Guest blogger Kristian Luoma, product manager of Nokia Chat

Most of us prefer using a PC keyboard over mobile device keyboard when we’re sitting next to our PCs while attending a blazing conversation. To make the most out of Nokia Chat while chatting - we now provide some simple instructions on how to configure your favourite IM client on PC to run on Nokia Chat.

Generally, the following instructions will apply to most XMPP-supporting IM clients, in case your favourite XMPP compatible IM client wasn’t featured in our guide:

1. Create Nokia Account in https://account.nokia.com/acct/register
2. Configure your account with the following details:
- Server Address: chat.ovi.com
- Server Port: 5223
- Enable “Force old SSL” or “Legacy SSL” [Edited 5.8.2008]
3. Log-in with your Nokia Account

Read more for how-to configure with different clients.

Note that in some cases, when you’re behind a firewall, you may need to configure proxy settings too. For instructions and details of how that can be done, please refer to the IM client’s web page for help on how-to and contact your local network administrator for network specific details.

Configuring Psi:

To download Psi, please go to: http://psi-im.org/

To configure Psi to run on Nokia Chat, follow the steps:

1. Open Psi.
2. Click the Psi symbol and select Account Setup.
3. Click Add n the Jabber Accounts window
4. Name your account in the Name field, e.g. “Nokia Chat”
5. Check that Register new account is not selected.
6. Click Add.
7. Enter your Nokia Account username to Jabber ID field

8. Click the Connection tab.
9. Select all checkboxes, except ‘Probe legacy SSL port.’
10. Enter chat.ovi.com in the Host field,
11. Enter 5223 in the Port field
12. Choose Legacy SSL in the Encrypt connection drop-down menu

13. Click Save and your done!

Configuring Adium:

To download Adium, please visit: http://www.adiumx.com/

To configure Adium to run on Nokia Chat, follow the steps:

1. Start Adium
2. Select Preferences from Adium menu
3. Select Account preferences pane (should be the left-most tab)
4. Click the plus (+) button at the bottom left corner for adding a new account (select Jabber from the drop-down list)
5. Fill in your Nokia Account in the username field

6. Tab over to Options tab and configure the following details:

• Connect server: chat.ovi.com
• Port: 5223
• Force old-style SSL: Tick the box
• Require SSL/TLS: Tick the box

7. Click OK and your done!

Configuring Pidgin:

To download Pidgin, please visit: http://www.pidgin.im/

To configure Pidgin to run on Nokia Chat, follow the steps:

1. Start Pidgin
2. Select Add/Edit from Accounts menu
3. Click Add from the Accounts dialog
4. Fill the Add account window with following details:

• Protocol: XMPP
• Username: your Nokia Account (without @ovi.com)
• Domain: ovi.com
• Password: you may enter your password if you want to sign on automatically, but it is recommended that you leave it empty for security reasons
• Remember password: check the box if you’d like Pidgin to remember your password (you won’t be prompted to enter it each time you sign in, if you select this option)

5. Click Advanced tab and configure it as follows:

• Require SSL/TLS: Tick the box
• Force old (port 5223) SSL: Tick the box
• Connect port: 5223
• Connect server: chat.ovi.com
  

[Image edited 5.8.2008]

6. Click Save and your done!

Guest blogger: Stefan Gimeson from Nokia Maps team

Maploader 2.0 is now ready to graduate from betalabs and will be available at http://maps.nokia.com. I want to thank you all for the valuable and useful feedback over the last few weeks, and I really hope you will like the finished version. Major fixes in the release version:

• Vista 64 issue is fixed
• S40 support added
• Included pc suite drivers in the installer that should make maploader independent from PC Suite
• Many, many bug fixes

For the future we are working on a nicer look for the whole application and shop, a history function that will let you manage maps on the device and of course a Mac version. Also, we are planning on adding more localized versions.
So, stay tuned, many interesting and useful features coming up. Thank you all for your ideas and feedback, I hope you will continue to be active here on betalabs. And - for you on the northern hemisphere - I whish you all a great summer.

(NOTE: Due to holidays and technical issues, we are unable to update the Beta Labs website and remove Map Loader 2.0 beta from the Beta Labs offering before Monday. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

The team has benefited a lot from your invaluable feedback and we have incorporated many of these sugestion into our latest version. Most people love the concept of browsing through their favourite media brands through our mobile optimised client. However, we have decided not to productize this as a standalone application but will work closely to merge our media brands with our existing application, Nokia Web Run Time Widgets. Neverthless, we have achieved great breakthrough through the trial and will introduce some of these invaluable lessons into other Nokia Offerings.

Nokia Headlines team

[Edit: People with RSS-readers: FYI, the post holds a video]

Hello Beta-labbers!

Up here in north of Finland the culture of social interaction and heated discussions is just as rare as seeing reindeers is in Sahara. Well, you might see one, but then you still might wonder if it actually happened or not To cut the long story short, it goes without saying that us Finns are perceived as just about the most reserved nation on the face of Earth.

On that note, we’ve been recently thinking of ways to help a shy Finn be more alike the rest of the human breed - expressing themselves, making the best of now and letting everybody know what he or she is all about. As a result of this, we’ve put together this app that will act as a first chapter of communication without words - but also provoking discussion about you and your friends. Sounds too big of a promise? Well let’s look at the Nokia Chat app a bit closer to understand more.

Nokia Chat is a Presence and IM client that integrates to your Contacts Application. It can do automated presence based on your location too. Way it works is that you just save landmarks you want to broadcast and boom - in no time you’ll be saying things without typing anything. Do visit our web page to find out more details.

