In case you thought Skype may be slowing down while settling into being a part of Microsoft and recently celebrating its ninth birthday, here are some numbers that seem to indicate otherwise: Last week, Skype reached a new peak of 45,469,977 concurrent users online, part of a strong run for the peer-to-peer voice/video/chat service this year. Overall it has seen an increase of 70% so far in… → Read More
QuicklyChat, a Y Combinator-backed startup participating in the Summer 2012 program, has an interesting take on video conferencing. With its newly launched solution designed for small teams working remotely, QuicklyChat is trying to bring back ad hoc conversations, which are still the most valuable aspect to the in-office work environment. With its “push-to-talk” video chat system, your co-workers… → Read More
SHAPE Services, makers of the popular, cross-platform IM+ mobile instant messaging applications, is today launching its first video chatting app: IM+ Video. The new app, available here on iTunes, lets you video and voice call with your Facebook friends – and not just those using IM+. → Read More
Has Twitter killed instant messaging? That’s one possible explanation for the sudden and precipitous drop in instant message traffic in the past few years. A recent study shows that Britons spent an entire 14 percent of the online-time instant messaging back in 2007. Now? That number is a paltry 5 percent. Is IM dead, dying, or merely going through growing pains? → Read More
Nearly five months after launching a free, ad-supported application for iPhone and iPod Touch, eBuddy is today introducing a paid version of the program, which enables users to communicate with contacts across various instant messaging clients.
Priced at $4.99 (iTunes link), which in my opinion is fairly expensive, the app lets you chat with friends on Facebook Chat, ICQ, Gtalk, AIM, MySpace… → Read More
What are the top Twitter apps on the iPhone? It’s hard to say because the iTunes store doesn’t have a Twitter category (Twitter apps are lumped in under “Social Networking). But AppsFire, the iPhone app sharing service, might have an answer—at least for the early adopter crowd who tend to use AppsFire (i.e. people like you, dear reader).
AppsFire looks at apps actually downloaded and kept on… → Read More
Unlike some people around these parts, I loves me some Twitter (psst, follow me.) Thing is, just about every time I get a chance to tweet, I can’t. Maybe my hands are covered in grease as I’m stuffing my face with a delicious burger; maybe I just don’t want to come home from a long day of blogging and have to squeeze my thoughts into 140 characters with my iPhone’s made-for-babies keyboard.
Voice… → Read More
Dutch startup Nimbuzz , which bills itself as the “mobile Skype” have just announced an IM application for Android phones which ties together multiple messaging tools (Skype, MSM, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, etc.) via a single interface. The app is now available for download. The Nimbuzz trump card is Skype VOIP. Unfortunately the Android app doesn’t yet include this but it is… → Read More
While there may still be a lot of confusion surrounding the future of AOL, that didn’t stop the folks in Northern Virginia from recently overhauling their popular AIM instant messaging app for iPhone (and iPod touch). Available in two tasty flavors, free (“AIM Free”) and paid (“AIM Paid”), AIM 2.0 for iPhone now provides SMS notifications, has location-aware services… → Read More
IM+ is an application created by ShapeServices, which aims to replace the instant messaging application that comes out of the box with Android. Hoping that there were some differences between the 7-day trial and the paid version, we bit the bullet and plopped down the 20 dollars (well, $19.95) on this app to see how it really is, so you wouldn’t have to. The verdict? Save your cash. → Read More
If you’re a devoted IM’er and have owned a BlackBerry or a pre-App-Store iPhone, you probably know of BeeJive – or at least know it by its previous name, Jivetalk. Their BlackBerry IM solution is generally considered the best IM offering on the platform, and the BeeJive iPhone Web App nailed out a solid instant messaging solution long before full blown third party applications… → Read More
Cisco announced today that it has acquired Jabber, an open-source IM and presence protocol used by Google Talk and Gizmo, for an undisclosed sum.
