Threaded SMS - Conversation
I personally think that Nokia Beta Labs is one of the more exciting initiatives Nokia launched in the first half of 2007. It is a powerful tool to foster new applications while soliciting honest and straightforward feedback from the core user base.
Tommi Vilkamo of S60 Blogs has scored what must be the most exciting and stimulating job at Nokia, as the General Manager of Nokia Beta Labs.
Congratulations Tommi, you have already improved a great concept. I expect many, many more exciting new applications, services and ideas to come out of Nokia Beta Labs.
The latest addition to Nokia Beta Labs is a threaded SMS application called - Conversations. The lack of a built in threaded SMS application in Series 60, especially the Nokia Eseries devices, has been my pet peeve.
Nokia creating a threaded SMS application is a great step forward. The application is integrated with the address book, it creates an additional tab where all your conversations are stored. The application is easy to use and if the text is too long to be displayed on the screen the message text will automatically scroll so that you can easily read the message.
However, I have to say that I am rather disappointed with this first version of Conversation.
The application doesn't really bring anything new to the field of threaded SMS. It is barely catching up with what the Treo has had for years now. Instead of taking a bolder, more aggressive approach and leapfrog the competition, in terms of Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and the Treo, the application feels mediocre.
Where is the support for emoticons? why is it so hard to read the conversations - there is little visual cue to my messages and the other party's messages.
Another weakness is the text display. I am surprised that so little information is displayed on the screens. Having the option to not show the time stamp would free up one line per message. Also, where is the quick text function (predefined replies).
Giving the end user more options with regards to how the text and conversation is displayed, or just how the application behaves would improve the it. In it's first iteration there are surprisingly very few preferences.
Perhaps I am being too harsh. After all, it is only a beta but I would hope that when the absolute leader in the field of mobility implements threaded SMS it will set a new standard, not matching the competition.
Stefan has written a great overview of Threaded SMS and how Conversation stacks up against Palm, Windows Mobile 6 and the iPhone. Well worth reading!
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:28 am
it didn’t work in my E62
the application simply doesn’t launch and the extra tab on contacts doesn’t show as well.
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:28 am
I had problems loading into my E70-2. The tab never shows up in my contacts and I cant launch the program.
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:51 am
how about having conversations displayed in the messaging application? (rather than in contacts)
September 23rd, 2007 at 10:36 am
Given that this is the E-series blog, does this application work properly on any E-series device at all ? I don’t see any screenshot above that actually shows an individual message. I can get as far seeing an SMS thread, but clicking on one message to bring it up causes the program to exit to the home screen. Very iPhone-like, very frustrating. This is on an E61 with the latest firmware.
September 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Hi Guys,
I have problems on my Eseries devices as well. Clicking on the individual messages exits the application.
September 23rd, 2007 at 12:09 pm
How about E65?
September 23rd, 2007 at 12:47 pm
It works fine on my E65. No problem at all.
September 23rd, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Sweet, Laurent, thnx. I will try it then
September 23rd, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Also had no problems on the E65.
I don’t think you’re comments are harsh — Nokia may well be “the absolute leader in the field of mobility implements” but Symbian and most of Nokia’s apps are frankly appalling.
The minimalist GoogleTalk instant messanger client (on the pc) puts most SMS apps to shame, let alone the GMail java mobile app!
And imagine LiveMessenger or Yahoo!Messenger with an SMS-like interface!!!
If Agile, Widsets and countless other producers can produce decent software then so should Nokia.
I’m pinning my hopes on the ‘groundbreaking’ iPhone to drag Nokia forward. And dreaming of the rumoured gPhone…
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:22 pm
Works fine in E61, did you guys place the Nokia Contacts Services Support Package in the phone memory instead of the card?
September 23rd, 2007 at 11:59 pm
I had high hopes for this too but it is nowhere near as elegant a solution as Symbianwave’s ‘SMSChat’
Nokia’s Chat works but I don’t like the scrolling old messages & the tiny compose window.
The fact that Nokia’s compose window is at least at the bottom of the conversation thread is it’s real advantage over SMSChat. (Arguably that’s the only reason for threaded view - so you can look at old messages while composing a reply.
Hopefully SymbianWave will sort this out in a future release.
September 24th, 2007 at 2:02 am
Yes, I did. Both, contacts and conversation. And it doesn’t start. It appears an error message
September 24th, 2007 at 8:56 am
When I get a “1 new message” notification I was expecting that it would take me to Conversation, however it takes me to the default messaging app. This really doesn’t make it as useful. Is this how it works or am I missing something?
