eBuddy

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eBuddy
Type Private
Founder(s) Paulo Taylor
Jan-Joost Rueb
Onno Bakker
Headquarters Amsterdam, Netherlands
London, UK
San Francisco, California, USA
Slogan "Web and Mobile messaging for everyone everywhere"
Website www.ebuddy.com
Type of site Instant messaging
Registration Optional
Available in Multilingual
Launched 2003
Current status Active

eBuddy is a privately held company which owns a browser-based web and mobile messenger service supporting various instant messaging services. eBuddy was launched in 2003 under the name e-Messenger, located at www.e-messenger.net, before rebranding itself in 2006 to eBuddy.

eBuddy supports Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, Hyves, ICQ, Google Talk, MySpace Instant Messenger and Facebook Chat using one interface. eBuddy can also be accessed from mobile platforms such as Apple iOS, Google Android, Nokia Symbian and Microsoft Windows Phone 7.

The company is backed by Prime Technology Ventures and Lowland Capital Partners. It is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and has offices in London, UK and San Francisco, USA. In addition to the software being available on the official website, users may host a log-in widget on their own webpages and blogs to provide direct access to the software more easily.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

eBuddy was originally created by Paulo Taylor. The idea came to life when he made a bet with a friend to get MSN Messenger, as it was named in 2003, to work on a mobile phone. After several weeks, he won the bet and uploaded the application on a server. Visitors then asked if he could make a web version of the application. As user traffic spurred, Paulo decided to take the idea further. On September 9, 2003, Taylor together with two partners created EverywhereMSN.com. Microsoft however claimed the domain name and on December 4, 2003 the domain was changed to e-messenger.net.[2] On May 1, 2004, e-Messenger became incorporated. On June 1, 2006, e-Messenger was renamed to eBuddy.[3] On September 21st 2011, eBuddy announced they had reached 250,000,000 users. They also detailed that their mobile products received 33,000,000 users monthly.[4]

[edit] Software variants

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[edit] eBuddy Web Messenger

eBuddy Web Messenger contact list in 2008

eBuddy Web Messenger is the free browser-based version of eBuddy.[5] It does not require any installation of additional software other than a Web Browser. This is particularly useful when a Messenger Application cannot be installed, for example in the workplace or on shared computers. The current version of eBuddy Web Messenger was introduced on October 15, 2009.[6] It is the third generation in of eBuddy's Web Messenger, mainly boosting speed and reliability improvements compared to the prior generation.[7]

Other features include a combined buddylist for all chat networks, the tabbed chatting eBuddy is known for and full-featured chat like font formatting for messages and support for emoticons. Also the ability to send and receive offline messages. In August 2010 recent chat history, an inline YouTube player, an updated Facebook implementation and Desktop Notifications for Google Chrome were launched.[8] The web messenger is available in multiple languages. In contrast to eBuddy's mobile Messengers, an eBuddyID is not required to use the Web Messenger. Prior generations of the Web Messenger included webcam chat, but this seems to be removed from the most recent version.

[edit] eBuddy Mobile Messenger

In June 2007, eBuddy Mobile Messenger,[9] a Java ME client, was released that is claimed to work on the top 600 cellular phones used worldwide. This version offers features like uploading an avatar and sending pictures in the chat. The software is usable after being downloaded as an application. Features included in this variant are similar to the web messenger, with support for sending and receiving offline messages, being able to upload pictures to use as an avatar, and the ability to send pictures in chat. The Mobile Messenger also supports sound and vibration. A later version, released in January 2009, added more features which improved software usability, and lowered power use of the device running it.[10]

[edit] eBuddy Lite for iOS

On July 13, 2007, eBuddy released an Alpha version for iOS operating system; the iPhone and iPod Touch. It is based on the same Ajax platform as the web version. At the start of 2008, this version was replaced by eBuddy Lite Messenger for iPhone.[11] This mobile web-based version of eBuddy is optimized for the iPhone and also works on the iPod Touch. The features are very similar to the Mobile Messenger, but also include added support for the Safari browser found on the iPhone.

[edit] eBuddy for Android

EbuddyforAndroid.png

On May 14, 2009, eBuddy launched eBuddy for Android,[12] an app to chat on smartphones running Android operating systems. The features provided by this variant are similar to the standard mobile messenger service, but are adapted to support the Android status bar, with support for sounds, vibrations, and buzzers.eBuddy for Android is available in the Android Market. It topped 250,000 downloads on January 14, 2010.[13]

[edit] eBuddy for Nokia

eBuddy was released on the Ovi Store for Nokia smartphones in 2010. It reached 1 million downloads in under three months,[14] and reached 3 million downloads by August 2010.[15]

[edit] eBuddy ID

In February 2008 eBuddy introduced the eBuddy ID, which allows easy access to eBuddy networks.[16] With this eBuddy ID users are able to login with multiple Instant Messaging accounts, and are able to access to premium features like Webcam Chat.[17]

[edit] Reception

[icon] This section requires expansion.

