OctroTalk Brings IM, VoIP and File Transfer to Smartphones
The mobile market is flooded with IM clients these days and as time goes on, they continue to become more feature-rich and usable. Typing messages in rapid succession on any handset is a chore, but there are some options that make it more enjoyable than others. With all of the different solutions out there however, it can be difficult to know which application is best-suited for your needs and is compatible with your IM network(s) of choice. As such, OctroTalk might be the prefect place to start. Is it compatible with your smartphone? Symbian, check. Windows Mobile Smartphone and Pocket PC editions, check. Palm OS, check. OctroTalk even has a Windows XP version to carry a unified instant messaging experience over to your desktop or laptop. Is it compatible with your IM network of choice? Google Talk / Jabber, MSN, AIM, ICQ and Yahoo are currently supported and there will likely be more networks to come. We’re not just talking about multi-platform instant messaging here though, the OctroTalk client supports VoIP over GPRS, EDGE, CDMA, Wifi and even a bluetooth data connection! The app also supports P2P file transfers, encrypted connections to Google Talk and plenty more. A few additional highlights:
- Always on connected to Google Talk / Jabber with MSN, AIM, ICQ and Yahoo transports
- Complete VOIP product. Access to PSTN.
- Supports Low Bandwidth Codec (even works with EDGE/GPRS/CDMA).
- Streamlined UI. Optimized for one-handed operation. Today Screen / Home Screen integration.
- Extremely fast P2P file transfer. Quick picture messaging.
- Low CPU usage. Only VOIP product that works on Treo 700w (300 MHz processor).
- Message Archiving in your Gmail Account.
- Access your computer remotely.
- Support for group chat / conferencing. OctroTalk lets you create / join Jabber conference rooms.
Oh, and did we mention that OctroTalk is 100% free? For the time being at least, Octro makes their solution available as a free beta although they do plan to implement a fee structure at some point. Expect a host of functionality to remain free though, with select features available for addition at a premium. For the time being, we’re not sure that we can think of any other mobile IM option this feature-rich; freeware or payware.
[Thanks Jim]
Hmmm Gotta love Marketing Departments’ photoshop… Windows Mobile on a Treo 650…
Permalink | Reply
But no BlackBerry support?
Permalink | Reply
Another problem I had was that it created additional clients as in yourim@aol.octotalk.com (or something similar) in addition to the yourim@aol.com, if they fixed that then maybe a good one to use.
Permalink | Reply
I also had the extra contacts issue with an older version of the beta, back when it required the use of a Google Talk account and then if you wanted to piggyback other IM accounts like AIM, it made a new contact in your Google Talk account for every single buddy on your AIM buddy list of “(screen name)@aim1.octro.net”.
This issue was solved in later versions where you could register an octro.net Jabber account and piggyback AIM accounts on that. But it left the whole AIM buddy list worth of contacts in my Gmail address book. I had to go back and delete all of those contacts manually unless I wanted every single one to be a possibility for Gmail’s auto-complete of email addresses when composing messages.
So if you download this, I highly recommend using the “create new @octro.net account” when setting it up for the first time. That should save you from having a whole bunch of extraneous contacts filling up your Gmail.
Permalink | Reply
But how did their amazing devs whip up a windows mobile 650? I’ll take one.
Permalink | Reply
I’m not seeing the Palm support on their site. What gives?
Permalink | Reply
BGR is just getting this NOW? It’s been around for a really long time, and quite a while before I initially found it. But when I found it, I found it to be crap.
It does it’s job, but incredibly cheaply.
I recommend Palringo (palringo.com) which is and always will be free. Does everything except allow file transfer of non-audio and non-pictures. But it’s great otherwise.
Permalink | Reply
I would also recommend fring which is just about the same as parlingo and octro.
Permalink | Reply
Octrotalk ran my battery down much quicker than fring or palringo, I use palringo because Fring adds a signature line to all of your messages which takes up too much space on the conversations…
Permalink | Reply
OctroTalk 2.0 for Windows Mobile has real time Mobile Video Conferencing and video streaming. Currently the front camera support is for Samsung Blackjack, and not for HTC phones.
Permalink | Reply
OctroTalk for Symbian S60 3rd edition phones also has VoIP using your own SIP provider, besides read time mobile video conferencing and video streaming to web. Download http://www.octro.com
Permalink | Reply
Any chance this would work with a Samsung i900 Omnia?
Permalink | Reply
Sure, it does work on Samsung i900. The Windows Mobile version has P2P VOIP and Video conferencing, but SIP is not yet available.
Download from http://www.octro.com/
Permalink | Reply