Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

Please help me sort out all the various text/voice/video messaging options that are available on the tablets now.

Under the heading of Communication on OS2008 I now have "Internet call", "Chat", and I just installed "Gizmo". I have also heard of "Pidgin" and I know that "Skype" is coming soon (already available in OS2007).

Thanks to zerojays post here, I know that I don't necessarily need Pidgin because I already have something that does "Jabber"... that must be the "Chat" application, right?

So can someone briefly summarize what all of this means? Which of these does the following: text chat; voice calls; video calls? And what would someone need on the other end (assuming not a Tablet) to communicate with me? Feel free to mention the protocols (SIP etc) that each supports if that helps to clarify things.

Thanks!

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

Gizmo does voice to Gizmo clients and plain telephones. Video to other Gizmo clients, but I think those clients have to be Internet Tablet clients.
"Internet Call" means voice-over-IP, i.e. voice through a VoIP SIP provider like Gizmo, Voipbuster, Voipcheap, etc.
"Chat" means text-chat.

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

Gizmo actually does voice and *video* between tablets and PCs now. I used it today between an N800/OS2008 to a Vista Ultimate machine. Really pretty decent for their first attempt. :)

Basically IM = text "chat" in the Nokia world, and there are really 2 ways to get at the popular IM systems out there (like ICQ, MSN, AIM, etc). One way is by installing Pidgin (a popular linux IM client) and its plugins. The other way is using a Jabber server that has various IM gateways installed. I prefer the Jabber route because it's better intergrated into the OS (and I can run my own private Jabber server). I installed Pidgin just in case I ran into trouble Jabber one day, but it never happed :)

For voice you have options with Gizmo, Skype (again soon), GTalk, Jabber or SIP. Gizmo and Skype are available via their respective installers. GTalk, Jabber and SIP are more integrated into the OS. Any of these can do voice from N8xx to N8xx, or N8xx to PC. Gizmo, Skype and SIP would allow calls to phones as well.

Video is a different story. N8xx to N8xx video is possible via Gizmo, GTalk or Jabber. (GTalk is actually just Google's branded Jabber service)

Video From N8xx to PC can be done via Gizmo currently and supposedly via SIP also (per a Nokia blog comment) although I haven't had a chance to try that out yet.

Technically it could also be done via Jabber if anyone could just find a PC Jabber client that supports "jingle-video". From some reason there don't seem to be any yet.

That should be enough confusion to start. :D

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

Thanks for that great explanation. I actually have only one more question at this point.I don't see any reference to any of these in the menu system. Are they separate applications or if they are all modules in the Chat and/or Internet Calling apps then how do you choose between them?

Thanks again!

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

Those service types are just options when you create "Accounts" on the system. I believe the first time you go into something like the "Chat" application it will prompt you to set up an intial account of some type (gtalk, jabber, sip). (If not you can always create/edit/delete them via the "Accounts" section in the "Control Panel").

Once you have an account (or several) defined, you can enable it, set your presence, and change your preferences on the fly via the icon in the system bar. Really I think it's pretty well integrated.

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

Thanks again for a good explanation. And hopefully it will help others too.

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

Are there currently any apps that support voice to msn on a pc?

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

BTW, Gizmo is also a Jabber servie. Server name is @chat.gizmoproject.com

You can use Gizmo with IT OS Chat app.

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

As mentioned above. you can use gizmo as a jabber server. If you setup a gizmo account and use the chat.gizmoproject.com sever in the tablet jabber client, then a contact called "IM and Buy" will appear in your contacts list. If you initiat a chat with it and send it a message it will allow you to add your msn, aim and yahoo account interactivly without the need for using another jabber client elsewhere and adding services.
just another quick way of getting access to buddies on the different clients.

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

I tried doing that before but I found that it just simply never worked for me.

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

Seems to work for me but contact import/status is very slow to update.

