Causerie Releases Windows Mobile version of their well-known IM client!

[Menneisyys]

Causerie (http://causerie.mantragroup.com/) has just released (http://causerie.mantragroup.com/press/pr.php?R=pocketpcim) their, on other mobile platforms, already-known instant messaging solution.

I’ll soon give it a thorough test ride and accordingly update the Windows Mobile Instant Messaging Bible (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1725&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) (Cross-posted to: PPCT (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=431691), MobilitySite (http://www.mobilitysite.com/forums/utilities-applications/34301-windows-mobile-instant-messaging-bible.html), AximSite (http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?p=1310912), XDA-Developers (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=1150324), FirstLoox (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?p=67029), BrightHand (http://forum.brighthand.com/showthread.php?p=1493604), HowardForums (http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?p=8815188), TheSmallPicture (http://thesmallpicture.com/showthread.php?t=72)). Stay tuned! :)

[Causerie-mantra]

Hello,

Thanks for tagging us.

Your "Windows Mobile Instant Messaging Bible" was really a bible for our implementation standards. We referred to the various implementations available for this platform while compiling the first release features.

Some of the unique features we have are:

a) Multiple Login to Accounts on Same Gateway. Eg: You can login to 'Two' of your Yahoo Accounts.
b) Support for Bots - Automatic real time agents. Right now, Causerie retrieves Stock Quotes, Weather Predictions, Directions, News related to Business, Technology, Games, California Traffic, eBay etc.
c) Real time push emails as IM. If your server is IMAP based, Causerie can even push your email instantly as an IM.
d) AlwaysOn/SMS Support - We have it in the second release (1.1) of Causerie due early May.

Even, two way SMS is supported on Palm platforms. We are currently working on the Windows Mobile UI for adding one way SMS.

Please write to us at support at [mantragroup.com] for any queries. I would be glad to help in way I can.

- Causerie Support

Causerie (http://causerie.mantragroup.com/) has just released (http://causerie.mantragroup.com/press/pr.php?R=pocketpcim) their, on other mobile platforms, already-known instant messaging solution.

I’ll soon give it a thorough test ride and accordingly update the Windows Mobile Instant Messaging Bible (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1725&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) (Cross-posted to: PPCT (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=431691), MobilitySite (http://www.mobilitysite.com/forums/utilities-applications/34301-windows-mobile-instant-messaging-bible.html), AximSite (http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?p=1310912), XDA-Developers (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=1150324), FirstLoox (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?p=67029), BrightHand (http://forum.brighthand.com/showthread.php?p=1493604), HowardForums (http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?p=8815188), TheSmallPicture (http://thesmallpicture.com/showthread.php?t=72)). Stay tuned! :)

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE:

OK guys and gals, I’ve thoroughly tested the app. The majority of the information can be found in the updated comparison chart (http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007Messengers/chart.html) of the IM Bible (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1725&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1); in here, I only provide you with a pros/cons list.

The good


ability to log into any IM service using two accounts – currently, no other IM app is capable of this!
support for (ro)bots. Right now, Causerie retrieves Stock Quotes, Weather Predictions, Directions, News related to Business, Technology, Games, California Traffic, eBay etc.
Enterprise version supports Lotus IM (Sametime), Microsoft LCS, SIP, Reuters LCS and Jabber (SSL) – this is a BIG plus and really unique!
IMAP support. This means you don’t need to run an IMAP-capable mailer client in the background to get notified of your incoming mails. This, of course, will only work if you do have an IMAP-capable mailbox. This is also pretty unique. (See the IMAP Bible (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1247&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) for more information on this question.)
Developer promises http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=432927 at least one-way SMS messaging in forthcoming, 1.1 version, slated for May. Now, their Palm version already supports even two-way messaging


The bad


restriction of four concurrent accounts logged in at a time
complete lack of Landscape orientation support – very bad news for slide-out or clamshell keyboard users (HTC Wizard, TyTN/Hermes, Universal etc.)
prone to crashes
not effective, Web browser-based rendering: slow, bandwidth-hungry and causes the on-screen SIP to be hidden with some people
doesn’t automatically re-login when the connection (temporarily) terminates: a problem particularly with unattended, suspended mode
no file transfer, no logging, all chat windows are immediately closed when the connection terminates, no support for conferencing


Verdict

Promising. Needs a little more work and bugfixes on the developer’s part, though.

[Causerie-mantra]

Thanks Menneissyys for taking time and reviewing Causerie Messenger for PPC and Windows Mobile Platform.

Please find my comments interspersed.



restriction of four concurrent accounts logged in at a time


We have restriced to four accounts because of the limited real estate available on Pocket PC 2003 devices. On other platforms, we have support for eight accounts.


complete lack of Landscape orientation support – very bad news for slide-out or clamshell keyboard users (HTC Wizard, TyTN/Hermes, Universal etc.)


