messaging

Incredimail is an elegant way to manage your e-mail on the iPad. You start by signing in to your e-mail accounts and Incredimail gives you a brief tutorial to show you the major features of the app. The app has full IMAP support so you can add your Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, or any other IMAP accounts. A menu button in the upper left lets you quickly switch accounts, and you can also filter by categories within an inbox to look at starred messages, drafts, sent messages, and other mail you have assigned filters.

The beauty of Incredimail is all about … Read more

The Federal Trade Commission said today it has filed complaints against 29 people accused of sending more than 180 million spam text messages falsely promising free gift cards.

The FTC alleged in eight separate complaints that the accused tricked consumers into divulging sensitive personal information by promising free gifts or prizes, including $1,000 gift cards at major retailers. Consumers who clicked on the links were taken through a maze of Web sites that required victims to sign up for subscription services or credit cards before they could receive the "free" gifts.

Consumers were sometimes required to sign … Read more

The social-networking app Path, debuted a major upgrade today, adding on private messages, stickers, and the "Shop." The company says the goal is to boost personalized communication between users, but it looks like Path is also working to monetize the app.

The company describes its objective with private messaging in a blog post today -- the messages are not supposed to be like text messages or Facebook or Twitter posts, but rather aim to make users feel like they're truly interacting with friends.

"When we speak with friends, share a joke, a quiet word, or a … Read more

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

Though Android's built-in messenger app works great, it still isn't perfect. Sliding Messaging Pro promises to add some faster, more interesting performance for a small fee. This is a really nifty app that a lot of people will love. It just might not be worth the extra 99 cents when the free version of the app gives you most of the features you want.

Sliding Messaging Pro requires Android 4.0 or higher. It's only $1 to buy, which isn't much for a really cool upgrade. Again, there's also a free version that gives you … Read more

Perhaps someday we'll see a reboot of the 1952 Gene Kelly classic done as "Textin' in the Rain." To pull off the elaborately choreographed texting scenes, all the actors will need to be sporting Brolly umbrellas.

Let's consider how we handle umbrellas when we want to use our phones. We tuck them under armpits, fumble with them in our hands, and sometimes drop them in the process.

Brolly umbrellas are designed to keep your thumbs fancy free and at the ready for all your smartphone texting, Web searching, and e-mailing needs. Heck, you might even want them free for actually dialing and making voice calls.… 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

Walkie-talkies don't offer stellar range unless you spend hundreds for them. This free app gives you a similar experience over the phone. HeyTell doesn't give you a large amount of time to leave your message, but it works just as quickly as a text. It's a good way to sneak someone a voice mail when you can't find working voice coverage.

HeyTell only gives you about 2 minutes to speak your message. This should be enough to say what you need to say, but you might fill up a person's inbox if you try to … Read more