Life after Hangouts: Google Breadcrumb Trail, Google Popcorn, Google Bla Bla Bla, and the end of Android as we know it

 
Hangouts in the Play Store

Google released their messaging app called Google+ Hangouts. It's available for download for all Android devices except those that run really old Android versions.

Hangouts bundles Google Talk and Google+ chat. Some call it an integrated chat app, but for a real integrated chat suite the messaging features of Hangouts need to get built into a multi-network chat client like imo so you can hang out on Google, Skype, and Facebook at the same time.

What's in a name?

Why Hangouts?

Because it fits in the new naming philosophy that Google adopted when it launched the Play Store.

We all know the story of the Play Store, right? Android Market didn't cut it, so that stale and rusty name had to go. Let's face it, if you want your employees to download a spreadsheet app for their company-provided tablets, the best way to tell them you mean business is to send them to a place called Play Store. By renaming that old app store Google finally got its foot in the door of the corporate world.

Calling a messaging app something with chat, talk, or messaging in it was not a good idea either. Google saw the errors of their ways and promised to change. It was about time, with WhatsApp sitting on the top spot and Blackberry Messenger about to creep into Android this summer. That's why the marketing department at Mountain View pushed the Google Talk update as Google+ Hangouts. They had no choice. Any other name and you'd confuse it with a social network, a chatroom, or an online street corner next to the mobile liquor store.

Hangups

All your Hangouts chats are stored in the Google cloud, so you can sync 'em across all your gadgets. You can switch chat history off, but only per chat. There's no "set and forget" switch to turn it off once and for all. You can't appear offline either. If your Android is online everyone can see you're ready to receive messages. If you don't want to hang out with your boss and your ex you'll have to block them.

Want to use Hangouts for a VoIP call? You can, but video is switched on by default. You have to mute the video part of video chat if you just want to talk. Hangouts doesn't do SMS yet, but Google will throw it into the mix later on.

When I opened Hangouts for the first time it populated its "frequently contacted" list with lots of people that I never ever texted, called, or hangouted in any way. With 25 entries that frequently contacted list is way too long, it takes a lot of scrolling to get to the main contact list.

On the bright side, Hangouts lets you hang up. The sign out option is buried deep down in the settings screen, but where WhatsApp and Viber refuse to add an off switch Google Hangouts lets you go incommunicado when you don't have time to chat. You can also "snooze" Hangouts, but you have to choose from a list of six preset durations in excessively large increments. Snoozing leaves you connected, but there'll be no notifications to wake you up. Hangouts won't let you switch off its autostart trigger, but on a rooted phone you can tame it with an autostart manager.

Hang on for more

Next victim candidate for the Big Renaming Operation (BRO): Google Maps.

Because a map sounds like something that your grandfather used back in 2007, and who wants to be seen with that? To regain street cred for their app that navigates the streets, Google decided on Google Breadcrumbs. Point it to a location (like an old skool hangout) and the new updated navigation app will fill your screen with tiny dots that morph into little crumbs of bread when you pinch to zoom in. Be careful though, because you'll end up hopelessly lost if your breadcrumbs get eaten by some Angry Birds.

Want to watch movies on your Android? In a few months Google will merge Androids video player with the movie store from the Play Store into a new movie app called Google Popcorn.

The biggest news comes last. When Google Voice goes global it will be rebranded so that everybody in all 200+ countries on the planet will instantly recognise what the app is for and how it should be used. After months of brainstorming, crowdthinking, and the combined efforts of the worlds ten biggest marketing firms Larry Page himself descended from the cloud to announce that the new überVoIP app will be known in the entire Galaxy (including the Galaxy S4 mini) as Google Bla Bla Bla. According to Google's Android development team they're aiming for a strong brand that elegantly catches the main use of all mobile voice options out there.

And it's not just apps. There's an entire operating system waiting for a new identity. The days of Android are numbered. But what will be its new name?

• Hangouts in the Play Store

Viber now VoIPs on Windows and Mac, adds video messages, forgets off switch again

The Color Purple

VoIP and messaging app Viber added a few new weapons to fight Skype.

But first things first: Viber is still ugly like hell, even with the new looks that come with the latest update. Holo looks or not, the Viber purple is only good for the color blind. The new icon is no beauty either. Now that it looks like a text balloon and its corners got rounded it looks a little bit more like WhatsApps icon. Well, the shape does. The color...

OK Computer

And now the purple beast attacks your computer too. Viber made versions for Windows and Mac (no Linux version yet), so Skype faces competition on even more devices.

Viber messages on computers sync with those on phones, and vice versa.

Viber can transfer calls from your phone to your computer or the other way 'round. If you started a call on your computer, you can switch it through to your phone and walk away from your desk. If your battery is about to run dry you can send the call to your computer. Pingponging live calls between phones and computers can be useful, sometimes.

Viber now lets you send video messages too. That doesn't mean its messaging feature can compete with WhatsApp yet, though. But they're inching a little closer. You can make video calls too, but only from your computer. Your phone only Vibers plain old speech.

You Talk Too Much

Too bad the off switch is still broken. If you want to be incommunicado for a while but keep your phone connected to the internet, you have to play with the autostart options on your rooted phone. There's no other way to make Vibers cloud-to-device-messaging service shut up. Same thing if you don't want Viber to autorun when you boot your phone, because Viber doesn't want your phone to run Viberless ever. When will Viber learn that when you're roaming abroad you don't mind a few bytes from WhatsApp, but you're not gonna spend a fortune VoIPing on a horribly expensive international data connection. Simply ignoring incoming calls is not an option, because you can't silence Vibers ringtone.

You can't block contacts on Viber either, so anyone who has your phone number can Viber you, even if you block normal calls in your contacts app.

The new update improved Viber a bit, but apps like Skype and Vonage still have lots of things that Viber doesn't have. It's time for Viber to release a public API so the developers at the xda forums can make custom Vibers for different tastes.

• Viber

"Free" phone calls: what's in it for Facebook?

Talk freely

There are plenty of Android apps to phone for free. Google Voice, Skype, fring, Viber, TextMe, Vonage, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

All those free apps have one thing in common. They need money to feed their hungry programmers.

