Uzzap is Smart Communications’ answer to Globe’s now defunct IM Evrywhr. It is an instant messenger that you can run on your mobile phone.
Smart, however, was wise enough to include that one feature which will guarantee at least a couple of days traffic overload: Yahoo Messenger. Yes, ladies & gentlemen, it can hook up with your Yahoo Messenger account, the one IM that we Filipinos can’t seem to do without.
It also has built-in chatrooms, and can integrate with your MSN messenger account.
Uzzap also has a PC client, which enables you to use it from your PC. Why you would use the PC client when your computer already has a bloated Yahoo Messenger client is beyond me. But it’s there, available for download, just in case you suddenly start growing fond of your Uzzap ID, you weirdo you.
There is something amazing with Uzzap that you usually don’t find in other mobile messengers: SMS integration.
You can set up your Uzzap account so that all offline messages sent to your Uzzap ID are automatically forwarded to your mobile phone via SMS.
(Take note that I said Uzzap ID, not your Yahoo or MSN ID. Anything sent to your Yahoo or MSN ID while you are offline is Yahoo’s and Microsoft’s business. Commenters, you have been warned.)
Charges
Uzzap is free for the time being. This means no internet charges until further notice.
So go ahead and chat all you want, grab all the text mates you can find, and do us a favor and refrain from using text spelling.
Uzzap mo me?
Download
You can download the Uzzap app from the Uzzap website. The best way to download it, however, is by sending a text message with the word UZZAP to 7272. This will automatically send you the download link to your phone.
This is a free download, and be thankful it is, because it is a whopping 915 kb file.
After installing the file, go to your list of apps, and click on the blurriest icon that you see. Now you’re ready to start Uzzaping.
Connect to your Yahoo & MSN accounts
To use Yahoo or MSN Messenger on Uzzap, go to the menu. Click on Instant Messaging (the one with the IM icon). Select Connect to Yahoo or Connect to MSN, enter your account details, and save. Your contacts should automatically be loaded into Uzzap.
Interface
If you’re having a hard time navigating your way around Uzzap, don’t fret: You are not alone.
To put it mildly, Uzzap is not the most user friendly app. It has redundant icons, an overload of textual instructions, menus in all the wrong places, and insists on using your last saved network connection (despite repeated attempts on setting it on manual).
But it’s Yahoo IM and SMS integration is enough to stifle the screams of frustration. Or at least for the time being.
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