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The new version of AIM notifies you when a new instant message arrives.

Good news on the IM front: AIM (Free Edition) and BeejiveIM 3.0 are among the first instant-messaging apps to support push notification, meaning you'll get alerted to new messages even when the apps aren't running.

If that sounds a bit familiar, it's because we reported on AIM's use in push-notification stress-testing about a week ago.

It also follows the news that uberpopular texting app TextFree was first out of the SMS gate with push support, allowing users to get new-message notifications while the iPhone is off or doing other things.

AIM offers a fairly robust feature set for a free app. It supports multiple screen names and works with AOL, ICQ, .Mac, and MobileMe accounts. It keeps you logged in for 24 hours and gives you the option of receiving notifications via SMS for those times when you're logged out.

I particularly like how you can finger-swipe between different chats. Of course, those features have been around for a while. The big news here is push, and in my tests it worked flawlessly.

I haven't been able to test BeejiveIM 3.0 yet, which is notable for its cross-platform support of AIM/MobileMe, Facebook, GTalk, MSN, Yahoo, and just about every other chat service known to man.

Thankfully, the developer lowered the $15.99 price tag, though it's still on the pricey side at $9.99.

Of course, when you take into account the money you stand to save on SMS charges, that might just be the deal of the century.

Are you geeked about push-enabled IM? If so, what's your favorite app? (Feel free to list those that haven't received the push treatment just yet.)

(Credit: CNET Networks / Josh Lowensohn)

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 support this particular usage of our system at this time," the company said. Google also cited that the SMS feature was part of a labs project, presumably to note it not being a fully-baked feature, thus not belonging in the API.

While cheaper than they used to be, text messages still cost something. Without control over the applications that were using it, Google simply became a service provider that wasn't charging. For the highly popular iPhone application Infinite SMS, this meant the creators could focus on building features on top of Google's data pipe, something done with a dozen other Google services with APIs like Google Maps, custom search, and Open Social.

The clear difference in this case is that an SMS message itself is difficult to monetize. Carriers charge a hefty sum for the privilege of sending what amounts to just a few bytes of data. But for a company like Google, one of the only hopes of adding onto that is with external ads or a paid service to let you send them. Offering it free through an API offered neither of these avenues.

(via TechFlash)

VoIP provider Skype plans to announce Tuesday that it will be working with SpinVox to provide its users with voice-to-SMS messaging in four languages.

This adds another option to Skype's messaging notifications for both Windows and Mac, and it includes a free e-mail notification or a simple SMS notification when a contact leaves a message.

Converting the messages from voice to text won't be cheap, however. Users will pay 25 cents per message, not including the standard Skype text message rate, and long voicemails could be spread out over as many as three messages. If the entire voicemail won't fit into three texts, then the message will be cut off. Also, if the message is garbled or otherwise unconvertible--because of poor signal quality, for example--SpinVox and Skype will still charge you for the failed conversion effort.

Words that cannot be understood will be converted into question marks or spaces in the body of the message. Fortunately for the cost-conscious, there are several options for cutting down on quickly running up a massive bill. Users can configure which of their Skype contacts will have their voice messages converted, so it's not an all-or-nothing deal. Messages will also only be sent after a 10-minute delay, so you don't have to worry about getting a text if you walk away from your desk for a few minutes. You'll have the option of configuring a maximum number of voicemail conversions per day, too. An obvious problem with that is missing that must-get voicemail, but at least the option will be there.

SpinVox with Skype will support English, Spanish, French, and German, and there are plans to incorporate SpinVox's current support for Italian and Portuguese, as well.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CBS Interactive)

We already knew text messaging service Kwiry could perform some cool tricks via text messaging--things like adding products to your Amazon.com wish list or adding movies to your Netflix queue. But now the service is adding rudimentary TiVo control to the list.

TiVo already offers more detailed DVR access via its Web site, as well as TiVo Mobile (for smartphones with Web browsers), but the Kwiry service should work with even the most rudimentary cell phones, so long as they have text messaging capability.

The TiVo beta should be available on Kwiry Wednesday. Here's how it's supposed to work: link your TiVo Series2 or Series3 DVR to your Kwiry account (a one-time affair on the Kwiry Web site), and you should be able to command your DVR to record shows via a simple text to 59479 ("kwiry").

Kwiry says the service will automatically schedule a recording of the next episode of the show in question, so "tivo the office" should grab the next episode of the Steve Carell dramedy. Sounds easy enough, but we wonder how smoothly it'll work, especially with shows that have multiple syndicated episodes on multiple channels--will kwiry be smart enough to grab the new episode of Lost, and not the rerun on G4 or Sci-Fi? Thankfully, the service is free, so you can experiment with impunity.

Google hopes the second time will be a charm for a Gmail Labs feature that lets people send text messages to people's mobile phones with the company's Web-based e-mail service.

"A few weeks back, we ran into a few snags when we first started rolling this out, but starting today you can turn on text messaging for chat," said Leo Dirac, a Google product manager, in a blog post Wednesday.

After the feature's fleeting debut in October, Google removed it to fix a problem where turning the feature on didn't actually fully turn it on. It took a little longer than two weeks, though.

Gmail is trying again with a feature to send SMS messages from Gmail Chat.

(Credit: Google)

The feature is available only in the United States for now. To use it, people must first enable it through Gmail Labs, then they can initiate SMS-based instant message chats by typing in a phone number in the chat box on the left of the Gmail page.

