Although many of us may have Google Chat, AOL, or Jabber accounts, the only way to get an encrypted channel is for both parties to have MobileMe/.Mac accounts.  If you aren’t already using your MobileMe account in iChat, you’ll have to first add it.  Go to Preferences and then under Accounts click the + icon.  Put in the name and password for your MobileMe account and click “Done.”

Next you’ll be presented with a dialog box confirming you want to enable encryption.

By default it’s enabled so you’ll click continue.  If all goes well,  you’ll get a confirmation the encryption certificate was requested and within a few minutes you’ll be good to go.  I recommend quitting iChat and then opening it back up.  Check your account preferences and make sure that it says encryption is enabled.  If you use multiple accounts via iChat, make sure you begin your chat via your MobileMe account rather than one of the other services you use.  I log out of all other chat accounts just so I don’t accidentally respond to the wrong chat with private info.

If you already have your MobileMe account configured in iChat, simply be sure that you go to preferences and enable encryption.  If you haven’t used encryption in a while, it may take MobileMe’s servers a few minutes to enable it.

Once all set up, if you want to tell someone the secrets of the universe, just be sure to look for the lock during your conversation to make sure encryption is enabled.  If it’s not, Apple has some good troubleshooting tips, the obvious one being to make sure the person on the other end also has encryption enabled.

Some caveats with secure iChat is the fact that it only works with Leopard and above, and no encryption system is foolproof, but I’d certainly feel more comfortable giving confidential secure info via encrypted iChat than over any unsecured channel.

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In the latest developer’s preview build of Lion, it’s been reported that iChat now supports Yahoo! Messenger, but there’s still no sign of being able to use iChat with other networks, including MSN messenger. Also noted is the fact that iChat now consolidates contact lists into one window, like third-party multi-protocol client Adium does, so you only need one window open.

In order to use other networks like Facebook chat, you can use Jabber, a chat protocol which iChat does support, as a kind of intermediate connection. To do so, you’ll need to download Psi, an application which will allow you to create a Jabber account and connect it to other chat networks.

Once you’ve downloaded and opened Psi, the application will ask you to either sign into an existing account or register for a new one. Assuming you haven’t done this before, click Register new account. You’ll then be asked to enter a server name. The server I use is headcounter.org, which isn’t in the drop down list, so you’ll have to enter it manually. It’s free, open to all and it works. Don’t worry about the other settings, and click Next. Once Psi has contacted the server, you’ll need to create a username and password.

The next thing to do is link your Jabber account with MSN (or any other chat protocol). To do so, first sign in to Jabber by right clicking your username and choosing Status > Online. Now right-click your username at the top of the Psi window and choose “Service Discovery” from the contextual menu. This will open a new window.

In the new window will be a list of services available to connect to. Find the one called MSN Transport and double-click it. Then enter your MSN credentials and click OK. You should see a message saying that the registration was successful, and another new window should open with a system message from msn.headcounter.org. In this window, click Add/Auth and your Jabber account will be connected to MSN. If everything went as it should, you should see your MSN contacts appear in the Psi window.

The final step is to connect iChat to your Jabber account. Open up iChat’s preferences under the iChat menu and navigate to the Accounts tab. On the left is a list of accounts you have set up in iChat. At the bottom of this list, click the + button to add a new account. In the new account window, select Jabber from the drop down list and enter your Jabber details, including the @headcounter.org part of your username. Leave the server settings to auto. Click OK, and the account will be added to iChat.

The first time you connect to Jabber in iChat, you will see a whole bunch of pop ups asking you to authorize your contacts. Unfortunately there is no way to get around this, and you’ll have to authorize each contact separately. However, that’s only a one-time problem, so you’ll never have to do it again. You also don’t have to keep Psi running all the time. Once the account is set up in iChat, you don’t need Psi at all; it was just for the initial setup.

