21
Apr
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Like Floating Apps? Then You'll Love LilyPad HD, A Floating Messaging Client For Tablets

Posted by in Applications, News

Finally! Since the dawn of floating apps (which was like, what, three months ago?) this is the one that I've hoped for: a chat client! Brought to us by the Tablified dev team, LilyPad HD finally makes it possible to rid yourself of the full-screen chat client on your tablet for something far more practical.

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Like other floating apps, LilyPad offers basic features needed for an always-on-top app, like quick-hide mode, resizable windows, and even tabs for chatting with multiple people without having a slew of small windows taking over the entire screen.

At the current time, the app costs $1.49 and only has support for Google Talk.

13
Oct
Motorola Photon GHLks

Motorola Photon 4G OTA Update Rolling Out Now, Brings Google Talk With Video Support, Bug Fixes

Posted by in News, Sprint

A minor OTA update is currently rolling out to the Motorola Photon 4G that brings a few bug fixes and one notable feature: Google Talk with Video support. Other than that, it's a pretty bland update:

  • Lapdock support
  • Enhancements to image appearance when pictures are taken in panorama mode
  • Forwarded messages are properly identified as being forwarded
  • Improved audio quality with car speakers when connected to a car charger and audio
  • Introduction of international roaming 3G UMTS hotspot functionality for a single Wi-Fi enabled

While this update doesn't bring a whole slew of game-changing features, I'm sure it's still a welcome one for Photon owners.

15
Jul
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From Koush, The Maker Of ClockworkMod Recovery, Comes DeskSMS, A Gtalk/Gmail<->SMS Forwarding App

Posted by in Applications, News
Last Updated: August 1st, 2011

Update 8/1/11: DesktopSMS is now just DeskSMS.

There are quite a few "remote SMS" apps on the Market, but none quite like ClockworkMod's DesktopSMS. Instead of the usually browser plugin, or dedicated web interface front end, DesktopSMS takes a versatile and familiar approach: Gmail. The app will intercept your incoming SMS messages and forward them to either Gmail, Gtalk, or both, so you can reply from your computer or tablet. Once the sent message hits the receiving end, it looks as if it came directly from your phone, so there's no confusion.

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DesktopSMS is currently in open beta, so there may be some bugs - hit up ClockworkMod's official Facebook page if you run into any issues!

27
Jun
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T-Mobile Appears To Be No Longer Blocking gTalk Calls Over 3G - Is It Working For You?

Posted by in Google, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), T-Mobile

When the new Google Talk with voice and video calling was launched, those of you on T-Mobile who wanted to place calls on 3G quickly found out that it wasn't at all possible. Rather than connecting you to your dog for an afternoon chat, the application stubbornly insisted on only operating through a Wi-Fi connection. At Google I/O 2011, I was able to dig up some more technical details surrounding this limitation, even further upsetting hopeful customers. Bummer.

The light at the end of the tunnel appeared out of nowhere today, when reddit user ep311 was suddenly able to call a friend from his Nexus S running Android 2.3.4, all on 3G while driving home from work.

14
May
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PSA: AIM and Google Talk Can Now Talk To Each Other; All 9 AIM Users Are Essited

Posted by in Google, News

Last week, TechCrunch posted a little announcement that got all 9 people who still used AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) very excited, as all their buddies had already left the dying empire and migrated to Google Talk, and AIM was starting to get kind of boring without them. AOL to the rescue - the company (or whatever is left of it) quietly announced that starting sometime this week, AIM and Google Talk users would be able to become BFFs again, all without switching away from their respective clients.

As of this morning, the integration of the 2 networks is a go.

AIM users can now add their Gtalk buddies by their Gmail email account - for example, What_Would_We_Do_Without@gmail.com.

13
May
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[I/O 2011] From The Horse's Mouth: The Situation With Google Talk And Its Support For Voice/Video Chat And Multiple Accounts On Various Devices

Posted by in Applications, Gingerbread 2.3, Google, News

While roaming around Google I/O and looking for answers to numerous questions you guys posed, I ran into Wei Huang, the tech lead on Google Talk for Android. Yup, the same guy who announced video chat two weeks ago on the Google Mobile blog. Here are some questions I had for Wei, echoing many of you guys:

  • Is video chat coming to other devices than the Nexus S and if so, when?
  • It's understandable why the Nexus One has no video chat (although 1-way video chat would still be better than none), but why did it receive no voice chat with the Android 2.3.4 upgrade?

02
May
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Download: Google Talk With Video/Audio Calling For Rooted Android 2.3 Devices (Ported From The Nexus S)

Posted by in Applications, Gingerbread 2.3, News

One of Android 2.3.4's main new features, which was officially released to the Nexus S late last week, was video and audio calling in Google Talk. While having this feature on the Nexus S is great for its owners, Android users of other devices were left behind. If there is one thing Android users don't like to do, it's wait, which is why britoso from xda managed to rip out the app from his Nexus S and modify it to be compatible with most devices running Android 2.3.

Unfortunately, because he had to modify the apk, he needed to sign it with a different key, which means you need root to install this version (you won't be able to install it over the original Google Talk app as an update due to mismatched signatures, which means you need to uninstall the original app first, and that's not possible unless you're rooted - Google Talk is a system app).

25
Apr
SFGOOGLE2011stacked

[Rumor] Android 2.3.4 To Introduce Video Chat - Expect An Unveiling At Google I/O

Posted by in Gingerbread 2.3, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Samsung

The Google I/O rumor mill has been surprisingly calm this year - certainly calmer than it was last year, that's for sure. But a recent tweet from @MAFiA303, who reportedly "works with Samsung," changes that completely - have a look for yourself:

2011-04-25 18h05_40

Frankly, we were expecting to see more than a new iteration of Gingerbread at I/O, but hey - we'll take what we can get, and video chat is a seriously hot addition to mobile Gmail (especially given that "impressive quality" statement). And this is Google we're talking about, so expect a curveball - who can wait to see what surprises Andy and co.

16
Apr
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For The Conversationalists - Today's Free Premium Amazon Appstore App Is Trillian (Normally $4.99) [4/16/11]

Posted by in Applications, News

After a bunch of relatively uninteresting premium apps given out for free in Amazon's Android Appstore, today's offering is really quite refreshing. Users of the desktop version of Trillian will instantly recognize their beloved multi-network IM client's logo, and those new to it will find its features quite impressive:

  • support for AIM, Facebook, Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, and, of course, Google Talk
  • Trillian synchronizes contacts, avatars, statuses, and accounts between Android, Mac, Windows, and Web clients
  • push notifications for those on Android 2.2+
  • multiple chat windows, emoticons, and more

While Trillian is no longer my client of choice on the desktop (Digsby took that spot), I must say that if you're looking for a great multi-network IM client on Android, it's hard to go wrong with this [normally $4.99] offering from Cerulean Studios.