chat

Friday Poll: Do you like Facebook's redesigned chat?

Imagine designing the user experience for Facebook, where even the slightest change has the potential to irritate millions of users. Not a job for the weak-minded.

Facebook recently altered the appearance of its chat feature for those viewing the site in a Web browser--and not everybody is happy about it. Previously, the simple chat system would show a list of online friends in a small box on the lower right side of the browser window. It was easy to use and unobtrusive.

In contrast, the new chat sidebar stretches from top to bottom on the right side of the window. The social area no longer is a small list of only those who are online, but rather a group of people the popular social-networking site thinks you'll want to speak to, regardless of whether they're online.

There is no option to edit the list of people in this area. If those predetermined "top" friends aren't online, the chat box has an option to send them a message. Online friends not on this list must be searched for manually, which is slightly frustrating. … Read more

How to disable Facebook chat alerts

Facebook is heavily distracting with pictures and games--add in chat messages and you'll be spending more time on the site than you originally intended. This is usually because every time someone sends you a message, an alert sound plays to notify you of its presence. Not only that, but the title bar of your browser will start displaying that they have messaged you. Here are three quick steps to turning off the alert sound, or disabling chat completely if you choose to do so:

Step 1: Login to your Facebook account.

Step 2: Locate your chat window. … Read more

Apple patent application hints at future FaceTime features

Swapping between the front- and rear-facing cameras on Apple's latest-generation iOS devices during a FaceTime call is currently a manual process, requiring users to tap an onscreen button. But that could become a thing of the past with a system Apple hopes to patent.

Patently Apple has unearthed a patent application Apple filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in January of last year titled "automatic video stream selection." In short, it's a system for automatically swapping between the two captured video streams depending on what's happening in front of each lens. … Read more

New Facebook scam takes advantage of video calling

Facebook scams and viruses grow by the day, so it's no surprise scammers are taking advantage of the new video calling feature.

Sophos' Naked Security blog reports that the newest Facebook scam makes Video Chat look like an application called Video Call, as seen in the screenshot below. That, in turn, tricks users to be "easily convinced to approve the application to have more liberal permissions."

However, there are a few more noticeable problems with the permissions request if one actually takes the time to read. After all, why would an app that comes directly from Facebook … Read more

The 404 855: Where it's just malarkey (podcast)

Today's 404 Podcast includes stories about a guy that's amassed every single PS2 game released in North America, a user-submitted show title generator, and Facebook's underwhelming new video chat plugin. We also have a bunch of quality video voicemails to show!

The 404 Digest for Episode 855

The Man Who Has Every PS2 Game In America. Facebook unveils video chatting, thanks to Skype. Dan's video voicemail from the top of Mt. Massive, Colorado. Kokesh's random show title generator.

Episode 855 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Facebook launches video calling

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Facebook unveils video chat features

Amazon offers unlimited cloud music storage

Spotify makes official U.S. launch

Civ World comes to Facebook

Mac Blu-ray a possibility now

Motorola Droid 3 launch date

Facebook and Google+'s video chat tools compared

Video chat is the big thing again, at least according to Facebook, which let loose a new video chat service yesterday. Powered by Skype, the new feature lets Facebook users start video calls with one another while continuing to use the site.

While other video chat tools may have been built on top of Facebook's application platform, this now comes out of the box for Facebook users, old and new. The result is that Facebook's added yet another way for its 750 million users to communicate with one another.

But moving beyond the hype, the big thing you'… Read more

This Day in Tech: Facebook releases video chat; Obama on Twitter for town hall meeting

Too busy to keep up with today's tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Wedesday, July 6.

Facebook had big news today: The social-networking giant announced a new video chat feature powered by Skype, which means you can now see your Facebook friend's face in real-time. Mark Zuckerberg spoke today on stage about why mixing Facebook's social infrastructure with new apps like video chats will create new scenarios for their users. CNET's Josh Lowensohn, who was at the event, wrote Zuckerberg says 4 billion things are shared every day. &… Read more

Facebook intros group chats, new chat tool design

Facebook is launching a new group-chat feature and a redesign to its chat tool, the company announced today.

The new features were revealed during an event Facebook held today at its Palo Alto, Calif., headquarters. Last week, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that his company was planning to "launch something awesome" today.

The social network's new offering will allow users to group multiple people into a single window to chat. Those who are online will get messages immediately, while those who are not on the platform will receive a summary of the conversation at a … Read more

Facebook unveils video chatting, thanks to Skype

Facebook and Skype have inked a deal that will bring video chatting to the world's largest social network.

Last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that his company was planning to launch "something awesome" today. As early rumors speculated, Skype video calling turned out to be that big announcement.

Video calling has been built into Facebook's chat platform. Users need only to click the video call button at the top of their chat window in order to start communicating over video--once the call recipient accepts the video request. According to Facebook, video chatting is just "two clicks away" on the service.

That level of ease is something that Facebook and Skype seem focused on with their new deal. The social network said its video calling is "the easiest way to get connected with video."

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced plans to acquire Skype for $8.5 billion. If the companies secure regulatory approval, Skype CEO Tony Bates will lead the new Microsoft Skype division. Zuckerberg said today that the acquisition would not "change anything" related to video calling on Facebook.

Facebook is being rolled out in 70 different languages starting today, and will be available to all of its 750 million active users "over the next few weeks."

Update at 10:58 a.m. PT to include more details.