TomSoft

Short feedback on Yahoo!Go client for Serie60

January 6th, 2006

Review of Yahoo ! Go client for Symbian :

Yahoo just provided the ability to download their client on numerous serie60 handset.. So here are a few comments from usage point of view:

http://go.connect.yahoo.com/go/on_your_mobile

• First surprise, size: it’s huge, 1800kb……especially regarding the fact that it’s native code, and according to functionalities! And it seems that a lot of other stuff is downloaded at the first connection.
• Once installed, I had very rapidly an “out of memory error”, and I had to start the application again” (I am using a Nokia6680)
• What you can do: basically, provide an access to MyYahoo from a mobile. More concretely, this mean that:
  • Your address book is synchronized with your MyYahoo address book accoun
  • Your calendar is synchronized with your MyYahoo calendar account
  • You can read your Yahoo email (and being notified when an email is received)
  • You can send photo to your MyYahoo account
  • You can browse the same information than the MyYahoo pages: typically weather, quotes, rss feed you’ve subscribed, etc…
  • You can chat with others users
    • While in a chat session, you can send voice messages
    • While in a chat session, you can send photos
  • You can customize the phone with a yahoo skin (but does not seem that this skin can be updated).
• From a usability, there is some good things and some bad things:

• It’s a native symbian application. So no numerous security warning. An SMS is sent to identify yourself.
• Synchronisation works quite well with, and all the internal address book has been filled with my Yahoo contact base.
• But some of the menu yahoo categories (news, quotes, etc…) just open the web browser on the selected page. No way to browse off line for instance. Even worst, one page (stock quotes) you are asked again your password/id. But this might be more a bug.
• The photos album is managed by Yahoo! Photo (and unfortunately not by Flicker, ☺ ).

• The synchronisation is really useful, and it might be a sufficient reason to switch from one service (ex: msn) to another, especially for people who use more IM than Outlook!
• The link with the camera is also very nice! Might be an “mms killer”: why should a costly MMS to share my picture with others users.
• And lastly, the chat with picture and photo are really easy and convenient to use!

So it’s probably one of the first complete “WebToWireless” application.

Next challenge will be to put such application in the Java world. Not impossible, but will be hard o achieve the same level of integration with the rest of the phone.

wireless Yahoo Yahoo!go

Entry Filed under: Wireless, Yahoo