Have you ever tried to put together a birthday dinner with your friends but then realized that you weren’t sure what was the best way to contact them? If so, Facebook feels your pain. Facebook announced a new mobile app yesterday called “Messenger“.  It installs as a separate app on your mobile phone.  The goal of the app is to provide a single source for all of your messaging needs.

If you follow this link, you will be taken to the page pictured below. You will notice a button on the left side of the page that reads “Get the App”.

If you click the “Get the App” button you will see the following screen. Just type in your mobile number and Facebook will text you a link to the appropriate place, either the Android market or the iPhone App Store.

Once you have installed the app to your mobile phone, it really is simple to use. The app automatically gathers information on both your Facebook contacts and your mobile phone contacts. “Messenger” makes it easy to send out a group message. Now, you don’t have to worry about whether you’re sending the message to the right place, because “Messenger” will send it both as a text and a Facebook notification.

Image Courtesy of Facebook Blog

You also have the ability to add location information into the message. In the picture above you will see a small blue arrow just to the left of the “Send” button. Clicking this arrow will allow you to insert location information into your message. In the image below, you can see how your location information can be integrated into Google Maps.

Image Courtesy of Facebook Blog

The “Messenger” app is currently available for both the  Android and iPhone markets, however, it only appears to be rolled out in the U.S at this time.

There are, however, a few things I would like to point out from my personal experience using the app. One thing to note is that when you send a message to a mobile number it will blast a message to that person’s Facebook account, too. In my case, the person I sent a message to got it on their mobile, their Facebook mailbox, and an email notification in their Hotmail. Some people may not like getting blasted like that. Also, the mobile message appears from a strange number, so this may be a little confusing to the person receiving it. The person I sent the message to also was confused by a “mute” link in the text. So I believe there may be a few kinks left to work out.

Facebook seems to be committed to improving the mobile experience. They also rolled out a couple of other features yesterday. One was to allow social reporting on the mobile version of Facebook. The second allows users to change their password via their mobile. Some of the changes they are making are not going over very well, as usual (there is still a lot of frustration over the new Facebook chat format). All of this being said, I believe the “Messenger” app will be a pretty nice addition to the Facebook family of products.

What do you think? Is this an app that you think you’ll use? I would love to hear your feedback.

Samsung has just added a new member to their Galaxy’ line-up   the Galaxy Pro. The Galaxy Pro is mid-range handset, sporting a 2.8-inch touchscreen with a QWERTY keyboard, in a bar shaped form a la E71.

The handset is powered by a 800MHz CPU and packs 512MB of RAM. It features a four-row QWERTY keyboard as well.  The usual GPS with A-GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microSD card slot and a 3.5mm audio jack are also present.

The back of the phone sports a 3MP auto-focus camera. Sadly, there is no LED flash to aid night photography. The Pro will run on Android 2.2 with Samsung’s TouchWIZ UI on top of it.

Other specs of the handset including its pricing remains a mystery, as Samsung did not mention anything. However, Three U.K. has already confirmed that the Galaxy Pro will be coming to their network soon!

The Galaxy Pro is aimed at competing with budget oriented handsets messengers’ from Nokia and RIM.

The stalemate between RIM and the Indian authorities finally seems to have ended. Research in Motion stated that it has provided solutions to Indian security agencies which will allow them to access data sent using Blackberry Messenger services.

The Indian Government had asked RIM to provide it access to Blackberry Email and Messenger services by January 31, 2011. While it has given the security agencies access to Blackberry Messenger data, it still hasn’t given them access to the Blackberry Enterprise Server.

“RIM continues to work closely with the government and RIM’s carrier partners in India…We are pleased to have delivered a solution well before a mutually agreed milestone date of January 31, 2011.”

“No changes can be made to the security architecture for BlackBerry Enterprise Server customers since, contrary to any rumors, the security architecture is the same around the world and RIM truly has no ability to provide its customers’ encryption keys” said the RIM update.

Even Nokia set up its Mail and Messaging servers in India recently, to allow law enforcement agencies to intercept email and messenger data.

via WSJ

We have already told you about the RIM (Blackberry) – Govt. Of India episode where RIM was asked to allow Indian security agencies to access encrypted Blackberry messenger and e-mail data, to which RIM was constantly opposing the Govt.’s demand. Now it seems that other telecom players have already started feeling the heat.

