The Wonderful World of OZ
by Darla Mack
Awhile back I spoke of the built in IM client on the E62. I realized something... that I probably was aware of but didn't pay much attention to. Looking at an unlocked E62 in the Nokia Store I realized that it has the same IM client as the E61 and E61i... the ones where you must manually enter the server proxies in order to get it working. Thanks to Ganesh I did a bit of research and found out that the popular IM client that the Cingular E62 users love is actually a provider based client provided by OZ Communcations.
Yes I did hear about this many many moons ago, but the reason that I didn't pay much attention to it was the fact that "provider based" was the issue. After getting my hands on the Nokia 5300 Music phone by T-Mobile I see that the popular OZ provider based IM client is present there as well. Here's my question.... why can't we pull it from being provider based and just make it a purchasable application?
The way I see it, US consumers already paying for the data, which is what the application uses. The provider based method is only allowing said provider to charge a fee to generate revenue. Ok... I get that, but if were are already paying a fee for data on an unlocked device, can't we get it anyway?
The reason why I like the client so much is because of the UI. Its very similar to the pc versions and while many users love the look and feel of Agile Messenger, I just don't think its the same.
I suppose carriers blocking the installation of non-signed apps is one reason...
It'd be nice if we could actually use the IM client provided on the unlocked units, but there does not seem to be any way to connect it to any services.
Posted by: Jonathan Greene | March 22, 2007 at 10:51 PM
As I understand it, a major reason why you cannot use the IM client on non carrier branded Nokia E62 are the IM networks. They receive a small fee for every single messsage Cingular passes on to the IM networks. That's why all traffic goes through the carrier gateways. This way they they charge you per message and passes on a tiny portion to the IM networks.
Posted by: Ed | March 23, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Darla, I'm pretty sure the OZ client uses data AND sms, so that might be a reason as well.
I really just want the ability to use the built in IM client on my s60 devices, period. It's a great client, or at least it looks like it would be, and the fact that the IM alerts are integrated with S60 makes it killer.
But alas! No chance.
-olly
Posted by: Matt C. | March 23, 2007 at 02:21 PM