Many VoIP apps use their free "VoIP-only" service as a method to advertise their paid offers to call landlines and cell phones. SkypeOut is the leader of the pack, Vonage and fring are among the followers. Apps like Skype and fring display ads to generate income. TextMe has taken mobile advertising a step further: you can earn "free" minutes if you watch advertorials or download "free" apps full of in-app purchasing options of the Farmville farm cash flavour. Viber doesn't seem to have any way to monetise their app yet, but sooner or later they're gonna sell Skype-like services or break their promise to stay free of ads.

And now Facebook enters the VoIP market. They've been testing it in some countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, and the UK, and they just added USA to the list of places where you can sell your soul over the phone call your Facebook friends for free. It won't be long until Facebook calls go global.

Free, sure. But how do you pay them back? Mark Zuckerberg needs to pay the rent, you know?

What's on your mind?

Facebook is gonna slap ads on your calls for sure, one way or another. And given Facebooks privacy track record, there may be a very dark side to their "free" calls. Because if you don't pay for the product, then you are the product. And Facebook doesn't give you away for free. They want to sell you on the market for as much money as legally possible.

Advertising is the currency in this transaction. And just like there are cheap pesos and expensive Bitcoins, not all ads are created equally. That's why Facebook doesn't want to show you just any random ad. They want to show you targeted ads based on what they believe to be your interests, no matter if you'd rather keep those interests to yourself. Because the more of your personal data goes into the ad, the higher the payout.

To sell you to the highest bidder for the highest price, Facebook needs to know what's on your mind. That's why Facebooks status update textbox literally reads "What's on your mind?" But do you really write everything that's on your mind in there?

When you go out to movies, restaurants, and concerts you let the entire world know what a great time you had. And maybe you annoy all your Facebook friends with all those viral video ads you click on. Or worse. Being born and raised in a country with an atheist majority, I've unfriended quite a few people because they kept posting about how great their god is each and every day. Political propaganda, birthdays, weddings, babies, deaths in the family, it all goes on Facebook. You may even be guilty of clicking the "Share on Facebook" button right here on android underground. And let's not even get started on all those pictures of your cat.

Yes, Facebook has turned the world into ancient Egypt. We worship cats and write on walls about it.

What you don't tell Uncle Facebook

Frequent poster and lurker alike, there is some stuff we'll never share on Facebook. Some things are just not meant for all to see. Are your debts so bad that your car got repossessed? Did the ATM eat your credit card because you defaulted on your payments yet again? Got diagnosed with depression or a sexually transmitted disease? Are you about to divorce?

Your credit score is worth a lot. And some advertisers will pay big money if you can tell them who suffers from embarrassing diseases. Trouble with your employer? About to divorce? Lawyers like to know so they can offer you their legal services, and everybody knows those sharks have business ethics on par with Haliburton and Berlusconi's media empire. No matter what secrets you may have, they're a business opportunity for someone out there.

Facebook wants to know. Everything. They just need a way to make you tell it all to them.

We have ways to make you talk

There's Facebook Chat to talk in private, but not many people use it because MSN and WhatsApp have most of the market. Google mines your Gmail to pick ads, but Facebook didn't manage to copy that trick. Sure, every Facebook member has a free Facebook email address, but most people don't even know they have one. And for obvious reasons websites about collection agencies, gonorrhea, or drug addiction don't have Facebooks "Like" button on them.

Enter Plan B. or is it Plan C or D already?

By letting you call your friends for free through Facebooks servers, they have a chance to listen in on things that you would never write on your Facebook wall. Just think of the advertising opportunities!

Calling your doctor because the wild night with the girl that looked better with every beer left you with a burning itch "down there?" Asking your parents for money because the supermarket refused your credit card? Talking with your sister about your upcoming divorce? If you do it through Facebook they can send it all through their speech recognition software and extract some extremely valuable keywords from your extremely private phone calls. If their programmers are really smart (and they are!), their code could even read your mood from the way you talk. Drunk when you're calling your ex? Facebook will know.

So if you call through Facebook Messenger and you suddenly see ads for legal counsel, Alcoholic Anonymous, payday loans, and cheap Zoloft in neutral packaging, there's no need to wonder how Facebook knows. You told your friends, therefore you told Facebook. "Like" it or not.

Why waterboard people if there are much more effective ways to make 'em talk? A free VoIP app can be a goldmine if you're good at data mining. Remember the old saying that your grandma taught you? "There's no such thing as a free lunch unless you are the lunch."

Skype adds video messages, keeps noise

Form over function

A long time ago Skype for Android had a good user interface with tabs. But then Skype decided to get new looks, and form replaced function. They added unwanted noise as well. More than a year ago Skype took away the possibility to silence the startup and shutdown sounds. You can't switch off the deafening dialpad tones either.

Have an Android tablet? Skype removed the portrait view three months ago, limiting you to portrait view. This is especially annoying on small 7" tablets.

Portrait back, noise remains

The protests of the tablet owners got so loud (even louder than the dialpad beeps!) that Skype decided to to bring back the old classic view. But only for tablets. If you Skype on your phone you're still stuck with the terrible tabless layout.

Too bad the unwanted noise is still there. Want to send a quiet Skype text message? Then put your phone in silent mode, because Skype still won't let you get rid of the start and exit sounds. The noisy dialpad can't be silenced either.

Video messages

Skype didn't just repair their layout for tablets, they added something new as well. Now you can send video messages with Skype. You get twenty messages for free. If you want to keep sending video messages you'll have to pay for them.

Old Skype

If you want Skype with tabs, get a copy of the (very old) version 1.0.0.983. It doesn't have video messages, it doesn't have video calls either, and it lacks a bunch of security updates. But if you're willing to pay that price to get the tabs back you can Google for the old apk file. Bonus feature: the old Skype doesn't have the ads that were unleashed on american, british, and german skypers. If you only use Skype for instant messaging you're better of with multi-network chat app imo. You may want to use an older version of that app, because the makers of imo also decided that form is more important than function.

• Skype (Google Play store)
• skype.com
• Skype 1.0.0.983 (Google)

Skype competitors:

• Vonage
• Viber
• CSipSimple

VoIP app Viber adds smilies and custom ringtones, forgets off switch

Smilies, group chats, and system sounds

Updates for VoIP and chat app Viber are few and far between, but they managed to squeeze one in before this year runs out.

New: smilies. Not a lot of them, but you gotta start somewhere. Viber now has stickers (very big smilies) too. Messaging on Viber may seem irrelevant, because if your gadget runs Viber it can run WhatsApp too and that's the SMS replacement of choice for most of the world. But if WhatsApp stops its ever-extending free trials and really turns into a paid app, competing apps like Viber and imo may take over.

