The Friend View project was moved to the Beta Labs "Archived" section (http://betalabs.nokia.com/betas/archived) on September 2, 2009. It will be discontinued (shut down) on September 30, 2009.

Looks like FriendView is done.. not a huge surprise but I'm sure that the technology and reserach findings will live on in other apps and services conceived by Nokia Labs.

I was a short-time user of FriendView myself, which was provided to me some time ago on a Nokia device used for testing purposes. The app enabled users to see contacts on a very nice map UI and communicate in a Twitter-ish manner... it was enjoyable although not terribly addictive (apparently).

This message came from Nokia Labs to existing users... If you still want to share your location, you can now lifecast where you are and what you are up to with your Facebook friends using Ovi. Learn more and start sharing your memorable moments with others by downloading the widget for your Nokia N97 from Nokia Beta Labs.

More about FriendView at http://betalabs.nokia.com/betas/view/nokia-friend-view

From a previous article about FriendView

I took the previous FriendView posting one step further and put the application to the test while I stepped out for a coffee. Check out some first comments and images from testing the application live using a Nokia N82 device… enjoy! FriendView enables me to connect with some friends (most of who’m I’m finding via Jaiku) then we can share locations, notes, etc… think of a map-based twitter although a little more personal! The app has a great UI and very appealing maps… loads of fun too! Check out this micro-review of FriendView over on the LBSzone