Palringo, the multiple account instant messaging client has received a new update for S60. The new version, v0.97.16 has notably the advantage of finally being Symbian Signed, hence you could download it and install it easily without any hassle. It also features a fresh new look and more intuitive UI, and is supposed to bring location-awareness into the application, you can download it from your browser by going to www.palringo.mobi.
I’ve played with Palringo before, on Windows Mobile and on S60, but found that even though the application is free, there are so many better offerings around. I re-downloaded Palringo today to give it one more chance, and found that even though the interface is more intuitive and easier to navigate, it still lacks major features that are provided by other free IM applications. I’ve used Fring, Talkonaut and Nimbuzz for a long time now, and all of them offer options that Palringo doesn’t have, like the simple emoticon support, or more IM accounts like Skype, or settings for the interface and the contacts list… I know I’m being rough here, but when another application offers way better functionality and is free, then there’s no reason for me to stick with your offer.
Location support on Palringo on the other hand intrigued me. I didn’t face Steve Litchfield’s issue of the app being stuck on scanning, on the contrary, I was immediately located which was nice. But the problem is that I didn’t know what to do with that location afterwards. Clicking on it only gave me an option to enable or disable location. I went through to the settings and discovered that I could set who sees and who doesn’t see my location, but still nothing I could actually *do* with that location info. Then I discovered by mistake that by clicking on a friend and choosing Properties, I could see their location. So this is it? If we both had Palringo, we could see each other’s location?! No map of all of my friends, no way to send them my location if they’re not on Palringo, nothing else?! I’m stunned.
I’m sorry to say this, but I’ll pass.