One final thing: iChat can connect directly to Facebook chat without using another Jabber account, since Facebook’s chat service is based on Jabber. Go through the new account process in iChat, choosing Jabber again, and enter the following details:

• Username – this should be in the form username@chat.facebook.com. Your username is the end part of the URL of your facebook profile. For example, if the URL of your profile page was www.facebook.com/fred then your username would be fred@chat.facebook.com.
• Password – your usual Facebook password.
• Under Server Settings, the Server should be chat.facebook.com and the port should be set to 5222. Leave the ‘use SSL’ box unchecked.

Click OK and you should be signed into Facebook chat. This can sometimes take a while, so be patient.

Got any other tips for getting the most out of iChat? Share them in the comments.

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VOIP and video chat solutions are becoming much more common and user-friendly. While I’m going to go over multiple programs (Skype, iChat, and FaceTime), my preferred app is Skype because it’s available for most platforms, allowing you to talk to people on almost any kind of hardware.

Managing Your Default Preferences

If you’re using the built-in microphone and iSight camera, you can skip over this part. Please, for the love of Steve Jobs, don’t use the built-in microphone. You will end up producing a sound not unlike yelling into a flushing toilet bowl, albeit one with great acoustics. Headsets with boom microphones are relatively inexpensive at around $30, so do your listeners a favor and buy one.

If you have an external headset, open up your System Preferences and choose Sound, then go to the Input tab. Make sure your microphone is plugged in to your Mac, and that OS X sees your microphone and you’ve set it as the default input device, and set the headset as the default output device.

Now, the dirty secret is, this isn’t really going to change much in many programs, except for iChat. Since it’s unlikely you’ll keep your headset plugged in all the time, when you unplug it, OS X will go back to the default setting of the built-in gear. Even so, it’s the perfect place to make sure OS X can detect and use your hardware.

Setting up iChat

Apple provides an A/V communications program on every Mac called iChat. It’s very easy to set up and use, but for video, the protocols it supports are limited. Google Video Chat accounts, for instance, are rumored to not work well with iChat video. MobileMe and AOL Instant Messenger accounts work well, however.

As with most Apple programs, setting up iChat is pretty easy. Open up the iChat Preferences, choose Audio/Video, and choose your camera from the drop down list. I’m using an Xbox 360 Camera as my test, so that’s why I have a “Camera #2″ showing. So long as you have a recent USB webcam (one that’s USB Video Class compliant and uses USB 2.0), it should be recognized under OS X 10.6.6 (the latest version).

Setting up FaceTime

FaceTime for the Mac lets you video chat with a supported iOS device or another Mac user. Currently, FaceTime only supports recent iPod touches, iPhone 4s, and Macs running 10.6.4 or higher, making the number of people you can reach fairly limited. Another limitation is that I couldn’t get FaceTime to detect my external video camera. This could be a major issue if you’re using a MacBook with the lid closed, or a Mac mini.

Setting it up is easy, though, if you’re content with your built-in iSight camera. You download the program from Apple’s site, and log in with your Apple ID. FaceTime will then prompt you for the email address you want to be identified by.

Below is a cropped screenshot of the settings panel, but all it has is an On/Off switch and a display of what email addresses you’re using. FaceTime uses your default audio input and output devices.

Setting up Skype

As I mentioned earlier, Skype is my favorite of the video conferencing apps. It’s easy to set up, and since everyone is using the same network (Skype doesn’t support multiple protocols like iChat), a lot of hassles are eliminated.

If you haven’t already set up a Skype account, the first time you open the app you’ll be prompted to create one. Then go to Preferences, Audio/Video and select your preferred Microphone, Speakers and Camera from the drop-down source lists. Skype lets you specify different devices for in-call audio and the ringer for incoming calls, which can be useful if you have your headset plugged in but you aren’t wearing it.

What I love is since Skype lets you call toll-free numbers free of charge, you can easily take notes or browse the web while on a conference call without having to awkwardly shoulder your phone.

