During the last week, I have been testing a new Instant Messaging service, called Mabber, currently an invite only beta. Mabber plays a little different though when compared to other Instant Messaging software or web applications, like Meebo. Mabber wants you to be able to chat anytime, anywhere, on a PC or on a Mobile device. Even more, it uses Jabber along with support for AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, and even Google Talk. So, how is this possible? Mabber has a web-based version of the Instant Messenger that uses Ajax which you can access from your browser, and also you can download their Mobile client to your mobile device allowing you to Instant Message anyone, or as Mabber says, think of it as “SMS texting brought to the 21st century, with the twist of real-time answers and conversations, just like in an Internet chat.” The Mobile service will not be free, but is said to be much cheaper then your basic SMS messaging. So, I have tested Mabber and overall, I am very impressed with what it has to offer. Lets go over some features.

(Note: low quality graphic )

Lets first take a look at the web-based version of Mabber. The design is pretty nice and easy on the eyes. Sometimes it has a little funkiness when contacts have long away messages, and the IM windows don’t fit too well in Firefox, but other wise, everything looks great and works great. What shocked me the most was that Mabber actually has sound too! Sign on, sign off, receiving of messages, etc., all have different sounds, making it feel just like a normal computer application. Even more so, if you look at the screenshot above, you will notice that the contact list (top left) and the IM Window (bottom right) are separate windows, unlike how services like Meebo work with all being under one page. It’s fine either way, really, and this is of course favorable by opinion, but I personally like how they are separate windows because it makes it feel much like a normal computer application for Instant Messaging, like Trillian or Google Talk.

Mabber is packed with features. As I have said, you can have message with AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, Jabber, and Google Talk. You can make groups for all of your contacts, set your away message, view away messages, hide/show offline contacts, save notes for a member, record chats to view history, create and view vCards, and a lot more. Packed. I had the pleasure to chat with a Managing Director of Mabber, Nico Lumma, as I tested some of the functionality. As I was chatting with him and another friend, I noticed that as you get messaged, the Instant Message windows even automatically focus to the window you got a message in and plays the sound for received message, which is a big plus, in my opinion. We also discussed other features like the recording of conversations (which is optional and disabled by default) and the adding of timestamps to your conversations. But Nico and the rest of the Mabber team seem to feel the Mobile functionality is the more important feature that Mabber offers.

In a recent post by Scott Hanson, Mabber’s Sysadmin, he explained why he feels the Mobile functionality is so important and why Mabber is a big deal. It is because the strength it provides with being able to communice anytime anywhere, PC or Mobile. Picture this. You go out for a bit, open Mabber on your mobile phone, and start talking to a friend. You then head back home and sign off of Mabber from the mobile client. You then go to your computer, sign on to the web-based messenger and continue your conversation with your friend as if it never ended. Always connected, always in communication. That’s why I, too, see it as a big deal. The only difference is that when using the mobile service, you will get charged for the air-time costs, which is usually much less expensive then SMS messaging.

I have not tested the mobile service myself, but I have been keeping an eye on Nico Lumma’s Flickr Photos and came across some screenshots that seem to describe the available functionality fairly well. Mabber offers to ways of getting the mobile Mabber working. You can either download the client itself and use Bluetooth to get it on your mobile device, or you can simply send your phone number to Mabber through the control panel and they will send the download right to your phone. Sounds simple! As for functionality, it looks like you’ve got your basic Instant Messaging features just like the web-based version, although don’t take my word on that because I haven’t tested it myself.

Overall, Mabber has been working great. I do feel the web-based version needs some touch-ups here and there, but for the most part works excellent. Mabber is packed with features, excellent use of technology, feels like an actual Instant Messaging computer application, and even has a mobile client for when your on the go! But if I had to make some suggestions, here are my thoughts. I would like to see a method to split up offline contacts from the online contacts because as of now, they do have different status icons, but mixed up with all the other contacts gets a little cluttered and hard to point out. Secondly, Mabber features chat history, which is excellent, but lacks in searching. You can select dates for different conversations, but I would love to be able to search through my history to help me find past conversations. Lastly, it may have just been me, but it seemed as though Mabber changed my buddy icon for AIM to the AIM stick man with two orbs. Odd and not sure if it is related at all to Mabber, but it would be great if it stays the same at default, but you can decide to add a different buddy icon later instead of just replacing it (if at all possible). Other then that, I loved everything.

I’ve kept Mabber open for more then a day straight and it worked without problem and surprisingly never lost connection (does happen once in a while). In my opinion, it could be used as an all time Instant Messenger. I haven’t experienced any errors while using it and I am quite pleased. Mabber is currently in an invite only beta. It will be very interesting to see how Mabber grows and I am curious as to how it will perform when more users jump aboard.

View Mabber Mobile and Ajax Instant Messaging.