EXCLUSIVE: Trillian Astra Preview

Scott Werndorfer and the crew over at Cerulean Studios tipped their hat to the BigBlueBall with a preview of their latest creation: Trillian Astra. Looking over the long list of features -- and performance improvements -- I'm impressed. Here are some highlights:

Performance

• Loads skins up to 100% faster than Trillian 3.1
• Uses 5 MB less memory
• Faster redraw times (important if you have lots of contacts)

Interoperability

• A dedicated Google Talk plug-in, separating it from the Jabber plug-in for improved Google Talk support
• MySpace IM connectivity -- by popular request
• Enhanced file transfers, including easier multiple file transfers
• More complete status message compatibility

New Astra Features

• 'Portable' contact list. Your contacts are downloaded from the server, meaning you can run Trillian Astra from any computer and your contact list will always be complete and up-to-date
• One account, multiple networks. Hand-out a unified Trillian Astra account and people can contact you on any of the networks you use

Web

• Like MeeboMe, Trillian Astra provides a web client for 'no-download' access to IM.
• Like Meetro, Trillian Astra allows you to share your geo-location information -- fun for mobile users looking to find friends nearby.
• Online status indicator. Share your status with anyone on your blog, at MySpace or in a forum signature, regardless of which IM network(s) you use.
• Widgets - share your Flickr photostream, or your current playing song, or get the weather for your contacts.

Message Windows

• Improved image sharing
• "Buzz" compatibility (for those of you who live that feature on WLM and Yahoo! Messenger).
• Handwriting support for Tablet PCs
• Local time zone info for your contacts

Contact List

• New ways of viewing your contacts
• Dynamic list height -- your contact list can be configured to automatically expand to show all visible contacts

As many of you know, I've been a big fan of Trillian since it's first beta. I still use Trillian 3.1 regularly, but in addition to many of the native IM programs. My biggest complaint is the intial load time. If Astra delivers on this front, that alone will be reason for me to upgrade.

So how do you get Trillian Astra? Sadly, Trillian Astra is still not available for download, unless your one of the lucky few selected as an alpha tester. Werndorfer says they are opening up the testing to more people as quickly as they can ensure stability and scalability.

Check out the details, a Flash demo and screenshots at Trillian Astra