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ICQ

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Developer(s)AOL
Stable release
5.1 build #2575 / May 18, 2006
Repository
Operating systemWindows, Macintosh, Mobile phones
TypeInstant messaging client
LicenseFreeware
Websiteicq.com

ICQ is an instant messaging computer program, owned by Time Warner's America Online subsidiary. The first version of the program was released in November 1996. The name ICQ is a play (an oronym) on the phrase "I seek you".

Features

ICQ allows the sending of text messages with offline support, URLs, multi-user chats, resumable file transfers, SMSes, greeting cards and more. Other features included a searchable user directory and POP3 email support.

ICQ users are identified by numbers called UIN, distributed in sequential order. New users are now given a UIN of well over 200,000,000, and low numbers (six or five digits) have been auctioned on eBay by users who signed up in ICQ's early days.[1][2]

Since 2000, ICQ and AIM users are able to add each other to their contact list without the need of any external clients.[3]

UIN

UIN was coined by Mirabilis, to be used as the name of the so called Universal Internet Number that each user of the ICQ instant messaging software is assigned upon registration[4][5]. Unlike most other instant messaging programs, in ICQ the only information that is permanent to a registered user is the UIN, although users are able to search for users by their e-mail address, much like MSN, or in fact any other detail that the user made public about himself or herself. The screen name may be changed at will, without having to re-register, as can all other kinds of user information, including e-mail.

History

ICQ was developed in 1996 by Mirabilis, the creators of the first fully functional Internet-wide instant messenger comprising presence, buddy list and rapid messaging; the company was founded by four young Israelis: Yair Goldfinger, Arik Vardi, Sefi Vigiser and Amnon Amir. After AOL bought it, it was managed by Ariel Yarnitsky and Avi Shechter.

America Online (AOL) acquired Mirabilis on June 8, 1998 for $287 million in cash.

On December 19, 2002, AOL Time Warner announced that ICQ had been issued a United States patent for instant messaging (USPTO Patent Number 6,449,344).[6]

In June 2004 ICQ celebrated its 300 millionth download from download.com where it remained the most popular program for 7 consecutive years.[citation needed]

ICQ 5, released on Monday, February 7, 2005, was an upgrade on ICQ Lite — a divergence from the main ICQ program that has a big addition — Xtraz, which now offers games and features appealing to the younger users of the Internet. ICQ Lite was originally an idea to offer the lighter users of instant messaging an alternative client which was a smaller download and less resource-hungry for the (then) relatively slow computers.

As its user base increased, ICQ software has grown to include many features. It now has competitors providing more streamlined client software, including: MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, Skype, and Google Talk.

Other products

ICQ Pro came about since the emergence of ICQ Lite to differentiate between the two available clients. Though the "Pro" brand has yet to be updated, ICQ versions 4, 5 and 5.1 are in effect updates to the veteran 2003 Pro version, which is commonly considered to be "version 3".

Also available is "ICQ2Go" which is an online, minimalistic version of the fully fledged software, written in Flash.

ICQ inc. also developed an alpha version of Compad, an experimental instant messaging client similar to ICQ, though it is not available for worldwide use.

Spinoffs of ICQ included a corporate version for the workplace (named ICQ Groupware), and ICQ Surf, which displayed a list of other ICQ users who also happened to be surfing on the same website as the user was. Both programs are no longer available to download.

Clients

AOL's OSCAR network protocol used by ICQ is proprietary, but a number of people have created more or less compatible third-party clients, including:

AOL has recently begun making its ICQ software more AIM-like by adding AIM Smilies, as well as introducing cross AIM/ICQ communication. Users on ICQ are able to communicate with AIM users; however, such capability is in beta stages.

Films

A short film about ICQ, called (fittingly) ICQ, was directed by Greg McLean, who later wrote Wolf Creek. The film was described by its writer as a mystery/drama, and it concerns a man who while surfing the ICQ network comes across a woman whose acquaintance he could well have done without. The relationship runs the gauntlet of intrigue through to the sinister. It was released in 2001.

The short film took out the "Best Director" award in October 2001 at the International and Independent Film and Video festival in New York. On return to his home soil in Australia, McLean's film was nominated for Best Sound Design (short film) for the prestigious AFI (Australian Film Institute) awards in 2002.

See also

References

  1. ^ Blog showing eBay auctions of UIN, 25 March, 2006. Retrived 22 June 2006.
  2. ^ Review, Addictive site, 3 December, 2001. Retrived 22 June 2006.
  3. ^ AOL quietly linking AIM, ICQ, Tech News on ZDNet, 25 September, 2000. Retrived 22 June 2006.
  4. ^ http://www.icq.com/icqtour2000b/more.html
  5. ^ http://www.icq.com/info/press/press_release2.html
  6. ^ United States Patent number 6,449,344
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