The Viber programmers didn't just add eye candy, they threw in a bit of function too. Viber now does group chats with up to 40 people, so you can do big time group sexting.  And now you can tell Viber to use your Android system sounds instead of its own built-in ringtones.

A few updates ago Viber picked up the annoying habit of opening the "all contacts" tab by default (even with "show all contacts" switched off in the settings), which is useless for most people because most of their contacts are not on Viber. But now Viber opens in the Viber contacts tab again. Unfortunately you still can't block contacts, because Viber thinks you want to talk with anyone who's in your Android phone book. It didn't occur to the Viber team that you may add some people (like your ex or your boss) to your phone book to block their calls and messages. Viber won't let you set individual ringtones for contacts, so you can't ignore contacts by setting a silent ringtone for them.

Speaking of phone functions (the core business of Viber): voicemail for Viber would be a welcome addition. Especially if it comes with an option to send some contacts straight to your voicemailbox.

Viber still won't shut up

There's no easy way to switch Viber off or stop it from autostarting everytime you boot your phone. There's an off switch, but it doesn't work because Viber believes that you want to be available for all calls whenever your phone has a live internet connection. They probably never heard of international data charges. Tip: use AFWall+ or the firewall from avast to keep Viber away from your expensive data roaming connection.

The off switch built into Viber is not really an off switch, because the Cloud to Device Messaging service keeps listening for incoming Viber communications and will launch the app if something comes in. You can prevent Viber autostarts with apps like Gemini App Manager and ROM Toolbox, but that's inconvenient, requires root access, and you need to be a bit tech literate to make it work. Of course you can freeze Viber when you want it to keep quiet, and unfreeze it when you're available again. App Quarantine will do it for free, from the app itself or from a widget.

Why does Viber refuse to add a real off switch? There may be a commercial reason for not including an off switch that works. Viber will add paid services to its free features, and a Viber that doesn't run is a Viber that doesn't make money. But really, Viber, sometimes you need to be incommunicado for Viber calls without killing your internet connection or going into airplane mode. Stop behaving like a bunch of stubborn fools and go add a switch to put control where it needs to be: in the hands of the user.

Finally, Viber needs a public API so it can be part of a multi-network app. Chat and VoIP fragmentation is getting worse, so something needs to be done.

• Viber

some competing apps:

• Skype
• Vonage
• CSipSimple
• Nimbuzz
• imo
• WhatsApp

Skype for Android keeps waking up the dead

Skype for your Android phone or tablet isn't as good as it used to be since they yanked out the tabs. Too bad Skype updates fix security issues (old Skype versions are not safe at all), so keeping ancient versions is comes at a price.

The last update adds MSN accounts. In case you missed it, Microsoft p3wns Skype and they're crossbreeding it with their own old chat network. And the sound of your Skype calls improved a little. It's still no match for standard SIP or Viber, but it got a tiny little bit closer.

Got an Android tablet? The new Skype only works in landscape mode, which can be very annoying, especially on the smaller 7" tablets.

Something that should have changed but didn't: Skype still makes noise when it shouldn't. Skype shouts at you when you start it up, it screams at you when you shut it down, and its dialpad tones are so loud that they caused a riot at my local cemetery. Microsoft, please let me switch off those annoying dialpad sounds so the dead in the graveyard can sleep. There's really no need to send out deafening beeps everytime I push a button. Now that Skype ate MSN it's even more about text chat than it was already. Now fix your app and let people send out texts without waking up the neighborhood.

Skype v1.0.0.983 still has tabs, and it doesn't make noise unless you ask it to.

• Skype (Google Play)
• skype.com
• Skype 1.0.0.983 (on i-Pmart, a site with a dark side, beware of the dog)

p.s. I'm still waiting for a multi-network VoIP app that unites Skype, Viber, SIP, Vonage, Google Voice etc. in a single interface.

Android chat app imo: a facelift gone bad

Update: imo is dead!

One app to rule them all...

Multi-network instant messenger imo is one of my favourite weapons against chat network fragmentation. Instead of running a bunch of apps that only talk to one network each, imo lets me squeeze most of 'em into a single app. Only WhatsApp and Viber play difficult.

And then imo released an extreme makeover of their app. It looks completely different from the previous version. According to the description on its Google Play Store page the new imo has a "beautiful new streamlined design."

They're wrong. The new design is neither streamlined nor beautiful. They managed to do just about everything wrong that they could do wrong.

Whiteout

First thing you see when you launch an app is its icon. The new imo icon is a big white rectangle with rounded corners (Apple, go sue 'em!) which looks horrible on most homescreen backgrounds, except for the 0.000001% who wallpapered their homescreens to look like a field of snow.

When you get into the app you'll notice that the mostly white user interface is even whiter than it used to be. A bright white background works for paper and eBook readers, but it's a really bad idea for apps that run on backlit displays (read: most Android phones and tablets). If your Android gadget has an AMOLED screen things get even worse, because all those bright white pixels suck your battery dry.

This is where imo could have improved their design. A simple button in the settings to switch between a light and a dark theme would do the job. After all, Android is all about customising everything until it works and looks they way you want it. If I wanted one-size-fits-all designs I would have bought that other phone. You know, the one with a patent on rounded rectangles.

Tabs and taps

The old imo had a very simple and effective tab design. A tab for your contacts, a tab for your chats, and another tab for your accounts. It worked so well that you'd even forgive them for ignoring the menu button and the action bar overflow menu.

The new imo lost the tab with your chats. Your open chats now sit on top of your contacts, making the long list even longer. It also makes the contacts you're talking with appear twice in the list, which makes the clutter even worse. Swiping through your open chat windows? That's something of the past.

The accounts tab is something of the past too. It turned into a window that you can get into by swiping to a new tab that's full of things that would fit better under a menu button or overflow menu. Signing in and out of your accounts now takes an extra tap compared to the old version.

Heads off

The old imo had the annoying habit of putting all your Facebook contacts in their own contact group. Taking them out and moving them around was pointless, because next time you logged into imo they automatically reappeared in the Facebook group.

That problem got fixed with a sledgehammer. The new imo won't let you group your contacts into lists at all. That's not just a cosmetic issue, it gets in the way of functionality too. If you enable Facebook chat in imo your contacts tab gets cluttered with hundreds of Facebook friends that you never chat with, which makes it hard to find the contacts that really matter. There used to be a time when Motorola and others would add a "helpful" option to auto-insert your Facebook friends into your Android phone book. One look at the giant monster killer list of contacts was enough for most people to switch that option off.

