messages

Voxer Walkie-Talkie is a communications app that lets you use push-to-talk walkie-talkie features, send text messages and images, and share your location. But it's important to note that the default is to share your location, and not everyone will be comfortable sending that information.

What makes Voxer useful (for those who don't have unlimited voice plans) is that it doesn't use up minutes from your carrier; it only uses your data allowance. And even with a lot of voice messages, photos, and texts, it uses only a small amount of your data pool. Sprint, which was known … Read more

You know you have a hidden inbox on Facebook, right? The "other" message folder is reserved for those people who message you and aren't one of your Facebook friends.

There's a chance some messages from nonfriends will go to your main inbox (depending on your settings), but most of the time these messages make their way to your other messages, without you ever being notified of a waiting message. Unless the sender decides to pay $1 to guarantee the message ends up in your main folder.

Up until recently, the only way to access your other … Read more

Facing stiff competition in mobile messaging, Microsoft-owned Skype updated its Android application Monday with a crisper design meant to emphasize conversations. The application has been installed on more than 100 million Android devices, Skype said.

Skype for Android 4.0 arrives with a contemporary look where messaging -- chats, voice calls, and video calls -- takes center stage.

The application now features a person's most recent conversations on the home screen and comes with call and chat buttons at the bottom of the screen for quick access. Messaging dominates in the Favorites and Contacts tabs as well, as the … Read more

Skype has updated its iPhone app with a couple of new features and a few fixes in tow.

Skype for iPhone version 4.9 now offers the free and unlimited video messaging that Skype rolled out last week.

Skype users can record a video message for fellow users who are offline. Those videos then appear when your receipient logs into the service.

The updated app also has patched up a few items here and there, according to Skype.

Photo sharing is now a more reliable process. Audio and video calls should be more stable. And there are the usual unspecified … Read more

WhatsApp's active user base could be a cause for worry among some tech companies and wireless carriers.

The messaging service announced Thursday that it has more than 250 million active users -- making it on par with Skype, Facebook Messenger, and Twitter, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Twitter's most recent numbers show more than 200 million monthly active users, while Skype's are 280 million and Facebook Messenger's aren't reported but its app is ranked sixth in free apps in Google Play, according to the Journal.

In the U.S., WhatsApp is ranked first in … Read more

Any Skype user can now send a video message to friends and family who are offline.

Rolled out in February as a beta preview, Video Messaging launched on Monday to all Skype users. Those of you on Skype can record a video message to share with folks who aren't available. The message then pops up for your recipients after they log into Skype.

Built directly into the Skype software, Video Messaging is accessible via Skype for Windows desktop, Skype for Windows 8, Skype for Mac, Skype for iPhone, Skype for iPad, Skype for Android, and Skype for BlackBerry.

There'… Read more

Saudi Arabia plans to block WhatsApp in coming weeks if the makers of the mobile chat app don't comply with local regulations.

The warning comes after the Communications and Information Technology Commission blocked popular voice and messaging app Viber last week.

"We have been communicating with WhatsApp and other similar communication platforms to get them to cooperate and comply with the Saudi telecom providers, however nothing has come of this communication yet," Abdullah Al-Darrab, governor of the CITC, told English language Arab News.

One of the regulations stipulates that WhatsApp establish a local server that allows officials … Read more

Color SMS Text Message Friends lets you send texts in color, but your friends need to have the app installed, as well, in order to see the colorful messages. If you can convince your social circle to add it, then you might get a kick out of this application.

When you first start using Color SMS Text Message Friends, only a handful of its colors and about half of the available fonts are unlocked. If you want to use them all, you have to surrender a dollar. The app's layout is a little plain, but it does make inputting … Read more