AM is extremely easy to set up and has lots of options so you can choose which contacts you see. It supports Gtalk and AIM protocols in addition to ICQ, MSN, Yahoo and Jabber. AM even logs your IM sessions so you can refer back to old conversations. But best of all, it keeps your IM conversations going, even when you are on a call or out of the program, and sends Mail style notifications alerting you to how many IMs came your way while you were gone. All in all, an extremely good experience for IMing on the go, so jailbreak if you haven't yet, and install this puppy. [Google via Lifehacker]

First, we already know that apps running in the background as a process is possible on the iPhone. The iPod app, SMS app, and various other apps all run in the background now and continue running no matter where you go in the phone. Also, user-made Installer.app apps like Apollo (an IM client) already run in the background just fine. So why did Apple make this limitation that all apps have to quit whenever the user switches out? Memory management. From Apple's Human Interface Guidelines for the iPhone:

Apple has no idea what combination of applications you could possibly install on your phone, and they can't control it. If you were to install two apps that took up loads of the iPhone's memory (we're talking RAM), and they both ran in the background, it would slow down the phone's other, more important tasks such as calling or iPodding. If this were the case, Apple would be blamed for making a slow or non-responsive phone even when it's not actually Apple's fault. This is exactly the thing that goes on in Windows Mobile devices. It's fine when you're just running normal, natively-installed apps, but when you get to multi-tasking with your own installed programs, the phone becomes sluggish and everyone curses Microsoft. Apple wants none of this.

So the implication to you, the end-user, is that you can't have apps running in the background, constantly checking the internet. This means no RSS reader that's always up-to-date and no IM apps that always sit in the background, listening for messages. If you're wondering Exchange's push email and calendars are going to work in this scheme, it'll be integrated into Apple's first-party Mail system, which can be allowed to run in the background.

But in the end, it's only a small portion of apps that are really affected by this rule. Games or utilities can save their app status to disk often so that you can resume where you left off when you start it back up. But until the iPhone allows SDK-applications to run in the background, you're probably better off using a web-based chat application in Safari (which already has permission to). [Tech Crunch]

For anyone willing to put in the serious amount of time it will take to piece this lamp together, the kit contains instructional videos and manuals, templates, and decals. Expect to pay around $60 for parts on top of the $20 it costs for the kit itself. All in all, $80 is a small price to pay for a lighting solution this awesome. [Roger Dodger via TFTS]

Best of all, it can recognize up to eight different emotes and act accordingly, meaning you can gauge your sig-other's mood at you ignoring her IMs all the way from across the room because you are tired and at CES and don't have time to talk.

They've gotten rid of problems such as having to hit a key to bring up the keyboard, the editable chat history and the sound/vibration preferences not holding. In short, it's actually quite usable now. You get alerts when the program's in the background, and the whole app's been sped up many times over.

There are still a few things to work out, however.

• No tabbed chatting
• You can't see who IM'ed you unless you scroll down the whole list
• Occasional freezing at sign in
• AIM only (they're adding more IM networks soon)
• Return button doesn't send the message (only inserts a newline)
• Send button too small
• Autocomplete is beneath the words, so it's covered up by the keyboard
• No contact list grouping (doesn't follow the grouping from the server side)
• Occasionally locks up your phone

Once they can get these issues worked out, it's going to be a pretty fantastic AIM client! [Google Code]

Once you do manage to load a chat screen with a buddy that happens to there (thanks, Adam Frucci), there are some amateur features/early bugs like having to hit a button to bring up the keyboard, and being able edit the chat history. This version is a fantastic proof of concept, but definitely a lousy chat client.

Oh, and the first IRC client has been released as well. But unless this is 1999 again, most of you will have no use for this. But you can make IRC commands and chat, so there's that.

You can install both with Installer.app, which you can see how to use here.

