Instant Messaging

Facebook Messenger's instant messaging, group chat, video call and SMS support features have helped make it one of the most popular messaging apps. Now, there's yet another reason to use it, with Group Video Chat in Messenger making it possible talk face-to-face with multiple people at once.

Messaging service Telegram has announced the first winners of its bot competition. The BotPrize was announced in April and will see $1 million awarded to developers of the best Telegram bots submitted. The first winners come from the worlds of photo-editing, productivity, games, dating and finance.

If recent mobile technology releases are any indication, pictures are still worth a thousand words – and millions of dollars. Emojis and short animations have become communication essentials. Here’s how these modern pictographs are taking over the world, and how tech companies are trying to cash in.

The world's largest social network has today added free video calls to its Messenger mobile app. The move pits Facebook against already established video chat services and affords users yet another way to get some remote face-to-face time with the tap of a button.

In welcome news for anybody who has fumbled around on an unknown computer downloading Skype, Microsoft has announced a beta version for web browser. Skype for Web will be available on an invitation-only basis to start, with aims to roll out globally in the following months.

The internet has connected the world in ways previously unimaginable. Coupled with ever more seamless translation tools, it provides the ability to communicate across borders. Now, a new instant messaging tool is looking to make communication for speakers of different languages even easier.

Facebook no longer offers a Windows desktop instant messaging client of its own. Users can, however, still use third-party applications to connect to Facebook chat from their desktops. Gizmag takes a look at a selection of options for connecting to Facebook Chat from the desktop.