Archive for: Instant messaging

Video conferencing used to be a tech heavy, equipment demanding effort that was unheard of for the common person at home. Nowadays with the bevy of online tools available, video conference is accessible to just about anyone with a desktop/laptop and a webcam. TinyChat helps to facilitate such an opportunity by allowing several people to join a video chat room at once, much like a group IM, only this time you can see everyone!

TinyChat recently did a massive update that propels this online application into the forefront of the video chat options. This past weekend they released not just an updated product, but a new site that really highlights their offerings and the creativity of the team behind it. Looking under the hood first, here’s what we find with the update:

1. New design for main page / Chat pages
2. “On Focus” Support will alert you of new messages via flashing title and a sound (optional) if the tab or window doesnt have focus.
3. More intuitive private messaging system
4. Ability to join a chat with pidgin / Trillian / Any Jabber client – We also have a IRC -> Jabber Proxy in place
5. Tons of bug fixes, Scalability tweaks and other stuff you wont notice.
6. Proper Embed system allowing you to make a room to host on your site
7. Moderation system, so you can kick and ban bad users
8. Ability to ignore a user

*taken from TinyChat’s blog.

This most certainly makes the service that much more attractive to the already booming user base it has established. Their understanding of the social space is also helping them develop strong ties to their expanding community, listening to the request being made by their supporters. Already in the plans for the next update are things such as country flags associated with the user, private messages via command, recording playback, and the ability to boot people from the chat that are not participating effectively.

There is no doubt that TinyChat is going to experience continued growth and their site welcomes its users and new members alike to interact with them. This easy and free to use application is a must have for anyone who continues to have group chat via IM, and does not want to pay for an account with Skype. With the added benefit of embedding it into your site and sharing it across various social networks, this is definitely an option for the vid-curious.

You can follow them on Twitter and Facebook today!