[edit] Awards

  • In January 2007, eBuddy won the "Best Dutch App" award at the Dutch Web2.0 Awards organized by Blue Ace.[18]
  • On March 19, 2007, eBuddy was listed in Red Herrings Top 100 Europe 2007 organized by Red Herring[19]
  • In December 2007, Google Zeitgeist listed eBuddy as the 7th fastest growing search term worldwide.[20]
  • In January 2009, eBuddy won the Crunchies Award for Best International Company of 2008 organized by Techcrunch.[21]

[edit] Updates and modifications

  • September 2005 – Integrated Ajax into e-Messenger
  • August 2006 – Established US server platform
  • June 16, 2007 – Released new mobile Java ME client and new beta web IM version
  • August 22, 2007 – Released MySpace IM for the beta web version
  • July 28, 2008 – Released optimized version, eBuddy Lite Messenger, for iPhone and iPod Touch, plus other features
  • July 29, 2008 – Released version 0.99 of the eBuddy Mobile Messenger
  • September 19, 2008 – Released new versions of eBuddy Mobile and Lite Messenger, including support for Facebook and ICQ
  • May 6, 2009 – Released new eBuddy Web Messenger with Webcam Chat[17]
  • May 14, 2009 – Released eBuddy for Android[12]

[edit] Other chat clients

[edit] References

  1. ^ "eBuddy loginbox widget for your Website or Social Network". ebuddy.com. http://www.ebuddy.com/in_your_website.php. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  2. ^ Bink, Steven (2003-12-08). "Everywhere-MSN.com domain claimed by Microsoft". bink.nu. http://bink.nu/Article639.bink. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  3. ^ Kirkpatrick, Marshall (2006-06-21). "E-Messenger raises funds, relaunches as eBuddy.com". techcrunch.com. http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/06/21/e-messenger-raises-funds-relaunches-as-ebuddycom/. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  4. ^ http://blog.ebuddy.com/index.php/ebuddy-blog/250000000-ebuddy-user-accounts/
  5. ^ "Web Based Instant Messaging". ebuddy.com. http://www.ebuddy.com/webmessenger.php. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  6. ^ Vincent G. (2009-10-08). "A New Web Messenger". blog.ebuddy.com. http://blog.ebuddy.com/index.php/ebuddy-blog/a-new-web-messenger/. Retrieved 2010-08-18. 
  7. ^ "eBuddy Developers Triumph with Faster, Better Web IM". about.com. http://im.about.com/od/imreviews/fr/eBuddy-Web-Messenger-New-Version.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-18. 
  8. ^ Vincent G. (2010-08-12). "Notifications and video player added". blog.ebuddy.com. http://blog.ebuddy.com/index.php/ebuddy-blog/notifications-and-video-player-added/. Retrieved 2010-08-18. 
  9. ^ "Mobile Instant Messaging on the Go". ebuddy.com. http://www.ebuddy.com/mobilebeta. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  10. ^ Vincent (2009-01-22). "New Mobile Messenger released". blog.ebuddy.com. http://blog.ebuddy.com/index.php/mobile-messaging/new-mobile-messenger-released. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  11. ^ "Instant Messaging for any Device". ebuddy.com. http://www.ebuddy.com/mobileinternet. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  12. ^ a b "eBuddy for Android". ebuddy.com. http://www.ebuddy.com/android. Retrieved 2009-07-17. 
  13. ^ "eBuddy on AppBrain". http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.ebuddy.android. Retrieved 2010-03-04. 
  14. ^ http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/05/20/ebuddy-downloaded-1-million-times-from-nokias-ovi-store-in-3-months/
  15. ^ http://blog.ebuddy.com/index.php/uncategorized/3-million-downloads-in-the-ovi-store/
  16. ^ Sign up for an eBuddy ID for easy login
  17. ^ a b Vincent G. (2009-05-05). "Webcam Chat - Now Available on eBuddy". blog.ebuddy.com. http://blog.ebuddy.com/index.php/web20/webcam-chat-now-available-on-ebuddy. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  18. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20071005031304/http://www.web20awards.nl/
  19. ^ http://www.herringevents.com/vme07/newspr.html[dead link]
  20. ^ "Google Zeitgeist 2007". google.com/intl. http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist2007/. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  21. ^ jjrueb (2009-01-13). "Thanks! eBuddy has won a Crunchie award because of you". blog.ebuddy.com. http://blog.ebuddy.com/index.php/instant-messaging/thanks-ebuddy-has-won-a-crunchie-award-because-of-you. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
* Center Networks interview CEO eBuddy* Release of new mobile J2ME client + beta web IM version * iPhone support* MySpace IM support

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