By Rich Edmonds, Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Shape has released IM+ for Windows 8 to compliment the already available free IM+ app on the platform. The pro version of the popular messaging service sports a number of features that aren't available in the standard free app that's available. In both apps, major IM services are supported, including MeinVZ, Jabber, Fetion, Renren, SINA Weibo, Mamba.Ru, Yandex chat and more.
In case you needed some apps today, especially ones that are on sale, we have two to mention for you.
IM+ Pro, the all inclusive instant messaging app with push notifications and Mango-optimizations, is 50% off from its usual $4.99 to a more reasonable $2.49. The app just hit v1.9 recently, adding more improvements. There is of course a free version of the app with ads, but with the Pro you get a less cluttered, more streamlined look--which is what we personally opt for. Seems like a good deal though, so grab it here in the Marketplace if interested.
Likewise, Surfcube 3D browser, which sets the standard for a great UI while browsing, is also on sale for $0.99. Surfcube 3D is a great tabbed browsing experience that allows you use gestures to "rotate" the screen around for quick access to the address bar, tabs and options. You also get full-screen browsing and some great share features as well. The app recently under went some Mango-upgrades itself and if you surf a lot, you'll want to give this great app a trial run too. Pick that up here in the Marketplace.
Love 'em or hate 'em, you have to give SHAPE Service some credit: they are dead set on making IM+ the best instant messaging option on Windows Phone. They consistently make updates to the app and they're not exactly inconsequential ones either. So it's always exciting to get an update from them and version 1.9 doesn't disappoint. Here's the changelog:
Well not even a week after the last update which introduced some new features we get IM+ going to version 1.8 and adding Mango support for fast-app switching, at least according to Shape Service's Facebook page.
If there was any app that really needed this feature, it'd be IM+ just do to the nature of how instant messaging apps are used.
So how does it feel? Honestly, we still see a "resume" screen which doesn't make us feel too excited and there's no other advanced Mango features--no pinnable contacts, the live tile doesn't seem to be double sided, etc. It feels kind of the same as before. But hey, if you find anything new, hit us up on comments and let us know!
By Daniel Rubino, Thursday, Oct 13, 2011 at 12:56 am
The good news is an updated version of IM+, version 1.7, has just gone live in the Marketplace. The bad news is this is not the Mango-updated version, despite earlier reports from SHAPE Services themselves on the matter.
So what is new?
Fast start, scrolling and contact searching;
New Yahoo features: "Show address book contacts" and "Logout from all location".
"Fast start" sounds a bit promising and indeed, the app does start and load a tad faster, though we can't help but imagine a Mango version would, you know feel even better (plus that fast-app resume is desperately needed). The contact searching feature is also a great option and scrolling seems a bit smoother to us as well.
We'll reach out to SHAPE Services and see what they have to say about the missing-Mango version. Grab the Pro version here in the Marketplace.
Good news for users of IM+ (both the Pro and free versions), you can now update to v1.6. The new version brings some pretty cool new features that we're liking a lot. Via their Facebook page:
Send photo option
Message delivery confirmation
Spanish, German, French, Italian language support
The send photo option is what it sounds like--you select a photo, it sends, they receive a in-chat bubble that they tap to open the photo. Worked like a charm for us. The "message delivery confirmation" is even nicer--now when you send a message, the bubble is yellow till it's received by the user, at which point it goes green in color. That's a great addition and gives a little peace of mind.
*Remember, this version does not have MSN/Live Messenger--so if you're still on v1.2, do not upgrade if you want to keep that feature.
This is still the NoDo version though and we can expect update soon: "Mango support will come to IM+ along with the official release of Mango. Thank you for understanding!"--so hopefully next week sometime? If one app could really benefit from fast-app resume, it's IM programs. We can't wait. Get IM+ Pro in the Marketplace here.
For those who use IM+, you'll be happy to know that v1.4 is now available. The big new features are faster loading/connecting (confirmed) and advanced push settings, including a sweet auto-responder and message forwarder:
Significantly improved contact list scrolling and overall application performance
Push-to-Email option allows incoming messages to be forwarded to your email
Autoreply feature will instantly notify your contacts that your are in Push mode
ICQ / AIM / AOL / iChat group chats
ICQ contacts can now be added into your AOL/AIM/iChat contact lists and vice versa
VKontakte and Yandex IM services are now supported
But, we must also remember that MSN/Live Messenger is also now gone, so you are warned--don't upgrade if you need that! Anyways, besides the loss of Live Messenger, we like the improvements and additions. Grab IM+ here in the Marketplace (if update doesn't show, just back out and head back in to the Marketplace to refresh).
