Category Archives: im

VOIP: Alive, well and full of potential

Posted on January 5, 2009 by Rakesh Agrawal

Om Malik asks on his blog whether VOIP is dead or alive. It’s an interesting question and the answer is very different depending on how you define VOIP. Many people associate VOIP with cheap voice calls using the Internet. This … Continue reading →

Posted in im, instant messaging, microsoft, mobile | Comments Off on VOIP: Alive, well and full of potential

Communicating amongst friends: how technology changes human relationships

Posted on September 14, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

I realized recently that I’ve been communicating with one of my closest friends over IM for more than 10 years. We talk almost daily, several times a day. I have no doubt that we wouldn’t be as close without the … Continue reading →

Posted in email, facebook, flickr, im, instant messaging, social networking, twitter, Uncategorized, web 2, web 2.0 | 2 Comments

I am here, where is everyone else?

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

Since the iPhone app store came online, I’ve been playing with a number of mobile social networks. There’s no shortage of them: Limbo, Loopt, Where and Whrrl are all attempting to play in the space. The central idea of mobile … Continue reading →

Posted in apple, facebook, flickr, gps, im, instant messaging, iphone, lbs, mobile, social networking, twitter, where, yelp | 9 Comments

More Americans get their news from… Facebook?

Posted on June 13, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

I found out about Tim Russert’s death today through Facebook. One of my friends had updated his status to say he was “shocked by Tim Russert’s death.” I glanced over at my Google Talk contacts and noticed that two other … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, im, instant messaging, journalism, media, newspapers, publishing, social networking, twitter, web 2, web 2.0 | 3 Comments

Google Chat and AIM, together at last + free SMS

Posted on December 5, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Google has integrated AIM into its chat in Gmail, delivering what Google and AOL announced nearly two years ago when they renewed their search deal and Google invested $1 billion in AOL. The integration is not true interoperability, like what … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, google, im, instant messaging, sms, wireless | 6 Comments

Technology’s effects on our language

Posted on October 14, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I was at the Wright Brothers National Memorial a few weeks ago and struck by the telegram that Orville Wright sent to his father announcing the success of the first machine powered human flights. The message was kept short, probably … Continue reading →

Posted in email, fun, im, instant messaging, random | 1 Comment

IMing from your cell with EQO

Posted on May 25, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

EQO launched a new Voice over IP service for cell phones this week. The downloadable software allows you to make cheap international calls from your cell phone. A call from the U.S. to London on EQO costs 2.3c per minute, … Continue reading →

Posted in im, instant messaging, mobile, wireless, wireless data | Comments Off on IMing from your cell with EQO

Text to self: buy milk

Posted on March 6, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I finally broke down and signed up for an SMS plan. Since then, I’ve been texting myself key nuggets of information: Airline and hotel confirmation numbers Addresses and phone numbers of new restaurants I’m trying Shopping lists The easiest way … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, gps, im, local search, mobile, sms, wireless, yahoo, yellow pages | 3 Comments

AIM 6.0’s Buddy Feeds bring another dimension to social networking

Posted on November 15, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

Liz at GigaOm writes about my favorite new feature in the AIM 6.0 client released today, the Buddy Feed. I’ve been using it in beta for a few weeks and think it has the potential to really transform social networking. … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, im, instant messaging, personalization, web 2, web 2.0 | 2 Comments

Keep the telemarketers away with AIM Phoneline

Posted on November 2, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

One of my favorite AOL products is the quietly launched AIM Phoneline. With AIM Phoneline, you get a phone number that goes to a voicemail box. When someone calls the number and leaves a message it gets recorded as an … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, im, instant messaging | 5 Comments