Oh great, Skype is flexing it’s little pasty arm again.  After this summers ordeal with Skype banning Fring for “breach of its API terms” it’s doing the same again with Nimbuzz now.  It was inevitable but still disappointing.  Skype is heading toward an IPO so it seems as if it’s tying up any loose ends but truth be told, I believe it’s hurting itself and it’s image.  It’s driving users away from it’s service and pushing them toward Google IM/video chat and FaceTime.

Now what are we supposed to do for our Skype usage?  How am I supposed to use Skype on my BlackBerry?  Last year Skype released a version for the iPhone, then in February released a version for Symbian, then a few weeks ago they released a version for Android, so I’m expecting a BB app very soon but I’m still upset Fring and now Nimbuzz are now banned.  I found it much nicer to just run 1 app for all my IMing needs versus multiple apps.

Come on Skype, stop being a pain in the behind and give us a break.  Plus you’re really hurting the folks that user your service let alone Fring and Nimbuzz.

Warning, I’m about to RANT:

I’m a huge fan of Google Maps.  It’s really a great stand alone app and it keeps getting better but I’m amazed that when they added Latitude they did not include (even just a basic form of) instant messaging with your Latitude friends.

Latitude shows you were your friends are on Google Maps, but how are you supposed to contact them if they are near by and you want to grab a drink?  I don’t want to have to call or SMS them, if I’m already in a Google application I should just be able to IM them from within the app.

With Google Voice now more widely available then it was before I think we should be able to SMS from within Latitude also.  It seems most of my friends have their mobile number showing when I click on their icon, so why can’t I send an SMS to it utilizing Google Voice?

That’s the end of my rant today, more to come later about more deep integration of services into our so called smart phones.

So I’m very excited about the E72.  It’s going to rock, blah blah blah, I can talk about it for hours.  I think it will change a few things for many people.  It looks like your average QWERTY keyboard phone, it will have good email (I use emoze), it will hopefully include Ovi Contacts (but I’ll still download my current favorite IM app called Palringo), the voice quality and speaker phone will be Nokia esqu… great, and it will be an all around solid phone.

Now what I think may change things for people is the 5mp camera built in.  It is not N97 quality but I think people will start to leave their point and shoot cameras at home and start relying more on their phone.  We’re already seeing this but the E72 is the first business class Nokia that will have a 5mp shooter.  It will give people the option to leave their pocket camera at home.  Or in my case leave the N97 or N79 at home.

Do you leave your P&S at home or do you lug around a small camera and a camera phone?  If you do or plan on owning a 5mp camera phone do you think you would leave a pocket camera at home more?  Let me know what you think.

I use messaging a great deal, from sms to email to instant messaging to Twitter to video chat to voice mail (unfortunately), I spend a lot of time communicating.  I was thinking recently when will we see messaging apps evolve again?  I’m hoping Google Wave will help but I don’t think it will take it as far as I’m thinking.  I would really like to see what Googles Gmail does.  Gmail right now just puts your email and IM (it’s an option you have to turn on) in one overall inbox.  Also Google Voice shows you all your voicemail and sms in one inbox.  So when do we get ONE inbox for everything???

I use emoze (a client of mine) and Nokia Messaging for email, Ovi Contacts and Nimbuzz & Fring for IM, the built in text message (sms) app and Dabr for Twitter on my mobile phones and would really like to see an overall inbox that we can see all incoming and outgoing communications.  I would like to see my email, sms, voicemail, IM, and @/direct messages (I use Topify) in one place.  This could be similar to what Nokia has in it’s messaging folder already where it includes email and sms.  I’m sick of going to all different in-boxes.  When can I just have one.  Things should be color coded, easily filtered and have sub folders so it looks more traditional the way some would like to see it.  I for one would really like to have one of these messaging apps include it all.  It may need to be something more like emoze that is heavily embedded in my phones messaging folder so it can access sms and voice messages too.

I’m envisioning something with tiny logos and colors for each different means of communication but a standard view with different lines for each message showing who it’s from and a time/day stamp.  Maybe when I highlight the message the first few words of the message would appear.  I would also like the address book from the phone to include all the contact info from each contact platform but we’ll save that for another blog post.