Change your avatar, define details to your personal contact card and let the world find you (there’s a setting to define whether you want to be visible in the search or not, that is). What about the provoking discussions promise I gave a few lines back? Well, at least I’ve found my self starting to comment on a personal status message of my friends more than once. Provoking personal message, the fact of knowing where the other person is or seeing the status can make you seriously ask questions in a spree. Works for the shy Finn, that is.

Another thing worth highlighting is the fact that we love our beautiful smileys. I think highly of our graphical designer for the design that our smileys have - how do you find them?

Invite your friends to take the service in to use as well - we’ve added an easy way of spreading the word in the app.

What we’d love to know really from you is that how do you find all of this. Does it help you to speak up and express yourself without words? Would you see it completementing your arsenal of messaging tools in your device? Does the app give enough real-estate about you to your closest ones? Did you find annoyances and bugs that we didn’t notice in time?

We truly appreciate all of the feedback that you may give us!

On behalf of the developers - we hope you’ll enjoy the experience as much as we enjoyed making this,

Kristian Luoma
Product Manager

Click the image to see the weather in the place we are planning to go. Hehe.

Folks, I’ll start my summer holidays right about now, back to business on 4 August. In the meanwhile, Ilkka Peltola is here to help you, as the acting manager of Beta Labs. He’ll follow the blog comments here, as well as the main Beta Labs feedback form.

Have a great summer everyone!!

Quick note: Nokia Music PC Client has just been updated. Once again, loads of improvements done. While I don’t have a detailed changelog to publish (sorry), a couple of things that previously bugged be are now gone.

Download here.

More important, as always, please share your thoughts about how you think we could make it even better: drop a comment to this blog post, or take the survey!

Hi there,

Like they say in business speak, the first half of ‘08 is now done. Here in Finland most of the people are on summer holidays, but I’m still hanging out in the office and thought I’d highlight some of the stuff around Mobile Web Server for you Beta Labs folks.

Starting with the more official stuff, we have been churning out beta releases in relatively fast pace. MWS 1.3 was out in the end of April, and our latest and greatest MWS 1.4 just two months after that on 30th June. Here is a brief list of new features you might not have heard about yet:

• Remote start and stop: you can activate the server from mymobilesite.net anytime, and shut it down from the server settings page.
• Location support: our Presence page now knows where you are via GPS or network-based positioning.
• Mobile theme: a new fresh take on themes, that works best with mobile browsers.
• New installer: there is just one installation package, that will install or upgrade backing up your exisiting data automatically.
• REST API framework: something for the web developers, see our demo application running on Facebook Platform.
• And more: Latest Python, Open C codebase + dozens of fixes here and there.

Our developer Challenge with Forum Nokia was concluded, and the final results were announced on http://mymobilesite.net/news/16/. The submissions had surprising diversity and breadth, once again this is evidence of Mobile Web Server being a true innovation platform! I’m sure we will hear more about some of the projects in the coming months, and I will be following them up in the MWS Blog.

If you hang out on Facebook, take a look on our “Live status from Nokia phone” application demonstrating possibilities with the REST APIs (fetching location in real-time and pushing messages into the device inbox).

Since I probably forgot something, check out (facelifted!) http://mymobilesite.net for all the details. My thanks go to all our users, partners and everybody else who participates on our mission to change the Internet!

Jukka,
http://jukka.mymobilesite.net

It’s time to announce the survey raffle winners and finally reveal what the surprise prize is! Here’s how the winners were chosen. It’s a very sophisticated and a valid method.

And the winners are:

• Piotr J. Majewski
• Junaize Kammappa
• and a third one, who still has not responded to his/her email (Hey, you! We still want to give you the prize, so if you are reading this and have not yet checked your email with which you participated in the raffle, check it!)

Congratulations for the winners (also for the third one who’s probably on vacation completely unaware of his/her magnificent luck)! Here’s what you have won

[Edit: this was the Super Secret Surprise Prize that the winners could opt for instead of the main prize: Nokia Maps Walk and Drive license]

Ta-Daa! A retro hands on and un-free bluetooth handset!

Pretty cool, eh? We think so too. The device can be used with a mobile device. Imagine the admiration of others when you walk the streets talking to this! Also, the device can be used with VoIP software such as Skype, so you can be as cool at home.
The prizes are on their way to Beta Labs head quarters and they will be sent to the winners as soon as they arrive.

Best of luck for the winners!

Once again, it’s time to give the Nokia Beta Labs Contributor of the Month award, for June 2008. As Jury, I nominated Stefan Gimeson, our guy behind Nokia Map Loader 2.0.

And the winner is Fernando!!! (honorary mention goes to Preben)

Hurrah!! As your prize, Fernando, you can choose either:

• Nokia Maps Drive and Walk navigation license for 1 year in one country, or
• Super Secret Surprise Prize, chosen by yours truly and Ilkka

What do you say, Fernando?

Greetings people! As I promised to Arthur and everyone else interested, I will now present the results of the survey I conducted a while earlier.

Usually such internet surveys attract only a handful responses. You, however, have made me very happy with a total of 650 responses. So, thank you all insanely much for taking part. This really is turning out to be the most significant part of the master of science thesis I am working on. I hope you understand how much this really is appreciated :). Once again, thank you.

The results can be found here as a PDF.

Feel free to comment and to point out further interesting points to study.

The raffle that many of you also participated in will be addressed very soon in another blog post.