More Information About Meebo

Meebo

Meebo's homepage as of July 6, 2008
URL	meebo.com
Slogan	"Instant Messaging Everywhere"
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	Instant messaging
Registration	Optional
Available language(s)	Multilingual
Created by	Sandy Jen Seth Spermberg Elaine Wherry
Launched	September 2005
Current status	Active

Meebo is an Ajax-based in-browser instant messaging program which supports multiple IM services, including Yahoo! Messenger, .NET Messenger Service, Google Talk, AIM, ICQ, MySpaceIM, Facebook Chat and Jabber and is based on the free and open source library libpurple created by the software developers of Pidgin.^[1]

Meebo is also IM client natively designed for iPhone and Android mobile phones. ^[2]

History

Meebo was founded in September 2005 by Sandy Jen, Seth Sternberg and Elaine Wherry, and is based in Mountain View, California.^[3]

Meebo received funding from Sequoia Capital on December 15, 2005.^[4] Meebo includes features such as invisible sign on (to prevent others from knowing when a user connects) and simultaneous connections to multiple IM services.^[5]

On August 2, 2006, Meebo launched the "meebo me" widget, which allows users to embed a version of Meebo on their personal website. Additionally, on October 11, 2006, they announced a partnership with Amie Street to include the "meebo me" widget on each Amie Street user page.^[6][7]

Meebo allows some people who are behind firewalled networks (networks that block the various instant messaging protocols but have not blocked the meebo.com domain name) to connect to instant messaging services due to the fact that the user connects to only port 443 (HTTPS) and the Meebo service itself then connects to the various instant messaging protocols.^[8]

As of May 14, 2007, Meebo incorporated "meebo Rooms". Users of Meebo can connect to chat rooms or host their own for which multiple friends can join and chat. Meebo Rooms also grants a degree of control to the user with invite and ban authority. Meebo Rooms is a big leap forward for Meebo because it is more reliant on newer browsers.^{[citation needed]} Classic Meebo was updated to reflect the release prior to Meebo Rooms to allow users with outdated browsers to continue to use meebo.^[9]

On September 10, 2007, Meebo announced support for file transfers between users.

In late 2007, Meebo was included as a web app with gOS, a Linux distribution.

In April 2008, Meebo secured $25M in venture capital funding.^[10]

In December 2008, Meebo added support for two new IM networks, Myspace IM and Facebook Chat.

Achievements

• In June 2006, Meebo was listed 65 of PC World’s 100 Best Products of the Year.^[11]
• In August 2006, Meebo was listed as one of Time's Top 50 Coolest Websites for 2006.^[12][13]

Competitors

Meebo faces competition from large network providers as well as other third-party web-based clients. First-party competition includes MSN Web Messenger, AIM Express, Google Talk, and Yahoo! Web Messenger. Third party competition comes from startups such as Heysan, KoolIM, IMUnitive, imhaha, eBuddy, orgoo, iloveim, and imo.im. Soashable was an Open Source clone of Meebo which now is offline due to financial and time constraints.

External links

http://www.meebo.com

References