Shouldn't Nokia be running a jabber server? Seems a bit stupid that they're tying up all these deals with 3rd parties to get IM/Video support. Its mesing up the whole experience. I really don't understand why they have gizmo client. Just a marketing deal that messes up the whole IM/Video integration on the N810. What does Gizmo give that a sip/im client doesnt?

Pidgin isn't the answer either. When mobile and connected over 3G/BT you can guarantee that your provider will have blocked one or more of the ports! Jabber is probably the way to go.

I'd love to be able to use meebo or jabber to meebo servers but that's not possible. Grrr. An internet tablet that doesnt run internet websites properly ;-)

Steve

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

[QI do not have SIP as an option. RTCOMM has to be installed to get it, right? Due to some strange dependency error RTCOMM was never installable on my n800/OS2007.

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

Run your own Jabber server (it's really not that hard) and find a port that isn't blocked.

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

You were basically suckered into buying a Nokia video walkie talkie. Promise, promise, promise, but no delivery yet. Gizmo "does video" to a PC video client only if you are willing to accept the vague borg-like image coming to the PC as "video". Nokia overstated the video aspect of the N800 and they ought to fix it. Leaving it to third parties is a cop out. The only reason I bought the N800 was for video chat and so far I've been ripped off.

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

If that's the ONLY reason you bought one, then you really should have done some more focused reasearch before the purchase. Its not like this hasn't been discussed endlessly.

OS2008 can also do video over SIP (h.263,h.263+) which looks much better IMO. It also supports jingle-video over Jabber/XMPP which will be another option once PC clients show up.

BTW, what exactly has Nokia "promised" regarding video support?

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

I use Zerojay's Jabber server (jablet, I think it is called) and it works perfectly, enabling the built-in contacts app to work seamlessly with all my friend's and family's various im services. It's one of those great things that I simply set and forget. It works.

Gizmo, imo, is a dud. Basically it is just another service that requires it's own client (so unless I convince everyone to download and use it, right it is a 'walkie-talkie'). Gizmo is also pretty 'fussy' about even simple voice connections (at least for me, on my simple, unsecured home wireless) and if you can get the video to work, which I did not, consistently, at least, as another poster mentioned, it is a worthless borg-like image that makes me realize I never really wanted video calling in the first place.:rolleyes:

The one thing that Gizmo might be useful for is the fact that having an account seems to 'automatically' assign a SIP phone number for me to use. Of course, there certainly ways to obtain a number without subscribing to Gizmo, but that's the extent of my knowledge:)

Skype, well, I haven't been able to get it to work on my N810 yet, but honestly I also can't claim to have tried very hard. For me, IM is must-have, but VOIP is not (yet).

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

Gizmo works just fine with the built-in SIP client. It's a much better setup than using their bloaty application. (Call-In + GrandCentral = good times)

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

I just want them to enable the jabber option in the buy im service menu. Its still saying coming soon!
grrrr i want to use the gizmo client with jabber! The jablet server rocks for that.
CJ

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

The Gizmo client is garbage. Why in the world would you want to use it over the built-in SIP and Jabber clients?

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

Gizmo *IS* Jabber for the last time! No need to do anything!

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

Ok, I'm a little slow:p, but I think (hope, actually) I get it! I call the Grand Central number which calls the SIP number and the jablet serves it to my IT... Or something like that, no?

In any case, I've done this. I have used my cellphone and my called my GC # to call my tablet using the Gizmo client on the IT. What I haven't managed to do is to use the built-in internet calling app for the same purpose. It'd be nice to make use of that app instead of the, as the General said, rather 'bloaty' Gizmoware...pehaps I just need to try again?:)

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

There's a full guide for setting up your Gizmo account with the built-in SIP client here.

Re: Tablet IM/chat/voice/video messaging options.... so many...
 

General, thanks very much! I'm sure I'd have encountered this with some more reading, but I much appreciate the direct link. I'm off home to tinker with it!

Cheers!