messaging

When you don't want to talk to anyone

We all have days when we just don't want to talk to anyone, especially those office pests who think nothing of barging into our private sanctuary without warning. (You know who you are.) That's where the "Memo Motion Sensor" is indispensible.

This handy little gadget can record a 10-second message and play it back to whomever enters the room, informing them of your whereabouts, instructions or anything else you'd otherwise leave on a Post-It note that might or might not be seen, according to Coolest-Gadgets. Even an inspirational message, if you're so inclined.

It'… Read more

News roundup: Martha 2.0, Xbox does IM, Salesforce buys Koral

Martha Stewart goes 2.0. Martha Stewart's Web site has undergone a massive overhaul, combining photos, videos, and user forums to give it more of a community draw. Site creators apparently went through 15 years of archived content to re-index it for searching. Also updated are recipe pages, which now give you both the recipe for a dish and a video demonstrating how to prepare it.

Xbox Live and Windows Messenger buddies to merge. In next month's Xbox 360 system software update, Microsoft plans to add chat integration with Windows Live Messenger. It's the first real step … Read more

Google Talk widget gets better

Google pushed out a nice update to the Web version of their Talk application earlier this week. Users can now have more than four conversations at once, embed Flickr slide shows into chat, and my personal favorite, pop out the chat list as its own window.

The Flickr slide show implementation is pretty slick, although I got a little confused trying to paste in the slide show URL, only to get a dead-end. Users need only paste in an album URL, and Google Talk will automatically convert it into a slide show for you. You can shuffle back-and-forth between photos, … Read more

News from AOL: Small, snackable AIM updates

AOL released a new press release about its AIM instant messenger service this afternoon, and while there aren't any massive overhauls (unless you count Vista compatibility), you can expect a few new little perks. And maybe a few new little bugs. Yum.

The new release of AIM 6.1, which will be available later this week, is most notably the first version of AIM to be compatible with Windows Vista. Prior versions of the instant-messaging software had not been optimized for use with Microsoft's new operating system. (It wasn't the only popular download that needed to be … Read more

Justin.tv goes live

Justin.tv-- the live helmet-video blogging site we wrote about last month--went live this morning. The site combines a live video feed, public chat room, and head blogger Justin Kan's daily schedule--which loosely resembles a content programming guide. Entertaining bits of content are archived for later viewing, complete with a blog post with context for what's going on. The entire production is run through Kan's backpack, which holds a laptop hooked up to an EV-DO card.

Chatters can discuss what's happening on the show with other viewers (using Lingr, the live updating chat service … Read more

New Google Talk module better than desktop app

Google has released a new module to use on its personalized homepage that retains the look and feel of its Windows-only installable chat application, Google Talk. What's interesting is that the Web-based version ends up having a few extra features you don't get with the desktop client. For instance, starting a conversation with a contact creates a new tab on the top of the interface. You can jump through these like tabs on a Web browser. It's far better system than the Google Talk application, which uses expandable horizontal bars like Microsoft Outlook.

There's also a … Read more

AOL tweaks Webmail features

AOL released a couple of upgrades to its Webmail app today--they're not in the regular program yet, but if you're a desperate AOL junkie who wants to check them out, the new features can be tested on its beta site.

I gave the beta a brief spin, though I must say I haven't used AOL Webmail enough to really be able to compare it to anything. (I had to use my leftover screenname from AOL's early days to access it, and let's just say I haven't used AOL mail much since 2001.) The updates … Read more

Jubii: e-mail plus everything else

Jubii is a new service that attempts to provide an all-in-one solution for Web communication and sharing. It combines e-mail, contact management, instant messaging, VoIP, and file hosting into one app. The big question is, whether combining these things together provides a cohesive solution that's better than individual Web services. In short, the answer is no.

Jubii centers around its e-mail platform, which uses a simple tabbed interface with two separate in-boxes. E-mails from people on your approved contact list automatically get sent to your private box, whereas others make their way straight to the public. Creating new e-mails … Read more

5 free ways to chat with other Web site visitors

Interested in chatting with other visitors of a Web site where there's no built-in chat or dedicated forum? Here are some simple chat services to let you get in touch with other site users without having to download or install a single thing.

Yaplet. We featured Yaplet earlier this week. Built by a couple of grad students from Georgia Tech, Yaplet is a no-hassle sidebar that shows up on the right side of your browser with the click of a button. It lets you see who is talking and even caches the last 20 lines of the conversation, so … Read more

Texting for tots

Sometimes, when parental fogyism gets the better of us, we just have to ask why. Why, for example, would you want to encourage a child to learn text messaging before they need to? Won't they be retreating to their secluded corners with device in hand soon enough?

Mattel apparently wants to accelerate adolescent isolation by introducing the $65 "IM-Me," kind of a training-wheels version of a texting phone or SMS device that we spotted on Gadgets Weblog. About the only good thing we can see is that it doesn't require a two-year contract, working instead only … Read more