InstantMessaging
Latest
Apollo IM does native AIM for the iPhone
IM capability is at or near the top of many (dare we say most?) smartphone users' lists of must-have features, so if anything, we're a little shocked it took this long for a native IM client for the iPhone to find its way into the public domain. Apollo IM is in the early stages of development at this point, buggy (by the developer's own admission) and capable of supporting AIM alone; future revisions, though, promise to deliver a full fledged product with support for the typical range of notifications and services. Click on to grab it if you dare![Via Boy Genius Report]
iPhone double header: First native IM client AND first native IRC released
Big news today on the iPhone development front. This morning brings the release of both a native instant messaging client and a native IRC client. Apollo IM just entered Version Negative 1, an early beta release. It is available as well via Installer.app. Apollo IM has been developed by "Arminius" and offers iPhone-native instant messaging capabilities. Future releases will support file transfer as well as MSN/Yahoo/Jabber/Gtalk support. "Pogi"'s iRCm provides a GUI-based Internet Relay Chat client for your iPhone. You can join channels, issue raw IRC commands and take part in conversations. iRCm is available for download at Google Code, and packages have been loaded for both Installer.app and PXL. Both applications have been developed with Shimmer/PXL, the iPhone auto-updates library. Shimmer allows iPhone code to "call home" and update themselves when new versions become available. Both developers are looking for feedback and plan to use this update feature to allow the program to keep growing via its installed base. If you're interested in developing for either application, pop over to Google Code and download the latest SVN. Both projects offer a great opportunity to get involved in open source.Thanks to Dylan Kenney%Gallery-6412%
Mattel's IM-Me offers up lame-o messaging, guards against predators
Brand new toys sure have been popping up everywhere of late, and now Mattel's hitting us up with another gizmo being showcased at the International Toy Fair. Presumably designed to latch onto the hard-earned dollars of paranoid mums who watch entirely too many of those "internet predator" spots, the Girl Tech IM-Me is a very restrictive wireless instant messaging system that relies on parental okays in order to operate. Aside from only allowing texts to be sent and received from parent-approved usernames, the gal can only use her purple and pink IM machine within range (read: in the house) of the USB dongle, which must be plugged into an internet connected PC. So while we still prefer PictoChat, we imagine this $64.99 device will sell like hotcakes when it lands this summer -- only to never be used by any halfway sane (and understandably rebellious) teenage daughter.[Via Gadgets-Weblog]
Skype w/video leaked, will destroy your Mac
According to a Skype developer, an old and unstable version of Skype for Mac has been leaked onto file sharing networks across the globe. If you spot this file, do not download it! "It is an internal unstable development version, and thus it is extremely buggy" and "it will destroy your contacts and other data". We wouldn't want that now would we?Since the Windows version of Skype gained video conferencing support in March, many Mac user have felt left behind and stuck with the non-video capable version of Skype. Fortunately, this warning also comes with some good news; Skype version 2.0 for the Mac is nearly ready for primetime. The screenshot of a video capable of Skype on the left of this post is the tantalizing proof.So, try and resist the temptation to go searching for a pre-release version that could potentially destroy your Mac, and wait a little longer for the official version. Remember what happened the last time someone bit the Apple?
The Availabot hates your mommy
This Availabot prototype, as the name implies, is a presence aware, instant messaging buddy-bot whose physical demeanor is meant to communicate the status of your little Internet friends. The Availabot stands erect when your buddy comes online and then drops to the table in a flaccid heap of despair when s/he goes away. The idea here, of course, is to show status in a "fun" and "physical" way. But unlike the cutsie wutsie Nabaztag, the Availabot can be made to look just like you and your creepy friend(s). Just think, a mini community of angry, exercising Sim dwarves guaranteed to haunt you in your dreams. Great.[Via Pasta & Vinegar]
Microsoft unveils unified communications platform
Microsoft has just announced a series of new products and upgrades to existing software which together will form a platform that promises to deliver unprecedented convergence among disparate communications technologies. Part of the "Office system 2007 wave of products," this combination of hardware and software will allow users to perform such tasks as checking their voicemail directly from Outlook or calling up an Exchange Server to have it email other participants of an impending meeting that they're going to be late. The move also sees Redmond making an even bigger push into Internet telephony in the form of the Office Communications Server 2007 package, which is a SIP-based platform that will allow seamless VoIP calling, videoconferencing, and instant messaging across a broad range of existing applications, services and devices, including the all-in-one Office Communicator 2007 -- available in desktop, web-based, and mobile flavors -- which just so happens to support voice, video, and chat as well. Finally, we'll see remote conferencing get a boost in the form of enhanced A/V capabilities and Office integration for Live Meeting, along with a new tool called RoundTable that employs a 360-degree camera for letting group web-conference participants view the entire remote team simultaneously. On the hardware side of things, Microsoft has partnered with HP and Motorola to provide support for the new platform, with HP delivering systems integration services and unspecified "enhanced products" and Moto throwing down compatible mobile devices and network equipment. While new versions of Exchange Server and Speech Server are on their way by the end of the year, the majority of the platform -- including IP desktop phones from Polycom, LG-Nortel, and Thomson to support the Office Communicator phone experience -- is not scheduled to roll out until sometime during Q2 of next year.[Via The New York Times]