Nokia announced on Thursday that it would install a mail and chat server in India which will enable law enforcement agencies to intercept email, messenger services and other data sent through Nokia devices. Nokia says that this move will keep it safe in the country as it has conformed with all requirements suggested by the law enforcement agencies, by allowing them access.

Well the strange part is on one hand the Indian Home Ministry is yet to receive a response from RIM (Blackberry) for a similar request and on the other hand Nokia has already taken the required steps without even being asked to.   Here is an official statement from Nokia:

We have installed Nokia Messaging servers, which includes authentication and enterprise servers, in India on November 5. Nokia is fully committed to protecting its users’ privacy and maintaining their trust, while at the same time fulfilling its public responsibility and legal obligations.”

Have you ever thought of making video calls to your friends and relatives from your mobile phone or smart phones? If so, your desire has come true. Fring is free software with which you can make free Mobile calls, Video calls and live chat. Its mobiles call and live chat feature is just like Skype but the feature which makes it unique is video calling from mobile to mobile and mobile to PC.

Fring is basically a VoIP application and service. Through this application you can make calls and messaging to Skype, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, SIP, Twitter and Facebook. It is an all in one’ package from which you can fetch all your online contacts from above mentioned services in single application.

Easy Installation

You can easily install Fring on your cell phones. Firstly you will have to download it from here. After installation you will have to register for a Fring account. From the Add-ons section, you can select the service which you want to use, such as Skype or MSN. Your contacts will be fetched automatically, and those contacts will be included in your buddy list. You can then see in the list which of your buddies is online.

If your cell phone has Wi-Fi, you can use Wi-Fi hotspots or home access points for free phone calls. Video chat on Fring will be more comfortable if your cell phone has a secondary front facing camera.

Image Credit: Flickr

Features

Free calls
Fring Add-on applications
Live chat instead of SMS
SkypeOut or SIP calls
Friends’ profiles
Call history
Invite friends
Video calls
Send & Receive files
Wi-Fi auto-roaming

Below is the list of mobile phones and smart phones currently supported by Fring. You should feel lucky if yours is in the list.

Compatible Devices

Nokia : Nokia 3250, Nokia 5320 XpressMusic, Nokia 5500 Sport, Nokia 5630 XpressMusic, Nokia 5700, Nokia 5730 XpressMusic, Nokia 6110 Navigator, Nokia 6120 classic, Nokia 6121 classic, Nokia 6124 classic, Nokia 6220 (old), Nokia 6290, Nokia 6650d, Nokia 6710 Navigator, Nokia 6720 classic, Nokia 6730 classic, Nokia 6790 Slide, Nokia E50, Nokia E51, Nokia E52, Nokia E55, Nokia E60, Nokia E61, Nokia E61i, Nokia E63, Nokia E65, Nokia E66, Nokia E70, Nokia E71, Nokia E72, Nokia E75, Nokia E90 (Communicator), Nokia N71, Nokia N73, Nokia N75, Nokia N76, Nokia N77, Nokia N78, Nokia N79, Nokia N80, Nokia N81, Nokia N82, Nokia N85, Nokia N86, Nokia N91, Nokia N92, Nokia N93, Nokia N95, Nokia N95, 8GB, Nokia N96

Apple: iPhone 3G, 3GS.iPod touch

Samsung: Samsung SGH-G810, Samsung SGH-I550

Android Devices: HTC EVO, Nexus1

Sony Ericsson: P1i

To start with, aMSN is an exact clone of MSN Messenger offering the same functionality and even the same look and feel. It lets you chat, transfer files, arrange contacts in groups, save chat logs, set automated away messages, do conferencing, use web cam and almost all the other good stuff that the original MSN Messenger allows you to. However, there are many features that make this clone almost better than the original MSN:

• Multi OS Support. Works with Windows, Mac OS, Linux and even Nokia N900.
• Multi language support: currently in over 40 languages.
• Multi-account sign in.
• Over 25 different skins to choose from.
• Much lighter and quicker to install than MSN.
• Lots of third-party plug-ins to customize the functionality.
• Time stamping and tabbed chat windows.
• Dual display pictures.
• You can create your own plug-in.

These are just some of the features that, to me, make aMSN a much better candidate to use than the original MSN Messenger. Of course there are other uses of it too for example if your school/office doesn’t allow you to install MSN or if the original MSN messes up your OS. To me, the simple fact that it is such a light-weight alternative is good enough to make the switch.

Download aMSN here. [Via ilovefreesoftware]