Try Google’s new Hangouts app now

By Christian Zibreg on May 16, 2013

Previously code-named Babel, Google yesterday announced its new cross-platform unified messaging product called Hangouts. Shortly after, the software surfaced on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play store for Android.

In replacing Google Talk, Hangouts supports one-on-one and group chatting across desktop, Android and Apple devices and includes photos, emoji, and video calls.

In a nutshell, the app integrates messaging from Google’s GTalk, Google+ Messenger, Hangouts and Voice products. But that’s just scratching the surface as Google obviously has big plans with the product… Read More

 

Viber hits desktop, iOS app gains video chat, live call transfer, new stickers and more

By Christian Zibreg on May 7, 2013

Viber, the popular instant messaging service and WhatsApp’s chief rival, has fallen behind a bit in the past year or so. Not only did WhatsApp take the lead – the service claims to handle an astounding eighteen billion messages every day – but the search monster Google is getting ready to unify its many chat services under a new Bable IM brand.

Small wonder then that Viber in a major move on Tuesday announced a brand new desktop application for Mac and Windows PCs. Available as a free download from the Viber’s web site, Viber for Mac lets you send free messages as well as make free calls to other Viber users.

The much-welcomed software release now enables one to keep their communication in sync across mobile and desktop devices because in addition to desktop, Viber is now available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Nokia and Bada platforms.

Moreover, Viber – which was founded by American-Israeli entrepreneur Talmon Marco – has revamped its mobile iOS/Android client with video messages, an improved voice engine said to help improve call quality and lots more. Go past the fold for an introductory video and more tidbits… Read More

 

Facebook Messenger updated with Stickers, swipe-to-delete

By Christian Zibreg on May 6, 2013

The social networking giant Facebook today issued an update to its standalone Messenger app for the iPhone and iPod touch. Facebook Messenger version 2.4, available now, has brought out the popular Stickers feature that was rolled out nearly a month ago in the major Facebook iOS client update. And if Stickers are getting on your nerves, perhaps the reappearance of the swipe-to-delete functionality is just what you needed all along? I’ve included a few more tidbits right below… Read More

 

Google ostensibly close to buying WhatsApp for $1 billion

By Christian Zibreg on Apr 7, 2013

WhatsApp, the cross-platform instant messaging application for smartphones, is rumored to be close to negotiating a landmark acquisition deal with Google. Sources reportedly close to the negotiations claim the Internet giant is considering dropping a whopping one billion dollars on the popular service that as of March 2013 had a cool 200 million users, a hundred million ones on Android alone.

The report ties nicely with talk of a new instant messaging brand from Google called Babble, and even more so given Facebook with its new Home UI layer for select Android devices is basically encouraging its one billion users to use its Messenger service right from their Lock screen or from whichever app they happen to be using at any give moment… Read More

 

Two years later, DEA learns the government can’t break into Apple’s iMessage

By Christian Zibreg on Apr 4, 2013

Apple’s iMessage platform has gone through its share of teething problems, ranging from issues related to iOS devices continuing to send and receive messages, even after being remotely wiped and having their SIM cards deactivated, to iOS saving deleted iMessage attachments to a recent exploit which involved denial of service attacks leading to a series of spam messages crashing the stock iOS Messages app. Although unpleasant and worrying, these problems are mostly localized.

When it comes to government surveillance, however, iMessage is bullet proof and the agile government, of course, has only recently become aware of this. According to an internal document from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), instant messages exchanged between iOS users through the iMessage platform are “impossible to intercept” due to strong iCloud encryption… Read More

 

iMessage beware, Google Babble is coming

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 18, 2013

The Internet giant Google, reportedly adamant to solve its instant messaging conundrum, is working on consolidating its many chat services and folding them under a new brand name – Google Babble. Not sure whether Babble is just a code-name, but I’d definitely chose a different moniker because the term ‘babble’ doesn’t just denote chatter, it also means “to utter a meaningless confusion of words” and “talk foolishly or idly”.

Be that as it may, a new report Monday claims knowledge of an all-new IM solution from Google designed around organizing chats by conversation rather than by people, no matter what chat service they happen to be using. It’s said to support video, audio, file transfers and threaded conversations across all the existing services. Go right past the break for more tidbits… Read More

 

Facebook Messenger improved with updates to group chats

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 6, 2013

Facebook has just updated its Messenger iOS app with a few new features and “other improvements and bug fixes.” The new Facebook Messenger version 2.3 is all about enhancements to group conversations, says the social networking behemoth. It contains one feature I’ve been yearning for ever since the program’s debut on the iPhone: you can finally name a group by tapping on the top of your active conversation.

And just like Facebook’s main iOS client (and a growing number of other third-party apps for the Apple platform, for that matter), you can now get to your active group conversations by swipe left, which reveals them in your sidebar. I’ve included a few screenies along with other nice tweaks right after the break… Read More

 

Facebook launches free or discounted Messenger access in 14 countries

By Christian Zibreg on Feb 25, 2013

Facebook on Sunday announced a new promotion that will allow users of Messenger for iOS and Android to exchange instant messages for free or at heavily discounted data rates in select international markets. Partnering with more than eighteen operators in fourteen international markets, the social networking giant said Facebook for Every Phone, basically a bare-bone service for feature phones that is now optimized for chat, is also included in this promotion.

The move arrives just after the company flipped the switch on the in-app VoIP calling feature in its mobile client for iOS and Android devices. Facebook first rolled out VoIP calling in Canada earlier this year, and some parts of the US, via the Messenger app… Read More

 

Viber gains emoticons, locations, stickers and group conversations with up to 40 participants

By Christian Zibreg on Dec 18, 2012

Viber, the popular IM and VoIP software for smartphones, joins a rash of holiday updates by releasing a new version of its iPhone and iPod touch client. Viber version 3.2, now available free from the App Store, makes text messaging more fun by giving you the ability to share stickers with friends and enrich your communication with emoticons. Also new is the enhanced group messaging feature supporting group conversations with up to 40 participants. You can also share locations in messages and the app is now optimized for the iPhone 5′s taller display and plays nicely with iOS 6… Read More

 

Popular Verbs IM Client Goes Free in the App Store Today Only

By Zech TesfaYohannes on Dec 9, 2011

Verbs, one of the best IM clients in the App Store, has gone free for today only. This means that you can download Verbs for free within the next 24 hours instead of the usual $2.99.

You can also get an in-app purchase of Verbs Pro for $4.99, which allows you to stay online with iOS multitasking for up to 7 days. Not only that, but the app is universal, and has one of the best iPad interfaces to date. Read More

 

AOL Releases Redesigned AIM iPhone App With New Features Galore

By Oliver Haslam on Nov 16, 2011

AOL’s AIM messaging system is one of the most popular out there, but it hasn’t really felt the AOL love of late. With clunky apps across all platforms and something of an identity crisis, AIM has become the established protocol that third-party apps have made a living out of supporting.

Now, AOL is seeking to give AIM some fresh paint, and has released details on its new apps, as well as making some of them available right now. One of those apps is now available for the iPhone via the App Store in both free, ad-supported and paid versions… Read More