So, Google's new Hangouts app keeps all of your chats in sync across all of your devices. Cool, right? But what if you're in a video call on your phone, and then open the same video call on your computer. Boop! Suddenly there's two of you, as I just discovered when chatting with my friend Bay. Read More >>
Google's attempt to assimilate the communications of the world will soon take a huge step forward, with a company staff member unofficially suggesting that text messages will soon slot themselves into its Hangouts cross-platform chat suite. Read More >>
Featured comment by EtherealKid:
"[Storbeck said: “SMS integration is coming soon — it is one of our most requested features!”]
Sounds like they're talking about integrating S..." More »
Featured comment by Sharky66:
"I meant if you're a FBK die-hard then Hangouts is not going to get you to use it. I don't use either as I'm not on any social sites but might be tempt..." More »
Featured comment by FRISH:
"Had my hotmail account for ages, why should I change it? It's just hassle with little to no benefit... Although I do get a few messages every few days..." More »
Today, at the BlackBerry Live Keynote, the company announced that it will be launching BBM on iOS and Android this Summer. This is a big move for the company that has found itself increasingly trapped in a prison of its own making. Read More >>
Featured comment by jacal2011:
"Doesn't matter, simple chat is more than enough for me between friends on a different device. I wouldn't move back to a BB just so I can get a little ..." More »
Real-time chat has been everywhere for, you know, forever now and has swallowed everything in its path. Integrating chat platforms and finding a way to coherently deal with texting vs. chatting has become a major issue. Other than venting here in hallowed Gizmodo chatroom posts, how do you manage all the Google chat options, Facebook chat, Skype and everything else? Chit chat below. Read More >>
Word on the street is that Google's incoming unified messaging service has ditched its Babel moniker. According to a source talking to TechRadar it will hit our handsets simply called Google Hangouts, which already exists, so isn't really new, then? Oh, and that it'll be launched at Google I/O next week. [TechRadar] Read More >>
Featured comment by britishchris:
"I just want a set of apps where if I'm using the service on the website or whatever it stops pushing messages to my phone. Third party clients on iOS ..." More »
For a long time now, our smartphones have been getting more and more, well, smart. They do more things. You probably haven’t beaten your phone at chess in years. And the race to cram increasingly granular, eventually useless, features into them has defined the past few years of phone making. Except the next big waypoint won’t be some technological marvel like week-long battery life. It’s something much simpler: Plain old chat. Read More >>
Featured comment by craigj:
"RE: Apple iMessage
quote: "There’s now no way to sync your chat logs across computers, let alone to your phone"
I've got an iMac, MacBook Air, i..." More »
Supposed images of a reworked Gmail interface give us a look at part of Google's new messaging system at the desktop end of the chain -- and confirm the Babel name -- if you are the trusting sort and believe their authenticity. Read More >>
We've heard rumours of an impending Google Play re-design, as well as a consolidation of all-things chat from Google called Babble Babel. Now both have reared their pretty little heads. This is apparently what Google Play 4.0 will look like, while Babel's been poking its head out from behind Gmail. Read More >>
Featured comment by britishchris:
"*GASP*
(related: I hope this Google Babel thing is actually good, I'd kill for an official GTalk app for iOS rather than the current paltry affair of..." More »
Google Talk is great. It's lightweight, fast, and built on Jabber (XMPP). But then, Google's also got G+ messenger, Hangout, and even Drive chat. Mountain View's in a bit of a mess when it comes to chatting because there are just so many options across its different platforms. Google Babble is apparently set to end that, with one unified, cross-platform chat solution, which will span Android, iOS, BlackBerry, and the cloud. Read More >>
After proudly serving the nation for 1,000 years and informing us about the sex lives of beetles, whales, elephants and butterflies, Sir David Attenborough is about to face humiliation at the hands of the BBC -- it's making him sit down and go on Twitter. For a whole hour. Read More >>
Featured comment by spudhed:
"people always moan at me for saying this but i find him a bit creepy, if you asked anyone else what they did for a job and their reply was "hiding in ..." More »
The Microsoft-owned Skype is going through a bit of a transition at the moment, away from the desktop-centric, cheap peer-to-peer connections of old, to a more mobile-friendly client-server system. Part of this move is a new Windows 8-friendly app, which will be live and ready come Friday. Read More >>
Featured comment by EddyCJ:
"Yeah, it's been doomed to receive a shitty generic non-brand nickname, each one different between each different person, who remembers their first exp..." More »
Oh noes. Facebook has activated emoticons in the comments. That means that now your Facebook page will get full of all kinds of smileys. And, for some reason, sharks. Read More >>
Featured comment by sallyde84:
"I came across some pages where the comments were looking a bit different today. Took a second for me to realize that the Smileys aka Emoticons we use ..." More »
People trying to get telephone helpline support from Capita's school IT department have been accidentally routed through to wrong numbers, some of which have been ads for sex chat phone lines. It's what Jimmy Savile would've wanted. Read More >>
Featured comment by resis:
"Can you imagine if this went the other way around?
"Hello - Capita helpdesk......"
"'Ello darlin'.... whatya wearin' baby......"
"Sir? This i..." More »
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