Instant messaging

Research In Motion's plans to make its BlackBerry Messenger service available as an app on Androids and iPhones will get its signature software in front of a wider audience. But will RIM's initiative win new customers, or cannibalize its already failing smartphone market share?

Facebook unveiled on Monday a messaging service designed to incorporate email, SMS, chat and messages under one system, a move that could potentially erode the markets of a host of other high-profile email providers from Google's Gmail to Yahoo's Yahoo mail. But Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg downplayed the potential affect on email providers, saying in a Webcast: "This is not an email killer. This is a messaging system that includes email."

In the latest round of a fight between two technology giants, Motorola punched back at Microsoft Wednesday with a patent infringement lawsuit. Its subsidiary, Motorola Mobility, filed 16 infringement claims against the software giant over its Windows mobile software, as well as its PC and server software and Xbox products.

Tweeting is already easy, but an increasingly popular service is making it even easier. TweetSwitch, from London-based Comufy, makes it possible to tweet while instant messaging or emailing. No need to log on to twitter.com.

AOL may sell its ICQ instant messaging service, which is popular overseas, as the online media company looks to focus on generating content for its wide range of websites. Binding offers have been submitted by at least three foreign players, reports say, and ICQ could fetch around $300 million.

A 26-year-old employee at Fidelity Investments was fired for playing fantasy football while at work, violating company rules against gambling. The incident raises an interesting question: Do younger workers, raised on the Internet, understand the difference between work and play?

Wall Street Journal writer Jessica E. Vascellaro recently wrote a provocative article arguing that e-mail is giving way to other, richer forms of communication: Facebook, Twitter, instant messaging, and (on an approach vector) Google Wave (GOOG). Fifteen years ago, electronic mail was fresh and...

Every office has one; the guy who saves every note, every email, every IM that he might be able to use to cover his ass and deflect blame, sometimes directly your way. You might be interested in a new, free tool from Big String, then -- self-destructing instant messages.The program, available as a...