Eck. As IM+ themselves say, this is a good news/bad news announcement. Version 1.4 of their app has been submitted to the Marketplace, meaning we should see it in the next two days. This update will bring the following new and improved features:
Significantly improved contact list scrolling and overall application performance
Push-to-Email option allows incoming messages to be forwarded to your email
Autoreply feature will instantly notify your contacts that your are in Push mode
ICQ / AIM / AOL / iChat group chats
ICQ contacts can now be added into your AOL/AIM/iChat contact lists and vice versa
VKontakte and Yandex IM services are now supported
Now the bad news: no more MSN/Live Messenger. From their mouth, Microsoft has asked them to remove their service and alas SHAPE Service has to comply:
"MSN/WLM support has been dropped due to Microsoft request. For those of you who care more about MSN/WLM support than new features (again, new features list will follow), we strongly recommend to do not update once version 1.4 is released."
Ouch. We guess Microsoft didn't give them exception for v1.1 awhile back? So consider this your fair warning folks, if you need MSN/Live Messenger then you don't want to update to v1.4 when it hits. Resist it. At least you can get Mango on your phone and solve this problem that way.
If you're among the IM+ users who purchased the app back when it was released with a price tag of $9.99, you were kicking yourself at the price drop to $4.99 that came soon after. Now prepare to kick yourself on another part of your body as SHAPE Services has just brought in a free (ad-supported) version of IM+.
The main app, which continues to set new buyers back $4.99, has been given a new title of IM+ Pro with the only noticeable difference between the two versions is being the placement of adverts - functionality appears to be fully implemented in the free offering. To get the free version, grab the link here in the Marketplace.
Evidently either someone was incorrect in that statement or Microsoft revised their position, because you can go and grab v1.1 right now in the Marketplace here. (Thanks, Philipp, for the heads up!)
ps For a laugh, in the Marketplace type in "implus" and see the result.
Wow, this will either make you thrilled or really ticked off. But yes, if you can actually make it to the Marketplace today (see here), you can grab IM+ for the low, low price of just $4.99 (see our video tour). Actually, for the quality of that app and services, we think that is a fair price. No telling if it's a temporary price drop or permanent.
For those of you who remember, IM+ launched about two weeks ago for a whopping $10, a price that most of us scoffed at (even we passed). Either SHAPE Services noticed that it wasn't selling well, or the competition (i.e. Kik Messenger) made them change their mind.
So if you passed over before, now seems like a good time to reconsider. Of course, if you paid the $10 we really wish we could give you a hug right now, since you're down about $5 this week. Get you purchase-on right here in the Marketplace. (Thanks, NarutoFan, for the tip!)
Update: For those who are not seeing the price drop, sorry, not sure what to say. Here it is in the Marketplace.
We mentioned the other day that ShapeServices had submitted the popular messaging app, IM+, for Marketplace certification. Apparently the certification has gone smoothly and IM+ for Windows Phone 7 is now available.
Now before you gasp at the price, if memory serves me correctly IM+ for Windows Mobile pushed $20. Knowing that may make the $9.99 price tag for the Windows Phone 7 app easier to swallow.
Still, at $9.99 one can argue it is still one heck of a deal to get AIM, Facebook, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MySpace, Skype and Yahoo! messaging support all under one roof. While there's not a trial version available, you can get a feel for IM+ without our video tour.
You can find IM+ in the Marketplace by searching for "im plus all in one messenger" from your Marketplace App or hit this link (opens Zune) for the Marketplace.
IM+ was submitted to the Marketplace today, and we are all excited for it’s arrival (see our hands on video tour). It just cannot get approved quickly enough. But the developers, Shape Services, announced today that it will not have Windows Live Messenger support. The reason? Microsoft doesn’t allow it. They are seemingly taking Apple’s approach, and not allowing apps that they think will duplicate functionality. Of course, that functionality doesn’t exist yet, so maybe there is something else going on that we don’t know about. It is worth nothing that IM+ for Windows Mobile also doesn't support Windows Live Messenger, so it's not an OS thing.