[Google Code via TUAW]

In our own tests, the IMs came in super speedy and in iChat-esque bubbles (like the SMS app). There's even chat icons on the top to represent tabs, so you can cycle between different conversations. It's still in alpha, which explains why there aren't any options for, say, hiding offline contacts, but it's still good enough to earn our recommendation as the best chat app so far. [BeeJive]

First of all, the type size of the messages is way too small on your screen—the text is barely even two points high. You can zoom in, but after every message you send, you must zoom in again. Also, messages don't come in live; they're fetched at the same time you send yours, making for some rather halting conversations and missed connections. Overall, it works, but it's awkward.

If you don't send and receive a lot of messages, you're probably better off using the iPhone's SMS service. After all, that delightful iChat-like interface is hard to resist. Another choice if you're using AIM: you can send messages to an iPhone (or any cellphone's text messaging system for that matter), if you type +1 and then the 10 digit phone number as your buddy's name. Any replies to your messages from your cellphone-toting buddy will count as a message, though.

You can also try Meebo, the supposedly do-everything-anywhere messaging service, but all we're getting at that site when we access it from our iPhone is a spinning cursor. Colleague Jason Chen had some luck with it and was actually able to communicate, but characterized it as "super slow," and certainly not pantsworthy. Meanwhile, technicians at Meebo tell us they're working on optimizing the service.

Let's hope this AIM/iPhone situation works itself out soon. Sure, AT&T wants to generate cash from messaging, but we look forward to the day when we can just use AIM for free on the iPhone, unfettered and easy to use just like the rest of the apps on the iPhone.

Social networkers on services such as MySpace, Friendster, Tagworld, Hi5, Xanga and Multiply will dig this latest version, too, where now they can exchange web-to-phone, phone-to-web and phone-to-phone text and picture messages, with click-to-call (mobile VoIP) and click-to-IM features.

EQO for Skype was already cool, introduced earlier this year, which lets you make Skype calls from your cellphone. But now this new cellphone instant messaging feature is a huge step forward. Those greedy cellphone service providers are going to hate this. – Charlie White

Product Download Page
Press Release [EQO Communications]

Not unlike ourselves, the Availbot falls down when your friends leave. However, instead of falling down in a bar near the river, the Availbot connects to your PC or Mac and can tell when your buddies enter and leave your IM session, giving you a leg up over other's who are unable to tell a little red "Away" icon from a green "Available" icon. – John Biggs

This is Availabot [SchulzeandWebb]

Now, thankfully Open AIM is offering the best of both worlds: free access to the API in Linux, OS X, etc. and a refreshing lack of nasty marketing. With Open AIM, you can build location-based plugins as well as VOIP solutions and all kinds of silly stuff all for the price of a download. – John Biggs

Product Page [Open AIM via CNET]

This week at Lifehacker: Unlock the power of the scroll wheel and mouse gestures and drive Firefox without taking your hand off the clicker. Fix scratched CDs with toothpaste, Pledge, Pinesol or peanut butter. Get flight status information, horoscopes and drink recipes SMS'ed directly to your phone. Make sure your laptop battery doesn't poop out during the key scene of that DVD movie you're watching. Finally, get AIM on your PSP.

James writes:

Last week and this weekend, AOL 'hackers' found a hole in the AOL name creation process that allowed them to create any and all names on AOL, as well as take ANY AIM account that wasn't associated with an AOL account. Most AOLers first try to get 'cool' screen names, then staff and internal accounts, followed up by notable AIMs i.e., from Gizmodo. That's most likely your problem as well. If it's any comfort, it will probably be suspended soon.

AOL has been in the process of changing all of their internal keywords
over from their proprietary format, to web based pages. One of these
was the page to create additional screen names under an account.
Keyword: Names or names.aol.com. Logging in with a master screen name
you could create a new name that wasn't on the system, which took you
to a second step requiring more information. The screen name was
stored in the source of the page, but wasn't verified after step two.
Hackers would save the page locally, change the screen name to
whatever they wished, and then go to the next step, thus creating the
name on AOL. Then they'd change the AIM password and voila.

The AOL 'hacking' scene is very active, with everyone trying to get
the 'coolest' screen name. There's really no countermeasures when
these holes are found, other than to stop using AIM.

FUX0RZ!

Zipit Wireless Messenger [Zipit via Linux Devices]