September 24th, 2007 at 9:09 am
[...] Ohjelmistosta on kattava esittely Tommin S60 blogissa. Lisäksi softa on noteerattu jo Allabout Symbian sivustolla. Myös muihin blogeihin on ilmestynyt aiheesta kirjoituksia: Symbian News, N95 Blog ja Darla Mac, NokNok.tv ja E-series blog.:. [...]
September 25th, 2007 at 2:26 am
Works on the E61i.
September 25th, 2007 at 10:00 am
i have the e65, and everything works fine until you choose “open” to select a certain message, the program just drops you back to the main screen.
September 25th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
[...] beta labs has launched a much needed threaded sms application called conversation. Thanks to Ed at e-series for informing us. The application is very simple to use and is a much needed feature for our [...]
September 27th, 2007 at 12:33 am
Works fine on my E61. I love it.
September 27th, 2007 at 8:25 am
I’m using ThreadedSMS on my E90 and I think it’s as close as it gets to my Treo 650 as well. The threaded SMS on the Treo is hard to beat.
Tried SMSChat but didn’t like the bubble chat layout style..
ThreadedSMS has a nicer interface and it takes over the default SMS application inbox once it is launched.
Have not tried Conversations yet.. will prob let it mature more before trying
October 1st, 2007 at 1:08 am
Yeah, I like this application. I found another application for sms- “Private Call&Sms Guard” is a strong application that have lots of functions like protect the private informations(sms/call/files…), call rejection, record…this is the link: http://www.SymbianOn.com/page/productlist.html , you can download it ,they look so pretty good.
October 1st, 2007 at 6:04 am
I had problems loading into my E70-1.
October 1st, 2007 at 8:25 pm
it does not work on my e62 CINGULAR phone application does not start
October 4th, 2007 at 12:51 am
Tried it on my E61. It told me that I ran out of memory, the moment I ran it.
If you are a heavy user of messaging, this application would shut your phone down. It attempts to catalog all your text messages. This process takes memory and thats where Conversation falls flat. It’s a memory hogger. I have both ThreadSMS and SMSChat on my phone and neither have ever overused my phone memory.
Nice, has promise but I think Nokia needs to get their act together when it comes to threaded messaging.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:12 am
Ok, folks; having over a thousand text messages stored in your phone will not be a good thing with Conversation. I deleted 1070 text messages before I could get it to work. Now, the scrolling thing that happens when you highlight a message is cute but why scroll from right to left? Scrolling bottom to top would be better.
Anyway, the moment I try to open a text message it exits and I’m back at the main screen. My conclusion, enjoy the scrolling feature because I think that is what Conversation is trying to sell to you. Install it if you want to impress other Nokia users cause scrolling text messages will be the next big thing.
October 5th, 2007 at 6:25 am
i discovered (besides the “drop to main screen” bug) that there are other issues with using this app on the e65. sometimes when i send messages, they are left in the outbox, however i get a delivery report and the reciever gets the message. i uninstalled the app, and i hope they will get it to work on the e65.
October 11th, 2007 at 10:20 am
start E51 shipping with price 399 $
in USA, form 17th october
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nokia-E51-Smartphone-Newest-Model-FREE-U-S-SHIPPING_W0QQitemZ160165797643QQcmdZViewItem
and another video http://www.intomobile.com/2007/10/07/video-hands-on-with-the-nokia-e51.html
October 13th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
I got a problem on my E61. I can’t delete the message or the conversation. How to solve this porblem?
October 19th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Same on my e61. Cant delete messages or conversations. this has potential if Nokia can work out the kinks!
November 3rd, 2007 at 10:39 pm
Does not work on my e61i
Received message “System Error (-1)”
November 5th, 2007 at 10:42 am
Yeah, I couldn’t get it to work on a Cingular/AT&T-branded Nokia E62, but it worked fine on my unbranded Nokia N73.
November 14th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
So with all this critique, how is Conversations any better than SMS Chat? Only because it’s free?
December 5th, 2007 at 2:43 am
I LOVE IT!
it works on my e61 perfectly…
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:40 am
Conversation is full of bugs on e61i. Messages are getting stucked in outbox and does not let you send it again or open the messages. Premature application from Nokia, in my opinion.
It’s a nice concept though and I hope they can fix it.
February 14th, 2008 at 3:46 am
All of you who are complaining that it is premature and does fully work, do you understand what the word BETA in Nokia _BETA_ labs means?
I personally am really glad that I don’t have to buy 15 dollars for a simple SMS thread UI, I can wait a bit for the software to mature.
March 22nd, 2008 at 8:43 am
EVERYONE WHO DOESN’T HAVE IT, YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU GOT THE SUPPORT PACKAGE THING FROM THE BETA LABS SITE