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In today's world where information can be searched for and almost anything can be done in a click of the mouse, consumers have become impatient. They want their needs to be addressed instantaneously. This is where live chat software helps increase customer satisfaction as your customers and site visitors can easily get in touch with you via live chat.

Kicking off the week, new Spanish upstart Spotbros is taking on WhatsApp by adding location-based services. Spotbros, helmed by former Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo (News - Alert), has attracted more than 300,000 users and has been downloaded over 130,000 times.

Spotbros acts as a location-based Twitter as messages that are called “shouts” and can be sent to up to 50 people within a mile with a maximum of 200 characters. A user can also “re-shout” a message, and users can set up “spots,” which are networks tied to places. The messages are tied to small webpages capable of supporting text, titles, images and videos. Additionally, Spotbros adds privacy to its services with AES 256-bit encryption to protect messages, and stores them for 30 days.

“We believe that instant messaging can be the glue that will keep together users, online content and location based services. We see IM as a means, not an end,” Spotbros Co-founder Alejandro Lopez Monge told GigaOm.

In other Live Chat news, Microsoft's (News - Alert) Windows Live Messenger had a good run, but it is being replaced as the chat program of choice for Windows by Skype. It has a large user base and is more advanced than Live Messenger, which has failed to keep up with all of the instant messaging options now available, losing 45 percent of its customer base in the past year.

Those still using Live Messenger can transfer their entire contact list over to Skype (News - Alert) for instant messaging and video chat, easing the transition to be complete by 2013. Transferring contacts to Skype is as simple as signing into the latest version of Skype, version 6, with a Microsoft account.

Skype brings a lot to the table to please those resistant to change such as support for more devices including Android tablets and the iPad, as well as the ability to call landlines and cell phones, share screens, place video calls on mobile phones and place video calls with Facebook (News - Alert) friends.

Lastly, TextMe has introduced the new version of its flagship application available on iOS iPhone (News - Alert) and iPod Touch on the Android marketplace.  TextMe offers device-independent and carrier-independent free mobile communications to millions of users worldwide, providing free SMS texting, instant messaging and voice and video calling on the device of choice.

This instant messaging functionality includes the ability to share pictures. Additionally, the users will be able to send and receive SMS text messages, place or receive phone calls to other TextMe users or to any phone number, and enjoy video conversations.

"We are excited to bring the first fully featured communications applications to the Android market, with Free SMS, Free Calls and Free Video Calls," said Christophe Bach, co-founder of TextMe. "Our team has been able to leverage all the richness of new smartphone platforms to unleash an unprecedented communication experience to all users."