Palringo Limited has released an update to their rich iPhone messaging application with some very interesting new features.
Now, if an iPhone user wants to know if any of their friends are near them, all they have to do is look at their screen, thanks to the addition of location functionality.
Parlingo claims to be the one of the first rich messaging service that offers the ability to easily exchange text, voice and picture messages with friends, family and colleagues across all popular instant messaging services, just like BeeJive! These include, iChat, AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messanger, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ, Jabber and MSN Messanger.
The voice feature is pretty nifty in itself, as it is very similar to Push-to-Talk, or using walkie talkies. Simply hold down the talk button, say your message and send it. It works great with MSN buddies, tried and tested. You will need to sign up for a free account with Parlingo, which can be done through the app itself. Then all you need to do is start adding the services that you use.
In the new version, when you scroll through your buddy list, you will be able to see your friends current location, and, how far away that person is from you. This obviously only works with your friends that have an iPhone, but could be quite useful for locating, say, a “missing” spouse, as long as they do not deactivate the location service.
Parlingo have said that their next release will include a maps section that will display all your iPhone buddies within a 10km radius. It will also allow the user to display their own location on a map.
In a statement released by Kerry Ritz, Palringo’s CEO, she says;
“Just knowing where someone is can be really useful, and knowing how far away they are is even better. The prospect of knowing where someone is before you start adds a whole new dimention to your conversation.”
“It can eliminate worry and will probably mean the end of a lot of unnecessary “Where are you?” calls. And soon you’ll pretty much be able to watch your friend, a few minutes late for your rendezvous, approaching on a map.”
This is pretty nice. It works good when the other person is actually in palringo on their phone. My wife and i were having a great time sending pics, voice recordings, etc. and it showed the gps also. But in the real world when i am at work and she sends me something, am i supposed to keep opening the Palringo App to see if someone sent me something. This doesn’t work at all if the person you are trying to contact is not actually in the Palringo App on there phone. Everyone’s phone stays on their springboard page. It would help if the Palringo Icon showed a round number of messages, like Cydia, App Store, SMS, Phone, etc. , so you know when you have a new message or whatever. Again it is a great app, just needs to be able to work when your not in the app.
Although it doesn’t feature “push”, there are ways to get round this. In the app itself there is a setting to receive an e-mail notification of new messages that contains a link that opens the app for you. you stay online without the app being open. Alternatively you can use backgrounder if you’re jailbroken.
where do i find this application…. please help
It is available on the App Store, for free
thanks fable, i live in kenya and i cant buy or download free stuff from the apple store as kenya is not on the list
new version has been released with map support. For anyone using this app i have created a group called planet-iphones, feel free to join.
Hello there. I tried to join this Parlingo group but it says the group cannot be found. I have entered the group’s name as:
planet-iphones
Is this correct?
I have started the group again now, apologies.