iCASTER Review IM and Chat Capabilities via PowWow Technology Forrest Stroud
IM and Chat Capabilities via PowWow Technology
iCASTER's instant messaging and chat capabilities are built on the PowWow client and, like PowWow, are designed to work with the MSN Messenger Service and the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). In addition to being able to log in as an iCAST user, you can also log into the MSN and AOL Instant Messaging networks using your MSN or AIM username.
Unfortunately though, AOL has started blocking access to its IM network by other instant messaging clients, so for now you won't be able to use iCASTER for chatting with other AIM users. Another downside to iCASTER is that although you can add people to your Buddies List from the iCAST, PowWow, MSN, and AOL networks if you have their user name information, iCASTER does currently lack a search tool for finding friends based on their first or last names, e-mail addresses, hobbies, interests, or similar information.
The Buddy List does, however, make it simple to send instant messages to your friends, exchange media and data files with other users, and participate in online chat rooms with your buddies. As with PowWow, you can host your own chat forums or sign into one of the many existing topic-based chat rooms.
