Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile

Beejive Brings IM to iPhones

Geoff Duncan
By
Beejive Brings IM to iPhones

A month ago at the company’s World Wide Developer Conference, Apple CEO Steve Jobs touted the forthcoming iPhones, urging developers to build applications for the iPhone as Internet-based Web 2.0 applications that users could connect to (via EDGE or Wi-FI) using the iPhone’s integrated Safari Web browser. The news kind of went over like a lead balloon: sure, many applications and services could, in theory be implemented as Web 2.0 applications, but that doesn’t give the applications access to storage on the iPhone, a coveted spot on the iPhone’s collection of icons, or magically let people use the applications if they should happen to be away from EDGE or Wi-Fi connectivity.

Nonetheless, the seeming runaway success of the iPhone launch means developers can’t afford to let the iPhone pass them by—even if it means implementing their products and services as Web-based applications. First out the gate is BeeJive, which has just launched a public alpha version of its JiveTalk mobile instant messaging client specifically for use via the Safari browser built into the iPhone. The service takes advantage of the fact Apple didn’t include a version of its own iChat instant messaging client with the iPhone. iPhone owners should just point their phone to iphone.beejive.com and get started messaging via AIM, AMSN, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, and Jabber. BeeJive is letting anyone use the alpha release for free, but warns there might be problems and/or bugs.

Recommended Videos

The company has not announced any future plans for its Web-based version of JiveTalk for iPhone, but the company’s BlackBerry client is priced at $19.95, with no per-message charges. Apple hasn’t made any official statements about native instant messaging clients for the iPhone, although speculation has the company adding the capability to the phone via software updates. However, that may still leave a slot for a service like BeeJive: Apple’s iChat operates via AIM or Jabber, meaning an iPhone version may not be able to talk to users on MSN, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, and other instant messaging platforms.

Editors' Recommendations

Geoff Duncan
Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
How to find your lost phone (tips for iPhone and Android)
The Motorola Edge Plus 2023 lying next to the Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro.

Not knowing how to find your smartphone can cause a real panic when the need arises. It likely has way too much information about you, has access to your bank details and stock portfolio, and can grant access into pretty much any personal sphere of your life. Plus, you're likely addicted to your smartphone in ways that no device has ever addicted humankind before. In short, if you've lost your phone, you may start to panic.

Read more
iPhone 16: news, rumored price, release date, and more
A person holding the Apple iPhone 15 Plus and Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

We're a few months removed from the launch of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, so you know what that means: iPhone 16 rumors are in full force. Talk is heating up about everything from design leaks and rumored specs to camera changes and more.

Read more
I wish I could buy Huawei’s new Pura 70 phones
Huawei Pura 70 Ultra green leather and gold metal finish.

Huawei has pretty much been removed from the U.S. smartphone market after being sanctioned by the former Trump administration nearly five years ago. But in its home country of China, it has frequent run-ins with Apple for the top spot. Besides a sense of nationalism, Huawei's success is backed by phones that offer top-notch design, exceptional cameras, and extremely unique features. We see these traits once again on the latest Huawei Pura 70 series that launched in China today as a successor to the photography-centric P60 lineup from last year.

Huawei's Pura 70 series has four phones: the regular Pura 70, the Pura 70 Pro, the Pura 70 Pro+, and the Pura 70 Ultra. Being a camera-centric series, the phones feature a distinct triangular camera arrangement, while the Ultra -- the top-of-the-line model -- also comes with a retractable lens similar to digital cameras for finer focus.

Read more