Palringo for Android can also run in the background on the phone and notifies the owner when they receive new messages from their buddies. Check out the introduction video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In the next update, a further click will bring up a map showing the location of that contact and also the location of any other Palringo contacts within a 10km radius. The upcoming update will also include a new location function, allow a user to display his/her own location on a map – highly convenient if visiting somewhere for the first time.

“Just knowing where someone is can be really useful, and knowing how far away they are is even better. The prospect of knowing where someone is before you start adds a whole new dimension to your conversation,” said Kerry Ritz, Palringo’s CEO. “It can eliminate worry and will probably mean the end of a lot of unnecessary ‘Where are you?’ calls. And soon you’ll pretty much be able to watch your friend, a few minutes late for your rendezvous, approaching on a map,” he added.

Palringo for the iPhone is free, and is now available to download and install from Apple’s new App Store. There are no hidden costs, catches or other charges. Vocal IM, which is already available on all other Palringo-supported platforms, will be added in the second release of Palringo for the iPhone.

BlackBerry smartphone users can now easily chat using voice and picture messages as well as traditional text. Further, they can do so with other users of many of the popular PC-based IM services such as AOL’s AIM, Windows Live Messenger and Google Talk through one, easy-to-use Palringo interface. Equally important, they can do so whether sitting at a computer, tapping with a smartphone or Pocket PC stylus, or using a BlackBerry.

Palringo presents a user’s contacts from all services into one combined, presence-aware list, eliminating the need to continually switch between multiple IM tools. In addition, Palringo’s dynamic “vocal instant messaging” combines walkie-talkie style voice chat, the real-time text functionality of IM and the ability to share pictures, all within the context of one “threaded” discussion.

Palringo lets the user set up an unlimited number of groups and send a voice, text, or picture message to all group members at once, a feature with obvious value for corporate as well as social use. (Think fellow employees, alumni, team players and their parents.) Neither does it limit recipients to simply those on the same wireless network. Palringo does not charge at all, unlike other wireless-carrier-supplied text messaging services that charge for each recipient and in some cases per message. While a mobile data plan or Wi-Fi access is required to use Palringo, the service’s instant messages take up very small amounts of data, minimizing costs.

Palringo’s Rich Messaging Service for BlackBerry smartphones is available now for free download at www.palringo.com. The service is also compatible with Windows Mobile, Symbian and Java-based clients, including devices from Nokia, Motorola, LG, Samsung, HTC and Sony Ericsson.