People who receive SMS messages from the service will get a return phone number from the 406 area code, which Dirac was happy to point out spells G0O.

Each pairing uses a unique phone number, so a person receiving messages can store a the 406 phone number on his or her phone for future use to communicate with that specific person.

Tactfully, Dirac also observes that sending SMS messages from Gmail might be costing your buddies money, so be judicious.

Oh, no! They can't get Twitter SMS updates anymore!

(Credit: Second City Television)

This can't be good. Just a few months after restricting its U.K.-based text-messaging number due to cost issues, Twitter has done the same for Canada.

The microblogging service has cut outbound SMS messages for the folks up north, citing "unexpected changes in our billing." Costs had been doubling for a few months.

Basically, this means Canadian Twitter users will be able to send numbers to its short code, 21212, but not receive them that way. They can instead use the Twitter mobile site or one of many third-party mobile apps to see what their friends are "tweeting," but that requires a mobile data plan. Text messages do not.

"There is a realistic, scalable SMS solution for Canada (and the rest of the world)," a post on Twitter's blog read. "We're working on that and will post more details on the Twitter blog as we make progress."

Twitter, which allegedly rejected a buyout offer from Facebook, has raised a significant amount of venture funding but has yet to produce a business plan.

Online payment service PayPal announced Monday that it has added a new layer of security for mobile phone users. The PayPal SMS Security Key gives users the option of receiving a unique six-digit security code via text message prior to logging in to their accounts. According to the company, the SMS (Short Message Service) security key generates the code every 30 seconds. Members will be required to input the code along with their usernames and passwords to sign in to their accounts.

PayPal's chief information security officer, Michael Barrett, believes this form of two-factor authentication, in which you need both something you know (your account password), and something you have (in this case, your mobile phone) is the next logical step for the company as it tries desperately to protect users against online security threats. Barrett says PayPal is "committed" to protecting customer accounts and it only makes sense for the company to deliver that protection "to something most people don't leave home without--their mobile phones."

The PayPal SMS Security Key is available now to customers in the U.S., Australia, Austria, Canada, and Germany. PayPal doesn't charge for the delivery of security codes to a cell phone, but it did warn that standard text messaging rates will still apply on each message.

Related: You can get two-factor authentication for your OpenID log-in. See The password that calls you: CallVerifID.

Although text messaging is still one of the favorite pastimes for children and adults alike, software firm Geodesic believes that mobile instant messaging will cannibalize SMS and become the de facto form of communication through cell phones, going forward.

The company offers a tool called Mundu IM, which recently entered its fourth iteration. The software provides users with an IM service that works with AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, and Jabber accounts, with collaboration across the Web and wireless devices.

Mundu IM is currently supported on most mobile phones running Symbian, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm OS, and Java platforms. The service also has a iPhone Web interface, which allows users of the Apple smartphone to log in to their favorite IM application without requiring a download through the App Store.

(Credit: Geodesic)

I had the opportunity to use the Mundu IM service on my iPhone 3G and found that it worked quite well. I was able to log in to my instant-messaging services without a problem, and upon doing so, I found that chatting with others through the software was quick and just as simple as chatting with them on my desktop.

But where Mundu IM really shines is in its extras. The service allows you to share pictures taken from your phone with friends, transfer files, and cross-conference with contacts across IM services, making it much simpler to talk with people, regardless of their preferred IM software.

Mundu's design is second to none. It features stylish icons that make it easy to choose your IM service, and the interface during chat was simple, which made the experience far more usable.

(Credit: Geodesic)

Although the software itself is simple and elegant, I'm not quite sold on the implementation. It's nice to have a full-fledged IM service on my iPhone that will help me save money on SMS, but why not make it an iPhone app and offer it on the App Store? Making Mundu Web-based seems a bit odd and takes away from an otherwise fine service, due to Safari's annoying quirks and hiccups, which become frustrating after some time.

When evaluating Mundu's competitive environment, it becomes clear that its IM service takes aim at Agile Messenger, which currently charges customers $44.95 for lifetime use. Based on my findings, the experience is similar, but Mundu IM's $11 one-time fee puts it over the top and makes Agile Messenger less appealing.

(Credit: Geodesic)

It would have been nice if Mundu IM were free, like Meebo, but I understand that Geodesic needs to turn a profit too, and $11 is more than affordable, considering that you'll have your phone for at least two years.

With all the versions Mundu IM offers, it should be noted that "your mileage may vary" depending on the version of the software you use. Although the iPhone version works as advertised, and provides an experience that would make me want to use it on a regular basis, phone differences, mobile-OS quirks, and other considerations become an issue when applying that opinion to all versions of the software.

Because of that, I need to qualify my recommendation when I say that Mundu IM is worth using on the iPhone if you use multiple IM services, and you don't mind accessing them through the Safari browser. But if you only use AIM, I simply don't see a reason to use Mundu IM--access the App Store, and download the AIM app instead. It's free.

If you were raring to play around with the new send-to-SMS chat feature in Gmail Labs, you'll have to wait a little longer.

On Friday, one of Gmail's product managers, Leo Dirac, posted on the official Gmail blog that a last-minute glitch has resulted in the feature being pulled back for further testing. The glitch, which Dirac says should take about two weeks to fix, would keep the two-way communication feature from turning on all the way, keeping replies from making it back to you.

When the process is working properly you're able to send SMS contacts a message just like you would if they were online. The system would also keep their responses in the same chat window, making it a simple resource for staying in touch even when you or your contacts are not online at the same time.