Multi-protocol chat client Digsby received a major update today, with over 100 bug fixes and new features. At the top of the list, the new version should use about 50% less CPU cycles than previous builds.

Digsby is a chat client that lets you chat with contacts whether they're using AIM, ICQ, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, or Facebook Chat. It also lets you read and write updates for social networking sites including Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn.

Here are a few other new features:

• Search your buddy list by hitting Ctrl+F
• Improved file transfer reliability for AIM, ICQ, and MSN
• Support for entering your status on MySpace
• Added support for invisible mode on Gtalk
• New infobox based on WebKit

Some of these features have been available to Alpha testers for a while now, but the new build will allow all Digsby users to access them.

Skype has launched a beta of Skype 3.0 for Windows Mobile. As expected, the new client has two major new features: SMS and file transfer.

The file transfer feature lets you swap files with any other Skype member, whether they're using a mobile or desktop client. With the SMS function, you can send domestic or international text messages at Skype rates, which in many cases are lower than the rates you'd pay to send international SMS over a wireless carrier. You can send or receive files or text messages over a 3G or WiFi connection.

There are plenty of services out there that will let you send files to someone even if they're too large to fit in an email attachment. But YouSendIt, FileMail and similar services typically require you to upload the file before the recipient can begin downloading it. You can save time by allowing someone to copy the file straight from your computer using file ai.

Here's how it works. You visit the file ai site and click the send files button. A Java applet opens up allowing you to drag and drop files to a folder on the web page. When you're done adding files and folders just send the unique URL to your receipient and they can begin downloading the files using any Java enabled browser.

The service uses a BitTorrent-like file transfer protocol so that if you send the files to multiple recipients, they can download data from multiple sources simultaneously which speeds up the download process.

In case you're worried about the security issues of opening up files on your computer to remote downloaders, file ai uses 128 bit AES encryption on the files before sending them. But to be honest, there's still a gaping security hole - the unique URLs file ai generates aren't really all that unique. I'm pretty certain that if you plug enough numbers into the end of the URL eventually you'll be able to download files from a stranger's computer. it really seems like file ai should allow you to password protect your file transfers so that recipients need to have the correct URL and a password.

Update: If I'd poked around a little longer, I'd have noticed that you can choose to password protect a file transfer before adding files to the folder. Once you've added files or folders there's no way to password protect them.

[via MakeUseOf]

Online document sharing service Docstoc has launched a new product that lets you email files that exceed your email service provider's file size limits. Docstoc OneClick is a desktop application that lets you upload files up to 50MB to Docstoc with a little right-click magic.

Just select the file you want to email and Docstoc OneClick will upload it in the background and open up an email window complete with a link to the file. The recipient of the email will be able to either view your file online using the Docstoc viewer or download the file. You can make any file public or private.

Right now Docstoc OneClick is Windows only, but a Mac version is coming soon. There doesn't seem to be a way to configure OneClick to work with a web-based email service like Gmail or Yahoo! Mail. So when it launches an email Windows, it will load up whatever Windows thinks is your default email application, which might be Outlook, Outlook Express, or Thunderbird.

Docstoc OneClick doesn't work with all file types, just documents like Word, Excel, or PDF files. You cannot upload media files. File transfer service YouSendIt offers a similar application, but without the limitations on file types, and with a higher file size limit. But the advantage to using Docstoc is that users can view documents without downloading them.

Don't like the idea of uploading large files to a web server and sending a download link to your friends or colleagues? Podmailing is an application/service that aims to solve the same problem as YouSendIt and EatLime -- most email services limit file attachments to 10 or 20MB. But Podmailing takes a very different approach than most other services in this space.

First of all, while most services cap file sizes at 100MB, 500MB, or 1GB, Podmailing has no size limits. Second, Podmailing requires you to download and install a desktop application. That's because when you upload a file, the recipient has several download options:

• Use a download link to download the file stored on Podmailing's server
• Install the Podmailing application on their own computer and download the file through a peer to peer connection with your computer
• Download the file via BitTorrent

To be perfectly honest, we wouldn't recommend anyone use Podmailing to simply upload a file to a server. Podmailing's upload speeds are painfully slow when compared with other services like EatLime or YouSendIt. But things speed up significantly when you establish a peer to peer connection. And if you use BitTorrent to send the same file to multiple people simultaneously, download speeds should be even faster as the computers form a swarm.

Podmailing is free while in beta. There are clients available for Mac and PC.

[via MakeUseOf]

Once upon a time if you wanted to share files too large to send as email attachments, you would upload them to an FTP site. But not everyone has an FTP site lying around, and so web services like YouSendIt, MailBigFile, and Driveway have stepped up to the plate. While YouSendIt it probably the most familiar name of the bunch, the service only lets users send files up to 100MB for free. For larger file transfers you need to pay a fee.

EatLime has a 1GB file size limit (although you need to register for a free account to send files larger than 100MB). That alone doesn't make the service unique. But EatLime also has one killer feature that most other services lack: You can share download links with others before you've finished uploading a file, and they can begin downloading while you're still uploading.

EatLime, formerly known as YouSwap, also has a nice clean interface, easy to use tools for managing your files, and a contact manager for keeping track of the folks you regularly share files with.

Update 5/08/08: When we first took this service for a spin in March it was awesome. But in the following months we've had problems with EatLime corrupting files we've tried to share, and suffering from downtime. The service has a lot of potential, but right now its performance is just too inconsistent to recommend for sharing important files.

Back in November we took a look at a promising new service that lets you send large files to friends or colleagues without using an instant messenger, FTP site, or web parking service like YouSendIt. PipeBytes lets you establish a direct connection with another user. All you do is select a file you want to upload and PipeBytes will give you a code to share with a friend who will be able to download that file directly from your PC.

At launch the service was completely advertising supported. But a funny thing happened when we went to try it again the other night. We noticed our file transfer was going extraordinarily slowly. Like 128Kbps slow.

It turns out PipeByes has decided that playing YouTube videos with advertisements wasn't paying the bills and the service is capping your upload/download speeds unless you pay for faster service. We suppose that's fair enough, and $0.99 for a one day speed pass that bumps your transfer speeds up to 1.5Mbps seems reasonable. But we can't imagine why anyone would pay $19.99 a month when they could set up an FTP server for free.

Our prediction: PipeBytes will either have to increase its 128Kbps cap on free transfers to attract more regular users or the service will ride off into obscurity.