All Articles Tagged AIM

If you’ve never played around with BeeJive’s JiveTalk, boy, you don’t know what you’re missing! Even though third party apps such as AIM and Palringo are available, I still prefer the look and feel of the JiveTalk WEB APP. I’m sure Crackberry Addicts can attest to JiveTalk’s IM supremacy. And you know what? BeejiveIM (formerly JiveTalk) is coming to the iPhone and from the looks of it, seems to better than ever.

It’s planned for Beta Release in September 2008 but the Boy Genius got his hands on it early and gave away a few details. It supports most IM programs, we’re talking about: AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, Windows Live Messenger, MySpace IM, and Yahoo! Messenger. Plus, it looks like the clean look of JiveTalk extended over to BeejiveIM and it’s rock solid.

An added bonus, BeejiveIM is ready for Apple’s push notification, which will be a godsend for IM programs. Though there isn’t a current release date or price, BeejiveIM can’t come soon enough…AIM blows big time. Click on the Read Link for more pictures.

Photo Credit: Boy Genius Report

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Folks who’ve transitioned over from Windows Mobile (or BlackBerry) to the iPhone (or folks who, like me, are dual-wielding) take heed: one of our favorite IM apps from those other platforms has finally made its way into the App Store. It’s Palringo (iTunes Link) and it’s free. Palringo is an instant messenger app that’s able to talk to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk, etc. It will also let you send media files (like photos). There is one downside — you do need to set up a Palringo account to get it all going, but for now at least, if you want multi-client IM, Palringo’s your best option.

That’s good stuff, but the better stuff is coming: Palringo’s custom ‘Vocal IM,’ which is somewhere between sending audio files and VOIP chat. We’re also hoping that Palringo will be able to add background notifications when the iPhone supports it.

I’m downloading now, but I tell ya, I’m excited for this app. Seems like an excellent idea for a lightning review, don’t it?

With the advent of the App Store where you can download AIM for free, there is now a way to send SMS messages for free.  This method is brought to you by Jeff Carlson of Tidbits.com and will comprise this week’s Tip!  (Important note: the following method is only proven to work in the U.S.)

When I picked up my shiny black iPhone 3G last Friday, I knew I was going to have to pay the inevitable rate increase for data (another $10 smackers a month).  I also knew I would (hissing a curse under my breath) lose my built-in 200 text messages per month.  AT&T’s SMS packages offer a laughable range of offerings:  $5 a month for 200 messages, then an Olympian leap to $15 for 1500 messages and $20 for unlimited.  What, no room for $10 a month for, say, 750 or 1000 messages?  But I digress.

The basic idea goes thusly: AIM (and thus your AIM app on your iPhone) is able to send free text messages by sending them to +13522225555 (or whatever the phone number is).  There’s a bit more to it, of course, so be sure to click on through and read Carlson’s walkthrough.

(Post updated since publication by request)

As part of his piece on the continuing confusion surrounding the $99 iPhone SDK program acceptance/pending/rejection letters, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber also dropped this very interesting nugget about the equally continuing and confusing situation surrounding the apparent Apple ban on multitasking and background apps:

[A] source confirmed to me that the iPhone AIM client AOL demoed during the iPhone Roadmap event does not cheat by continuing to run in the background — it quits when you switch to another app, but doesn’t log you out of AIM automatically. Such a client can’t notify you of IM messages from the background (a la the way the iPhone notifies of you SMS messages), but when you switch back to the AIM app, messages you missed should appear. Be wary of claims that “An app that does X is impossible without background processing.”

If accurate then that, as they say, is that in terms of any hope for multitasking apps before June. If Apple didn’t grant AOL “special dispensation”, they certainly won’t give any to Johnny “Next Big Social Perpetual Ping App”.

But is a non-background running AIM of any use to you? A welcome break from the constant connection demands of IM? A way to keep AIM second class to an eventual Mobile-iChat Touch app? Smart thinking on Apple’s part or just a train wreck in the making?

According to an exclusive by macapper.com, picture messaging and AIM could be in the works with the so-close-you-could-stab-it 1.1.1 update. I’ll grant that it could just as easily be a screw-up by AT&T, or maybe he’s got his iPhone on some non-iPhone plan and just temporarily forgot about it. Maybe, though, it’s the real deal. You never know.

Sorry, that’s misleading. But it grabs your attention, and it’s not too far from the truth. There’s a new chat application on the iPhone called MobileChat. Though it’s just out, it’s already ready for a 1.0 beta release. It’s an open source application, which is generally a good thing for projects like this, and it, ahem, borrows liberally from the iChat user interface. That is to say, that it looks very good. Not to be done, ApolloIM has released a new version of their software as well. Needless to say, both are only available if you’ve hacked your iPhone; the easiest way to do that is to install AppTapp Installer.app.