Why I Don’t Like Nokia’s Friend View

December 15th, 2008 • Mark Guim • Filed Under •

I already have Twitter, Jaiku, and Facebook. So why should I use Nokia’s Friend View? According to Nokia’s overview, it is a location and micro-blogging service that helps you stay in touch with your close friends. My problem with that is that my most of close friends don’t have Nokia handsets.

Here’s a video of Friend View and how it works.

Most of my close friends are on Facebook and I notice that status updates are now frequently updated via mobile devices. My friends let me know what they’re doing using any phone.

On the other hand, I use Jaiku and Twitter to connect with other Nokia bloggers and readers. They are especially great sources for getting topic ideas. I don’t expect any of my close friends to be on Jaiku, but I am starting to notice a few slowly join Twitter!

So why Friend View? The only way it will be useful to me is that if my friends all have Nokia phones with GPS. I’ve convinced a few to get Nokia Nseries phones but really not enough people for the app to be useful to me.

Do you see the same problem as me or have you been enjoying Friend View with your friends?

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  • So far the only use i have found is for the S60 meetups. Should be interesting to watch a bunch of dots converge on the store.
  • To me, the best service for that kind of things is BrightKite

    I highly recommend you to try it ( its free ). It kinda combines Twitter and geolocalisation but misses an S60 client
  • Andrew
    I agree with you here..but only from the view of someone living in the US. most of my friend's do not use Nokia phones....they mostly view Nokia as a cheap phone...actually most Americans think Nokias are cheap handsets that are given away for free due to the lack of subsidization on their higher end phones....and nobody here seems to understand the concept of buying an unlocked phone over here....I've tried to convince my friends but they're all goo goo gah gah over the iphone thinking its the best thing since slice bread....

    Now going back to the actual application...I don't even like the idea of my friends, especially my girlfriend knowing my exact location (not that I am doing anything unfaithful here)...just that if I don't feel like hanging out or going somewhere (we all have those days), I don't want my friends being able to track me down...
  • Exactly the same problem. I also noticed a correlation between having friendview and not friends to view and vice-versa. Usually people using friendview don't have any real friends :D
  • I share the same point of view as you. Nokia should be happy because it's the only manufacture in the world that creates a lof of services like this one (and Ovi, etc etc) but it is just "ignored" by the entire world.
    One of the reasons is that they make no publicity about any services, if you go to any Nokia (of your country) you never see anything talking about X service Nokia just launched.. I got surprised when I saw an ad about Ovi! lol

    But the major is that all these services are only available to the N-series.. Is it so difficult to get that people who use a E-series device is also looking for multimedia stuff??! (LIKE ME!)
  • Phite
    I see the benefits in the applications. Like if you're travelling somewhere or just hanging out in the city with nothing important to do - like flagging yourself that you're available for coffee or something. And I read somewhere that they're also trying to aim this(or another iteration) to business users as well in the future. Finding a collegue withing the office, available tagged resources.

    I haven't tried to application (as my S60 phone was stolen/lost [don't know, I was drunk] in NY, but the system should be a bit similar to Facebook status feature: people broadcast their status at their will...and you'll receive it even if you don't broadcast it.
    I agree that this service is a bit exclusive becuase of the need to have S60 phone. So, integration to Facebook would be neat: ppl without a S60 could enjoy the some of the benefits of "So-Lo", and perhaps even build up the desire to have one themselves.
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