Talkonaut is a free VoIP/IM client supporting Jabber, Google Talk, MSN, Yahoo, AIM and ICQ. (Skype support has also been added but is paid service at the time of this review). Talkonaut is supported across several mobile platforms ranging from Windows Mobile 5/6, J2ME with MIDP - 2.0 and symbian 60. Continue reading for a comprehensive review of Talkonaut on Nokia 5800.

Installation:

Talkonaut can be downloaded directly on to your 5800s by pointing your browsers to http://get.talkonaut.com

Installation link on Opera mini

Please note that the installation file (.sisx) is a massive 1.3 MB file and is best to download over wi-fi or from a pc.

Once the application is installed, the user is prompted to sign in with one of the following accounts:

login screen

One can register for a new talkonaut account to explore all the features of the application. The login screen looks something like this:

It can be seen that the password is not shown as asterisks when you are entering. But when you move to the next tab, the password is shown as asterisks as can be seen in the above snapshot. This may be a major cause of concern when you wish to use the application in areas of public scrutiny. You don't want the prying eyes to catch your password.

Features:

Talkonaut has an impressive set of features ranging from IM/group chat, avatars, smileys, SIP support, Wi-Fi roaming, file sharing and SIP support. It supports various IM networks like:

IM networks

Please note the absence of gtalk in this list. Due to some reason the talkonaut account was not including gtalk in the profile. The only way to incorporate gtalk was to log out from the talkonaut account and signing in with the google talk account by going back to the login screen.

The different options for calling a contact through Talkonaut are as under:

Call options

Smileys:

There have been a lot of complaints about 5800 lacking smiley support for texting. Talkonaut is one of the few IM clients to have incorporated full smiley support on 5800. One can chose from around 80 smileys  to spice up your chats right from your mobile:

smileys

IM/group Chat:

IM and group chat is as intuitive as its on a pc. Talkonaut has a default vibration alert for new pings and here are some screenshots from IM and group chat:

Chat windows: Left screen: conference , Right screen: IM chat

One can see the smileys in action in the above screenshot

Lets sum up the features of Talkonaut on 5800.

Pros:

1. A very easy to use IM/VoIP client
2. Support for smileys
3. Copy-past option for chats
4. Filesharing and Wi-Fi roaming supported

Cons:

1. Jabber platform not as famous and widely used as skype. Skype support is not free and hence VoIP options are very limited for the free version
2. Password is revealed on the screen as long as cursor is on the same tab
3. Cannot login to Google talk in the Talkonaut profile
4. Application not exactly optimised for finger touch use as most of the buttons are very small, calling for stylus use on some occassions

Verdict:

Talkonaut is a sturdy IM/VoIP client for 5800 with some welcome features like file sharing and smiley support. Prior to the release of Fring, Talkonaut used to feature as the top IM/VoIP client for 5800 but it lost the crown to Fring mainly for its skype support and intuitive user interface. However if you at home with a Jabber profile, Talkonaut is the IM/VoIP client for you and if you prefer skype, then Fring is IM/VoIP client to have on your 5800.