eWeek: "Mobile IM Landscape Shows Room for Growth"

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2049059,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594' target='_blank'>http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,175...3119TX1K0000594</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Instant messaging as a consumer desktop technology has reached the point of being ubiquitous. But what about all those BlackBerry and Treo users you see at the airport, or on the subway, or in line at your local Starbucks every morning? Are they using IM while sipping latte? The most recent issue of 'The Messaging Technology Report,' which is published monthly by The Radicati Group, reports that business users are taking notice of mobile IM technology."</i><br /><br />So begins a rather generic article on how mobile IM is poised to grow, etc. Instead of just rehashing the general points in the article, let me say that Pocket PCs have quite a distance to go when it comes to mobile IM. MSN Messenger for the Pocket PC is pretty weak. By far, the worst aspect is that the device <i>stays on</i> and active while MSNM is connected, and the client itself tells you to disconnect when not actively using it! If mobile IM is to be effective, one must be able to stay online <i>all the time</i> to receive instant messages without draining the battery so quickly. Other devices -- like the Sidekick -- have had this for years. Microsoft, when are you going to release an updated, fully functional MSN client for Pocket PCs?

[Jason Lee]

I thought the blackberry and such didn't really do IM.. It was just txt messages shown in a threaded view. PPCs can do that if you have one of those installed. Any phone can do it.
True IM (like the desktop) is going to require the app to be running and communication at all times. Do you expect MS IM to work on your laptop when you hibernate it?? Same thing...

[Janak Parekh]

True IM (like the desktop) is going to require the app to be running and communication at all times. Do you expect MS IM to work on your laptop when you hibernate it??
Sure, why not? The device supports Direct Push while hibernating. (It just happens to hibernate a bit less.) As I mentioned in my original post, the T-Mobile Sidekick (Danger Hiptop) supports letting you stay online on IM without an appreciable battery drain. The unit/display just wakes up and buzzes you when you receive an IM. That's pervasive mobile computing, if you ask me.

--janak

[Jason Lee]

yeah, that is gonna take serious recoding and proper deep OS level integration. Not to mention getting out of the desktop IM mindset. I don't see any third party developers doing that anytime soon. :( Nor do I see MS putting any time or effort into improving pocket MSN.
Maybe Spb should make an IM app? ;)

I agree it would be very nice if I could leave MSN signed in on my ppc all day without totally killing the battery. The only thing I ever use IM for is to decide where we are gonna eat lunch. hehehe... If I know I am not gonna be in my office I will sign in from my ppc then sign back out once we are on our way.

[hamishmacdonald]

From the research I've done, there seems to be no affordable way to do this in the UK, to have always-on access to MSN Messenger.

The best data plan available on a wireless network is T-Mobile's Web-n-Walk, at £7.50 per month, but in the "mice type" at the bottom of the page you find out that you're not allowed to use MSN Messenger, and that if such use is detected (along with VOIP, file sharing, downloading, or any activity other than retrieval of e-mail or viewing of webpages), your contract will be terminated.

For another £15, you can get a business data account, which allows for unlimited use, but that's on top of the £7.50 and whatever your airtime package is -- the cheapest of which costs £15 a month. So that's a total of £37.50 (which in $CDN or $USD is roughly double that number).

So, as with paid wireless hotspots, I still think the pricing is unreasonable. I already pay for broadband at home, so to pay the same amount again for mobile access -- I can't justify that to myself.

[Janak Parekh]

From the research I've done, there seems to be no affordable way to do this in the UK, to have always-on access to MSN Messenger.
Well, two comments:

1. IM is about the cheapest data protocol there is, and certainly more so than email.

2. I'm sure cheaper unlimited pricing will eventually come your way. :) More and more wireless applications are being developed, making it a necessity.

--janak