Preview Yahoo! Messenger 10
August 24, 2009 by Jeff Hester
Filed under Yahoo! Messenger
Yahoo today announced availability of the Yahoo! Messenger 10 beta. What’s in the new beta? High-quality video calls, a “Y! Updates” view of your contact list that turns Messenger into a Twitter stream, new ways to sort your contacts and support for 16 different languages.
High-Quality Video Calls
They have revamped the one-to-one video calls, building it right into the chat window, improving the video quality and synchronizing the audio with the video. You can swap window positions (between your preview and the person you are viewing), display both windows side-by-side, and put the call on mute or hold.
There are some caveats. The new video call requires both parties to be running Yahoo! Messenger 10, and the changes don’t apply to one-to-many webcam broadcasting.
Y! Updates View
The new Y! Updates view of your contacts is more interesting to me, as it is a unique way of displaying your contacts, sorted in a live stream of updates that will be familiar to Facebook and Twitter users. The most recent updates will appear at the “top” of the contact list. Updates can come from Twitter, Last.fm, Yahoo! Buzz, Flickr, nearly 20 non-Yahoo web sites, and (of course) Y! Messenger status updates.
Why is this interesting? Yahoo is incorporating Twitter and co-opting the real-time update stream in way that other IMs have not quite done. Other IM programs like Digsby and Trillian Astra allow you to see updates from Twitter, but they display them as pop-up alerts, not as a view of your contacts. By turning the contact list model into a real-time stream sorted by the latest updates, Yahoo has transformed the contact list into something more dynamic and engaging.
The features are interesting, but keep in mind that this is still beta software and there probably are bugs. If that puts you off, stick to version 9.
Resources
IMBooster Launches Beta for AIM
July 23, 2009 by Cristina Stoica
Filed under AIM
IMBooster launches IMBooster Beta for AIM. After designing IMBooster for Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger, its creators bring forward the latest version, AIM-compatible. All the emoticons, winks, display pictures and text decorations are now available for AIM users as well.
- AIM users can now send emoticons or create their own with the Make your emoticons feature within IMBooster. Webcam required for this feature.
- AIM users can also send wink pranks in order to scare their chat partners. Some pranks include: Virus shutdown, Multiple pop-ups, Computer screen bug and others.
- Display pictures are animated and react to key strokes. The purpose of this feature is to offer more expressivity when chatting.
- AIM users can also watch TV broadcasted online by sharing the view in a small window.
IMBooster is still a Beta version so the creators are now looking for helpful people to notice any strange behavior. More info can be found on their Beta testing website: http://beta.iminent.com/
Trillian for iPhone Screenshots
July 2, 2009 by Jeff Hester
Filed under iPhone
Cerulean Studios has begun beta testing Trillian for the iPhone, and BigBlueBall has new screenshots.
The closed beta began tonight, and requires the iPhone OS 3.0. I’ve been running this Trillian beta on my year-old iPhone 3G for less than an hour, and I’m already impressed.
Trillian for iPhone allows you to swipe to switch between open chats. Like the Trillian Astra web client which is now in public beta testing, this retains the groups you have already setup for your Trillian account and keeps them in sync.
Of course, it supports push notification so you can appear signed in even after you close the app (it’s configurable) and receive incoming instant messages. If you want to reply, it automatically launches Trillian and restores your chats.
Trillian for iPhone integrates with your iPhone camera, allowing you to take and send photos to your contacts, or to use it to create a new avatar or buddy icon.
Currently, there is no file transfer capability (other than for photos) and emoticons appear as plain text.
Being a beta, it’s still a little buggy. I tried sending a second photo and it crashed on me. Starting it back up I tried again, and it went through just fine.
Cerulean Studios has left the door open to add a few small enhancements before the launch this (apart from fixing any bugs found).
If you’re interested in signing up for the Trillian for iPhone beta, you can learn more here. They currently aren’t accepting any new testers, but that will change as they get closer to launch.
If you already use Trillian and have an iPhone, this could be an IM worth getting… when it becomes available. There is no word yet on when it will be ready for submittal to the iPhone App directory, or what the pricing will be.
Screenshots
AOL Releases AIM 6.9 Beta 3
March 17, 2009 by Jeff Hester
Filed under AIM
AOL has released a new beta version of their venerable AOL Instant Messenger program. The AIM 6.9 Beta 3 sports new icons, new design, a return to the “running man” logo and integration with Bebo profiles.
And — hold onto your seats — you now have the option to display emoticons as text!
The new look is an improvement, but still lags behind WLM and Yahoo! Messenger. They key development with this version seems to be tighter integration with Bebo.
Useful Links
ICQ Beta for Windows Mobile
March 14, 2009 by Jeff Hester
Filed under Windows Mobile
AOL announced an open beta of a new Windows Mobile application called ICQ Mobile.
ICQ Mobile brings much of the functionality of their desktop app to your Windows Mobile device.
Device Support
ICQ for Windows Mobile supports devices with Windows Mobile 5, Windows Mobile 6, and Windows Mobile 6.1 operating systems, including:
- T-Mobile Dash and Wing
- Sprint HTC Touch and Diamond
- AT&T Samsung Blackjack II and Epix
- Verizon Wireless XV6800 and XV6900
- Sprint Samsung Ace
- AT&T Pantech Duo and Matrix Pro
- Motorola Q
- Most Palm Treo’s
Why ICQ?
AOL’s decision to create ICQ Mobile has some people scratching their heads. ICQ is arguably the granddaddy of instant messaging, but has largely been passed over in favor of WLM, Yahoo! Messenger or even Facebook. ”ICQ? I haven’t used that in ages!” They are forgetting basic geography — the world is round. The mobile market is global, and ICQ still enjoys great popularity outside of North America.
You can check out the ICQ Mobile beta here.
Useful Links
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