To make up for the long list, imo added a cure that's worse than the disease. There's a contact search bar on the bottom of the tab that pops up whenever you scroll around. Most of the time it just gets in the way, it's useless clutter on phones with a search button, and for phones without real buttons the search option would be more at home in the action bar.

Next new "feature:" your contacts lost their head. Avatars on chat networks, forums, social networks, and the contact list of your phone are sqare pictures. For some reason imo decided to make all those square pictures round by cutting the corners with a guillotine. If your friends faces are not exactly in the middle of the image imo bluntly chops off their heads.

Power gone

Good old imo came with two very useful switches. One button to switch autostart on or off, because not everyone wants all their chat apps to launch automatically when they boot their phone. The other button was to let you choose whether imo should automatically sign you into your accounts upon app launch, or wait for you to tap a button to sign in.

The new imo automatically starts on boot, and there's no off switch. The only way to stop it from autostarting is by taming imo with an autostart manager.

You can't let imo auto-sign you into your accounts either. Now you always have to flick the switch yourself, each and everytime you fire up the app.

Taking your startup choices away is a really bad decision. Why does imo need to copy the bad habits of WhatsApp and Viber?

The new fresh imo may be very white, but it's not green at all. The battery consumption went up since the update, which is something that an app meant to run for hours on end should avoid at all costs.

Finally, imo inherited an annoyance introduced in a previous update. Its status bar icon is always grey, no matter if imo is online or not. Why not offer a choice of green when connected, red when incommunicado, orange when connected to some of your networks but not all?

Why keep imo?

With so many "improvements" that don't improve anything, you may be tempted to look for another chat app. According to the Google Play Store comments you're not alone. The new dumbed down user interface annoys lots of people. Not because it's new, but because it kills function.

Unfortunately it's really hard to escape from imo. There are two reasons for that. First, imo lets you sign into multiple accounts on the same chat network, which most instant messenger apps won't let you do. Second, imo has Skype chat, which was yanked out of competing apps like Nimbuzz and fring.

So I keep imo on my phone. Not the crippled new version 3.0.0, but the much better v2.7.5 that I backed up before updating. I'm gonna keep the old version until imo cleans up the mess.

• the latest imo (Google Play Store)
• imo v2.7.5 (Google search, watch out what you download)

Update: imo is dead!

Android VoIP app Viber adds eye candy, forgets function

Viber vs. Skype

VoIP and chat app Viber tries to push Skype out of the way. They're still a million miles away from there, because even my 76 year old aunt knows how to Skype whereas Viber users are few and far between.

But Skype is going downhill now that its Android app is infected with ads, lost its tabs, and won't let you switch off its annoying startup and shutdown noises. Leave it to Microsoft to shoot themselves in the ass. Remember Hotmail? Know anyone who uses Windows Phone?

Viber calls sound as good as VoIP on CSipSimple as long as both ends of the line have a speedy internet connection. If one party switches to 3G it sounds terrible real quick, though. Distortion, echo, and a lot of other unwanted sound effects that make my girlfriend sound like Darth Vader and reminds me of Skype. Viber could use a good low bandwidth codec for when one end of the conversation is on a slow mobile data connection, because its current low bandwidth codec doesn't do the job.

Eye candy added, off switch left out

The latest couple of Viber updates add group messaging, eye candy (custom background, contact pictures), bug fixes, and the time stamp in chats now appears on all messages.

Unfortunately Viber keeps refusing to add an off switch that truly switches off the app. You can exit Viber, but its Cloud To Device Messaging service keeps running. Without countermeasures you'll still receive Viber calls when you don't want them, like when roaming abroad on an expensive international data connection. Its autostart function doesn't come with a toggle either, so Viber starts on boot whether you want it or not unless you control it with an autostart manager like Gemini App Manager. The only way to silence Viber is by pulling your entire phone offline, toggling Viber internet permissions with firewalls like DroidWall, LBE Privacy Guard, and avast, or freezing and unfreezing Viber with apps like App Quarantine. These workarounds work, but wouldn't it be a lot better if Viber would let us use the app the way we want to without having to open a hatful of tricks?

Missing basics

Viber doesn't do any call or message filtering. Anyone who's got your phone number can contact you on Viber without any way to block the unwanted.

It won't let you set your own ringtones and message sounds either. You're stuck with the sounds that come with Viber, and there's no way to receive Viber messages silently.

There's no public API for Viber yet. This means that other apps can't tap into Vibers network, so Viber makes the problem of chat and VoIP fragmentation worse. One app for SIP, one app for Skype, one app for Viber, no app for all. Nimbuzz and fring tried to fight the need for a homescreen full of chat and VoIP apps, but the stubborn makers of Viber and Skype turned back the clock.

SMS alert

Viber captures incoming SMSs. It needs to do this once to receive the activation SMS (similar to apps like WhatsApp), but Viber keeps doing so when it no longer needs to. If you use the anti-theft feature of avast (or any other SMS-based remote locate/wipe app) this can spell trouble, and avast lists Viber as a threat to its anti-theft function. Viber may fix this issue by leaving your SMSs alone, or they may ignore it in the same way they ignore the requests for an off switch that works. Time will tell.

Viber alternatives

Viber works on Android, iPhone, and PCs that run Windows. No Linux, no Mac, no Blackberry, and it's not compatible with the hundreds of millions of Symbian phones that may be outdated but will keep running for the next couple of years.

CSipSimple is my choice for VoIP calls using the standard SIP method. Skype is still unavoidable because of the number of people that use it. Skype doesn't use your phone number as a user name, but this has the advantage that you can make throwaway Skype accounts for people that you don't trust with your phone number. Vonage seems to be Vibers main competitor. Unlike Viber, it comes with an off switch that works. Vonage doesn't have many users yet, so spread the word. For text messaging, WhatsApp and imo beat Viber hands down.

• Viber Media, Inc.
• Viber (Google Play)

Vonage update shows VoIP rate

If Skype doesn't cut it, there are plenty of other VoIP choices for your Android phone.

One of them is Vonage. Just like Skype, Viber, imo, fring, and Nimbuzz, Vonage calls are free if the other end runs Vonage too. You can also call normal phone numbers in the USA, Canada, and Puerto Rico for free, but this is a limited time offer that probably won't last forever.

