While Meebo is still working on optimizing their web-based chat service for the iPhone, a new player by the name of eBuddy is joining the ranks of FlickIM, JiveTalk and Trillian Astra. Already doing business like Meebo as a web-based, multi-network chat service, eBuddy has just announced an alpha version of their iPhone-optimized chat app that is heavy on the features, though certainly a departure from mimicking the increasingly standard iPhone-ish UI. With support for AIM, Yahoo! and MSN (which I thought was now called Windows Live Messenger?), as well as text styling and the all-too-handy tabbed chatting, eBuddy definitely offers a powerful iPhone chatting experience - if you're willing to wait for the web app to load, that is. Users can simply visit ebuddy.com on their iPhone to access the optimized app. Alpha tester beware though: eBuddy took a surprisingly long time to load even over my AirPort Express Wi-Fi, which makes me worry about testing it over EDGE.
Still, it's nice to have options for those times when Apple drops the ball, and eBuddy looks like one of the most feature-packed chat alternatives for the iPhone yet.
Thanks Chris
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-01-2007 @ 9:03PM
David S said...
FIRST!
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8-01-2007 @ 9:22PM
Austin said...
No Google Talk? I'll stick with JiveTalk.
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8-01-2007 @ 9:27PM
mingistech said...
ebuddy = most current features
JiveTalk = most supported networks
FlickIM = slickest looking interface
my current fav of the bunch is JiveTalk. :)
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8-02-2007 @ 11:18AM
dan said...
jivetalk for when i'm on the can at work.
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8-03-2007 @ 8:33AM
will said...
Do any of them support any way to save chat history? Like maybe, emailing it to you when the conversation is over? That's what keeps me still using sms, instead of a web-based chat client, on the iphone, because I want to be able to have a history of the conversation.
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8-03-2007 @ 1:32PM
marie said...
The most lightweight service of them all, m.heysan.com. Supports AIM,MSN and ICQ and shortly also Gtalk and Yahoo.
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