Instant messaging is a huge part of the mobile revolution and with Apple’s iMessage entering late to the game several app companies have a head start.

Blackberry’s BBM was perhaps the last gasp for the company and their financial woes appear to underline this. Whatsapp produced a fine cross-platform messaging service whose adhesive quality to the top of the App charts told of the importance of the function.

Now Samsung have released a new version of their ChatON android app which adds a few interesting features to the instant messaging fun. Sharing is a big part of most major OS and a seamless integration is essential. Group chat and community features are also in the bag here as well as some of the more cosmetic diversions – animated messages being a Draw Something-esque way to send picture messages.

The app is available on iOS, Blackberry and Android. You can check out the Samsung ChatON website here to find out all about it but here are a list of the ChatON features,

  • Enhanced Group Chat, where broadcast messages can be sent to several buddies at once
  • “Trunk” – a ChatON Contents Sharing Box, where users can leave comments and share contents to other sites including Facebook
  • Animation Message, users can create their own animated messages with original drawings, texts, audio content and changing background images
  • Anicon (Animated Emoticon), users can download various animated emoticons from chaton.com
  • Buddies say, users can post comments directly to buddies? profile at any time
  • Interaction Rank, users can check how often then chat with their buddies on the progress bar
  • Micro SNS Community (Social Network Services