Like almost all other VoIP services, Vonage comes with an instant messenger service too.

Advantage of Vonage over Skype, fring, and Nimbuzz: Vonage sounds a lot better, on par with CSipSimple and Viber.

Advantage of Vonage over Viber: you can switch Vonage off without having to resort to elaborate root-requiring tricks.

Advantage of Vonage over many other VoIP services: the other end of the call sees your real phone number.

The latest Vonage update adds location and photo sharing. It shows the call rate (in US$ only, maybe other currencies will follow?) in your contact details, so you don't have to look up rates on their website. Vonage is a bit cheaper than Skype, but a lot more expensive than the VoIP services from betamax.

• Vonage (Google Play Store)

Skype for Android speeds up but still makes too much noise

Skype for Android wasn't slow to begin with, and the latest update makes it start up a bit faster.

That was the good news.

What didn't change: the interface is unnecessary clumsy. The tabs that made navigating the app easy and efficient disappeared a long time ago, and having to pass the start screen with the four big icons gets annoying real quick.

And then there's the noise! When you launch Skype it makes a deafening startup sound. The dialpad tones can wake up the dead. The shutdown sound makes logging out quietly impossible. And there's no way to switch off those useless decibels!

So I fired up Titanium backup and restored my vintage Skype version 1.0.0.983. It doesn't have the snazzy video goodies of the latest edition, but that's a small price to pay. My Skype Classic has tabs for easy navigation, and it only makes noise when I receive a call or message. And anyway, Skype is on its way to become a relic of the past now that Vonage, Viber, and Google Voice are all over the place and standard SIP VoIP comes preloaded on all new Android phones. And for Skype Chat we have imo. Guess what? imo does voice calls too!

Microsoft, your purchase needs some patching up or it will become as insignificant as your mobile operating system.

• Skype (Google Play)
• skype.com
• Skype 1.0.0.983 (on i-Pmart, a site with a dark side, beware of the dog)

Chat and VoIP app Nimbuzz dumbed down and dumped

Why do good apps let themselves go bad by removing useful features? Back in my Symbian days Nimbuzz was my favorite chat and VoIP app because it connected to just about anything, but good things never last.

First Nimbuzz lost Skype, then Nimbuzz lost a lot of instant messaging networks.

Apart from VoIP using SIP, Nimbuzz lets you chat on MSN, Google Talk, Facebook Chat, and Yahoo Messenger.

Gone are the days when Nimbuzz unified a dozen or so instant messaging networks. There are only four left, so if you use AIM/ICQ, Hyves, MySpace etc. Nimbuzz is no longer for you.

Not that it matters to me, because when I switched to Android I dumped Nimbuzz anyway. CSipSimple is way better for VoIP, and imo is a much better chat app with a dozen networks including Skype chat and all Jabber networks. Better yet, imo lets you add as many accounts as you like. Nimbuzz will only let you connect to one single account per network. In return for the reduced features Nimbuzz displays an ad that even AdAway won't block. As for Skype, they're forcing every competing client to drop their VoIP network so you're stuck with their own app.

• Nimbuzz (no link because they're no longer worth it)

Multi network instant messenger imo adds voice calls, eats less, goes grey

Update: imo is dead!

With all those chat networks out there, you can either install a homescreen full of apps for each network, or use a multi network app like imo.

With imo you can chat on MSN, Google Talk, Skype, Yahoo IM, ICQ, AIM, Facebook Chat, all Jabber networks, and more.

You could also use an XMPP client for that, but then you'll have to find a server that will let you talk to all your networks. With imo it's a lot easier.

You can't chat on WhatsApp or Viber with imo (maybe they're working on it?), but you can try a new experimental imo feature: free voice calls. Yep, that's right: imo goes VoIP! It only works if the other end runs imo too, but if you can talk all your friends into using imo it's like a crossbreed of WhatsApp and Viber on steroids.

The new imo eats less data and battery, and its user interface got a new layer of paint too. It makes things look more Ice Cream Sandwichy, but of course I always find something to bitch about. The old imo made its notification bar icon change colors depending on your connection status, so you could see if you were online or incommunicado without opening the app. The new imo icon is grey and stays grey no matter if you're connected or not. Maybe the imo coders can do something about that in the next update? Some other changes didn't go down that well either. Judging from the Market comments, I'm not the only one who thinks it's a stupid idea to rename the Networks tab into Me. And the smilies in imo are still all of the green Android type. Maybe someone can make a classic yellow smiley pack for imo?

• imo

Update: imo is dead!

Skype remembers your password again, transfers files, movies, pictures, and still makes annoying noises

If you make VoIP calls through standard SIP servers you have plenty of Android apps to choose from, but for Skype you're stuck with the official client.

And that client sucks.

Noise, ads, death of tabs

There's no way to switch off the dialpad tones (loud annoying beeps), and if you're just connecting for a quiet text chat Skype insists on sounding its startup and shutdown sounds at deafening volume unless you downgrade to a very old version.

The old Skype lets you set your own call ringtone, the new Skype only plays the default Skype tone. Another benefit of vintage Skype is its tabbed interface, which is way better than the new layout that requires detours through the start screen.

One more reason to be old skool: the ancient versions are free of ads. The ads don't matter much yet because they only invade your phone if you're in the USA, UK, or Germany, but other countries will get them later. You won't see the ads if you have Skype credit or any other paid service active, so keeping a balance of a few pennies may be worth the trouble even if you only use Skypes free features. And there's no reason to pay for Skype, because there are plenty of SIP VoIP operators that offer better rates and better sound quality than the overpriced SkypeOut.

Minor improvements

If you keep the old tabbed version you won't get video calls. Not a big deal, because video calling gets old real quick unless you're hooked on cyber sex. Unfortunately you'll also miss out on the new features in the latest update: file transfers. Not just pictures and movies, but any file you want. Of course there's email, but sending pictures straight from a chat screen is a nice touch.

The old Skype remembered your password. Later versions forgot and made you retype your password everytime you'd log in. But the latest edition remembers your password again.

Sometime during the series of updates the background service that persisted after closing the app went away too. If you go to the settings and disable the Skype status notification the background proces called "MainService" won't even show up in your list of running services, but then your notification bar won't tell you if you're signed in or not.

Future?

