Chat has become part of everybody's life on the web. It's the most often used form of communication today. It helps build communities, keep in touch with your friends etc. But, what kind of innovations in chat can change our life further? Techcrunch has a nice article on the same. Take a look:
Real time communication is one of the most innovative sectors on the web today. Below are some of the big ideas emerging in web instant messaging as it stands today and the services that exemplify them.
1. Interoperability
After the initial success of AIM and ICQ, several other chat services popped up. Services like Trillian, Gaim, Adium and Miranda developed hacks to communicate across the different protocols.
2. In-Browser Chat
AIM Express was an early version of chat programs that split away from a downloadable client and ran in your web browser instead. Services like Meebo and eBuddy have developed richer user interfaces by using AJAX and bridging chat protocols.
3. Location Based Chat
Instant messaging programs connect people across the internet. Newer programs like RadiusIM and Meetro, connect people by their real-world location.
4. Flexible Identities
As web personal profiles have grown on the web, so has the need to separate your private and professional faces. While users can handle this problem through managing various IM handles, Flash-based Wablet (our coverage) made profiling a central feature in it’s system. Wablet allows you to create multiple personas with different profiles.
5. Contextual Chat
Several new start-ups have popped up and changed the context of instant messaging from buddy lists to websites and interests. While similar to the old IRC chat rooms by basing conversations around topics, companies like Me.dium, Geesee, the newly launched InCircles, OthersOnline, and 3bubbles have incorporated your location on the web into chat in different degrees.
6. Rich Media Chat
Web cams and microphones have been on the web for a while, but the growth broadband, VOIP standards, and mainstream incorporation through services like Skype, Google Talk, and Yahoo! Messenger have expanded their use in chat programs. Skype and Yahoo! support calling to land lines and mobile phones (Skype is free until the end of the year). PalTalk creates voice chat rooms that can host conversations between thousands of people together at once.
To me it looks like this is just the beginning of Chat with so many innovations around!