Moving to Symbian S60: Social Networking

After many years as a Palm OS user, last year I switched to a smartphone running Symbian S60. This is a big undertaking, and I know it's one plenty of other people are contemplating too, so I'm doing a series of editorials on my experiences.

Social networking has taken off on the PC, so it's no surprise there are a number of applications in this category for S60. The GPS and high-speed connectivity of many device opens a slew of options from instant messaging to multimedia.

Palringo

Palringo is one of the instant messaging applications that I use from time to time. In the S60 version, its able to connect to AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo, or pretty much any any other instant messaging service in existence. The user interface takes a bit to get used to in terms of actually chatting and getting around, but it's a solid service. It's able to do text, voice, and picture chatting all from one interface.

A feature of Palringo is the ability for it to be used on other mobile devices as well as the Windows XP/Vista operating systems. On the downside, there is nothing more than a sound notification on some S60 devices, such as my N95, so you have to keep the application open in order to see new IMs from the person you are chatting to or new conversations.

Palringo is a free application no matter the operating system its being used on, however one should be mindful of the data fees that would accompany it.

Nokia Chat 

Another instant messaging service that I use takes advantage of a few other features of the N95, specifically the GPS antenna. Nokia Chat is an IM-like application, however it adds presence, and some integration with the GPS Landmarks application on many Nokia devices to basically make a mobile IM that is context sensitive.

Nokia Chat is currently a beta application, and it requires you to sign up with Nokia's Ovi service offering. The impressive thing about Nokia Chat though is that it is not limited to mobile devices, any XMPP-based IM client (Google Talk, Pidgin, Digsby, etc.) can access the Nokia Chat account, and then one can chat from there. Presence and location features are not available over those other IM clients however.

N-Gage

For a more expanded social networking experience, Nokia's N-Gage gaming service is available for many Nokia devices. This service is one part an online gaming community, and another part a worldwide games library. So far my favorite games have been FIFA 08, Snakes Subsonic, and Asphalt 3: Street Rules. With the TV-Out ability of the N95, I have essentially replaced the need for systems such as the Wii or XBox 360. 

There is a trial period for all N-Gage games, and the prices are all reasonable. About the only downside is that games and game data cannot be easily moved from one device to another. This is an issue that is being worked on, but Nokia N-Gage service folks have been reportedly pretty good in helping some customers with this.

Share on Ovi

Services such as Nokia Chat and N-Gage are a part of Nokia's larger Ovi initiative. On the imaging side, there is Share on Ovi. This is basically a Flickr-like service, without the Flickr plug-ins or cost. Unlimited space, the ability to upload  images, audio, and video (with location data), and to create custom sets/galleries are a part of the package. Nokia's devices come with the ability to create and access Share on Ovi right from the device. Uploading and subscribing to other's galleries can also be done right from the mobile.

This has become a pretty simple and nice service for my needs. Like Nokia Chat and N-Gage, an Ovi account is needed, but this is free.

Nokia Sports Tracker

An application that is fast becoming a part of my workout and bike routine is Nokia Sports Tracker. This takes the ideas of a blog, a map, and a GPS-enabled mobile and combines them to create and log workouts. Sports Tracker has the ability to track Cycling, Running, Walking, Skiing, or up to two custom workout activities. Information such as pace, speed, laps, elevation, and routes can be tracked and logged.

What makes this application impressive is that it can then be uploaded to the Sports Tracker web service and then your information is overlaid with a map (Google Map/Navtec). If you have taken any pictures or listened to music on your mobile, this information also can be uploaded to the map and seen according to the place where that multimedia event happened.

These workouts and routes can be shared with other users. The service has actually become so popular that a new type of art, called position art, came out of it. Position art is where a person takes a route, and the resulting linked paths of that route creates a picture which can be seen by looking at the map.

Sports Tracker is a free application and service, and only works with Nokia S60 devices. A GPS radio (internal or Bluetooth external) is needed to use it.