Final Thoughts

If you’re video chatting for work, still make sure you’re in business attire when working from home. Also, if it’s a business call make sure your on-camera surroundings are neat, and your camera isn’t aimed at the pin-up calendar on your back wall. And make sure you’re wearing pants, just in case you need to stand up suddenly.

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In this TechUniversity iChat 101 screencast (subscription required), I’ll show you the in’s and out’s of the app and how to get up and running chatting, adding friends, sharing your screen and more.

Topics covered:

• Adding a screen name
• Adding buddies
• Text chatting
• Video chatting
• Screen sharing

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Screencast Sample

Watching the iPad’s first television spot on the Oscars Sunday night, I got giddy all over again in anticipation of getting my hands on this hot new product. Though it’s still a few weeks away, I’m even more excited for the applications that will be coming to the platform. Here’s my top 10 list of apps that I want to see developed for the iPad.

Coda

As a graphic designer and web developer, Coda is a staple in my workflow. It features a built-in FTP system, which could be problematic to port to a mobile device, considering there isn’t a traditional file structure to store data. However, perhaps the iPad’s new file storage system will provide an adequate solution. Regardless, as someone who codes, it would be awesome to sit next to a client and modify code and push changes to a site all from my iPad while they load and test the revisions on their own desktop.

Photoshop

Before you laugh, remember that Adobe has already released Photoshop Mobile for the iPhone, and all things considered, it’s not such a bad application. A larger iPad version could allow support for opening and manipulating native Photoshop files as well as working between multiple files. CS4 introduced a new tabbed approach to viewing multiple documents at once. A similar setup could easily be implemented on the iPad.

Katamari Damacy

What’s a fun touchscreen device without a fun game? Katamari already exists as an iPhone app so it’ll scale up decently on the iPad. But given the advanced graphics of the iPad and the larger screen, a native iPad version is a must. If you’ve never played Katamari, check out this clip below.

iMovie

Call me crazy (it doesn’t hurt to be wishful) but the feasibility of an iMovie-like app is certainly within the realm of possibility. I would have never expected Apple to introduce video editing on the iPhone. Nevertheless, along with a video camera, the iPhone 3GS allows for simple video edits. Why couldn’t we have a larger implementation of this on the iPad, provided it gains a video camera at some point? With the larger screen, there’s plenty of room to view a larger timeline, add transitions or effects and with one tap, upload your masterpiece to YouTube.

iChat

I’m actually quite surprised this app still hasn’t made it to the iPhone yet, but as a platform that’s designed to be “the best way to experience the web, email, photos and video,” the iPad seems like the perfect device for iChat, especially if a future model gains a video camera.

Screen Sharing or Remote Desktop

There have been a number of third-party developers that have created similar apps for the iPhone, but I’m honestly shocked to see that Apple hasn’t implemented its own solution yet. With a larger screen and almost full-size keyboard, remotely accessing and interacting with other Macs on my network would be a breeze on the iPad.

Preview

While the iBooks application will open books that are in EPUB format, I’d love to see a more robust implementation of Preview available on the iPad (and iPhone). Specifically, an app that is capable of annotating PDF files and provides support for links within PDFs. Since I’m also an academic, some of the journals I read (as PDFs) contain bookmarks to other articles or chapters and currently, none of the built-in applications on the iPhone support interacting with them.

Hulu

I don’t care how it has to happen or if it involves Flash or not. Who doesn’t want Hulu on the iPad? Even if it required a small subscription, I would love to be able to access my Hulu queue on the go. Better yet, since the iPad is a closed system, the app could download and cache content so it wouldn’t necessarily have to be streamed in real time. This could be a great solution to save AT&T’s crowded bandwidth for 3G models and allow WiFi-only models to still play even if a network isn’t around. I’d pay for that; would you?

Bento/Filemaker

Now that we have iWork, how about a real implementation of Bento (or FileMaker if that’s not too much to ask)? The current iPhone version is pretty pathetic and really hard to use to manipulate larger databases. While FileMaker may be a stretch, I’d put serious money on seeing an iPad version of Bento before the year is out.

