Nimbuzz adds Talk to its Beta

I've wrote about Nimbuzz some months ago:

A company called Nimbuzz has launched a free program that you can install in a few seconds in your Java-enabled mobile phone, allowing you to chat with your buddies.
It uses the data connection available on your mobile phone - GPRS or UMTS - so as soon as you have a flat fee you don't have to pay any extra money to use it.
You can also interact with MSN and GTalk users, and presents an interesting idea with its "Buzz" feature. Graphics is good.

Now Nimbuzz adds the Talk feature, allowing users to place free or local-rated calls. Here's the report from MobileCrunch.

Some point I'd like to comment:
1) Call setup
2) Integration with phone address book
3) Buzz
4) Phones and national availability

1) The call setup is quite complicated, and could be improved:

The experience in placing and receiving these calls is quite good. From a mobile handset you simply open the Nimbuzz application, select the contact you wish to call and select call. The application then asks if you wish to dial an 800# (you should say yes). It then tells you that it is setting up the call. Simultaneously, the person you are calling will receive a message that you are trying to call them. If they accept they too will get a dialog requesting permission for the phone to dial an 800#. (they should also say yes). Provided both parties say yes the call will be connected and you should be able to converse with your friend anywhere they happen to be (well, at least in thirty countries currently) for free.

2) The integration with the native phone address book could be a great benefit:

[...] the key to making it really disruptive is if a sufficient mass of users adopts this solution so that most people on your contact list can be called using Nimbuzz. To facilitate this one suggestion I have for the company is to figure out how to integrate the phone’s native contact list into the app.

3) More than low rates calls and IM, the feature I like the most is the BUZZ:

When you BUZZ a Nimbuzz buddy, his or her mobile phone will ring once or twice with the Nimbuzz ID displayed. With this trigger you get them online, ready to chat or read your message!

It's an easy way to notify your contacts about your status, hence a good example of presence on mobile phones. The interoperation with GTalk will be one of the main thrusts for its use, in my opinion.

4) Nimbuzz is Java based so runs on almost every mobile phone. Interesting the web version: it's limited in its features but it doesn't require any installation. The service is available in Italy, so I'll try it on a Nokia E61.


Technorati Tags: Giacomo Vacca, Nimbuzz