Back in the early Pleistocene, when I was still a student, I worked after school for the company that invented the Mood Ring. This piece of jewellery changed colour according to the temperature of your finger, which, in turn, was said to indicate your mood and anxiety level. The idea was that by relaxing, you could both change the ring’s colour and improve your mood.

Since then, the Earth has cooled and Nokia Beta Labs has released Nokia Feel beta, a widget that is something like a modern-day Mood Ring for your Nokia device. You start by telling Nokia Feel what kind of mood you’re in. Then, based on your answer, the widget suggests appropriate actions you can take with your Nokia device.

As the developers themselves explain: ‘Most devices today are very rational to use. They offer a solution based on a need, when you know what you want to do. Nokia Feel helps you discover what you can do with your device in a more spontaneous way.’

To get started, tell Nokia Feel how you feel. You do this by selecting one mood from a list of eight moods (presented four at a time): bored, caring, creative, energetic, happy, hungry, lonely, or lost.

Next, depending on the mood you’ve selected, Nokia Feel will suggest three possible actions you can take with your Nokia device. Select an action, and the widget takes you to the appropriate app or function. Often times, these will include features or services that are supported by Nokia and Ovi.

For example, if you are in a happy mood, then the widget might suggest that you call somebody, see happy images, or browse the internet. If you select ‘call somebody’, then the widget will automatically open your phonebook. Select ‘see happy images’, and it opens your photo gallery. Select ‘browse the internet’, and Nokia Feel opens your web browser. Below, here are three choices offered when I told Nokia Feel I felt hungry:

But in fact, there are more than three possible actions for each mood. That’s because Nokia Feel shuffles among a larger group of options. For example, the first time I selected ‘bored’ as my mood, I was given these three options: go to Twitter, check for nearby events (via Nokia Maps), or draw a picture and share it.

Later, when I tried ‘bored’ again, this time I was given the options of learning something new, watching a video clip, or going for a walk and tracking my route. So if at first you don’t like the options, try, try again!

While some of the actions involve obvious functions, Nokia Feel also encourages you to try device functions you may have overlooked. For example, prior to testing Nokia Feel, I did not even know that my Nokia N97 had a drawing program! Live and learn.

I did experience one small glitch with Nokia Feel. According to the demo video, after being installed on a Nokia device, the widget should automatically display itself on the homescreen. But this did not happen in my case.

Instead, the Nokia Feel icon was visible only on the app screen. Not a big deal, however. I was able to get the icon on my homescreen in the standard way: Starting from the homescreen, select Options > Edit content > Options > Add content, then select ‘Feel’ from the list. You can see it below…the area that says ‘I feel…’

Also, it’s important to note that Nokia Feel is currently a beta release, not a final product. According to Nokia Beta Labs, the plan is to eventually preload this widget on selected Nokia devices.

But for now, you have an opportunity to test a beta release, suggest enhancements and fixes on the Nokia Beta feel discussion board, and generally explore both your moods and your Nokia device.

The Nokia Feel beta is available for free on Ovi Store, and it has been designed to run best on the Nokia N97 and Nokia N97 mini. Some issues have been reported with this app on other Nokia touch-enabled devices – more information is available online.

To learn more about Nokia Feel, you can watch this short demo video from Nokia Beta Labs:

Additional information is also available on this Nokia Beta Labs page. Try it, and your mood could soon become beta … I mean, better.