TextNow today may be an also-ran in the crowded over-the-top communications market, but it plans to set itself apart by becoming a full-fledged carrier. It wants to be the first all-IP carrier in the U.S. Read more »
Direct from Asia, imported by Path and co-opted by Facebook, stickers are hitting the mainstream and becoming the new way people message every day. Read more »
If you ever want to feel ripped off, try sending an SMS to a foreign phone number. MVNO Ultra Mobile, however, is killing one of the industry’s most sacred cows by making all international messaging free. Read more »
Tango has already built up a surprisingly large following of social gamers within its communications app. Now it plans to export its video, voice and messaging platform to other game makers. Read more »
If FreedomPop can get this VoIP service off the ground it could become the first all-IP mobile operator, but the feisty MVNO has promised to launch voice in the past and failed to deliver. Read more »
It’s fun to compare the different ways of sending a digital message, but is there a point to doing so? According to one irate analyst, the debate – as currently framed – is futile. Read more »
Until now, Viber has been a mobile-only play that sits somewhere in between Skype and WhatsApp. Now it’s on the desktop too, and the different platform versions are very tightly integrated indeed. Read more »
After years of speculation about a “Facebook Phone,” Facebook finally rolled out its version of the deeply-integrated Facebook mobile experience. But aside from a slightly nicer messaging and greater ad opportunities for the company, it wasn’t terribly exciting for users. Read more »
Skype never dominated the mobile space the way it has dominated the PC, opening the door for numerous OTT communications rivals. TextMe believes it has combined the best features of Skype, WhatsApp and Pinger into a single mobile app. Read more »
Twilio wants to become the universal translator of communications protocols in the cloud. The new service acts as a bridge between the SIP-based world of enterprise PBX networks to any other type of calling technology. Read more »
Kik, the messaging app, is doing well as a back channel for social apps like Instagram. Now, with 30 million registered users, it’s pursuing its first update in a year and a half, creating a new way for people to add features like mini-apps. Read more »
In five months, PC messaging startup MightyText has quintupled its user base to 1.2 million, and it’s now ready to expand to its Android-to-PC SMS synchronization service to new tablets. Read more »
WhatsApp, the huge mobile messaging app, has hit 100 million downloads on Google Play. The company is still not releasing overall mobile install numbers from its other five platforms. But the milestone shows why carriers are signing deals with it. Read more »
Spanish startup Spotbros is trying to muscle into the mobile messaging market with an app that combines location-based communications with rich web-like messages and extra security. The company has raised $500,000 from former Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo and other investors. Read more »
GroupMe is looking beyond messaging with the introduction of Experiences by GroupMe, a new group event planning service that is launching in New York City. It’s part of GroupMe’s larger plan to influence local spending and get a piece of the local ad and offers market. Read more »
As a hot, buzzy start-up in private beta, Branch has enjoyed advanced hype thanks to some high profile users and backers. But it also suffers from misconceptions as well because it’s not quite clear to the public what it will be. Is it a form of a […] Read more »
UK politician Louise Mensch has got a ton of publicity for her new startup, Menshn — a Twitter-like messaging service that has pre-determined topics for people to talk about. But here’s the thing: it’s an idea that’s rotten from top to bottom. Read more »
MightyText has taken the beta wraps off of its over-the-top messaging service, which extends an Android phone’s SMS capabilities to PCs and tablets. Using the same phone number, a MightyText user can send and receive text messages from a PC or tablet browser. Read more »
Changes brought in by much-hyped Berlin startup Amen were partially intended to stop the opinion service being used as a messaging platform — ironic, given that the CTO was a key early developer at Twitter. Read more »
British supermarket chain Asda conducted a survey and found parents were increasingly using technology as a form of in-home intercom with their kids, calling them to dinner or telling them to do homework. One in five used gadgets to communicate with children inside the home. Read more »
WhatsApp is now delivering more than 1 billion messages a day on six different mobile platforms, which it claims puts ahead of any other independent messaging apps. It’s built its success despite charging for its app, avoiding publicity and somewhat reluctantly accepting VC money. Read more »
Twitter has made the world faster with its real-time messaging. But what if it’s not actually real-time enough? Enter Bonfire, a new browser plugin that promises to bring IM-style chat and presence into Twitter itself. Read more »
T-Mobile expanded its Bobsled service on Tuesday, bringing free voice calls over the web to landlines and mobiles in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Bobsled is available through a browser, Facebook, Android and iOS. Here’s why the carrier is looking beyond its own network borders. Read more »
It seemed like a no-brainer when Apple first unveiled iMessage for iOS devices: Why not build it into OS X, too? Well, turns out we may soon see iMessage work across nearly all Apple hardware, if new code discovered in Lion’s iChat is any indication. Read more »
Social video service Tout is taking a big step to broadening usage, with new capabilities that will allow users to share moments with friends even if they don’t have its iPhone app. It’s also improved communications between users, with the ability to reply to friends’ videos. Read more »
Facebook Messenger arrived yesterday, bringing a cross-platform group messaging solution that leverages your Facebook network and SMS to reach a wide potential audience. I compared it to other messaging solutions, but let’s take a closer look at Facebook’s offering and what it can do. Read more »
Did RIM’s BlackBerry platform, which has been pretty much left for dead by the tech press, rocket a messaging app to 1 million users in five days? It sure looks that way, so we talked to LiveProfile’s founder about app success and servers. Read more »
VoxOx is a great idea: one program that does phone calls, IM, video chat, Skype messaging, conference calling, even incoming faxing. You can select your own phone number. Unfortunately, with an app that does this much, I suppose it’s inevitable that there will be shortcomings. Read more »
Mozilla’s Raindrop messaging project holds a lot of promise. Like many early-stage, open-source Mozilla projects, the design of Raindrop isn’t being widely publicized, but there are now more interface clues as to why it could be important. Read more »
iPhone users in the U.S. are eagerly anticipating AT&T’s Sept. 25 MMS activation date, but for some at least, the wait is already over. Many are already seeing the switch thrown that enables MMS on their devices, according to a thread over at HowardForums, a mobile […] Read more »
