In this review, I am going to check out the Psiloc BlueText. It’s an application that allows sending and receiving SMS text messages from a Desktop / Laptop PC. Of course, in addition to the phone, a PC with Bluetooth is required.
Review Conditions
I installed BlueText Version 1.00 for S60 3rd Edition on my Nokia E71, which is a S60 3rd Edition FP 1 device. The BlueText desktop software was installed in a Windows XP SP 2 PC.
Installation
Installation is very intuitive.
Upon installation in the Windows Desktop using the “Psiloc_BlueText_S603rd.exe” a BlueText Connection Wizard guides you through the steps to connect the computer with the mobile phone.
The Connection Wizard asked if I had BlueText installed on my mobile phone. When I selected “No”, I had 3 choices of installing BlueText – by downloading from the Internet using the mobile phone, using Nokia PC Suite or using Bluetooth.
Installation Wizard
I selected the Bluetooth option and enabled Bluetooth on my mobile. I also switched on Bluetooth on my desktop.
Windows’ Blue Tooth File transfer application opened up and sent the sisx file to my mobile phone as an SMS message. In my phone, I initiated installation by simply selecting the received Bluetooth message in the inbox.
Note: BlueText is only compatible with Microsoft and Widcomm Bluetooth drivers. I tried connecting via a D-Link Bluetooth dongle but the connection failed.
First View
The application should be enabled on the phone. The application can be running in the memory while other operations are performed.
A new icon is created in the Windows toolbar for the BlueText application.
Main Features
The BlueText has a simple set of features. The BlueText icon in the toolbar is used for all operations with the mobile phone. It is used to initiate pairing with the phone.
I could also unpair with the desktop from the phone and also disable the application itself in the phone.
Upon unpairing or disabling the application, the connectivity with the desktop is automatically deleted and a notification is shown to the user. Once unpaired or disabled, the connectivity can only be reestablished from the desktop.
Once the pairing is successful, new messages can be sent from the desktop and recent messages in the mobile’s inbox can be read on the desktop. Notifications appear on the desktop for new messages, pairing, etc. Notifications can also be disabled.
There is a help file that gives basic information for setting up the application and using it. I didn’t need to refer to the help for any reason at all. Psiloc could have provided a readme.txt that talked about the limitation of the application in that its only compatible with Microsoft and Widcomm Bluetooth drivers. I spent sometime struggling with the pairing using a D-Link Bluetooth dongle. I got this information on their download site.
Handling
BlueText is very elegant and simple to use. Pairing was very smooth and quick. The pairing of BlueText application with the mobile phone did not interfere with the pairing of the Nokia PC Suite with the phone. Both could function in parallel. I was able to read SMSs and also sync calendars and install applications on my PC simultaneously.
Weaknesses
I didn’t find weaknesses in the implementation. But there could be some improvements.
Only recent messages of the inbox are visible in the application. Other folders are not available. A feature I really wanted to see was grouping of all messages of a single conversation together. The application does not allow changing the window size while writing a new message or reading a long message. The timestamp of the messages is not also shown in the message window.
Conclusion
Psiloc’s BlueText is a simple and elegant application. Its easly to install and use.
But the Nokia Communication Center freely bundled with the Nokia PC Suite, is quite a handy application for the same purpose. It has a messaging application and I can view the messages in Inbox, draft and Sent folders too.
If you don’t want to install a big application like Nokia PC Suite, with all its bells and whistles, I would recommend BlueText as an excellent alternative. 3 out of 5 stars.
The executable is available at http://shop.psiloc.com/en/Application,262307,Psiloc+BlueText for USD 14.64 and for a 10 day trial.
