The Netherlands-based eBuddy, which markets a comprehensive application that lets users handle multiple instant messaging accounts from the web or their mobile phones, is today releasing an application for the Android platform a couple months after Meebo made its similar product available on there (November 2008).
The eBuddy application for Google’s open mobile OS is now available for free on the Android Market, and users can thus benefit from a single ID to chat with their friends on third-party communication platforms such as Facebook, Gtalk, Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, ICQ and more.
No Skype chat yet, which is a bit of a bummer, but apparently the startup is looking to add that functionality in their mobile clients in addition to all the other ones currently supported. I wonder which startup will be the first to bring Skype chat to Android, since neither Meebo nor eBuddy currently support it and both Nimbuzz and fring, competitors that do support Skype IM through their mobile clients, have yet to make their way to the open platform.
What I like about the eBuddy application is that it has the ability to run in the background, so when you receive a phone call the IM service will keep running and even reconnect you automatically when the internet connection is lost. If you maintain multiple friend lists on instant messaging tools, eBuddy neatly organizes all your contacts in one list so you don’t even need to think about which third-party service you should be connecting to, and lets you seamlessly jump from one chat conversation to the next.
On a sidenote: I can’t grasp why Android Market doesn’t offer a search function on its regular website – only on mobile – but if you ever want to look for applications that are available on Android you might want to check out Cyrket.com. The eBuddy app is listed here.
I got eBuddy, which is backed by a healthy €11.5 million (which currently converts to approximately $15.6 million), to share some numbers to get a feel of the traction it’s getting in the market, and came away fairly impressed.
These are the numbers they pitched me: 20 million mobile downloads of the J2ME mobile client since its launch in June 2007, 5+ million unique monthly mobile users on eBuddy Mobile, and with almost 14 million downloads of eBuddy Mobile Messenger on GetJar the top ranked mobile program on the platform.
Stellar upwards-pointing trends indeed, but this type of hockey stick growth is of course no guarantee that all these new users will be efficiently monetized over the long run. Only time will tell if eBuddy finds a way to turn its successful product into a profitable business.
I just tried it and it rocks!! I was really waiting for something like this but I would like to see a couple of more features though, but im sure that will happen knowing ebuddy..
eBuddy is doing some great stuff. Their growth seems to acknowledge that.
I agree with you
Ive been using eBuddy for 2 years already on my K750 i and I always liked it 
Now im testing it on HTC Touch HD and I love it!
I think Buddy is the new twitter ! Really amazing and much more efficient and easy to use !!!!
I knew this had to be Twitter relevant somehow!
not available from france…. wtf ?
Hi Florent,
our Android app should be available in France. Please try it again and if you still having problems please let us know: feedback_android@ebuddy.com
Thats, funny, I’m in the netherlands and it does not appear to be available here…
Hi Math0ne,
our Android app should be available in NL. Please try it again and if you still having problems please let us know: feedback_android@ebuddy.com
Andriod is the future of cellphone industry, Most of the software developers have already start focusing on andriod applications and good to see that e-buddy is successfully released their applications for andriod, i have also receive alerts from Vopium, fring and few other big developers that they are working on it.
cant find in market on my dev phone (1.5)
Tested it…works like a charm!
This “swiss-knife-for-instant-messaging” is totally unknown here in Russia or probably it’s being ignored by Russians. We’re using much powerful QIP instead which is more “like -axe”
Fail.
Until these IM app developers (and that includes Palringo and many others) can figure out how to make the software run properly in the background, their releases are epic fail. eBuddy, like Palringo, logs out / disconnects as soon as the app goes into the background or the phone is put on standby. So it means you’re only online when the phone is on and the app is active. Which makes it less useful than an ashtray on a motorbike.
Can’t find it on my moto android in england.
Help??
Are you still not able to find eBuddy on the Market? If so, could you please send an email to feedback_android@ebuddy.com with the following information?
- Your country
- Your phone model
- Have you recently purchased or configured your phone?
- Can you see eBuddy in the Market under the ‘Communications’ category?
- Can you find it when searching for ‘eBuddy’?
Thanks for your feedback!
You can also download eBuddy for Android on GetJar: http://www.getj...ts/10717/eBuddy
joo