xmpp

Microsoft opens instant-messaging for all comers

In a move that would have been shocking a decade ago, Microsoft has made it possible for others' instant-messaging software to tap into its Windows Live Messenger.

Instant-messaging networks--the big ones are run by Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL--once were well-defended strongholds, and developers of third-party programs like Trillian had to work hard to reverse-engineer their inner workings. But whatever residual excitement IM possessed has faded as new communication methods such as Facebook and Twitter have seized the spotlight.

I'm inclined to blame the companies involved. Had they banded together on a standard, IM could have become a staple of … Read more

Pidgin gets Google Voice--sort of

Pidgin has introduced a major update with version 2.6.0, and the current bug-fixing 2.6.1, and along with more than 100 fixes between the two comes support for Google Voice and Google Talk. If you're on Windows, though, this won't mean much--the protocol currently only works with XMPP at the moment, not the derivative protocol that Google uses. Pidgin Portable 2.6.1 is also available for USB keys.

Other changes include splitting the Yahoo protocols into two, one for Yahoo Japan, and one for the rest of the world. Both protocols in Pidgin now … Read more

Google's free SMS gravy train dries up

Google on Wednesday will close off access to the part of Google Talk that lets third-party developers send and receive text messages. Third-party applications, such as Infinite SMS for the iPhone and desktop chat software that made use of this XMPP pathway will no longer be able to freely send text messages to other mobile phones.

The company simply no longer wanted to foot the bill for that part of Google Talk's API, according to a Google statement posted by Infinite SMS creators Innerfence. "While Google is supportive of third party apps, we've decided we can't … Read more

Yahoo's encouraging words for IM standards

For more than a decade, the Internet has suffered from multiple incompatible communication standards for instant messaging. Now it looks like Yahoo, one of the major IM players, is open to breaking the logjam.

I'm a power user of IM who struggles to find software that supports chatting with people on the four main IM networks: AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google. Today's situation, for me at least, is like having to own four e-mail programs for different networks or four telephones for incompatible phone systems.

So I was encouraged by words from Scott Dietzen, Yahoo's new head of communications products including Yahoo Messenger and Yahoo Mail. … Read more