As the Internet continues to grow, so do the tools that make the Internet an easier and more convenient place to communicate with people. The latest set of tools to provide online convenience are the Internet Pagers.

Since America Online added their very popular "Buddy List" feature, the Internet community has been scrambling to offer a similar product. The "Buddy List" feature allows AOL customers to enter the names of their friends and see who is connected to the system at any point in time.

Three programs have moved to the forefront by offering a similar service on the Internet: ICQ, ichat Pager, and PowWow. All three programs provide the basics: Buddy Lists, Who's Online Listings, Paging, Chatting and File Transfers. However, each program is unique, with its own bells and whistles.

ICQ
http://www.icq.com

ICQ bills itself as the world's largest Internet online communication net- work with over 3 million registered users.

In addition to all the basic features, ICQ adds the ability to quickly integrate many Internet Telephone applications. This turns ICQ into a phone directory of friends that you can dial with your Internet phone software.

Mirabilis, the company who makes ICQ, has setup a service on their web site which allows non-ICQ users to page registered users directly from the site.

ichat Pager
http://www.ichat.com/pager

ichat Pager is a new product from the same company that created the popular ichat software used by Yahoo (mentioned in the previous newsletter).

ichat Pager is very slick and easy to use. Along with the normal bells and whistles, ichat Pager adds the ability to integrate with the RealMedia Player (http://www.real.com) to send live audio and video feeds to other users.

ichat Pager's chatting function is easy to use and establishes a chat interface similar to their ichat program.

To add to the exciting new launch of their ichat Pager program, ichat has announced a sweepstakes: each week they will award random prizes to users running ichat Pager. The Grand prize is a 1997 Jeep Wrangler.

PowWow
http://www.tribal.com

PowWow is a program that has been around for quite some time. It has been a great tool for allowing people to chat, live with others, on the Internet. PowWow's latest features include buddy lists, voice chat, white boards, and chat games.

PowWow's Interactive White Pages are the most complete out of the three programs. They allow you to search for people by city, state, age & interests, rather than just names & email addresses.

Please email comments/suggestions to editor@cyberia.com.

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