I'm just sending in regular reports on my progress and I see that Bill jumped in. He is da Man! Helped me along until we got a successful registration just now so I'm off to set it up in the n810. Wish me luck.

Breadcrumbs for any future travelers here: confirming Bill's suggestion to log into Google chat with a third-party client before trying to register on the Simonics gateway to "limber up" the Google machinery. It seems to want to see a login via XMPP before it will respond correctly. Not 100% sure that was it but it's the only clue as why I was having trouble.

REALLY appreciate your concern and help, Bill. Many thanks.