Facebook’s Messenger app for Windows 7 computers leaked to the public late last year. The service was initially in a beta phase, but as of Monday it’s been officially released. Facebook previously created a Messenger app for iOS and Android smartphones, which allowed users to quickly chat with friends, share their location or photos and more. The desktop version, unfortunately, does not feature video chat and is limited to Windows 7, although Facebook is “working on making the app available ...

iOS developer John Heaton has discovered a string of iOS code that suggests Apple is working on bringing its popular iChat client to iOS devices. We first heard this rumor back in September, but now there appears to be some proof to back it up. iChat, not to be confused with iMessage, allows Mac users to chat with one another across various messaging platforms including AIM, Google Talk and more. Currently, iOS users can only access iMessage through the text message app and can only place FaceTime calls using...

Samsung is set to make a big splash with new products during the IFA trade show in Berlin, which kicks off later this week, and the phone maker recently announced a new group text application called ChatOn. The application allows Android, iOS, BlackBerry and bada users to create groups to quickly send and receive group text messages. The service will no doubt compete with BBM, Apple’s iMessage, Google’s Huddle, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and GroupMe, but Samsung is trying to distinguish itself f...

Facebook announced on Tuesday that it has released a new application called “Messenger” for Android and the iPhone. Messenger allows users to quickly chat with friends, create group chats, share their location or photos and more. It doesn’t appear that Facebook will tie it in with its Facebook Chat application just yet, but you can access your Facebook inbox from the new app. Unfortunately, it does not offer the same delivered/read alerts that competing services such as BBM, iMessage and Wha...

Activision on Tuesday announced Call of Duty Elite, a new social network-style experience that will allow Call of Duty players to interact with one another in an entirely different way. The social network has three pillars: connect, compete, and improve. “Connect” will allow users to compete against friends, join groups, find players with similar interests, and enter tournaments. Activision will provide both web and mobile interfaces for managing your Call of Duty information from multiple device...

Yahoo! Messenger for iOS has been updated to version 2.1. The chat client is now optimized for tablets screens, and Yahoo! has added support for video chat on the iPad 2, including the ability to place video chat calls to the iPhone, a Mac, or a PC. Yahoo! says it has also added improved spam management tools, and users will now be able to block one or all friend requests from a single screen. If you’ve been using the previous version, the update should also eliminate any unexpected sign-out issues. Yah...

Moments ago, Google announced it will begin pushing out Android 2.3.4 in the “next few weeks.” The company notes that the software will contain bug fixes for the Nexus One and, more excitingly, video chat capabilities for the Nexus S. “You can now video or voice chat with your friends, family and colleagues right from your Android phone, whether they’re on their compatible Android tablet or phone, or using Gmail with Google Talk on their computer,” reads the press release. “You...

Earlier this month, we told you about Internet voice and video chat company fring and its plans to release a multi-user video chat client. Today, the company announced that both its Android and iOS software bundles now have this new feature. “With fring’s Group Video calling, four fring friends can now share a simultaneous video call, for free, on their mobile phone (on Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G) using fring’s proprietary DVQ technology, that delivers the highest quality video for all four participants,”...

A carefully crafted tweet has sparked rumors of a native video-chat feature coming to Android 2.3.4 in the near future. “Just had a video call using gmail on Nexus S. Impressive quality @googlenexus Gingerbread 2.3.4 #io2011,” reads the post in question. The implication is — obviously — that Google will migrate its Gmail, browser-based video chat service to Android and unveil the new offering at this year’s Google I/O conference, which is set to kick off May 10th in San Francisco. We ca...

The brood over at PreCentral have managed to acquire a leaked copy of HP’s webOS 3.0 beta 1 software development kit (SDK). Why is this a good thing? Because contained within said SDK rests a TouchPad, webOS 3.0 emulator, of course. While emulators only provide 50% of the TouchPad story — the other half being hardware — it is useful to get a high-level overview of what user interface will look like. If you want to whet your appetite for this summers TouchPad release, hit the jump. There’s an...

Have an HTC ThunderBolt and a burning desire to use Skype’s video chat service? You’re in luck, because the gang over at Droid-Life have discovered a leaked iteration of the Internet communication client that is video-chat ready. The client, which was expected to ship with the ThunderBolt at the time of its announcement, can only be installed on Verizon’s first LTE smartphone… at the moment. If you’re interested in taking the software for a spin, hit the read link and have your...

Fring, the makers of the self-titled, cross-platform, mobile voice and video chat client, are beginning to dabble in group video chat. In a recent YouTube video, the company showcased its latest software build — currently in beta — running a group video chat session on iOS. The feature will allow up to four users to simultaneously connect, face-to-face in a Brady Bunch-like mosaic as seen above. The beta is currently accepting applicants, so if you think you’re worthy — or just love playing with ...

RIM has made Facebook for BlackBerry, version 2.0, available via its BlackBerry Beta World portal. The latest update includes support for Facebook Chat and messages — which will now automatically land in your unified mailbox. Provided that you leave yourself signed in, the app will automatically notify you of new chat messages, even if you don’t have the app open. We can’t tell you how many times we’ve accidentally “Liked” a random friend’s status while scrolling throug...

Yobongo, if you haven’t heard, is a new iPhone app that meshes location-aware messaging with a chatroom-like environment, and it’s kind of amazing. By using a custom algorhytm and different variables including your location, people you have chatted with previously, or even people you know, Yobongo connects you with up to around 10 people in a single “room” and well, from there it’s one big conversation. I’ve been using Yobongo for around a week, and while the beta test didn...