Skype announced Thursday that it will acquire mobile video software and service provider Qik. Unconfirmed rumors suggest the deal will be worth approximately $100 million. Qik specializes in mobile video broadcasting and video calling services, the latter being an area that Skype has been particularly interested in lately. Qik emerged among a group of similar services but broke out in 2010 thanks to carrier and manufacturer deals that helped net the service 4.4 million new subscribers over the course of the ...

We just received word from our friends at Beejive that their brand new version of BeejiveIM for BlackBerry handsets launches today, and is even on sale until the end of the year at only $9.99/$14.95 (single license or transferable license). Obviously our favorite IM client for the BlackBerry (and even iPhone), version 2.0 has some pretty amazing features in it:Support for OS 5.0BlackBerry Storm/Storm2 supportSend file transfers via link — all IM accounts supportedEmail push notifications when running in...

You might have heard of a little Twitter client called TweetGenius around these parts… Ok, maybe it’s not so little, but you know what I mean. What started out as a side project just for me (and lucky friends) to use quickly grew into a public software offering. We’ve been so blown away by the feedback and sales that we have been struggling to keep up with our original roadmap and between me and you, our roadmap is intense. Well, what’s the next step to make TweetGenius better, faster,...

Not happy to let the T-Mobile Sidekick be the only device to keep its name, T-Mobile has, as you all know, released the update to the Sidekick LX named… the Sidekick LX. Similarities don’t end there, however. We’ve covered the device a little bit but we’ve now got a unit of our own and in addition to some unboxing photos, here are some of our continued first impressions:The screen is possibly the best screen we’ve seen on a mobile device. RIM really nailed it with the Bold and 89...

Palringo first launched its instant messaging app for the iPhone back in July and for six months it has been one of the best options available for IM on the iPhone. The app is sleek and functional, marrying text IM, picture messaging and PTT-like vocal messaging with a multi-platform solution that covers all of the major chat services. Oh, and it’s all free. Today, Palringo announced a new build that adds some great new functionality to its already-capable app revolving around Location Based Services (L...

We told you it was coming, folks. It’s finally here, approved by the almighty Apple gods, and ready for your download. We’ll keep this short and sweet; we standby our previous article where we said this is hands down the best IM application for the iPhone. So go check it out and report back, we know you’ll be pleasantly surprised after the disastrous duo of IM+ and Palringo.Read

If you haven’t dabbled in the goodness that is BeeJive (formally JiveTalk), you are really missing out. Creators of the best IM program for the BlackBerry devices (this isn’t up for debate, ok?), we were ecstatic when we found out they were making an official iPhone application. Let’s start it off by saying MobileChat, Palringo, and yes, even AIM’s official application, sit down. You are done. Finished. Even in its beta state, it’s going to take a whole lot to knock BeeJive off t...

It has been less than one month since Palringo added its IM application to the iPhone App Store and we already have the major revision promised when it was released on July 29. The most notable addition of course, is Push-to-Talk (PTT) support. PTT, or vocal IM as they often call it in this case, is the feature that sets Palringo apart from competitors on various other platforms and now the great functionality is available to iPhone users as well. So how does it work? Just like standard PTT services, simply s...

If you have an S60, Windows Mobile or BlackBerry smartphone then you should already know about Palringo. They call it “rich messaging” and we call it a good IM application with support for AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, Gadu Gadu, ICQ, Jabber, Windows Live Messenger and Palringo’s own IM platform. For a quick recap on what sets Palringo apart, here are the three core functions:Text IM: Standard, run-of-the-mill instant messaging.Vocal IM: More commonly known as Push to Talk (PTT), users...

This is a happy, happy day for any AIM addicts toting around a Windows Mobile device. There are 3rd party solutions (JiveTalk, what up!), but it’s always comforting to get a piece of software directly from the source. AOL has finally released an updated AIM client, and boy does it look sexy! We’re giving it a go right now but sadly, it doesn’t look as if we’ll get file transfers at the moment. Let’s hope this feature makes it way into the final build as it is still in beta. It al...

After what has been quite a long wait for many eager BlackBerry users, Palringo has finally made its BlackBerry IM client available to the public. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Palringo’s IM client, it’s definitely time to remedy that. Already fairly popular on Symbian and Windows Mobile devices, Palringo provides text, voice and image IM services – for free. Beyond its own IM service it also supports just about every popular IM platform like Google Talk, AIM, MSN Yahoo and more. ...