Facebook Chat service launched

Facebook has launched its much anticipated chat and instant-messaging application; however, the social-networking site said that the roll-out of the new application will be slow. Unlike MySpace, Facebook’s IM application appears as a Chat Bar at the bottom of your browser so there is no need to install the program. The Chat bar gives you access to your current chat windows, online friends list, notifications, chat settings, and your online status. Josh Wiseman, a Facebook engineering lead said: "We're working on pulling other features of the site into the real-time Chat world. Your notifications will now arrive in the Chat bar, and while chatting you'll see your friend's Mini-Feed activity thrown into the conversation, as it occurs." Users have made comparisons between Facebook’s IM service and Gmail GTalk with its pop-out conversation window. One tweak on Facebook Chat, which is sure to please surfers, is the Mini-Feed. This lets you keep track of other activities, like Scrabulous or an online quiz, by providing real-time updates throughout your conversation. Facebook Chat is expected to be available on more networks over the coming days. A new chess application, Chess Pro, created by the makers of Scrabulous, has also been added to Facebook recently. http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=12811122130