Framework’s modular laptop is already one of the most repairable, customizable notebooks on the market thanks to a design that not only lets you swap out the memory, storage, and battery, but even the ports. But the makers of the laptop say they’re already working on plans for new modules for the laptop… and entirely […]
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Signal desktop app ported to phones running Mobian Linux
Signal is a popular open source, cross-platform messaging app with an emphasis on privacy and security thanks to end-to-end encryption for all text messages and voice or video calls. There are versions of Signal available for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux. But until recently folks who wanted to use Signal on a Linux phone […]
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Now you can make video calls on a PinePhone (but it’s very much a work in progress)
When the PinePhone began shipping to early adopters, it had all the hardware you’d expect from a smartphone, but it lacked the software needed to make some of that hardware work. If you were one of the first people to get your hands on a PinePhone, you had a Linux-friendly phone with a camera that […]
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8 Comments on Beeper puts 15 different chat protocols into one app (even brings iMessage to Android… kind of)
Beeper puts 15 different chat protocols into one app (even brings iMessage to Android… kind of)
8 Comments on Beeper puts 15 different chat protocols into one app (even brings iMessage to Android… kind of)I don’t know about you, but I’ve got seven different chat or instant messaging apps on my phone because some people I communicate with regularly use WhatsApp, others use SMS, Discord, Hangouts, and so on. A new app called Beeper is designed to let me (and you) delete some or all of those apps and […]
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Google enables RCS messaging for US smartphones (without any carrier help)
Google has been trying to upgrade SMS messaging for years, by supporting the next-gen RCS protocol that enables features like read receipts, transferring high-quality photos and videos, and chatting over WiFi. But the rollout of RCS support for Android phones has been hampered in the US by wireless carriers, who have been slow to support […]
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BlackBerry Messenger is shutting down on May 31st (update: not really)
There was a time when BlackBerry Messenger was a key selling point for BlackBerry phones… and it was exclusively available on BlackBerry devices. But in 2013 the company launched BBM for Android an iOS. A lot has changed since then. BlackBerry doesn’t make its own phones anymore. BlackBerry OS is pretty much dead. And now […]
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Report: Google Hangouts will stop hanging out in 2020 (Update: sort of)
Google has a complicated history with communication applications. The company has introduced, lost interest in, and killed enough that I’ve kind of lost count. So it was kind of nice when Google Hangouts launched in 2013 with features taken from three earlier apps (Google talk, Google+ Messenger, and Hangouts video chat). Now it looks like […]
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Yahoo Messenger is shutting down this summer
It seems like every other day Google releases a new messaging app… meanwhile some of the innovators in this space are pulling the plug on their aging chat apps. Last year saw the demise of AIM, MSN Messenger was eventually renamed Windows Live Messenger and then shut down in 2013 after Microsoft acquired Skype. Now […]
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AIM is shutting down Dec 15th (AOL Instant Messenger)
If you’re an internet user of a certain age (or era, at least), there’s a good chance AOL Instant Messenger was your first real-time chat application. AIM may not have been the first tool for text-based chatting, but it was a breakout start of the America Online experience and survived long after AOL stopped being […]
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Facebook Messenger Lite now available in the US, UK, Ireland, and Canada (Android-only)
1 Comment on Facebook Messenger Lite now available in the US, UK, Ireland, and Canada (Android-only)It’s been a while since Facebook slit up its mobile apps and required users to download Facebook Messenger in addition to the main Facebook app. But if you don’t need all the bells and whistles that come with Facebook Messenger, now there’s a light-weight option. Faacebook initially launched Messenger Lite in 2016 as an app […]