Sometimes I wonder if this whole Web 2.0 business isn't just going to implode into a mangled ball of buzzwords and incrementally innovative apps. Possible signs of this coming apocalypse? The fact that while Kevin Rose is digging up some new IM app for us, Stan Schroeder over at Mashable is able to produce a decent list of 19 IM startups that Kevin will need to beat.
Although Schroeder's list isn't totally damning, it does raise some interesting questions--namely, with all of the IM apps out there, what is it going to take to get a sizeable lead on the competition? At this point Kevin has a dedicated fan base that will likely follow him from app to app, but is brand recognition going to be enough? No one can say for sure until Kevin lets the cat out of the bag sometime this month, but to show you what he's up against I've got the first 10 entries from Schroeder's list for you after the jump. Be sure to visit Mashable to get the full list!
From Mashable's "LOOK OUT Kevin Rose! 19 IM Startups You Need to Beat":
Meebo & Meebo Rooms
Meebo is a very popular web based IM client, and with its latest release, Meebo Rooms, it’s destined to become even bigger. It’s a completely web based chat space with embedded video and plenty of options, including bold and italic fonts and different typefaces. Most importantly, just like Meebo, it works solid and doesn’t get too many slowdowns and freezes which is a common illness for this type of programs.
http://www.meebo.com
Pibb
Compared to most of the competition, and depending on your attitude towards it, Pibb can either be called lightweight or featureless. Options are scarce, and besides creating your chat rooms and maintaining a list of friends there isn’t much you can do. It archives all the conversations, and uses OpenID, though, and that’s a definite plus.
http://pibb.com/
Tangler
Tangler is actually an online forum, and it’s currently in beta. But, a forum with real time conversation is directly comparable with most web based chats, at least those that have archived conversations. Tangler’s look and feel is definitely more like a forum than a chat room, and many users will appreciate this. It also has more text editing options than most web based chat clients.
https://www.tangler.com/
Lingr
Honestly, we don’t think that Lingr is going to go far, but it earns some points on simplicity. Choose a chat room from a tag cloud, and you’re chatting within seconds. Just have in mind that most of its rooms and conversations are Japanese.
http://www.lingr.com
Kool IM
Similar to Meebo, KoolIM aggregates multiple messengers on one page - AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ and Jabber. Unlike Meebo, though, it insists on conversation in a popup window, which might not appeal to everyone. Oh yeah, and for some reason we love their mascot. And, just like Meebo (since recently), it has ads.
http://www.koolim.com/
Campfire
Although nominally based for business users, Campfire is chat just like any other. Its upsides are integration with Basecamp, archive of all conversations, easy file sharing and live image previews.
http://campfirenow.com/
Yahoo! Messenger for the web
Noticing the trend of online chat moving to the web, Yahoo! recently introduced a web-based version of their chat client. It works in any browser, and it has full history, as well as a wide range of emoticons.
http://webmessenger.yahoo.com/
MessengerFX
Just like Yahoo!, Windows Live Messenger also has a web-based version, however, this one is not official and the authors aren’t affiliated with Microsoft. It has its occasional glitches but works quite fast. It also has quite a lot of ads scattered all over the place.
http://www10.messengerfx.com/
Iminent
Iminent combines real time conversation with video; a feat that might have seem strange back when we first saw it, but now it’s commonplace, since Meebo Rooms has it and YouTube is experimenting on a similar feature. But, Iminent works differently: it’s an addon for IM clients (MSN only at the moment) that lets you add videos to your chat. It also scores some points on combining emoticons with videos into EMOvids (don’t think skinny guys dressed in black with funny haircuts; think short videos that help you express your feelings).
http://www.iminent.com/
eBuddy
One of the (supposedly) bigger fishes in this pond, eBuddy combines AIM, MSN messenger and Yahoo accounts in an Ajax interface. It has a number of weaknesses: it’s not supporting all standards, especially Jabber (Google Talk is based on Jabber), it opens a popup window for conversation, and it can be rather slow.
http://www.ebuddy.com/