Cisco will try to use Jabber as a means of improving its messaging offerings in the business world. Jabber’s technology enables collaboration across a wide array of presence systems such as, Microsoft Office Communications Server, IBM Sametime, AOL… → Read More
Expressivo 1.4.2 from IVO Software integrates speaking capability into Skype functions. As Skype has grown from just a cheap way to make calls, they have added features such as IM and video calling. Now, with Expressivo, Skype has the ability to inform users when friends log in without having to check the screen. While Skype can now read instant messages, it can’t receive dictation. (still… → Read More
People with landline phones take notice for VTech has announced something pretty cool. Their latest cordless phone, the IS6110, does IM between phones and comes with a QWERTY keyboard. When the base unit is plugged into your PC via USB you can chat over MSN, Windows Live and AIM. The IS6110 retails for $100 and is available at Best Buy. → Read More
Did you hear the awesome news? Facebook Chat launched at the weekend for some folks, myself included. Apparently the rollout is on a network-by-network basis, and one of mine, NYU, was a big winner. You can read how great it is on Facebook itself or any one of the fan sites, but I’ll tell you what about it annoyed me. First, the implementation, on a UI level, bothers me. The app, which… → Read More
“E-mail is so dead,” said the Slate writer, “that I have to tell the world how old I feel.” Seemingly every other day, we read studies suggesting that e-mail is dying, not with a bang, but with a whimper. Kids have all but abandoned it, preferring IM and Facebook and txt messaging. So it goes, why wait minutes for a reply when I can send a txt to, say, John, and get a reply… → Read More
MySpace users will soon be able to call and/or instant message anyone else on the network with the click of a button, thanks to Skype. The service will be called "MySpace IM" and will be rolled out in November, although there’s a Beta version available now. It looks similar to AOL’s popular Instant Messenger program. This news comes not a moment too soon the for two… → Read More
Welcome to TechTravels, an ongoing feature set celebrating the techiest travel options available. In celebration of Virgin America’s first flight from Los Angeles to New York City, which takes off any minute, VA will be the first piece considered. I had a chance to fly the new airline last weekend from JFK to SFO and it was quite the experience. Like the increasingly popular JetBlue, Virgin… → Read More
Toshiba has continually improved its gigabeat line of MP3 players since the release of its F series, but apparently last year’s S series was the peak. The latest in the line is the gigabeat U, a tiny flash-based player with Toshiba’s signature crossbar controls. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have its big brother’s sweet Windows Mobile interface, making it feel pretty much like… → Read More
Griffin’s latest iPod speaker, the Amplifi, is about as simple as they come, and the price tag won’t leave you wishing you hadn’t just bought that $4 Starbuck’s cafe mocha. The sound is a lot better than you’d expect for a $150 speaker and can fill a 15 by 15 foot living room with little problem. The included infrared remote doesn’t give you total control over… → Read More
Creative’s TravelSound speakers should have been a great product. The speaker dock baggage buddy to the Zen Stone DAP sounds good enough, is incredibly light and portable, and looks pretty decent to boot. Unfortunately, it was as if Creative’s designers were asleep at the assembly line. This is a product with so many glaring mistakes that it really feels like a study in bad design. → Read More
The Sony Bravia DAV-IS10 is the stealth bomber of home theater systems. You won’t even know it’s there, thanks to five tiny micro-satellite speakers, each of which is about the size of a baby’s fist. The desktop PC-size subwoofer sits in the corner of a room and pumps out some pretty intense bottom end, while the digital amp/DVD player does some fancy digital processing to pump… → Read More
Note: Fish is not real Kiplinger, the personal finance magazine, just dropped a red-hot review of the Apple “iPhone,” a new phone from an up-and-coming hardware company. It might be Asia-only, but they pulled a Fat Joe on this thing, saying it’s the best phone money can buy. → Read More
Motorola is in a bad way. Wilson over at Giz basically tore them a new orifice over the Q 9m and I have always thought they’ve squandered the RAZR good-will on a series of odd products that were either violently crippled or ahead of their time — like the Moto PEBL, for example. That said, they’ve remained in high in the pantheon of phone gods that I have in my heads, up there… → Read More
What’s the old saying, ‘thin is in’? Yeah, that sounds about right. Who likes a fatty, anyways? And who the h-e-double hockey sticks wants a clamshell? I need QWERTY like a crack whore needs, well, crack. I wasn’t too thrilled when I found out about Helio’s Fin a few weeks back. A clamshell? Seriously WTF? Was someone freebasing over at the Helio House? You’ve got one of the coolest… → Read More
The Freestyle Audio Sport is the perfect solution for any athlete whose playing field is in or around water. The FA can be submerged up to 10 feet and still deliver a healthy dose of tunes for you to get jacked up on. Rather than shelling out a few hundred bucks for an iPod and then getting a waterproof case, which turns your arm into something out of a sci-fi flick, take a look at Freestyle… → Read More
Sleek and stylish like an ostrich walking across water When Apple revealed the new iMac at its Town Hall meeting, I was less than impressed. Sure, the design was cooler and the speeds were increased, but it still looks an awful lot like my iMac G5 with iSight. However, with the new iMacs came new Apple keyboards. Slim as hell and packed with improvements, it takes on the style of keys that the… → Read More
Normally I deal with JBL, one of the companies Harman Kardon owns, so it’s good to get a breath of fresh air one could say. Harman Kardon is known all over the globe as a wicked speaker manufacturer. Some of the HK systems in cars blow the competition away. So when I received the Go + Play to review, the bar was already raised high. → Read More
Will it blend? We’ve all dropped our phones once, twice, or every other five minutes, right? I know I have on multiple occasions and I wince with every drop. The battery or some part seems to dislodge itself without fail every time and it just doesn’t work the same afterwards. I’ve gotten away with sending my phone in for replacement without the watermark stickers revealing I dropped my… → Read More
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
Boston, MA
Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
Berlin, Germany
