Facebook to add IM

Facebook is to launch its own instant messaging (IM) service, says PC Pro.

Rumours suggest the social networking site has been trialling a Web-based IM service that will allow Facebook users to chat with the friends on their profiles, without needing to install a third-party application.

Rumours suggest the IM service will be based on the Jabber open source platform, which allows the user to use all of their IM accounts at once.

US state senator Stephen Sweeney of New Jersey co-sponsored a Bill that forbids text-messaging while driving, says NY Times.

"It's so much more a part of life," Sweeney said recently. "People have a tendency to read their text messages and e-mail while driving. How many times have you seen someone run a light or cut someone off while they're on a cellphone?"

Sweeney almost paid a price for, as the saying goes, driving while "intexticated". About a year ago, he said, he almost had a collision as he was text-messaging while driving. It was the type of close call, he said, that prompted him to do something a little more drastic than throw away his BlackBerry.

Gizmoz, a social expression and user-generated media service, has an agreement with AOL to allow users of the AIM service, the largest IM community in the US, to create 3D, talking Gizmoz characters to personalise their messages, says Earth Times.

The highly-engaging, animated Gizmoz Expressions can be customised, using a digital photograph and personal message, to trigger verbal and facial reactions as key words are typed in the IM window.

"Teaming up with AOL allows us to introduce Gizmoz characters to millions of AIM users who can now add a hilarious, lifelike quality to their virtual identity," said Eyal Gever, CEO and founder of Gizmoz.