Instango is a Jabber/XMPP compatible instant messaging client for modern smartphones and PDAs supporting Java (MIDP 2.0). It allows you to use Jabber, GoogleTalk, ICQ, AIM and MSN instant messaging right on your phone using your 3G, WLAN or GPRS connection.
As smartphones become more and more powerful we felt there was a need for a more feature-rich messaging application that would meet the capabilities of these next generation phones. Instango has been created with the following primary targets in mind:
- Reliability. This means instango automatically tries to reconnect when network coverage recovers after a temporary loss. Should everything else fail instango notifies the customer of a connectivity loss to make sure the user will not be unreachable for an extended period of time without knowledge.
- Low Bandwidth Consumption. Instango uses a proxy server to connect to a Jabber service. Using this approach minimizes traffic considerably. Compared to a traffic usage of approximately 500KB/day using one of the major instant messaging services (even while being idle all day long with only an average number of contacts) instango can be tuned to use less than 50KB/day.
- Intelligent Notification Options. Instango makes notification options more intelligent. Most mobile instant messaging clients only allow for a all-or-nothing notification option, thus beeping or vibrating on every new incoming message. In contrast to this instango allows for beeps/vibrations/LED flashing (on Nokia E61) on first new message only, suppressing notifications for active chat, repeating notifications while message is unread etc.
Download instango:
- This is the instango client application. Install on any MIDP 2.0 compliant phone. Instango (.jad file) Version 0.36.52 (MIDP 2.0) Download instango client
- Instango Light Server Version 0.1 (Nokia E61 only) Instango Light Server has to be installed and run on Nokia E61 phones in order to use the LED notification function. Please run the Instango Light Server after every reboot of your phone. Running Instango Light Server will not produce any output or show any messages, this is normal. Download instango Light Server
How to get a jabber.instango.com account
In order to use the instango messenger client you will need an account with a Jabber service.
The instango messenger client does not provide any means for registering new jabber accounts or configuring ICQ/AIM/MSN transports. As this usually is only a one-time task we think this is only a small price for the benefit of saving memory and keeping the mobile phone client easy and functional.
We recommend PSI as the desktop jabber client. You can download it at www.psi-im.org. The following tutorial will show you how to set up a Jabber account using PSI.
After installing PSI, simply start it. Choose ‘Account Setup’ from the main menu.
Then select ‘Add’ to add a new account.
Now choose a name for your account. This is an arbitrary name that will be shown in the contact list of PSI only.
Now choose your Jabber id. The Jabber id consists of a username and a host name. When using the instango Jabber service the host name ist jabber.instango.com. When using a different Jabber service this host name will differ.
Enter the password you would like to use to authenticate with that jabber service and click ‘Register’.
To go online with this account right click on it and select ‘Status’ / ‘Online’. You may now add other jabber users by selecting ‘Add Contact’ from the main menu.
How to set up ICQ/AIM/MSN with jabber.instango.com
Jabber is an open protocol that allow interoperability with other instant messaging through so-called transports that may be provided by your Jabber service.
When using our own Jabber service jabber.instango.com you may add an ICQ, AIM or MSN account to your Jabber account. You will then be able to see who of your ICQ/AIM/MSN contacts is online and send/receive messages right from the instango mobile phone client.
You will need a desktop jabber client (i.e. PSI www.psi-im.org) in order to set up a ICQ/AIM/MSN transport.
The following tutorial will show you how to set up an ICQ account using PSI and jabber.instango.com. You will need an account on instango.jabber.com and an ICQ account. If you know how to set up ICQ seting up AIM or MSN is very easy. The steps are the same.
Open PSI and go online using your jabber.instango.com id. Then select ‘Service Discovery’ from the main menu.
You will be presented with a list of available transports on this Jabber service. These are ICQ, AIM and MSN on jabber.instango.com. Right click on the ICQ transport and choose ‘Register’.
You will be asked for your ICQ number and password. Enter them and click Register.
Your ICQ account is now succesfully set up for your instango Jabber account. You will now see the transport itself as a contact in the PSI contact list and shortly after all your ICQ contacts will show up. (Only ICQ numbers, not names, will show up. This is a limitation of the ICQ transport). You will have to select every single contact and acknowledge them.
You will now see whenever one of your ICQ contacts goes only and may send and receive messages to/from your ICQ contacts. When using your Jabber account on the instango mobile phone client, all your ICQ contacts will be visible.
How to connect to GoogleTalk
Connecting using your existing GoogleTalk account is very simple. Simply enter yourusername@gmail.com (or yourusername@googlemail.com for newer accounts) as your Jabber ID. Enter the GoogleTalk account password as the password and connect.
fring™ is a mobile internet service & community that enables you to access & interact with your social networks on-the-go, make free calls and live chat with all your fring, Skype®, MSN® Messenger, Google Talk™, ICQ, SIP, Twitter, Yahoo!™ and AIM®* friends using your handset’s internet connection rather than costly cellular airtime minutes.
