instant

Pidgin is a multi-service messenger app that lets you chat with users from MSN, AIM, Gmail, ICQ, and more, all from a single app. Users can keep their modern clients but also keep in touch with their old-school friends and family who just refuse to get off AOL Instant Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. It also supports lesser-known protocols like Jabber, MySpace, and Gadu-Gadu.

Installation was pretty straightforward: You'll be taken through a series of standard confirmations for install directories and then be introduced to an initial setup process to have your accounts synced up. Unfortunately, at the time of … Read more

Developers these days are obsessed with mobile apps, but a startup called Chorus.im hopes the Web will be its entree into a new instant-messaging market.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company is using various Web standards to try to build an IM service that works in people's browsers. The new generation of Web technologies for Web apps is often called HTML5. Although the company offers mobile apps for iOS and Android, too, the Web approach can be convenient since people can launch it just by pointing a browser at a Web site.

And indeed, that's how it … Read more

Intel wants to make its future "Haswell" chip better than past generations of silicon at gaming and announced tools to make this happen at the Game Developers Conference today.

The world's largest chipmaker announced tools, known as extensions, for software developers that allow Intel's 4th generation Intel Core, aka Haswell, to process demanding special effects.

The first of these extensions, called PixelSync, allows programmers to more realistically render smoke, hair, windows, foliage, fences, and other complex geometry and natural phenomena, according to Intel.

"The artists working on Grid2 have been requesting this type of effect … Read more

Late next year, as we're glued to our screens watching Netflix's newest original TV series, will the online-movie powerhouse somehow be tapping our bodies' electrical energy and selling it to evil machines?

If the credentials of the show's creators are any indication, that's a distinct possibility.

"Sense8," a sci-fi show Netflix describes as a "global tale of minds linked and souls hunted," is the brainchild of the Wachowskis -- aka sibling duo Andy and Lana Wachowski, the masterminds behind "The Matrix" movies. The 10-episode first season of "Sense8" will be available for streaming in late 2014, Netflix announced today.… Read more

A "Zombieland" TV series could rise from the grave on Amazon if enough Prime members give it the thumbs-up.

"Zombieland" is the 13th and latest original series to bite off a pilot on Amazon's Prime video service. Six other comedy pilots and six children's pilots will also air on Prime Instant Video and Lovefilm UK exclusively for paying subscribers. Viewers will be able to watch and review each pilot, helping decide which of them will score a full season's worth of episodes.

Amazon told CNET that the pilots are "coming soon" … Read more

Redbox Instant has made good on its promise to open its doors to the general public by spring. The video streaming service publicly launched in the U.S. today.

The new service is a joint venture between Verizon and Redbox that was first announced in February 2012. Redbox Instant will give new users unlimited streaming and four DVD credits for free for one month, according to the Web site. Once the month-long trial ends, the service will cost $8 per month.

Redbox Instant was rolled out in private beta in December, letting first-time users sign up for the service. It'… Read more

Now that it's wooed CBS for a whole slew of content, Amazon's moved on to Scripps and its popular Food Network and Travel Channel shows.

The online retail giant has struck a deal with Scripps Networks Interactive to stream past seasons of Scripps' most popular programming on Amazon's Prime Instant Video service.

This is the first time Scripps has partnered with a subscription service to stream its shows, according to a press release. Scripps' networks include HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel and Travel Channel. The shows include "Rachael Ray's Week in a Day,&… Read more

Back in the day when social media platforms didn't exist, there was nothing as spontaneous and fun as chatting with your friends online via instant messenger. If you find yourself trying to stay in touch with Yahoo friends and want to stick to the original and reliable IM, then Yahoo Messenger for Mac would be a good choice.

The user interface of this popular IM client looks neat and is quite functional. The seamless integration of Yahoo weather, news, and mail directly in the Yahoo Messenger for Mac will be much appreciated by the people in the Yahoo ecosystem, … Read more