So basically when will it all come together in one place but include awesome filtering for divided views too.   I hope we get this very soon and on both the desktop and mobile platforms.  It would really be great if it was all done with something like IMAP so it was all in sync to.  I may be asking to much but come on it’s 2009 and if we can’t have flying cars this decade can’t we at least have one inbox?

By: Jeb Brilliant
Jeb is a technology enthusiast and mobile communications junkie.  He works in the industry as a writer, consultant and event producer.  Follow Jeb on Twitter @JebBrilliant

I’m not here to criticize my friends or Nokia or my friends at Nokia.  Nor do I want to pressure them.  But I haven’t seen all that many people on Ovi Chat.  I know what you’re going to say, I don’t need another IM ID.  Well I know lots of people who signed up for Ovi Chat so they have an ID.  The question is why didn’t they add it to Adium or any other IM app.  It would be quite easy to.

Is Nokia planning on doing much with Ovi Chat?  I get the feeling the answer is yes. I think we will see a great deal done with presence over the next few months and years.  I think the N97 will play a large roll in this too.

Back to my point, where are all the people?  Why aren’t more Nokia folks on Ovi chat as well?  I only know of a few that I’m connected to.  Maybe there are many more but I have used the search tool and not found many.  Shouldn’t Nokia folks be using it? Is Nokia using it internally for instant communications?  I get the feeling the answer is NO and I’m wondering why.

By the way, what’s up with the name, Ovi Contacts?  Shouldn’t it be Ovi IM or something like that?

Anyways, the Ovi Contacts (IM) integration on the new E75 I’ve been reviewing is fantastic, I hope we see an update for many of the handsets and I hope it is included/implemented on many of the new handsets.

My friends over at Nimbuzz announced some exciting news yesterday.  They have finally updated their app and it now includes VOIP.
They are focused on bridging the 3G VoIP gap on the iPhone – anywhere.

Here are some highlight of the new app.

>With free Wi-Fi calls to instant messaging buddies already available, we added a full dial-pad, and the ability to make VoIP calls to landlines and mobile phones with Skype Out, and via our 10 VoIP partners including Gizmo5, Vyke, sipgate and A1.
You can even see the available Skype Out credit you have directly on the dial pad!

>If Wifi is unavailable you can make VoIP calls to Nimbuzz buddies using Nimbuzz Dial-Up VoIP in over 50 countries. Dial-Up VoIP? What this means is that Nimbuzz dials a local access number that connects to anywhere in the world via Nimbuzz VoIP servers. So you can call your Nimbuzz buddies anywhere for the same cost of a domestic call.

>Turn iPod touch into an iPhone! Make calls over Wi-Fi via Skype Out or via VoIP provider.

>Upgraded interface with much improved usability and the awesome landscape-mode chat.

I’m really happy to see this as they were one of the winners in our TopMobile20 competition.

My good friend Cian over at GoMo News wrote about NeuStar during Mobile World Congress and I’m just reading about it now.  I’m really excited because of what they are doing.  NeuStar is incorporating presence into the Telecom Italia (TIM) service.  In your handsets phone book they will show you how your contact wants to be contacted.  Anything from a phone call, to sms to IM or beyone.  I think this is genious, why aren’t all the telcos incorporating this service.  Take a read and see what Cian has to say.  He says it better then I do.

I was in San Jose airport last week waiting to fly home and was told there was free wifi.  I had a few hours to kill and I went to the Bits & Bytes bar, plopped down ordered a Tuna sandwich and a beer expecting to spend a few hours working.  Well, low and behold, don’t fall over anybody, the wifi in the airport was terrible.  I was able to connect on and off for about 30 min, then it went totally dark.  Of course it was in the middle of a Skype chat with Andy Abramson who was in the next terminal over and we were trying to coordinate meeting up.  Well, that never happened and I blame it on the crappy wifi.  I’m learning more and more that free public wifi in airports can’t even be counted on to check email and IM with friends.  I wasn’t expecting to make a video call, but I didn’t think retrieving my email should be so taxing on the airports wifi infrastructure.

Anyways, that’s another airport that gets a big fat zero in my book.