishing to add skype into the list of IMs, here are some methods to do so.



EQO Mobile internet phone service EQO Mobile internet phone service establishes an online community based instant messaging services that integrates most of the IM applications including skype.

You will need to register your details online and then a configuration message will be delivered to your phone with the link to download the JAVA based application that you will need for your phone (downloading will incur internet connection cost to you). Then you will need to download a PC application with details of all your IM applications for you to log in.

What EQO does is just creating a symmetrical presence for the web and mobile, you will be accessing your IM applications from your PC through EQO website. So, at all times, your PC must be turned on and all IMs must be logged in.

Other alternatives for skype include :

Epyx mobile
Webmessenger
Vox

Each of the alternatives would have their own business model for you to consider in extending the features beyond the basic chat services. So, be sure to know what you need from the service before committing to the packages. Apart from that... you can just enjoy the basic features free of charge.

All in all, there are many JAVA based or symbian based applications tailored for specific IM applications or for a range of applications, I am not able to spell them out in this brief section. I hope this helps to those who just wanna get started on mobile IM and been figuring out what more they can do with the mobile services that they are subscribed to.

Have fun.