We have this covered in the next release.


prone to crashes


I will send you an PM for this. Thanks :)

We had over hundred beta testers for this app and released this version after getting a 'go-ahead' on this.


not effective, Web browser-based rendering: slow, bandwidth-hungry and causes the on-screen SIP to be hidden with some people
doesn’t automatically re-login when the connection (temporarily) terminates: a problem particularly with unattended, suspended mode


Always ON including SMS feature is covered in upcoming release.


no file transfer, no logging, all chat windows are immediately closed when the connection terminates, no support for conferencing



File transferring (download) should be supported on AIM/Yahoo/MSN. Others are on the roadmap.

I would be glad to assist to answer any of the questions about Causerie Messenger at support [at] mantragroup dot com

:way to go:

[Menneisyys]

We have restriced to four accounts because of the limited real estate available on Pocket PC 2003 devices. On other platforms, we have support for eight accounts.

All the other multi-service alternatives support logging into all the supported services at the same time. Given that Causerie has an inherent advantage over all the alternatives (double login capabilities to any network; Enterprise IM solutions support in the Enterprise version and IMAP support), the lack for supporting more than 4 concurrent logins is a very bad one and should, IMHO, be fixed ASAP.

We had over hundred beta testers for this app and released this version after getting a 'go-ahead' on this.

Try

1, sending a file over MSN (I've tested the crash resulting from this on two different PPC's, one with WM5, the other with WM6, with both CF2 SP1 and SP2, sending a file from Live Messenger on Windows)

2, "flooding" a Causerie user with quickly entered messages

These will surely cause an immediate crash (also see the crash screen screenshots in the chart; they also show the exception thrown).

Also, I've seen index out of bounds exceptions when using the predefined texts.

File transferring (download) should be supported on AIM/Yahoo/MSN. Others are on the roadmap.


I've had immediate crashes with MSN file download (see above). Will update the chart after testing AIM and Yahoo.

[Menneisyys]

I've had immediate crashes with MSN file download (see above). Will update the chart after testing AIM and Yahoo.

Yahoo didn't work; AIM did. (See the new screenshots in the comparison chart)

[Menneisyys]

2, "flooding" a Causerie user with quickly entered messages

This won't always result in a crash. Now I've re-tested this on the freshly soft reset HTC Universal and haven't had any crashes.

[Causerie-mantra]

All the other multi-service alternatives support logging into all the supported services at the same time. Given that Causerie has an inherent advantage over all the alternatives (double login capabilities to any network; Enterprise IM solutions support in the Enterprise version and IMAP support), the lack for supporting more than 4 concurrent logins is a very bad one and should, IMHO, be fixed ASAP.


Yep, you are right to dot. We have support for six accounts on other platforms but the screen size of Pocket PC restricted us to four accounts . The icons lined up at the bottom could show only four. We will handle this in the next version.


Try

1, sending a file over MSN (I've tested the crash resulting from this on two different PPC's, one with WM5, the other with WM6, with both CF2 SP1 and SP2, sending a file from Live Messenger on Windows)

2, "flooding" a Causerie user with quickly entered messages

These will surely cause an immediate crash (also see the crash screen screenshots in the chart; they also show the exception thrown).

Also, I've seen index out of bounds exceptions when using the predefined texts.


Thanks, we will get this fixed in the next rev update ASAP on this. Thanks for reporting.

[Causerie-mantra]

Menneisyys,


/t; note that chatting itself may result in a MUCH higher data transmission because every time a new message is sent/received the entire chat history is refetched from the server, as opposed to all the other solutions. This may result in a greatly increased data usage if you actively chat. Note that the browser-based rendering approach MAY results in another problem: when you use an on-screen keyboard, it may be hidden when the other party answers. This wasn't the case with my HTC Universal; some users, however, have complained of it. Note that the HTML-based rendering engine has another very bad side-effect: when you have more than one screen of text, you will have to manually scroll down upon every single new message. Very bad and should be fixed ASAP!


Thanks for your excellent review. However, there is a discrepancy to report. History is not downloaded again everytime a single message is received/sent. The file is manipulated internally. Causerie is a very light protocol offering logins to many messengers with VERY LESS data over the air.

Also, Causerie automatically should scroll down the message automatically to the bottom of the screen if you have javascript enabled in IE [default option].

Thanks.

[Menneisyys]

Menneisyys,


/t; note that chatting itself may result in a MUCH higher data transmission because every time a new message is sent/received the entire chat history is refetched from the server, as opposed to all the other solutions. This may result in a greatly increased data usage if you actively chat. Note that the browser-based rendering approach MAY results in another problem: when you use an on-screen keyboard, it may be hidden when the other party answers. This wasn't the case with my HTC Universal; some users, however, have complained of it. Note that the HTML-based rendering engine has another very bad side-effect: when you have more than one screen of text, you will have to manually scroll down upon every single new message. Very bad and should be fixed ASAP!


Thanks for your excellent review. However, there is a discrepancy to report. History is not downloaded again everytime a single message is received/sent. The file is manipulated internally. Causerie is a very light protocol offering logins to many messengers with VERY LESS data over the air.

Also, Causerie automatically should scroll down the message automatically to the bottom of the screen if you have javascript enabled in IE [default option].

Thanks.

Thanks, I include this in the new version of the chart to be published today.