After a bad start and slipping downhill Skype for Android took a small step up from downright horrible to simply mediocre. It's not enough to make me ditch the old ad-free tabbed version yet, but future versions might change that.

I wonder what's gonna happen first: Skype cleaning up their act or someone coding an alternative Skype client or a real Skype plugin for CSipSimple? Maybe Skype will return to Nimbuzz and fring someday? This would help fight the chat and VoIP fragmentation that's pushing us back to the dark ages.

• Skype (Android Market)
• skype.com
• Skype 1.0.0.983 (Google) (last tabbed ad-free version)

CSipSimple adds plugins for Skype and other VoIP services

Open source VoIP app CSipSimple is not affiliated with any VoIP provider, so it doesn't favor one over the other like Nimbuzz and fring do. Because it doesn't route your calls through its own servers it sounds a lot better than the competition. It integrates with your native dialer app unless you tell it not to, in which case it stays out. Other features include switching off your ringer when you're on a VoIP call to keep incoming calls from blowing up your ears, a clean uncluttered user interface, and support for multiple simultaneous calls.

The latest update adds a new low bandwidth codec for when you're on a slow 3G (or worse) connection. Combined with a new echo killer your calls will be friendly for your ears even if your internet is as slow as the government.

But the real big change in CSipSimple is a new set of plugins. There's a plugin for Betamax. Nope, that's not the old and extinct VCR format, but a collection of SIP providers like VoipCheap, 12voip, and dozens more. Of course you could already use all those SIP services with CSipSimple, but with the new plugins you can now also use their local access numbers and callback service. This can be useful if your mobile carrier doesn't allow you to use classic VoIP over their data network or if you're about to hit your data limit.

The other plugin is for Skype. This first version just launches the Skype client if you pick a Skype contact from CSipSimple, so you need to have the official Skype app installed on your phone. Maybe one day CSipSimple will add the Skype support that Nimbuzz and fring had to drop?

• CSipSimple (Google code)
• CSipSimple (Android Market)
• CSipSimple Skype plugin (Android Market) Update: the Skype plugin has been removed from the Android Market.
• CSipSimple Betamax plugin (Android Market)

VoIP app Viber adds pictures, location, low bandwidth codec

Call, text, share pictures

VoIP client Viber lets you call other Viber users for free. There are other apps and VoIP services for that, but the sound quality of Viber is comparable to CSipSimple, and much better than Skype, Nimbuzz, or fring.

The latest Viber update comes with a new voice engine that makes calls sound better on low bandwidth connections. Great if there's no WiFi around and you need to call over 3G.

The SMS substitute got a little better too. You can now add pictures to your texts. It's not real MMS yet, but maybe Viber will add sound and video later?

Viber added a "is typing" notification so you can see if your chat partner is typing a response while you're waiting for a reply, similar to other chat networks.

You can also send your location out with text messages. Of course you can also choose not to share your location, and in my tests Viber doesn't use your location unless you tell it to.

Autostart yes, filtering no

Viber still has plenty of room to improve. If you don't want to be available 24/7 you can switch Viber off, but you can't stop it from autostarting when you boot your phone unless you use an autostart killer. I use Optimize Tool Box to ensure that Viber only speaks when I tell it to. Too bad that Viber is not willing to add an autostart toggle switch in its own settings. It would make the app a bit less intrusive if they did. There's a lot wrong with the Skype app, but at least the competition leaves the choice to you.

Viber doesn't come with any type of filtering either, so anyone who's got your phone number can Viber you whenever you got the app running, whether you like it or not. Viber could really use a feature to block your friends during business hours and keep your coworkers away at night. Since unlimited data is quickly becoming a thing of the past, Viber could also use an option to limit incoming calls to WiFi networks. Maybe with an automatic message along the lines of "not on WiFi now, so text me instead of calling me."

A public api to integrate Viber into other apps would be welcome too, because the VoIP and chat fragmentation is getting out of hand.

• Viber Media, Inc.
• Viber (Android Market)

Some Viber competitors:

• Skype
• CSipSimple
• Vonage
• fring

Skype adds ads, landscape, more video

New: video in landscape mode, ads

Skype 2.5 for Android is out. The update adds video calling for more phones. You're no longer stuck to videos in portrait mode, because now it does video in landscape orientation too. But before you rush out to grab the latest edition you better make a backup of your old copy. Skype is the living evidence that newer is not always better.

The ability to tilt your video comes at a price, because Skype has added advertisements. The ads show up if you're in the USA, UK, and Germany. Other countries will get them later. You won't see the ads if you have Skype credit or any other paid service active, so keeping a balance of a few pennies may be worth it, even if you only use the free features of Skype.

Old: tabs, silence, passwords

Even without the ads, you might want to keep an old version if you don't care about video calling. The last version with tabs is 1.0.0.983. Since then, switching between contacts, chats, and calls requires a trip back to the main screen. The annoying startup and signoff sounds can't be switched off in the new versions, and the dial pad beeps won't go away either. It also forgets your password when you sign out. The old versions remembered it. Could the low rating on the Android Market have anything to do with the terrible user interface? With a quarter million ratings, an average of just three stars and a half for an app like Skype means something must be wrong.

If you really need video calling (it gets old real quick) use a recent version of Skype. If you're only in it for the calls and chats, use an old version. Tip: you can also chat on Skype with multi-network instant messenger imo.

• Skype (Android Market)
• skype.com
• Skype 1.0.0.983 (Google)

Skype competitors:

• Vonage
• Viber
• CSipSimple

The problem of chat and VoIP fragmentation: Whatsapp, Viber, Skype, PingChat, Kik Messenger, LiveProfile, KakaoTalk, GO Chat, etc. should open up

The good ol' days

A long time ago you needed separate programs for all instant messaging networks. One app for MSN, another app for Google Talk, a separate program for ICQ, another for AIM, and Skype chat only worked with the software from Skype.

Then came the multi-network clients. Trillian, GAIM, and Pidgin for PC. Nimbuzz, fring, Palringo, and many more for Symbian. Android and iOS got their fair share of multi-network IM apps too. They even got unified inboxes that brought your emails and SMSs together.

VoIP was always unified, because almost every VoIP operator uses the SIP standard. Except for Skype, but Nimbuzz and fring took care of that.

And then things fell apart

Somehow, someone turned back the clock. First, Skype got pulled from Nimbuzz and fring. Apparently because of a dispute over video calling, but normal calls and messages over Skype were yanked out too. Until Skype opens up again I suggest you don't pay a single penny for SkypeOut (use one of the many other VoIP services instead).

