Palringo, the free IM chat client that supports Google Talk, AIM, Gadu Gadu, Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Jabber, and ICQ just got location-based.
The client, which pulls your contact lists from the above mentioned chat clients to provide an integrated chat platform, launched a new beta version this week that incorporates a location plug-in that determines your location, and should you opt-in, shares that information with your contacts. If you do choose to opt-in, you’ll also have the option of preventing Palringo from sharing your location with specific contacts.
Called Palringo Local, the company says “(i)t guestimates your location by analysing visible WiFi APs, Cell Sites, GPS Satellites, Network Routers, and anything else it can get it’s antennas on”. Then you can set your IM status to your current location, see which of your contacts are nearby, view other contacts’ exact locations, and even discover potential new contacts in your locality.
Palringo’s chat client is supported by the iPhone, Symbian S60, and even Linux platforms, but the Palringo Local beta is only available to Windows platforms right now. Those include Windows Mobile 2003, 5.0 and 6.0 as well as Windows 2000, XP, and Vista desktops.
Current users of Palringo on Windows platforms won’t have to manually update to receive the location plug-in; it’ll be pushed to you automatically.