London - Palringo on Tuesday introduced a rich-messaging application for Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iPhone that integrates with a range of instant messaging services, including AIM, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, iChat and Windows Live Messenger. The application lets users send voice, picture or text-based messages from the phone.

London - Nimbuzz, a provider of VoIP and IM services for mobile devices and social networks, announced on Wednesday that it has raised a $15 million second round of funding, led by Naspers/MIH with participation from previous backer Mangrove Capital Partners.

New York - PopTok, a service that lets people inject movie, TV and music clips into IM and e-mail conversations, on Monday announced a private beta launch of its application, and seed funding from Jerusalem Venture Partners and GTI Group.

Palo Alto, Calif. - Online social network Facebook this weekend quietly launched a new chat feature, which the company plans to roll out gradually to its 69 million users this week. The IM application at launch does not support third-party services like AIM, Yahoo IM or Google Talk, but the company plans to integrate members' notifications into the Chat bar, and Mini-Feed activity will also appear in IM conversations as it occurs.

Mountain View, Calif. - Meebo, the provider of a Web-based instant messaging service that allows cross-messaging between AIM, Yahoo and other services, is looking to raise $25-$30 million in new venture capital financing, VentureBeat reports.

A Microsoft Santa Claus bot created to talk to children took on a curriculum of its own this week when it began saying, “It’s fun to talk about oral sex, but I want to chat about something else…,” Network World reported.

New York - Yahoo on Tuesday launched the beta version of Yahoo Messenger 9.0, which includes new features such as the ability to share video or Flickr photos within an instant message screen, and support for transfer of files up to 2GB in size. The new release also allows users to forward incoming instant messages to a mobile phone, and to send messages as voicemail to landlines, and to e-mail as MP3 files.

Mountain View, Calif. - Meebo, a provider of a Web-based instant messaging service, announced on Thursday that it has raised $9 million in its second round of venture capital financing, led by new investor Draper Fisher Jurvetson and existing shareholder Sequoia Capital.