Definition of Instant Messaging (IP)

IP messaging, more commonly known as instant messaging, is a type of service that allows the exchange of messages from text that arrive at the same time to the addressee.

Instant messaging uses the IP protocol, being one more service that is provided through the Internet

In fact, it is not a unified service, unlike what happens with the web, but there are different providers, which fight to establish their own service as the most popular in the network of networks.

Although these services have been in existence for years, it has been with the explosion of smart mobile phones and the great success of WhatsApp, that these services have become popular, breaking out a war to take over the market.

Historical services

• ICQ. The name is a play on words, the acronym for I seek you, in English, "I look for you." Scion of the Israeli company Mirabilis, it was the first to be really popular and widely used in Internet. Had client for Windows and for Mac. It was acquired by AOL and integrated into its product and service offering, and it still survives today, although with much less popularity than it enjoyed.
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• MSN Messenger or simply Messenger. Microsoft's response to solutions such as ICQ. It enjoyed great popularity, being available only for Windows and with a web-based client option. Towards the end of its days it was renamed Windows Live Messenger and eventually Microsoft decided to terminate it in favor of Skype.
• AiM. AOL Instant Messenger still exists, but with a much lower popularity than it had in the past.
• Yahoo! Messenger. The messenger of Yahoo!, a company that had enjoyed great popularity on the network of networks but, subsequently, fell to new players.
• Google Talk. The predecessor of Hangouts.

Current services

• WhatsApp. The great shock in the field of instant messaging, which has led these solutions to gain popularity on smartphones. In fact, they say that it is the service that has "killed" SMS. Since the beginning of 2014 it has been part of Facebook. The name of Username is defined through the phone number, and the solutions to be able to work with it in a computer desktop do not stop being imitations. Provides voice calling (VoIP) functionality.

• Hangouts. Google's alternative to WhatsApp, already born in a multiplatform environment, and can be accessed from both smartphones and desktop systems. It has the capacity of voice calls and videoconferencing between several users.
• Facebook Messenger. Instant messaging program linked to the well-known social network, but it can also be used separately, without needing to be a user of it. Dispose of app mobile and web interface.
• Skype. Initially a videoconferencing program, it has evolved adding functionalities, taking over from MSN / Live Messenger.

Future

The war is still open to take over the most popular and used, hegemonic service position, which now WhatsApp itself boasts, but it cannot be neglected and rest on its laurels, since they can pass through in front of.

The immediate future for these services is a transition to voice and video conferencing gaining even more weight.

Photos: Fotolia - Monkey Business / ricardoferrando