IM and VoIP aggregator Nimbuzz to launch Android client

 

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Posted on 31 Jul 2009 at 14:55

Nimbuzz, a free service that brings multiple IM (instant messaging) and social networking services together in one client, is to release a version for Android. It recently launched clients for the iPhone and Mac, and there are already mobile clients for Symbian S60, Java and Windows Mobile, and a Windows version, plus you can also log in via any web browser.

Nimbuzz lets you bring all your IM and social networking contacts together in one interface and call people using Skype or any SIP-compatible service. It has support for the major IM services including Skype, Windows Live, Yahoo, AIM and Google Talk, as well as clients using the standard Jabber protocol. It also connects to Facebook's chat service and smaller geographic social networking sites such as Giovani (Italy), Hyves (Netherlands) and SchuelerVZ (Germany).

From this single contacts list you can chat, send files or talk to your friends on disparate networks. The VoIP feature supports multiple VoIP services or you can enter in the details of any SIP-compatible service. If you don't want to rack up data charges from your network provider, you can set Nimbuzz to call via WiFi instead of your 3G connection. The Nimbuzz mobile clients let you backup your contacts to your PC, although the iPhone version doesn't yet have this ability.

The are many competitors to Nimbuzz, but few come close to having the OS or mobile support, or support for as many IM protocols and social networking sites. It doesn't let you read Twitter and Facebook feeds like our favourite Windows client, Digsby, and with access to so many of your contacts, it's a shame that it doesn't let you merge and manage them more easily. However its VoIP features are well implemented and it supports more sites and standards than other similar services. We look forward to seeing how it develops to make more use of location-aware services.

Author: Barry de la Rosa