An Improved iTunes App

It looks as though the new iTunes app represents a step ahead of the current iPhone version, but there are still some missing features that would make this app a rock star on the iPad. Adding support for Internet radio, browsing my other libraries by Home Sharing or support for iTunes Extras and LPs would be amazing. Honestly, why hasn’t Apple announced support of iTunes Extras and LPs? The specs call for a viewing area of 1280×720 (the 720p high definition standard). They also call for building your iTunes Extras with what’s called a bleed graphic, or a graphic that can “fill in the extra space” if you’re viewing it at a size greater than 1280×720. Now given that as a way to compensate for a difference in aspect ratios, if you were to scale down an iTunes Extra for the 1024×768 display, wouldn’t it just make sense? Come on, if the Apple TV can do it (and we all know how excited Apple gets about that product), shouldn’t the iPad as well?

What are your thoughts on apps you’d like to see? Share your thoughts in the comments below. The great thing about Apple’s developer community is that they keep up with what’s discussed in the blogosphere. You never know; a developer might see your suggestions. So, share what you’d like to see on the iPad!

Three years ago, my wife and I bought an iMac for her parents. They live over 10 hours away by car, and we wanted them to see more of our daughter as she grew up than they could in person. The iMac proved to be the perfect solution, with its built-in webcam and the included easy-to-use iChat software for video conferencing. Weekly “I chats” with Lolo and Lola (her grandparents are Filipino) have become the norm in our household. Of course, built-in webcams have been features on iMacs and Mac laptops for several years now and have likely been among several key reasons that Mac marketshare has risen steadily over the same period.

As speculation about the second-generation iPhone reached a fever pitch, many hoped or predicted that it would include a front-facing camera in addition to the one on the back, allowing video conferencing from a mobile device. Not only did the iPhone 3G not have such a feature, neither did its successor, the iPhone 3GS. It did, however, feature a video camera. With iPhone apps from Ustream and Qik, its now possible to stream live video from your iPhone to the web. But because the camera is on the back, you have to turn the phone around to shoot video of yourself. Getting yourself in frame would be a challenge, and the apps don’t allow two-way video anyway.

If Apple sticks to its short history for iPhone introductions, we’ll welcome the newest in June or July of this year. Many people will likely once again hope for or predict a front-facing camera and mobile videoconferencing. But the Apple event on the 27th and the tablet everyone is expecting is in my mind a better opportunity and more likely scenario for Apple to reinvent video chatting via a touch-based, portable device.

iChat on the iSlate?

There are several factors that influence decisions over which features make it into shipping products. Cost, of course, can be a major determinant, but so are impact on sales, the tradeoffs of including it, and the relative value of the feature for its users, among others. A rear-facing camera is a rather obvious but essential feature of the iPhone. Phones have been able to take pictures and videos for years; without a camera, the iPhone wouldn’t be nearly as useful or successful. The iPhone is already an expensive device, and adding a second, front-facing camera may add too much cost. A second camera might also mean undesirable tradeoffs: if you position it near the earpiece, what happens to the proximity sensor, and can you fit it in the existing form factor anyway? A dual-lens camera that faces both directions may fit, but would likely increase cost and might decrease reliability. But a front-facing camera has several things going for it, including creating differentiation in the marketplace and enabling a really cool feature likely to stimulate sales.

The iSlate, iPad, Canvas, or whatever the Apple tablet is to be called, may have answers for all of the issues that likely prevent a front-facing camera in the iPhone. The device will almost certainly cost more than the iPhone to produce, driven primarily by a larger screen and form factor. Higher costs could provide ample margin even when including a second camera. There probably won’t be an earpiece, which also eliminates the need for a proximity sensor, at least in this location, so there is room for the front-facing camera even if the tablet is essentially a large iPhone in terms of hardware design. Imagine simply replacing the earpiece with the camera and mics atop a MacBook display, and voi la, instant video conferencing.