Fortunately Skype chat still works in imo, so you only need one instant messenger on your Android phone.

Or do you?

When AOL bought ICQ, they tried to axe their service from 3rd party clients in order to force-feed you their own app. Then came Blackberry Messenger. A great way to avoid the ridiculous SMS rates (the most expensive 140 bytes in the universe), but it only works on Blackberries. WhatsApp copied the ping app from Blackberry and brought it to Android and iPhone. And so did PingChat. And Kik Messenger and LiveProfile and Viber and KakaoTalk and GO Chat and many more. The app stores are full of single-network chat apps and they breed like rabbits.

The problem? All the new kids on the block use proprietary protocols that only work in their own apps. With so many networks your friends will be scattered all over the place. And with your friends scattered over MSN, WhatsApp, Skype, Kik, Viber, etcetera you'll need to fill an entire homescreen with apps that all do the same thing.

Some of these apps (like Viber) autostart without an option to switch it off. Others (WhatsApp) autostart and don't even have an exit button. They keep you available all the time, even when you want to take a break from messaging without shutting down your entire internet connection. They also upload your entire contacts list to their servers, even the contacts that you don't want to share. And if you want to stay connected, these apps and their background services take a large bite out of your RAM. Some even keep their processes alive if you sign out, if they let you sign out at all.

There is no multi-network program that connects the new IM/SMS hybrids into a single app. We're heading back to the dark ages of 1995 where every messenger required its own app.

Pick up the pieces

Urgently needed: one app to bind them all. Trillian, Nimbuzz, imo etc. did a great job unifying the old chat networks. The time has come to include the new messengers, and to force Skype back in line. This requires a bit of work from the multi-network app programmers, but that's not a big deal. They're more than willing to add networks to their apps. What holds them back is the lack of cooperation from Skype, WhatsApp, Viber et al. If the new networks stop being so anal retentive and publish some public APIs we'd have updated multi-network clients in a minute. At the very least the new networks shouldn't sabotage attempts to reverse engineer their protocols so that others can throw their networks into the mix.

WhatsApp, Viber, PingChat, Skype, Kik, KakaoTalk, GO Chat, LiveProfile: open up!

Bonus tip and abuse alert

If you uninstall WhatsApp, your phone number stays in their system. Your friends will keep trying to message you, WhatsApp keeps telling them you're still a WhatsApp user even when you're not anymore.

There is a way to remove your phone number from WhatsApp, but WhatsApp decided to hide the method in a dark corner of their small print.

To rescue your phone number from the claws of WhatsApp, you'll need to send them an email.

To: support@whatsapp.com
Subject: Remove
Message: +12345678910
(The subject should read "Remove" and the message should be your full phone number in international format).

They promise to remove your phone number from their systems in about a day, but some people had to wait for weeks before WhatsApp finally forgot them. When I tried it took them 10 days. Apparently someone over at WhatsApp HQ has to delete all those phone numbers by hand.

When they finally send you a mail back to inform you that your number will be deleted they don't verify that you really asked for your own number to be removed. There's nothing that can stop you from zapping other peoples numbers out of the WhatsApp system.

Update: you can now unlink your phone number from within the Whatsapp app.

Nimbuzz Android update adds push notifications, delivery reports, and integrates with your phone contacts

VoIP and chat app Nimbuzz talks to SIP, GoogleTalk, MSN (Windows Live), Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, Facebook, MySpace, and Hyves. It also has its own VoIP and message service.
Edit: Nimbuzz updated its app, but it didn't get better. There are only four chat networks left now, all the others are gone from Nimbuzz.

The latest update adds push notifications and integrates with the Android contacts app.

The bad news:

When you update Nimbuzz to version 2.08 it forgets your accounts and settings, so you have to enter your Nimbuzz account details again. Nimbuzz 2.08 defaults to NimbuzzOut, so you'll need to set your own VoIP provider back as default if you want to use your own SIP service instead of the (usually way more) expensive NimbuzzOut.

Like in the previous versions, you can only add one account per chat or VoIP service. The loud beeps in the dialer are still there, and there's no off switch. Same for the annoying sound when you pull the slider to end a call.

The good news:

The new Nimbuzz adds push notifications. If Android receives a push notification targeted at Nimbuzz, it will tell you so. This way you can receive messages without leaving Nimbuzz running all the time, which saves battery and data. For push notifications your phone needs to run Froyo (Android 2.2) or newer.

Your Nimbuzz contacts can now integrate with your Android contact app, so you can start Nimbuzz calls and chats straight from your phone book without having to scroll through your app drawer to find the Nimbuzz icon.

Both options are not enabled by default, so you'll have to take a trip to the settings menu. Of course you can ignore the new options if you want to keep Nimbuzz out of your phone book and push notifications are too pushy for you.

Also new: when you message people on Nimbuzz, it will notify you when the message arrives.

• Nimbuzz.com
• Nimbuzz (Android Market)

Update:
• Nimbuzz turned bad, look for alternatives

VoIP app Viber adds off switch, but still thinks you're too stupid to control autostart

Free calls to other Viber users

Viber lets you call and text other Viber users for free. There are plenty of other apps and VoIP services for that, but the sound quality of Viber is comparable to CSipSimple, and much better than Skype, Nimbuzz, or fring.

Warning: if you dial a non-Viber user from the Viber app it gets charged as a normal phone call. You can use LBE Privacy Guard to make sure that Viber can only call through VoIP.

Viber calls eat half a megabyte of data per minute: 0.25 MB each way. That adds up to 30 MB per hour. That may turn out cheaper than an international phone call if you buy the right data roaming package, but usually it's way more expensive. Do the maths before you Viber away on a foreign data network. Or simply stick to WiFi.

Free messages, but it's not SMS

Texting on Viber works, but it lacks smilies. Sometimes messages take ages to arrive. Viber messaging makes noise, and you can't switch the Viber sounds off unless you put your entire phone in silent mode.

Viber does not integrate with standard SMSs, so Viber texts won't appear in the stock SMS program or in any other SMS app. Viber SMSs will be missing from the universal inbox in Androids messaging app too. Same thing the other way 'round: normal SMSs won't appear in Viber either, even though normal phone calls are listed in Vibers call log.

