Facebook is making another move to assert itself into the private messaging space, as the company is reportedly working on a standalone app that takes its cues from another popular messaging app called Snapchat.

Snapchat allows users to send and receive covert messages that have a pre-determined shelf life. When a user chooses to send a photo, text, or video message, they also choose how long they want the message to exist. When that amount of time passes (could be seconds, could be hours), the message is wiped from the recipient’s phone and from the Snapchat servers. If the recipient happens to screencap the message, the Snapchat app will let the sender know.

Snapchat says their app is “instantly fun and insanely playful,” and apparently Facebook wants to capitalize on the concept with their one billion+ MAUs. All Things D quotes sources familiar with the matter who say that the company is currently testing their own version of the Snapchat app that would exist separately from the Facebook app – similar to how their standalone Messenger and Camera apps work.

The sources claim that Facebook is so close to launching the app that it will be here before the end of the year.

“Fun and playful,” yes – but Snapchat has also been dubbed the “sexting” app by some. That’s made it controversial with some parents, who are worried that the self-destructing nature of the messages leads them to be used for “inappropriate” communications. Facebook could have a big hit on its hands if they can create a good app, considering they have something Snapchat doesn’t have – an already in-place network of a billion users. If the app is good enough, Facebook could very well steal this concept from the popular-in-its-own-right Snapchat.

[Lead Image is Snapchat, not the rumored Facebook app]

Within apps alone, you can do your banking, queue up (or watch) Netflix choices, edit HD photos, learn to play guitar, or buy anything on Amazon and track the UPS shipment.

With some simple accessories that plug in to the iPhone, you can record in stereo, take telephoto lens pictures, and swipe credit cards.

So, why hasn’t some enterprising developer come up with this career-saving add-on yet? I’m sure there are lots of young, upwardly-mobile professionals who would appreciate someone, or something, having their back on a Saturday night. For company-issued phones, it should be installed by IT before ever being put into anyone’s hands.

In fact, if RIM makes it to this first, it might just be the biggest comeback story of the year.

 Yesterday, Facebook announced their own "modern messaging system" that combines email, text messaging, and instant messages into a single stream that founder Mark Zuckerberg says goes well "beyond email".  The new service, which will debut Monday with an iPhone app and roll out over the next few months, mimics the behavior of teens who are already abandoning conventional email to converse across multiple platforms in short bursts. But Facebook Messaging could also make social music marketing more difficult. Here’s why:

Messages May Be Filtered Out – While a Facebook.com email address is offered, it’s not required. Whatever the source of email, Facebook promises to use "Friends", "Likes" and other clues to filter email. So a fan who signed up for a band’s email updates, could find their emails automatically shuttled into an "other" folder if they have not also friended the artist on Facebook.

Facebook says that their system will get smarter over time, so that people that aren’t friends on Facebook but communicate often will show up in the stream. How repeated one way communications like email newsletters will be filtered or allowed to pass into the users main stream is unclear

Too Much Of The Same – A major selling point of the Facebook’s system is that it unifies email, SMS, IM and Facebook messaging into a single stream somewhat like Google’s failed Wave.  But that means that artist and marketers who automatically post the same updates to multiple channels risk overloading users of Facebook Messaging.

Is There A Solution? – It’s important not to judge a system that no one has used, and its likely that some of Facebook’s new features will actually enhance the artist/fan relationship.  But a first look at Facebook Messages should encourage artists and music marketers to step up their friending efforts now to avoid flitering later and to closely monitor future developments.

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"By integrating core features of both platforms, users will be able to discover what their friends are doing online through photos and the activity stream across social networks," says MySpace’s Manu Rekhi.

Features include:

- Sync status updates from MySpace to Messenger

- See MySpace contacts activity within the Messenger social dashboard

- Comment on friend’s MySpace status updates from within Messenger

-Email MySpace contacts from Hotmail

MySpace cites comScore numbers claiming that over half of MySpace users also use Windows Live Essentials, so this integration could be a big factor in keeping existing users engaging with MySpace as Facebook continues to dominate the web. Of course Facebook is integrated with Windows Live messenger as well.

The two companies, which have collaborated for five years,  will provide consumers with e-mail, instant messaging and maps and navigation services. Specifically under the partnership:

- Nokia will be the exclusive, global provider of Yahoo’s maps and navigation services, integrating Ovi Maps across Yahoo properties, branded as "powered by Ovi.”

- Yahoo will become the exclusive, global provider of Nokia’s Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat services branded as "Ovi Mail / Ovi Chat powered by Yahoo!”

- Nokia and Yahoo plan to work on ID federation between their services, beginning by making it easy for people to use their Ovi user IDs across select Yahoo! properties to easily access the online content and services they need.

"What a combination," says Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz. "We’re excited to expand the reach of our best-in-class Mail and Messenger services, bringing personalized experiences to more people across the mobile Web, particularly in emerging markets where we are seeding the next generation of Yahoo! users. At the same time, we believe Nokia’s strength and continued investment in maps and navigation will greatly enhance our existing products, enabling us to focus on areas that are core to our business."

"Delivering great user experiences — both online and on your mobile — is what this alliance is all about," says Nokia CEO  Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. "We’re enabling millions of Yahoo! customers in key markets including North America to discover the unique capabilities that Ovi Maps brings. Similarly, Yahoo!’s online expertise will bring exciting mail and messaging enhancements to millions of Ovi Mail customers across almost every country around the world, many of whom will have their first Internet experience on their mobile."

Co-branded service offerings from Yahoo and Nokia are expected to become available in the second half of 2010, with global availability expected in 2011.

