Carole
McManus (no relation) has a
great post on the Yahoo! Messenger blog about the innovations we saw in IM
over 2006. She says that 2006 was a "watershed year" for IM innovation,
citing a
Nick Gonzalez post on Techcrunch last November. The features that Nick
highlighted then were: interoperability, flexible identities, rich media chat,
in-browser chat, location-based chat, and contextual chat.
Carole notes some other companies, apart from Yahoo, who are ramping up IM technology: Wablet, Meebo, RadiusIM, InCircles, Skype, and PalTalk.
Personally I now use 4 different IM apps on a regular basis - Skype (my main business client), Yahoo Messenger (great avatars!), Google Talk and AIM. I use Meebo occasionally too, if I'm on another computer or just want everything on one page. It's amazing how crucial IM has become as a business tool - although it can also be a distraction at times, of course.
What IM clients do you use - and where do you see the industry headinng in 2007? I'd like to think interoperability will be improved even further and also an 'open ID' kind of system for IM would be great. Thoughts?
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The only IM application I use regularly is MSN, but I live in Canada and from what I've read it's not very popular in the US. I'm planning on joining Skype right away though.
Posted by: Stephen Glauser | January 18, 2007 5:28 PM
Also, there is a new program for Skype that allows you to have your chat messages spoken, in 10 different languages, and translates your Skype chats in 14 different languages using 38 different language pair combinations. Think of this as being able to expand your international contacts as well as getting an answering machince for Skype chats as well. More information here: http://testing.onlytherightanswers.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=55
Posted by: ZOverLord | January 18, 2007 5:35 PM
Adium on my Mac at home and Trillian on my work PC (Windows) as I need multiple protocols. The biggest problem is that friends are on different systems so basically I need to use Yahoo!, MSN, Google Chat, AIM and Skype.
Interoperability PLEASE! Can't we all just get along?
Posted by: Glen Barnes | January 18, 2007 5:35 PM
I used to use Trillian, but now I use just Skype.
Alex
Posted by: Alex Iskold | January 18, 2007 5:41 PM
I'm a Trillian user. As my friends and business contacts use anything and everything it's really the only way to go (I do prefer it anyway).
Trillian 4 looks like it has the potential to be a great product.
Posted by: David | January 18, 2007 6:06 PM
I use Skype and Yahoo! for business, and MSN for personal IM.
Posted by: Chris | January 18, 2007 9:15 PM
Hopefully the rumors of Google Talk and AIM integration happening this year are true. I think that will be a big boost to Google Talk.
Posted by: Dave B | January 18, 2007 9:42 PM
AdiumX & Skype on my mac
and Msn Messenger, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, GTalk, Skype on my PC
Posted by: Marvin Chery | January 18, 2007 9:44 PM
meebo. sometimes Skype too.
Posted by: Emre Sokullu | January 18, 2007 10:16 PM
I use Gaim for MSN/Yahoo/ICQ/IRC and Skype.
Altough it misses some fancy features like webcam support, but suppports a lot of protocols and encryption.
Posted by: Lityi | January 18, 2007 11:46 PM
I use Trillian as my main interface for MSN Messenger!, AIM and Yahoo! Messenger -- I IM with people on all those public networks. Also use Skype and occasionally GTalk and Jabber.
Predictions:
- RSS can work in a follow-me mode using presence. To do so, filtering will be based on tags, blog authors or specific blogs.
- Interoperability will continue to be piecemeal -- through partnerships.
- Encrypted IM will be hot.
Maurene Caplan Grey
www,grey-consulting.com
Posted by: Maurene Caplan Grey | January 19, 2007 3:11 AM
When I talk to the kids in my life and their extended circles, AIM is fairly ubiquitous. Personally...AIM and Google.
Posted by: TW Refugee | January 19, 2007 3:56 AM
I also use Gaim for aim, yahoo, google talk, and icq. It may be missing some "features" but it so wonderfully integrates all my different IM accounts.
Posted by: Kevin | January 19, 2007 11:26 AM
I use Snooggie (www.snooggie.com) for my communities an MSN messenger as my personal contact list
Posted by: jango | January 20, 2007 9:41 AM
My problem is that i have to use both Microsoft Messsenger and Skype to cater for two sets of contacts who work in one or the other, but not both. I do a lot of screen sharing and online presentations and have been using a mix of professional webex + skype, or skype plus Unyte. Unyte is a great product, but the service can sometimes be unreliable or slow when used in conjuction with Skype.
What's interesting is that AIM have now partnered with Webex to develop a service that delivers Webex quality 121 screen sharing free of charge through their IM client. Personally i love the relibility of Webex, but i can't bring myself to switch to yet another IM Client just to take advantage of this free deal. Now if MS, Yahoo or Skype had made the deal with Webex instead, that would have been truly amazing - and more practical to a great number of corporate users.
Posted by: Matthew Ogston | January 20, 2007 11:56 AM
I'd be interested to know if people use the group chat feature much or is in mostly 1 on 1?
Posted by: Mick Liubinskas | January 21, 2007 2:04 PM
Mick, if you're referring to group IM discussions on Skype, then i use it almost daily. It's very satisfying to get a quick solution to a problem through group chat.
Posted by: Matthew Ogston | January 22, 2007 12:20 PM
Check out the new embedded version of Kool IM.
www.koolim.com
Posted by: amanda | January 25, 2007 8:38 AM
Check out this new service www.imdining.com that allows you to order take-out/delivery from restaurants via AIM.
Posted by: Gail | January 27, 2007 1:54 PM