It’s quite possible, however, that a front-facing camera on a tablet computer from Apple won’t actually add to its cost. If you really think about it, the rear-facing camera may not even be necessary. How easy would it be to hold what is expected to be a roughly 10″ widescreen iPhone and still touch the display or home button to snap a photo? Could you hold it steady? Because if not, all your pictures will be blurry. Plus, if the primary purpose of the tablet’s design is as a digital media device for the home, your likely to have your iPhones or digital cameras handy for taking pictures. A single camera above the display doesn’t add cost or design complexity if the rear-facing camera is eliminated.

A touch-based iChat experience has tremendous potential value. In our household, video conferencing via our MacBooks is far from an ideal experience. We don’t have dedicated office space and have struggled to find a good location in our house. Our 3-year old has a tendency to play with the keyboard and trackpad. And on occasion, we have carried the laptop around the house to show off new artwork or furniture, or to follow our daughter while she gives her grandparents a tour of the house. Intuitively, all of these issues might be addressed by a tablet with iChat. We could more comfortably be anywhere in the house while chatting, there wouldn’t be any keys to entice young fingers in a full-screen chat, and it might be easier to become a roving reporter with a slate-style form factor as opposed to the clamshell design of laptops.

Still, a host of issues arise, so iChat on the iSlate is not a slam dunk. For example, one would naturally expect the tablet to display apps and content in both landscape and portrait mode. Where do you put the camera so that if you rotate the tablet, your hand doesn’t cover it up? If you put it top center of the long edge and choose to use it in portrait mode, you can only hold it on one side. In this case, will it support both left and right-handed users, allowing the short edge to be both up or down? The content on the iPhone display doesn’t currently rotate 360 degrees; the contents rotate for the top and both sides, but not the bottom. Additionally, would Apple open the feature’s APIs to third-party developers so that services like Skype can also work on the device, or will they pull a “Google Voice” and disallow these programs?

What We’ll Actually See

I do think the Apple tablet will include a front-facing webcam and touch-based iChat software for a variety of reasons. I think that while Apple will primarily position the tablet as a digital media device, it will also position it as a new home appliance. iChat will fit perfectly in this paradigm. I think it has a certain wow factor that is well within Apple’s grasp; they’ve already implemented the solution in myriad devices, but it will seem like a brand new experience on the tablet with a new touch interface. The camera will indeed be top center when it is held in landscape mode, just imagine a MacBook Air with the display ripped off. The software will still not rotate 360 degrees, because despite a minimalist hardware design, the iPhone and soon-to-be-announced tablet benefit from having a top and a bottom. It will be possible to easily hold and balance the tablet with one hand just below and on the same side as the camera, when necessary.

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We’ve all been in the situation. Your mother calls you with a computer problem and you know it’s going to take at least an hour to walk her through the steps over the phone. Then she yells at you when you sigh out of frustration.

If you have parents who use Macs then these calls happen less often but they still happen and usually at the worst time. This is how I use iChat and Snow Leopard’s Screen Sharing app to remotely control my parents computer and quickly solve their dilemmas.

Apple’s Screen Sharing is based on VNC and it is very powerful. Generally to remotely control a machine, you need to configure the host machine and open ports on the firewall. The genius behind Apple’s solution is that they use iChat to initiate the session and no other configuration is necessary. If you can talk them through setting up iChat for their account, you’re home free.

Of course you’re going to need a compatible iChat account such as a .mac, AIM or Gmail account. I use Gmail since it’s free and my parents raised a frugal son. They also have a Gmail account so we’re on the same page as far as chat providers go. If you’ve never used iChat with them before you need to help them setup their account. Apple has made this pretty simple but if you can do it in person it’ll be easier on everybody. Next time you’re over, quickly setup iChat with their info so in the future you can get right into it.

The bonus of using audio and video to help them makes this a rather pleasant experience. If you have the hardware, get a video chat going and start the magic. When you’re in iChat, make sure you see them in your Buddy List. If not, do the following.

