Thanks to the chaps and chapettes at Nokia Beta Labs we now have a Windows Vista Gadget to view phone and send text messages from your PC desktop. Handy for discreetly reading and sending text messages without reaching for, or fiddling with, your blower.
Judgement time…
One of the new Windows Vista OS features is the customisable desktop Gadget sidebar that displays handy applets. These Gadgets range from clocks and calculators to RSS feeds or stocks and share updates and beyond with many more available online. Now, Nokia has decided to gatecrash this party with its very own Text Messenger Gadget.
This free and simple applet lets you read, reply and send text messages sent to your Nokia phone from the comfort of your desktop without having to handle your handset.
Before you start, obviously make sure your PC runs Windows Vista OS and you have installed Nokia PC Suite 6.85 or later. Set-up procedure is all pretty straight forward and once the app has downloaded you can add it to your desktop by clicking on the Windows Sidebar icon located in the Start-up bar in the bottom right hand corner of your screen.
Once your phone has synched with PC Suite (we hooked up a Nokia N95 8GB) your message inbox will appear automatically in the Gadget window.
The Text Messenger is also quite adaptable to your viewing needs. Sidebar orientation will let you view three text messages at a time but if you want a larger footprint you can drag and drop the Gadget from the sidebar to the desktop and view up to five text messages. Newer messages will, of course be displayed first and messages received on our N95 phone popped up instantly on the desktop.
The biggest boon is the ability to reply or send text from your PC. Having a QWERTY keyboard at your disposal speeds up proceedings, as well as improving punctuation, and it delves into your Outlook contacts when prepping a fresh message.
Apart from a few bugs and hitches the Beta Text Messenger version generally worked well. It neatly integrates text messaging into your desktop but really shines if you frequent an office where work rate is monitored Big Brother style and playing with your phone is frowned upon by your boss.