chat

Back in the day when social media platforms didn't exist, there was nothing as spontaneous and fun as chatting with your friends online via instant messenger. If you find yourself trying to stay in touch with Yahoo friends and want to stick to the original and reliable IM, then Yahoo Messenger for Mac would be a good choice.

The user interface of this popular IM client looks neat and is quite functional. The seamless integration of Yahoo weather, news, and mail directly in the Yahoo Messenger for Mac will be much appreciated by the people in the Yahoo ecosystem, … Read more

If an Android user craves texting with total strangers, then this may be the application to install. While its features are incredibly limited and the software is not sophisticated, Omegle Chat App does exactly what it claims.

Following a quick install, Omegle Chat App thrusts you right into the action. A plain white screen greets the user with a simple button that launches a new chat. A simple back-and-forth chat style enables the users to communicate. If either user wishes to end the chat session, the screen goes back to the original mode. Operation and features do not exceed expectations … Read more

With the long-awaited unveiling of BlackBerry 10 finally coming later this week, it's no surprise that we are hearing a lot of chatter about app developers planning to bring their work to the new platform. The latest to join the club is OoVoo, the free voice, video, and text-messaging app that has for some time been available on Android and iOS.

Even though it's widely speculated that the BlackBerry 10 OS will come with a new video-chat-capable BlackBerry Messenger app baked in, an app like OoVoo would still be hugely valuable.

BBM would presumably only be good for … Read more

Sometimes, a text message with a winking smiley face just isn't enough. Itzme helps you convey your message a little better, but it's a little difficult to set up. The small payoff of sending voice messages isn't enough for all the hoops you have to jump through.

This app only works on Facebook accounts, so you and the person you're calling both have to have one. The app doesn't tell you which of your friends already have Itzme set up. The app not only requires you to log in through Facebook, but requires all sorts … Read more

After a fractious false start last year, Web standards makers will reconvene in Orlando, Fla., this March to try to settle a debate about the best video technology for browser-based chatting.

The Web-based chat standard, which holds the potential to bring Skype-like audio and video communication services to the Web, is called WebRTC. The debate about it centers on how best to compress video: the widely used industry-standard H.264 codec, or Google's royalty-free, open-source VP8 codec?

The discussion took some surprising twists and turns late last year -- including Google's last-minute action to postpone discussion because of … Read more

Sometimes code speaks louder than words.

That's why Microsoft today published software demonstrating its own proposal for a Web standard enabling browser-based audio and video chat. In the demo, the CU-RTC-Web (Customizable, Ubiquitous Real-Time Communication) technology is used to set up a real-time voice communication link between Chrome on Mac and IE10 on Windows.

Microsoft has an uphill battle getting CU-RTC-Web to catch on: it showed up late to the game, well after the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) began work standardizing a different approach called WebRTC.

But Microsoft thinks its own proposal … Read more

WeChat is a social app that gathers all of your sharing and communication tools in one place, including video calls, text messages, and images. To fully experience the app, you'll need to get your friends to use it too, but it's a great way to connect with your friends across all platforms.

To get started with WeChat, you'll need to create a user ID and password, which requires you to enter your phone number and a four-digit code that is sent to you via text message. The app will need access to your Address Book, which is … Read more

For many smartphone users, the "phone" part matters less than the "smart" part; it's more important to be able to text message friends than make phone calls. The good news is, your Android device almost certainly came with a chat app. The better news is, you don't have to use it; you can download and use your favorite chat app, or try them all until you find one that's best for you. We tried WeChat on a new Android smartphone. Like similar apps, WeChat's mobile app enables text and voice messaging, and … Read more

Who says that instant messaging is dead? This free app lets you send unlimited text and picture messages to all of your friends in an IM-like environment. WhatsApp Messenger requires a somewhat annoying setup but has millions of members for you to chat with. Though you'll eventually have to pay a nominal fee, it could save you big if you have a limited texting plan.

When you install the app, it makes you use your real phone and verifies it through a text. The process takes anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes to complete. This may be a little … Read more