So, I finally succumbed to temptation and decided to trade in my Nokia XPress Music 5800 for an iPhone. When I bought the 5800 it was as the result of a detailed “pound for pound” comparison with the iPhone and, for my needs at the time, the 5800 came out on top. Was the fact that I didn’t have to change networks to get this phone dominant in my decision making? Not really, but it was certainly a factor.

Some months later however, I find myself buying an iPod Touch. I have comics coming on the platform, I want to listen to podcasts in my car, etc. and I manage to make a case convincing enough (at least for me) that I need this device. And, all in all, it was a jolly good purchase. So good, in fact, that it made me wonder if had made a mistep with not picking up an iPhone in the first place.

Thankfully, O2’s exclusivity on iPhones in the UK came to end recently and you can now get the phone on the network of your choice without the hooplala of unlocking (or “jailbreaking”, as Apple folk like to have cool names for everything) the device.

Of course, if you signed your 18 month contract with Orange in blood, as I had to to obtain my shiny-at-the-time Nokia 5800, you might have a bit of a wait or a hellishly big bill ahead of you. Effectively, unless your contract is up, the only way that Orange will let you trade up to an iPhone is to start a new contract. Even if, like me, you’ve got more than a decade of faithful customership behind you. For shame, Orange, you might think. And you are probably right.

Giving the issue some thought, however, I realised that all I really wanted was iPhone apps and iPhone Safari browsing whilst I was out of range of any WiFi signals. There is lots of free WiFi out there, so this is a rare state really. If only I could use my Nokia 5800’s internet connectivity with my iPod Touch … somehow …

And, thus, McGuyver Time began.

First port of call was to see if I could use the Nokia’s internet connection over Bluetooth, as I can with my laptop if push comes to shove somewhere out in the winds. Since the iPod/iPhone OS 3.0 upgrade, the Bluetooth chip in the iPod Touch does work, but it seems curiously reluctant to connect to a mobile phone. I wonder why Apple

A little bit of Googling later, and it seems the BlueTooth chip has been crippled somewhat so that it will/can only connect to BlueTooth headphones, earpieces, and microphones. Neat for the podcaster “on the go” or someone who would prefer to look like a member of the Borg collective than appear to be using an iPod, but no use to me right now. What I need, is connectivity.

My Googling continued however, and that was when I discovered Joiku via a post on Gear Diary.

Joiku provide a piece of software for a range of handsets, including pretty much every recent Nokia model, that allows you to share your 3G internet connection via WiFi. WiFi which the iPod touch has in abudance. One quick download later, and the free version of “Joiku Spot” has turned my Nokia 5800 into a WiFi hotspot. One quick reconfigure of the iPod later, and it is connected, and I sent my first TweetDeck tweet from my iPod, to my phone and, from my phone, to the sweet sweet world of the Internet.

In theory, this will work for any device with WiFi. For a Nokia 5800 and an iPod Touch, I can confirm it does!

Want to try? These are the steps:

1. Get your phone out and use the phone’s browser to go to http://www.joiku.com/index.php
2. Click on “Joiku Spot Light”
3. Select your model of phone and click the download link
4. Sign up, or not, for their newsletter. Up to you and makes no difference.
5. Download the installer to your phone and install. On my Nokia, I just opted to “Open” the file and the phone did the rest.
6. Switch your phone off and on again (at least, I had to)
7. Go to your “Applications” and find the Joiku Spot app.
8. Agree to terms. Blah blah, normal stuff.
9. “Start” the Joiku Spot hotspot
10. Grab your iPod Touch and search for the new Joiku … (there will be a long unique name) … hotspot
11. Connect
12. Tweet, Browser, do whatever!

Right now I am in the testing phase with this and so it’s “reader of blog post beware”. Remember that your phone tarrif may not come with much inclusive internet usage, and just because you are on “WiFi” from your iPod, you will be consuming bandwidth via your phone. Equally, keep in mind that your phone is going to be pulling double duty, both 3G and WiFi connections running at once, so in terms of battery life “your mileage may vary”.

You should also keep in mind that, in the free version of this software, the hotspot is open and can be used by anyone. There is a premium version, for 9 euros, which can be secured. If the next 48 hours pan out, and I get some decent use out of Joiku without trashing my phone battery, they can expect to have a new customer.