chat

When online chatting first became popular, most of us did it using a chat client, such as AOL's Instant Messenger or (if we really want to show our age) ICQ. These days, many people chat using Facebook, and why not? The vast majority of the people you know are probably there, and chat is integrated into Facebook's interface, which you probably have open all the time anyway. If you miss having the option to chat without having your browser open, however, try Facebook Chat DeskTop. This simple program lets you access your Facebook chat buddies from your desktop. … Read more

If you're looking for one less thing to clutter up your Gmail space, GTalk can be one of your bigger offenders if you're using it to communicate often with friends or colleagues. Just taking a look at my own personal Gmail account, I'm kind of shocked how many threads there are for conversations I've had in the past year. On my work account I like to keep logs in case I need to reference instructions, facts, or quotes from people I've talked to. However, on my personal account I don't need to keep track … Read more

Built as a Universal update, Google+ version 3.0 adds new features to the iPhone app and is the first version that is made for the iPad with its own unique interface features.

On both iOS devices, you'll now be able to create and manage Google Events. You can create an event, manage comments, add photos, and see who is coming to the event. All the info from past events is saved as well, so you can go back and revisit them later.

Google Hangouts are now supported on both iOS devices as well, which means you'll be … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 show:

- Soccer to adapt goal line, ball-tracking technology.

- Friday's history lesson: AOL's longest running employee on the history of AOL chat rooms.

- British Airways will google passengers in preflight.

- Hillbilly Alabamians celebrate Fourth of July by shooting guns into air.

- Best Buy lays off 650 Geek Squad employees nationwide.

Bathroom break video: Super Moonwalking!… Read more

Samsung Electronics today announced the Galaxy Chat, an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone designed with socialites in mind. Initially available in Spain later this month, the handset will expand to Europe, Latin America, Middle East, China, Southeast Asia, and Southwest Asia over the coming months.

The Galaxy Chat sports an uncommon design, which includes a portrait QWERTY keyboard set below a 3-inch QVGA display. The official announcement does not indicate the processor speed or manufacturer, nor does it list how much memory the phone offers.

But considering the known details and Samsung's claim that it will be … Read more

Skype for Windows Phone received an update today that makes some minor improvements to smooth the experience for users of the VoIP service Microsoft acquired last year.

The changes to the app include enhancements to the contact list, which now displays all contacts that have at least one phone number in the list. You'll also now be able to edit a phone number using the dial-pad before making a call.

The release comes with some minor bug fixes as well. An issue that would end a Skype call if another incoming call or a calendar notification came up has … Read more

Each Tuesday, the newest episode of "Always On" will premiere at 11 a.m. Pacific time, 2 p.m. Eastern, with a live viewing party on the show page. I'll be there with pre-show and post-show commentary on video, and we can watch the first episode together in chat on the page. I'll give behind-the-scenes insights, if I have them, or we can groan at my bad jokes together, or you can give me make-up tips...whatever seems appropriate.

Over the years of doing Buzz Out Loud, I realized that the chat room was one of … Read more

Facebook is testing out a new "Call" button in profile pages to promote its video chat capabilities.

Despite launching the service in a partnership with Skype nearly a year ago, Facebook may feel the pressured to amp up its video chat's visibility with competition from services like Google+ Hangouts and the recently launched Airtime.

TechCrunch first noticed the little button showing up at the top of people's profiles.

It seems like the person needs to be online for the Call button to show up. A glance at my list of friends online seems to confirm that, … Read more

Apple's FaceTime video chat service will finally work over a carrier's cellular network, making it even easier for people to make video phone calls from anywhere. But will the new app gobble up bandwidth on capped data plans?

Since it was introduced in 2010 with the release of the iPhone 4, the FaceTime video chat application, which allows people with iOS devices to call each other over video, only worked on Wi-Fi networks. The reason given at the time for the limitation was that carriers like AT&T were afraid of what FaceTime would do to their … Read more