chat

Facebook's chat feature is a great way to have instant contact with your friends, but it's not always practical to stay logged in to the site all day long (ahem, such as while you're at work). Chit Chat for Facebook acts just like Facebook's own chat feature, but it lets you chat without using your Web browser.

The program's user interface is pretty self-explanatory. Once you sign in using your Facebook username and password, all of your friends who are available to chat appear as "online." Double clicking on a specific person introduces … Read more

Facebook today doubled down on its mobile efforts with a new mobile application that breaks out its messaging service into a single app.

Dubbed "Messenger," Facebook is making the app available for both Apple's iOS and Google's Android. Users can log in with their Facebook credentials to get access to existing chats and message threads from Facebook for interacting with them on the go. Included is group messaging, along with a component that lets users share photos and their location.

"The Messenger app is an extension of Facebook messages, so all your conversations are in … Read more

Now expanding to 38 new languages, Gmail's phone call feature has kicked in a slew of cheaper rates to more than 150 countries.

An alternative to Skype, Google's calling feature enables you to make free domestic and inexpensive international calls to any mobile phone or landline via Gmail Chat.

Launched almost a year ago, the feature racked up more than 1 million calls its first day and has continued to expand, most recently offering the ability to make multiple calls at the same time.

Now, Gmail calling has expanded again in a move designed to save its users … Read more

Skype has released the latest update to its online calling software for Windows, offering more options for Facebook users.

Officially out of beta since Wednesday, the latest Skype 5.5 for Windows lets you check which of your Facebook friends are online and available to chat, all without having to leave Skype. Simply clicking on the View menu in the Skype software and then choosing Facebook Friends shows you the list.

By clicking on and then closing the Skype Home screen, you can also update your Facebook status and scroll down to view your entire Facebook wall.

Beyond the Facebook … Read more

IM+ takes all the fuss out of mobile instant messaging by enabling you to connect to your Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, Facebook, and other IM accounts, all from a single application window. With its clean design and simple user interface, chatty folks on the go may wonder how they ever lived without it.

Under the Contacts tab, all of your contacts are compiled in a single list. That way, you don't have to bother with switching among accounts in order to chat. In fact, once you're on IM+, you should feel absolutely no distinction between the different … Read more

IM+ takes all the fuss out of mobile instant messaging by enabling you to connect to your Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, Facebook, and other IM accounts, all from a single application window. With its clean design and simple user interface, chatty folks on the go may wonder how they ever lived without it.

Under the Contacts tab, all of your contacts are compiled in a single list. That way, you don't have to bother with switching among accounts in order to chat. In fact, once you're on IM+, you should feel absolutely no distinction between the different … Read more

The official Skype app for Android lets you place voice calls to landlines, mobile numbers, or other Skype users. It also offers built-in SMS capabilities, instant messaging for chatting with your Skype connections, and for a select few supported devices, video calls.

Skype's user interface is incredibly clean and simple to use. The Home screen displays four icons to cover all your basic needs: Contacts, Recent, Call phones, Profile. Above the icons, there's a small bar where you can change your mood message (Skype's version of a status update). And at the very top, there's a … Read more

Microsoft this morning pushed Avatar Kinect out to Xbox 360 users with its $150 Kinect motion camera accessory.

The software, which was publicly unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at CES in January, tracks facial movements and applies them to the user's virtual representation onscreen. That means if your head is cocked, or your eyebrows are raised, those same motions get translated onscreen. The technology is bundled into the Avatar Kinect software, which serves as a casual chat room for up to eight people in one of 24 virtual scenes.

The new chat tool joins a handful of other … Read more

Imagine designing the user experience for Facebook, where even the slightest change has the potential to irritate millions of users. Not a job for the weak-minded.

Facebook recently altered the appearance of its chat feature for those viewing the site in a Web browser--and not everybody is happy about it. Previously, the simple chat system would show a list of online friends in a small box on the lower right side of the browser window. It was easy to use and unobtrusive.

In contrast, the new chat sidebar stretches from top to bottom on the right side of the window. The social area no longer is a small list of only those who are online, but rather a group of people the popular social-networking site thinks you'll want to speak to, regardless of whether they're online.

There is no option to edit the list of people in this area. If those predetermined "top" friends aren't online, the chat box has an option to send them a message. Online friends not on this list must be searched for manually, which is slightly frustrating. … Read more