1. In iChat logged in under your Gmail account, add them as a buddy.



2. If you both have a video icon, start up a video chat. You can also do an audio chat or just talk to them over the phone.



3. Now request to take control of their screen by going to either the Buddies menu or the Start Screen Sharing icon in iChat.



4. They will see a request dialog similar to this where they can Accept or Deny your offer.



5. After they accept your Screen Sharing request, you now have control of their machine. Fix their issues and they will think you’re a god.
6. When you’re finished you can end the Screen Sharing session by clicking the iChat icon in the menu bar and selecting End Screen Sharing.

This is such a great tool that you have try it out to see how slick it is. I thank Apple for making such a perfect solution. No opening ports on their router or third-party software to install. Just a clean simple solution utilizing something you probably already use with them. Give this a try the next time you get that dreaded phone call and I promise you’ll be thankful.

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My interpretation of minimalism in the home office is removing all distracting items that are not constantly utilized. For software, this is both easy and cheap. Becoming a hardware minimalist is slightly more expensive and time consuming and I recommend reading Apartment Therapy’s Unplggd for recommendations.

Minimal Mac

I recently discovered a website called Minimal Mac, and it is rapidly climbing the charts as my favorite blog. Naturally, it has a simple design that utilizes plenty of white space. Reading this blog has inspired me to clean up my iMac by reducing the clutter. Below are a few quick and easy steps to help you reach software bliss.

Clean Up Your Desktop

Open Preferences for the Finder and deselect everything. Organize your files in the Documents folder. Doing this will remove all files, folders, hard drives, etc. from your desktop.

Empty Out Your Menu Bar

Do you always use the same Wi-Fi network? Remove the Wi-Fi icon in the Network System Preferences. Time machine backs up every hour automatically, so there’s no need for the icon. Are you unsure if it’s AM or PM? First, get more sleep. Second, remove it in the Date & Time System Preferences. Use your keyboard to change the volume? Remove the Volume icon in Sound System Preferences. You get the idea.

For extra credit you can remove the Spotlight icon using Onyx, a thorough maintenance and optimization tool.

Warning: disabling the icon also disables the hot key to activate Spotlight. Only do this if you don’t use Spotlight or if you’re satisfied with using Command-F in the Finder.

Simplify Your iTunes Controller

The built-in mini controller for iTunes is simple to use, but it’s definitely too large and distracting. I recently discovered the perfect app for reducing your iTunes controller to a single line of text. It’s called Bowtie. It offers a variety of cool themes, but the one that is consistent with this post is Simple Bar. It provides previous and next buttons, the artist, the title, and rating controls.

I don’t usually rate songs in iTunes, so I got fancy and removed the stars from the Simple Bar theme by modifying its plist and html files.

Forget About iChat

Start using Adium. It’s extremely customizable and it supports a slew of networks (including Twitter). Below is a screenshot of my preferences that made my buddy list virtually unnoticeable.

Empty Out Your Dock

Leave only the most essential applications in your dock. For me that’s Mailplane, Adium, Safari, Google Reader Fluid app, iTunes, and Tweetie.

Search for a Desktop background

Find a desktop background that is both soothing and non-distracting. For me, that’s a nature-related black and white photo. Here’s the one I chose. You can find more by searching Flickr.

Ten Minutes Later

Below is my new desktop after following these steps. Smaller dock, quiet buddy list, empty menubar, serene background, clean desktop.

What are some ways you keep your Mac minimal?

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This overview will walk you through setting up various accounts through iChat, using the basic features, and even dabbling with some high quality video conferencing!

Getting Started & Adding Accounts

When opening iChat for the first time, you’ll be asked to set up your profile. If you already have an account with MobileMe, Mac.com, AIM, Jabber, or Google Talk, you can integrate it with iChat. It’s possible to use other protocols through iChat, but the solution is a little more complicated. For more information, this tutorial is useful.

