instant messaging

Trillian Astra 4.1 Beta Boosts Twitter And Facebook Functions

1:00AM Kevin Purdy | Windows: Trillian, a favourite instant messaging client with Lifehacker readers, is out with a 4.1 beta that ups its Twitter and Facebook functionality, integrates Windows 7 interface features, and smoothes out the already slick interface. More »

Imo.im Provides A Web-Based Portal To Messaging, Social Networks

12:30AM Jason Fitzpatrick | When you’re away from your home terminal and without your favourite portable cross-service IM application, imo.im can help you get all your messages back into one window again. More »

Video Chat Directly From iGoogle

12:30AM Jason Fitzpatrick | Earlier this year Google added the chat sidebar to iGoogle, which gave you Gmail-style chat in your iGoogle start page. Now they’ve expanded the chat functionality to include video chat right from the main iGoogle interface. More »

Trillian Astra Leaves Beta, Rolls Out Bug-Fixes And Features Galore

9:30AM Jason Fitzpatrick | Windows only: If our recent coverage of the Digsby-debacle has you down in the dumps over the departure of Digsby from your hard disk, you might want to check out Triillian Astra—fresh from beta and ready to go. More »

Digsby Updates, Improves Performance, Adds New Features

5:30AM Adam Pash | Windows only: Popular instant messaging application (and then some) Digsby updates today, improving performance, adding buddy-list search, expanded emoticons, improved Twitter support and much more. More »

Digsby Available In New Portable Version

5:00AM Jason Fitzpatrick | Instant messaging client Digsby, winner of the Best System Tray Applications Hive Five and all-around Lifehacker reader favourite, is now available as a convenient portable application. The initial release of a portable version of Digsby couldn’t handle updates without breaking. Those bugs have been ironed out, though, and now the portable version updates right alongside the desktop version without a hitch. The author’s site is in German, and for some reason switching over to the English translation makes the download link vanish. The link below is a direct link to the download to save you the hassle of navigating the site; if you want to visit the site before downloading the file, follow this link. Digsby Portable is freeware, Windows only. Digsby Portable [via Download Squad] More »

Coccinella IM Client Includes a Whiteboard

7:00AM Lifehacker US Edition | All platforms: Free multi-protocol instant messenger client Coccinella offers all the features of an IM app you’d expect, plus one more: a whiteboard. Chat on AIM, ICQ, MSN, and GTalk with Coccinella, which also supports voice chat. But the fun feature is the whiteboard which lets chatting pals collaborate with text, drawings, and image and audio files. Coccinella is a free download for Windows, Mac, or Linux. Coccinella [via gHacks] More »

Palringo Adds Multi-Client IM to Non-Jailbroken iPhones

11:00PM Kevin Purdy | iPhone/iPod touch: Palringo, the multi-client instant messenger previously available for Windows Mobile, Symbian and BlackBerry, has launched for free in the iTunes App Store. While it’s multi-client interface is pretty slick—including a universal “You’ve got messages” in the lower-left corner and multiple screens you can slide through—there’s a few niggling issues. The major one is that Palringo won’t let you sign in, say, to IM while keeping out of Google Talk—it’s all or nothing. Aside from that, you have to be comfortable signing up for a Palringo account and letting it store your traded pictures. But for those not quite ready to jailbreak your iPhone 2.0, it’s a convenient app. Palringo is a free download for iPhones and iPod touch, but requires a free sign-up. Palringo Instant Messenger [via ReadWriteWeb] More »