News Story

BuddySpace Web Client!

Tuesday 20 Sep 2005

KMi&#39s popular Instant-Messaging-Meets-Maps service, BuddySpace, has been simplified with the launch of a new &#39Web Client&#39 interface. The new interface requires no downloads, no installations, and not even a modern browser or speedy internet connection.

The idea is to &#39run anywhere&#39, &#39by anyone&#39, &#39using any computer&#39 with &#39any installed software base&#39 (within reason, naturally). The only requirement is a plain-vanilla web browser of any vintage, and any internet connection.

Chris Denham, sponsored partially by KMi&#39s ELeGI project and partially by the OU Learning and Teaching Services to investigate the feasibility of a web client interface, implemented the interface building on a library of back-end tools in the main BuddySpace engine implemented by KMi&#39s Jiri Komzak.

The new web client is launched simply by going to the first web address listed below. Online help and a downloadable &#39system tray alert widget&#39, for those wishing to have automatic alerts independently of a browser, are also provided. The environment is minimalist, relying on automatic page refreshes to re-display ongoing chats, and eliminating all of the advanced features of modern Jabber clients, such as KMi&#39s own native Java implementation of BuddySpace. The one exception is that a map parser is included with no impact for users: if a BuddySpace map is available for a specific user group, then the web client lets you know and you can pop it up in a separate window!