"The newest generation of Web users will discover the Web through a mobile device," says Rolf Assev, Chief Strategy Officer, Opera Software. "Having world-class messaging capability alongside a rich and compelling Web experience is essential. By combining forces, Opera and FastMail.fm can offer messaging on any device. This will enhance the value Opera provides to consumers, while assisting our operator partners in reducing customer churn."

"Following this acquisition, Opera will be able to offer a consistent e-mail experience across all products," the company says. "Opera currently has more than 50 million users of its desktop browser and more than 55 million users of Opera Mini, a mobile Web browser that works on almost all handsets available today."

FastMail has been providing email services for a decade, and as its team "combines forces" with Opera’s technical teams, FastMail itself will continue to operate and grow, and they will also work on new products.

For users of FastMail, the company has put together an FAQ to help make sense of the transition.

"My friends always hate it when I multi-task in other tabs while chatting with them (they can tell because of my obviously delayed reactions…)," says Google Software Engineer Jessan Hutchison-Quillian. "But sometimes it’s not my fault: if they send me a link to a YouTube video, I have to open another tab in order to watch it."

Jessan reminds us, "Just remember to say something every once in a while or your friends will probably catch on that you’re enjoying the dramatic chipmunk more than their conversation…"

This is just the latest of a slew of features Gmail has been launching in either regular Gmail or Gmail Labs recently. These include the "Send & Archive" button, voice and video chat, SMS chat, tasks, etc. You can always check out all of the cool features in Gmail Labs by clicking the little green icon at the top of your gmail window (pictured above). You don’t need to activate a lab to watch videos in your chat window though.

To utilize this feature:

1. Click on Settings
2. Got to the Labs tab
3. Scroll down until you see "Text Messaging (SMS) in Chat"
4. Select Enable
5. Save Changes

Once you have it added, you can type a phone number into the search box in the chat window on the left, then select "Send SMS." After that, you can begin chatting via SMS.

Numbers are saved in your contacts, so you don’t have to worry about providing the number every time. You can simply type their name, just as if you were going to send an email, and it will bring up their number. Product Manager Leo Dirac talks a bit more about it at the Gmail Blog:

On the receiving end, when you get a text message from Gmail on your phone, it will come from a number in the 406 area code. (The l33t folks in the crowd will note that this spells G0O.) You can reply to this text on your phone just like you’d reply to any other text. The reply gets routed back to our Gmail servers and shows up in your friend’s Gmail chat window. Each of your friends’ messages will come from a different 406 number so you can reply to any message and it will get back to the right person. Messages from the same person will always come from the same number, so you can even bookmark it in your phone.

If you get a message from somebody you don’t want to chat with from your phone, just reply with the word BLOCK. If you don’t want to get texts from anybody using Gmail, reply with the word STOP and we’ll leave you alone. Keep in mind that all these text messages count as part of your regular mobile messaging plan and might incur fees. So unless you know your friends have unlimited text message plans, please be sensitive to their phone bills.

Back in late October, the Gmail team experienced some hiccups when they initially tried to roll out the SMS chat feature, and had to pull it from use. Now that it’s back and presumably bug-free, or at least bug-reduced, it is sure to be a popular addition to Gmail, which has been very consistent with providing new features lately.

Universal and Meebo will provide Meebo users with ad-supported videos from a number of big-name artists. The deal kicks off with offerings from Kanye West, Ludacris, and The Killers. They will embed Meebo Rooms on official artist pages to enable real-time social interactions among fans. This way they can talk to each other, and in some cases, actually talk to the artists themselves. For example, Universal once used Meebo Rooms to coordinate a live chat with LL Cool J. They also used Meebo for an online listening party for a Kanye West album.

"Whether it’s rock from The Killers or hip-hop from Kanye West, Meebo users are extremely passionate about their music and enjoy sharing that premium content en masse with their friends," said Martin Green, COO of Meebo. "The partnership between Meebo and UMG gives our users the ability to engage with thousands of videos from the world’s largest music company."

"UMG’s Video Syndication Program allows for music fans to access videos in fun and easy ways at affiliate websites," said Larry Baach, Senior Vice President, Global Digital Initiatives, Universal Music Group. "Meebo, our latest affiliate, has a unique inter-operative IM feature that has captured the interest of a young, extremely loyal, and very active user base. UMG is always working toward better consumer experiences of our artists’ videos and we look forward to Meebo’s continued and inventive focus on music video." Meebo’s iPhone compatibliity should greatly enhance the sharing of content as well.

Over 300 musicians have used Meebo Rooms to interact with fans and promote albums since the site’s launch in May of last year. Now that this deal with Universal has taken place, I would expect a great many more to follow suit.

"Enterprise organizations want an extensible presence and messaging platform that can integrate with business process applications and easily adapt to their changing needs," said Doug Dennerline, Cisco senior vice president, Collaboration Software Group. "With the acquisition of Jabber, we will be able to extend the reach of our current instant messaging service and expand the capabilities of our collaboration platform. Our intention is to be the interoperability benchmark in the collaboration space."

What is Cisco’s real agenda with this purchase? Svetlana Gladkova at Profy says:

The idea here is pretty simple – Cisco is planning to use Jabber to “extend the reach” of their existing instant messaging service, therefore enhancing Cisco’s communication suite. Cisco is planning to use Jabber technology within Webex, the online collaboration suite for web conferencing, and Unified Workspace, Cisco’s solution for teamwork and collaboration for distributed teams. 

Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, and the acquisition is still subject to various standard closing condition. It is not expected to actually be completed until next year.