Certain advanced features are only available when using an AIM or MobileMe/.Mac account, so if possible using either of these is preferable. After adding your account, you’ll be given the option to encrypt your messaging which is advisable if possible. When done, you’ll be presented with a concluding screen which encourages to get started using the app.

Basic Messaging

The basic screen for iChat is very simple, just showing a list of your “buddies” along with their audio/video capabilities. Double clicking a contact will initiate a text conversation with them. If you haven’t yet added any contacts, doing so is a simple process — all you need is their MobileMe or AIM email address. Click Buddies > Add Buddy from the menu bar and follow the simple instructions that follow.

Conducting an IM conversation is simple and effective, with each response taking the form of a speech bubble:

Multiple people can easily be added to a conversation through clicking Buddies > Invite to Chat, and each individual has their own colour scheme and icon to easily differentiate between participants. If you’d like to keep copies of all your conversations, a preference setting can automatically save chat transcripts to a designated folder on your hard drive — worth doing if you plan on holding an important conversation or meeting through the app.

If you’re holding multiple chat sessions, these can be organized into tabs to save having several windows open at a time. Transferring files is also simple, supporting drag and drop from anywhere in OS X.

Audio & Video Conferencing

Obviously instant messaging is great for certain scenarios, but in the age of ubiquitous broadband and in-built iSights it seems a little dated! iChat has evolved rapidly in recent releases to offer a comprehensive set of audio and video conferencing features. Initiating a video call is as simple as clicking the video icon next to a buddies name (providing you both have a working microphone and webcam). If a webcam isn’t installed, the system will fall back to audio only.

Just as with instant messaging, multiple chat participants are supported through clicking Buddies > Invite to Video Chat. In typical Mac style, the display changes to create a dynamic video ‘room’ complete with reflections and visual effects.

The fun doesn’t end there, however. The latest version of iChat has a feature called ‘video backdrops,’ making it easy (supposedly…) to convince people you’re chatting from the Eiffel Tower, under the sea, or from the moon. You can also create your own custom backdrops with your own photographs. It can lead to some really fun effects — I don’t think this guy was actually sitting in front of a waterfall:

As with chat transcript logging, it’s also simple to save a copy of an audio or video chat. iChat will automatically notify buddies that you’ll be recording the session and ask for their permission. Chats are saved in an iTunes compatible format for later viewing on your Mac or iPod.

Sharing Content

The ability to transmit video and high quality images also leads to other uses. iChat in OS X Leopard introduced functionality for conducting presentations remotely via Keynote, sharing a photo slideshow with a buddy, or even a full screen movie. Any file which can be viewed through Quick Look on OS X is able to be broadcast and shared via iChat.

Sharing your screen is also possible, enabling remote desktop control through iChat while simultaneously chatting to each other through an audio link. Great for helping out your technically-challenged uncle without needing to be physically present — perfect!

Alternative Applications

As with most OS X features, there are a number of other applications capable of performing similar functions. While none have quite the same level of integration with Leopard itself, they excel in other areas. A few others to consider are:

• Skype – Great for video, audio and IM with other Skype users, and also allows you to make low cost international calls. No integration with other protocols, however, and multiple video chatting isn’t supported.
• Adium – A great tool for basic instant messaging, supporting every different protocol under the sun. The interface is highly customizable and a number of useful plugins extend its functionality.
• AOL Instant Messenger / MSN Messenger for Mac – Both of these are the official releases from the relevant protocol. Great for supporting more features of that particular system, but fairly incompatible with other users.
• There are far too many more to mention. A full list can be found here with other notable apps including Proteus, Fire and Colloquy for IRC.

Conclusion

Instant messaging has come a long, long way since the early days of IRC. iChat does a great job of offering powerful and innovative functionality, but may not fully support the network which many of your colleagues or friends use. However, for a free application bundled with OS X, the sharing and collaboration features are impressive.

