[Non-Touchscreen Windows Mobile Other] Menneisyys:
It was some four months ago that I’ve published the definitive guide and comparison of all instant messaging solutions for the Pocket PC, the Windows Mobile Instant Messaging (IM) Bible.

The constant evolution of the clients (for example, the recent release of the really promising and, on Windows Mobile, except for Microsoft Portrait unprecedented and unrivalled Fring client) and the MS Smartphone (WM 6 Standard) platform have forced me to embark on an update to the roundup.

In this roundup, I review all the IM solutions working on the MS Smartphone platform along with listing the PPC-specific changes too. That is, this article will appeal to both Pocket PC and MS Smartphone users. In addition, if you’re interested in Voice over IP (VoIP) solutions, you REALLY will want to read the related section: I also review Fring, the (on Windows Mobile) brand new and simply GREAT Skype, MSN , Google Talk and standard SIP-compliant application working just great even over EDGE or more advanced (with at least 2 upload slots) GPRS connections.

(the icons of the reviewed apps on my HTC Vox. I haven’t put the icon of Causerie Mobile Messenger 1.0.9 there because of its incompatibility with the platform – despite what the developer states, it doesn’t seem to be compatible with Smartphones.)

Again, this article is a three-in-one roundup:

a FULL review & roundup of all IM solutions running on the MS Smartphone

a review of what has been changed in the last four months: Most of the reviewed applications have been updated in the meantime. While these updates are pretty minor with all the titles, it’s still worth checking them out as some of the missing functionalities or bugs have been fixed in these.

a review of the completely new and groundbreaking Fring client, compared to the other clients offering similar functionality.

Note that you REALLY will want to read the original Windows Mobile Instant Messaging Bible. It’s in there that I’ve thoroughly described all the IM clients I elaborate on in here – except for, of course, the brand new Fring. That is, do read the original Bible. Note that I’ve already updated its chart to include the new information on both the new versions and the Smartphone-related information.

In addition to my Pocket PC’s (where I’ve tested how the Pocket PC-related functionality has been improved), I’ve used two MS Smartphone devices to test the IM clients on: a WM5 AKU3 176*220 HTC s310 (Oxygen) and a WM6 QVGA HTC s710 (Vox). On the latter, I’ve paid special attention to supporting the built-in keyboard and the dynamic orientation switching support – in addition to the QVGA support, of course.

IM+ 4.41 (PPC) / 1.38 (SP)

(a generic Smartphone in-conversation screenshot, showing Unicode chars, smileys, clickable links and local T9 input:)

Updates, differences

PPC-wise, there aren’t much differences between version 4.41 and the old, 4.3 version. There is a new setting for filtering out messages coming from users NOT in the Contacts list.

Also, there are some other, minor enhancements; for example, while losing the connection, the current conversations are all closed in the PPC version (but not with SP). This isn’t a problem any more with the PPC version either, though – past messages are redisplayed upon resuming the connection. However, the (minor) problems with the earlier version are still present: non-clickable links (this is mostly a problem with the SP version because of the lack of the copy / paste functionality on the OS (and on IM+’s) level) and the lack of the mobile flag.

Differences between the PPC and the SP versions

The PPC and the Smartphone versions (current, tested versions: 4.41 and 1.38, respectively) are pretty much the same. Some of the differences between the PPC and the SP versions:

There’s no Today plug-in (as with most of the other IM clients - the lack of the Today plug-in, the system-level notification capabilities, copy/paste and notification bubbles are the most important differences between the two platforms)

There’re no copy / paste capabilities (which is pretty much problematic if you’d like to follow links as there, as with the PPC version, are no clickable links either)

Logging capabilities are completely missing – the Messages settings dialog has no way of enabling it, unlike the “Save history” checkbox (unticked by default) in the “General” settings dialog of the PPC version. This is certainly VERY bad!

However, ever cloud has a silver lining: the SP version is $10 cheaper ($29.95) than the PPC one, while (apart from the problems listed above) and even pretty much usable.

Other screenshots

In the main Chat windows, there’s no Roster shortcut and there’re no Edit (Copy / Paste) capabilities either. It’s not possible to quickly switch to other accounts either, other than selecting Close and, then, using the list control at the top to switch between active chats.

Settings: Alerts (here: Notifications) No wakeup / notification by default; must be enabled by hand. The PPC version uses system-level notifications (1 2), which is certainly a better approach.

Background running, as with the PPC version, must also be explicitly enabled. Otherwise – again, as with the PPC version, in which this mode must also be manually enabled – it won’t wake up.

Network: the same (PPC version HERE)

Fortunately, the SP version, as with the PPC one, dynamically resizes its GUI upon Portrait / Landscape switching and has no problems with the Vox keyboard (it, of course, works great in both phonepad modes, should your SP lack a QWERTY keyboard).

Note that in order to access the SP version of the app, you will need to either click the "Change your device!") link at the top right or go straight to HERE.

Verdict

While it’s still pretty expensive (albeit the SP version is a bit cheaper), it’s highly recommended if you don’t need clickable links and logging. If you do need the latter, look for something else.