Articles about Messaging and Collaboration

LinkedIn is supposed to be about connecting with people and communicating with them, and a new option is on the way -- voice messaging.

As anyone who has signed up for LinkedIn will know, it's very common to be hit with a barrage of connection requests and messages from people you don't know. Now there's yet another way to get frustrated with needless communication which will almost certainly go one of three ways: getting ignored completely, being referred to email like most modern communication, or just having a phone call for efficiency.

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Slack and its rivals Atlassian have announced they are forming a strategic partnership that will see chat tools HipChat and Stride closed down.

As part of the deal, Atlassian has made an equity investment in Slack, while Slack has acquired the intellectual property rights for Stride and HipChat Cloud. Moving forward, Stride, HipChat Cloud, HipChat Server and HipDhat Data Center will all be discontinued, and users will be offered a migration path to Slack -- making it even stronger competition for Microsoft's Teams.

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Snapchat confirmed that it is closing down Snapcash next month. The peer-to-peer money transfer service is due to shut up shop on 30 August.

The closure was not officially announced by Snapchat initially, but references to "Snapcash deprecation" were spotted in the code of the Android app. The company has now confirmed that Snapcash is coming to an end after four years.

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Microsoft has announced that Skype 7.0 (also known as Skype classic) is to be killed off, forcing all users to move on to the "modern" Skype 8.0.

The company says that from September 1, only the new version of Skype will work, and this is something that is likely to upset users who were unhappy at the redesign that was introduced nearly a year ago. To soften the blow, Microsoft has updated Skype 8 with a range of new features, and says that other new options -- including the ability to record Skype calls -- are on their way too.

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Microsoft has launched a free version of Teams, the company's collaborative chat tool. Teams has pitted itself against the likes of Slack since it first appeared, but the arrival of a free edition makes it a viable alternative.

As this is a free product, it should come as no surprise that there are limitations. However, the free edition of Microsoft Team can still be used by up to 300 people -- the same as the Essentials and Premium versions -- which should be enough to cater for most small to medium sized businesses.

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Google is rolling out a series of changes to Android Messages, one of which makes it possible to send text messages from the comfort of your computer. Called "Messages for web" the feature enables users to use a desktop web browser to send SMSes rather than their phone.

While this is almost certainly the biggest and most exciting changes for Messages, Google is also pushing a number of other new features to the app, including Smart Replies, GIF search and link previews.

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A new feature is rolling out to Snapchat users around the world, making it possible to delete messages you send and then change your mind about.

It's something that users have been asking for for some time, but the update will not allow for stealthy message deletion -- to the disappointment of some.

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Yahoo Messenger is to be discontinued in just over a month. Yahoo owner Oath has announced that it is killing off its famous Messenger service on July 17.

After this date, chatting will no longer be available, and users have just six months to download their chat histories. At the moment, there is no direct replacement for Yahoo Messenger, but users are being advised that they can request an invite for the beta version of the invite-only group messaging app Yahoo Squirrel.

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In a keynote address at Computex 2018, Microsoft introduced a completely new hardware platform: Windows Collaboration Displays. Designed for use in offices and meeting rooms, the displays are touch-sensitive and can connect to Microsoft Azure Internet of Things spatial recognition via built-in sensors.

While clearly related to the Surface Hub, Windows Collaborative Displays have a key difference: you have to supply your own computer hardware. Hook up a computer, and you have digital whiteboard and presentation tool at a fraction of the cost -- although pricing is yet to be confirmed.

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Employees often spend valuable time keeping their various work apps coordinated and synchronized, which harms productivity.

Cloud-based mobile app building platform Appy Pie is addressing this problem with the launch of its 'Connect' tool, a productivity solution that allows businesses to streamline tasks and automate workflow across multiple applications simultaneously.

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The latest update rolling out to WhatsApp users heralds the arrival of a batch of new group messaging features.

Available to both iOS and Android users, the new features include a Slack-style "group catch up" option, and it is also possible to add a description to group chats, and search for individual participants.

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Google has had no shortage of chat and messaging tools over the years, and the company just added another one to its list. Google's Chat is based on the RCS (Universal Profile for Rich Communication Services) protocol which it is hoped will succeed SMS.

The company is hitting pause on Allo -- which only launched towards the end of 2016 -- to focus resources on RCS. Google is transferring "almost all" of the team currently working on Allo to Android Messages which will ultimately feature Chat, its own RCS implementation.

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Just as with any popular platform, WhatsApp has fans who are quite happy to use it while conceding that there are things that need to be improved. Having -- eventually -- made it possible to delete messages after sending them, WhatsApp is now extending the timeframe in which deletions can be made.

The Delete For Everyone option is now available to users for 1 hour, 8 minutes and 16 seconds after a message has been sent.

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Cloud platform Dropbox and leading CRM provider Salesforce have announced a new partnership to connect their platforms, allowing companies of all types and sizes to collaborate and connect with their customers across sales, service, marketing, commerce, and more.

Users will be able to create branded, customized Dropbox folders within Salesforce Commerce Cloud and Marketing Cloud using a new digital asset engagement solution. Folders will be available to both internal teams and external partners.

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Dropbox has joined forces with Google Cloud to bring integration with G Suite. The move comes out of a recognition that people tend to use more than one cloud service, and it can be problematic having to deal with files and tools in different locations.

The partnership means that users will be able to open and edit G Suite files from within Dropbox. Ultimately, there will be support for Docs, Sheets, Slides, Hangouts Chat and Gmail, making it far easier to work with the cloud services from Dropbox and Google together.

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