I have a confession to make: I own a BlackBerry Z10, and I love it. I think its BlackBerry 10 operating system is terrific — it’ll be even better when it gets more apps — and I haven’t been this excited about a new platform since I got my first iPhone. Seriously.
I certainly don’t want to see BlackBerry sinking anytime soon, then.
Google Babel, the new communication service from Google, has been renamed Google Hangouts ahead of its public debut at Google I/O next week, according to an unnamed Google employee. Babel had been its name internally throughout the service’s development, but that moniker has now been dropped by Google.
Babel, a new chat service rumored to be on its way from Google, has been shown off in a bunch of leaked screenshots ahead of its official unveiling. The images reportedly come from a Google employee, and they show Babel running on a desktop. Not only do they confirm the service’s name, but also a number of its features.
I’ve been a Viber user for sometime now, but I’ve always been frustrated with its lack of support for group messaging — something I believe every messaging app should do from day one. Thankfully, this is one of the features introduced in Viber’s latest update, available on Android and iOS today.
FMChat add chat/messaging features to FileMaker database.
SeedCode has announced a new and very impressive template/add-on for FileMaker Pro 12 and FileMaker Go that let’s FileMaker developers build real-time instant message style chats into FileMaker database systems. The new template, dubbed FMChat is built entirely using FileMaker 12, which means that no additional backend system is needed to use it.
FMChat is particularly impressive in that it allows chat participants to interact with each other and with database content. It’s even designed with automation in mind. Chat sessions can be used to trigger scripts and automated actions. Potential actions appear as links in the chat transcript. The template can be used in a number of different ways but some examples include approving purchase orders, accepting event invitations, and closing help desk cases.
Got a new Mac? You’ve probably realised that OS X provides an excellent out-of-the-box experience. Unlike with Windows, few add-ons are required. There’s a great browser, for example, and full PDF support. But there’s still some tools that most experienced Mac users download the minute they boot-up a new Mac. Here they are, listed for possibly the first time…
While we patiently await the release of Skype for iPad, which was supposed to land last Tuesday, the Skype application for Mac just got a fancy new update that introduces background video calling and group video chat.
We’ve been raving about Apple’s new iMessage feature in iOS 5 all week. If our current findings haven’t piqued your interest in the new messaging service that let’s you ditch SMS messaging, then maybe this little tidbit will intrigue you. With iMessage, Apple is also introducing the best mobile group chat client to ever hit a smartphone.
Steve Jobs can’t stop porn on Apple devices, but low FaceTime adoption can, apparently.
We’ve been following the rise of FaceTime adult chat company iP4Play since it launched in August 2010.
Now Cult of Mac has learned the company is bust: operations officially ceased last week.
iP4Play blames slow adoption of FaceTime, Apple’s videoconferencing technology, rather than any failings of the company. Not enough people are using FaceTime, whether for sex chat or anything else, the company’s CEO says.
The best multi-IM client on the Mac got a meaty update over the weekend and now at version 1.4, Adium is quacking louder and prouder than ever before.
The biggest new feature in Adium 1.4 is Twitter support. I have to say, having played around with it, it’s not about to replace YoruFokurou as my go-to Twitter client. Like IRC support for it before it, Adium’s trying to shoehorn functionality in that doesn’t really fit. Adium’s Twitter implementation simply crams your timeline of Tweets into an always-open IM window, like a big group chat. That might work for some with more manageable Twitter contact lists, but for me, I quickly turned off Adium’s Twitter support.
There’s more to the new Adium than Twitter support too. It also gains full IRC support, improved group chat, bookmarks for persistent chats and many other tweaks and fixes. You’ll need OS X 10.5.8 or greater, and the new version is roughly a 25MB download.
![Must-Have Apps For Any New Mac [OS X Tips]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/littlesnitch.jpg)
![iMessage Poised to Become the Best Mobile Group Chat Client We’ve Seen [iOS 5]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/iMessageGroupChat1.jpg)
![Porn Service iP4Play Goes Bust, CEO Says FaceTime Adoption Too Low [Exclusive]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Picture-36.png "Picture-36")
