You spend more and more time liking, tweeting, following and checking in, and not nearly enough time using the telephone for what it was intended for – talking to someone. Language skills not what they used to be? Fear not – there is a happy medium between LOL and a live conversation. Give your thumbs a break and work your voice box. TalkBox Voice Messenger brings sound back to communication by integrating voice, music, laughter and crickets with social networking and instant messaging for iPhone and iPad users.

TalkBox blends push-to-talk messaging and visual voicemail, allowing users to send short voice messages to their contacts. Messages can be read immediately, or played at the convenience of the recipient. Voice messages can be one-on-one conversations or group discussions, across the street or across the world – messages are instant, free, and do not require a cellular network to be sent. First you have to add friends and contacts, but after the initial setup, recording and sending a thought is as easy as dialing 1-2-3. The app integrates with Twitter, Facebook, your Address Book, and a special “Voice Broadcast” contact which will send a message to all of your contacts at once.

TalkBox is available on the App Store for free. Singing happy birthday in your best Marilyn impression to your BFF and posting it on her Facebook wall – priceless.