Viber messages are free, but that's the only reason to send Viber texts. If speed matters an instant messenger like MSN, Google Talk, or Skype messaging wins. If cost is not an issue you're better off with plain old SMS.

No need to sign up

Your phone number is your user name, so you don't need to create accounts or add your friends and enemies by hand. If your Viber-using contacts are in your Android address book then Viber knows where they are. They'll automatically know that you're on Viber you too.

There's no way to run two Viber accounts on one phone, so forget about having one Viber identity for business and another one for your friends. I wonder how Viber plays along on phones with dual SIMs?

Too intrusive

The first versions of Viber for Android wouldn't let you switch it off. It would always run and make you available, even if you wanted to take a break from Viber. That's really stupid behaviour with plenty of potential for disaster. Imagine your phone bill after you accidentally pick up an incoming Viber call when roaming abroad because Viber refuses to shut up.

That problem is partially fixed in the latest Viber update. Now you can shut the app down, although it pops up an annoying window to complain about that the next time you launch Viber. Too bad that they left another error unfixed. Even worse is that they left it unfixed on purpose.

The other error: Viber starts up automatically. You can't switch autostart off, so if you switch your phone off at night, after running out of battery, or for any other reason you'll have to manually switch off Viber everytime you boot your phone. This is highly annoying, especially when you're travelling and you want to keep Viber away from your expensive data roaming connection.

And why is autostart mandatory? A Viber representative on the xda forum believes that they'll be flooded with complaints from users who disable autostart and then blame Viber when the app doesn't launch by itself. In plain english: Viber thinks we are too stupid to decide for ourselves whether we want to allow autostart or not.

By adding an off switch Viber shows that it's willing to learn from its mistakes. Maybe they'll learn some more and add the missing autostart toggle later on? Until then you'll either have to accept the autostart behaviour or tame it with one of the autostart managers out there.

Watch your data!

Something else to keep the Viber team busy: the difference between WiFi and mobile data. Viber won't tell them apart, but if your mobile operator bans VoIP from its data network you need a way to tell Viber that it can accept incoming calls on WiFi but not on 3G. The programmers at Viber should have a good look at the settings menu of CSipSimple, which lets you do just that. It's very easy to miss a switch to mobile data if you walk out of WiFi range. VoIP apps like Viber should be aware of that and act accordingly.

Integration with other VoIP apps?

I have Skype, CSipSimple, Vonage, and Viber. CSipSimple works with any VoIP provider that uses the standard SIP setup. Nimbuzz and fring used to have Skype built in as well, but Skype made them remove it. Skype now only works as a stand alone app, and we should never ever forgive them for that. In its present state Viber only works with Vibers own app. I hope Viber will allow other VoIP apps to incorporate its network so we don't end up with a home screen full of VoIP apps to stay connected with all our contacts scattered over different networks. Every instant messaging app that's worth installing supports multiple networks. VoIP apps should do the same.

• Viber Media, Inc.
• Viber (Android Market)

Viber: a VoIP app that won't shut up

Viber for Android finished its closed beta testing phase. The open test version has made it to the Android Market.

Free calls and SMSs

Viber is a VoIP app that lets you call and SMS other Viber users for free. No need to sign up, because your phone number is your account name. To make sure others don't abuse your number Viber sends you a verification code by SMS. That SMS never arrived on my phone, but the backup method (giving you the code in a phone call) worked.

Calling and texting works as expected. Sound quality is comparable to VoIP apps like CSipSimple and much better than Skype, Nimbuzz, or fring. It almost makes you forget the horrible purple interface and lack of video calls.

Calls consume 0.25 MB per minute each way. Half a megabyte per minute adds up to 30 MB per hour, so even without an unlimited data plan it can work out cheaper than regular phone calls. When you're not making calls Viber uses very little data, but some bytes trickle in the background to keep the connection alive. And it does stay alive, whether you like it or not.

Won't shut up

The competition knows that you don't want to be available 24/7, and therefore comes with an off switch. Apps like CSipSimple, Skype, Nimbuzz, and fring also let you choose whether you want them to autostart or wait until you launch them yourself.

Not so for Viber. It's set to autostart and won't let you change it. It doesn't let you sign out, quit, exit, or otherwise tell the app to shut up when you want to be unavailable without disabling your mobile internet connection. You can kill it with a task manager or force-stop it from the Android settings, but even then it relaunches itself after a while.

It seems that Viber Media, Inc. thinks its app is so great that nobody would ever want to switch it off. The Android Market comments clearly show that many people disagree. And rightly so: you may want to be available on Wi-Fi but not on 3G. Viber doesn't give you that choice.

When you install Viber it asks for many many many Android permissions. Most of them make sense (all VoIP apps want access to your contacts and permission to go online), but why does Viber want access to my location?

Future of Viber

In its present state Viber is totally free. No fees, no ads, not a single way to make Viber Media, Inc. earn a single penny. That's how Nimbuzz and fring started, and then they introduced ads and paid services on top of the free features. Viber will go the same route. Once its user base is large enough to do business they will add premium services to feed their programmers.

A Viber employee wrote on several blogs and forums:
So why is Viber free?
For now, Viber's focus is on adding platforms, adding features (such as text messages) and improving overall system performance. At the same time, we are working on additional future premium services that will generate revenues. The basic Viber service - Viber to Viber phone calls, and soon text messages, will always be free.

You can only use the VoIP features of Viber to connect to other Viber users, and it only runs on Android and iPhone. The good news is that Viber is working on Blackberry and Symbian versions, and on a PC client too. No word about Windows phones yet, though. Viber would be a lot better if it would use open standards so that it can integrate with other VoIP, SMS, and chat apps. Unfortunately they've chosen the closed Skype business model. Maybe they'll release an api so other apps (like CSipSimple) can connect to Viber? It would be nice to have all my VoIP options together in one app, just like I have all my chat contacts in a single multi network messenger.

The verdict

Viber has potential, but without an off switch it's too intrusive. I've removed Viber from my phone. I'll only put it back if its makers add an exit button and an option to stop it from starting automatically.

Edit: according to a Viber employee on the xda forum:
"Anyway, very soon we will add 2 new improvements:
1. An "Exit" button that will allow user to shut off Viber when they need.
2. We will reduce the frequency of requests to connect to the server from Viber."
No word yet on making autostarting optional, but it seems that Viber is willing to listen to its users. Maybe they'll add a switch to control autostarting too.

• Viber Media, Inc.
• Viber (Android Market)