Leopard's new iChat features are actually useful

Filed under: Internet, Macintosh, Podcasting, Apple

Leopard's new iChat features are actually useful

by Ted Wallingford Oct 16th 2007

iChat was once a leader in the instant messaging and VoIP space, but players like Gizmo and Skype arrived on the scene and just absolutely buried Apple's offering in quiet mediocrity. So it's good to know that Apple's still peppering iChat with new features as they release their OS updates... and this time, with Leopard, some of iChat's new features are actually worthwhile. And while several of these have been available on third-party chat clients for a while, we've never seen them in quite this combination:

Background images. You can now appear to be sitting in front of one of your iPhoto photos, so a really cool landscape like the Great Wall of China could be the venue for your next video conference. What can we say; that's just neat.
Tabbed chats. 'Nuff said.
SMS forwarding. OK, we admit there could be a time when we might use this.
Quick Look support. This is Leopard's extensive new document-previewing feature. Now you can show a Keynote slideshow or a QuickTime movie remotely through an iChat conference. In fact, you'll be able to share anything that adds Quick Look support.
Recording. You can now save audio and video conferences. This is ideal for podcasting.

Really, we aren't using iChat much these days, but we might have to dust it off. Our AIM buddies will be happy to hear from us after so long when Leopard is released in ten days.

Tags: aim, ichat, im, voip

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

robbyrob said 4:17PM on 10-16-2007

its about time they let us save.. we were talking about that at work the other day!

http://www.spymac.com/details/?2284071

Root said 8:13PM on 10-19-2007

Good to hear about the new features, thanks. Just a hint though: iChat's strong side is the interface, and if you separate the client from the protocols, it is actually quite useful. I have mine configured for all my Google Talk and MSN buddies as well, and then it's pretty handy.

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

View more Time Wasters