If you have any further questions (or use a different app I haven’t mentioned) do let me know. Also, if you somehow manage to convince a family member that you’re chatting to them from the Eiffel Tower I’d be fascinated to hear about it!

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While the former only “improves QuickTime compatibility with iChat,” the iTunes update “improves stability and performance” and:

• addresses a quality issue creating MP3s on some computers
• fixes a connectivity issue with the iTunes Store when using some Internet proxies with Mac OS X
• improves accessibility with VoiceOver

The H.264 update will require a restart and I strongly suggest performing all iPhone/iPod Touch updates before upgrading iTunes (always reduce the number of potential things that can go wrong). Both installation packages are available via Software Update and should be available in the download section of Apple’s support site later today. The iTunes installation package is available at the usual download location.

The most impressive part of all these updates is how well the Apple file servers have held up under the load and how much their QA processes have improved. The iPhone update downloaded very quickly and the entire backup/update procedures went very smoothly. iTunes did not clobber my libraries and I had no issues with the Apple TV 2.3 update (yes, I was willing to give up Boxee for a peek at the new “official” features). The SDK download went faster than any other one I have attempted to grab and install, and it successfully compiled and installed one of my in-development apps without incident.

Let’s hope Apple manages to make this the “new normal” for all their updates.

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Groundbreaking web-based email was not sufficient. Embedded instant messaging was not enough. Google Talk voice chat was too “old-fashioned.” Never satisfied with the status quo, the wizards at Google have rolled out a new Voice and Video service and have made Mac users first-class citizens for the new feature.

As with the majority of their shiny new toys, Google Voice and Video is not exactly available to everyone just yet, but when it finally is, enabling it will only require the download and installation of a small plugin and a quick selection in the “Options” link under the chat sidebar in Google Mail. Yes, that’s correct. This will be a service available within your browser.

Utilizing open standards such as the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP), and H.264, Google has built a service that is open to any developer and ready to interoperate with any network, which is all part of their open communications philosophy. It is worth mentioning that Google also sees fit to install their background updater service with this new chat feature. Rest assured, however, that if either component causes any platform issues for you, just run the accompanying un-installer to remove the Google components from your hard drive (so keep that disk image at hand!).

Stored in /Library/Application Support/Google and /Library/Internet Plug-Ins, the plugin seems to be Intel-only but compatible with both Safari and Firefox. Once the feature has been rolled out to your account, just select the “Video & more” menu at the bottom of your Gmail chat window, and choose “Start video chat.” Video can be re-sized or made full-screen.

With the inclusion of video services, Google Talk is now a full-on competitor to iChat and perhaps even Skype. It may lack some of the UI finesse that Apple seems to have mastered and it does not appear to support a quad-stream chat window, but these features could most likely be easily met via a standalone application which is ripe for the making by some enterprising OS X developer.

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I used iChat for a while and, although it’s a great program and has the ability to be used with most of the major chat interfaces, I got frustrated with the lack of built in customizable features very quickly. I never took the time to download a new client or find a way to add features to iChat itself, but the other day I was reading a forum that mentioned Chax.

Chax is a freeware application that puts iChat on steriods without the added rage. The install is simple and clean and adds a new tab in the preferences window of iChat entitled “Chax.”

The added features are very similar to ones found in more robust chat clients like Trillian for Windows or Adium for OS X. Features include:

• Unified contact list shows all contacts from all accounts in one window
• Growl notifications for new messages and users changing status
• Automatically resize the contact list to fit the number of visible users
• Built-in log viewer
• Activity log that displays your contacts’ status changes
• Auto-accept file transfers, AV chats, and screen sharing requests
• Toggle text status visibility of users
• Always on top option for contact list, message windows and AV chats
• Set font of names, status messages, and group separators
• Option to auto-accept text chats, skipping new message notification window
• Show status changes directly in the message window
• Additional unread message notifications in the Dock
• Automatically go away when the screensaver activates

Simply put, Chax adds features that iChat should have built-in and is a must have for anyone who uses iChat as your main chat client.

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