On one hand, we all know that WLM will be one of the built in services in Mango, so the support will be seamless, and most likely excellent. On the other hand, it sure would be nice to be able to use the service now. Although Skype has more users, Windows Live Messenger is no slouch, with an estimated 330 million active users, more than AIM or Gtalk (at least, according to Wikipedia). The sooner those users see feature parity with iOS and Android, the better.
But hey, why wait that long? Instead, take a gander at our video tour of the new, near universal instant messaging app that supports AIM, Facebook, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MySpace, Skype and Yahoo! The one omission is MSN, which is evidently due to a Microsoft mandate (more on that later). No biggy though, as we'll have full integration with MSN and the OS in Mango this fall.
So how's the app? Well, we couldn't get the push notifications/live tile to work, but we think that's just a temporary server issue. Point is, those features are there and should work by launch. The app design is very minimalist, which is great--it almost feels sparse, but then you remember all that it can do. Load times were decent--once again, it's a v1.0 app, so we expect performance improvements in later releases.
Overall, pretty solid start and we like what we see. Should be interesting to see how it all works out upon release.
By Rich Edmonds, Thursday, Jun 16, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Here we are folks, the good team at SHAPE Services have just announced that they've submitted the messaging app IM+ to the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace. Not long ago we covered it going through Beta. I'll leave it to the unofficial PR on their Facebook page to do the trick:
"AAAAND IT'S FINALLY HERE! Today we're submitting IM+ for WP7 to Microsoft Marketplace. Approval process may take a while. Bloggers, beta testers and all those who are interested in getting pre-release version today, please send your contact at wp7beta@shapeservices.com with "IM+ WP7 beta" in subject line."
If you wish to get a pre-release version, ping them an email with the subject as shown above. Are you looking forward to the app? Or are you more excited about the upcoming IM integration in Mango (if you don't use every service on the planet)?
By Daniel Rubino, Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 2:52 pm
For those waiting with bated breath for IM+...err, you still have to wait awhile. The gooder news (yeah, we just said that) is it's getting closer and it sounds like they are nearly ready to take the wraps off their multi-client IM app for Windows Phone 7:
"Folks, we know it's been a long wait. We are working hard and doing our best to release the beta of IM+ for WP7 asap. And it is almost here. We expect the first beta within 2 weeks timeframe, however ETA may vary.
Please note that due to technical and legal structure of Marketplace the beta will only be available for registered developers devices. We'll be back with updates on beta release shortly. Thank you for understanding."
Okay, you know the rule: we hate when companies constantly delay things, but we forgive them when they keep us abreast of their inner happenings. So you have your stay, ShapeServices. Now lets just hope they deliver a solid product. Our bet is that they will.
On a related note: Flory IM is no longer available in the U.S. Marketplace. We're working on finding out why.
Source: IM+ Facebook; Thanks, Alan P., for the heads up
Besides apps like Trapster, the other big program everyone is waiting for is ShapeService's IM+ which we know is in the works. We heard January/February, then April and here we are in May and still nothing yet. Well, good news is we're almost there.
Dear WP7 users! Thank you so much for your interest to be the first to try IM+ on WP7 platform!
We're sorry for the delay, the development for this platform takes a bit longer than we expected. Anyway, good news for today: the beta testing will be public. However due to technical restrictions you will need the Developer' phone to participate in beta testing. More details on beta will be announced next week
So good news for us with dev devices as it looks like we'll be able to join the pre-party. The bad news is it's still in development, which means we're at least 30-60 days off from Marketplace release. But hey, at least it still exists!
Source: IM+ Facebook; Thanks, Alan P, for the tip!
Even though a preview/beta released was suggested for April, we're fast approaching the end here with no sign of a pending release. But as a sign of good faith, Shape Services has gone and posted a few screenshots of their much anticipated IM+ instant messaging app.
Not too much can be gleaned in terms of features i.e. we don't know if it has a Live Tile/push notifications (though you would think that's a requirement for such an app), but the layout looks nice enough and it appears to embrace the Metro design, which is always nice.
Hopefully we'll be getting this in our hands sooner than later.
We've been waiting for quite some time for IM+ to hit Windows Phone 7 and we finally have word that the first beta should be hitting the streets in April.
No other features have been announced, pricing or if the beta is open or closed. That's the bad news, but hey, at least it's still up for release this month in some form. In the meantime, Flory will have to hold us over, which is just fine by us.
Source: Facebook; Thanks, Tom/Kranked90, for the heads up!
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