by Playfuls Staff |
14th February 2007
Beginning today, users of Yahoo! Mail, will be able to chat
in real-time using a new instant messaging (IM) feature which is seamlessly
integrated into the Yahoo! Mail beta. The new feature, built on the Yahoo! [more]
Messenger platform, began rolling out today to Yahoo! Mail beta users
worldwide, and will be available to all users in the coming months.
"Yahoo! is focused on making it easier for people to
connect to those who matter most to them," said John Kremer, vice
president, Yahoo! Mail. "By bringing Yahoo!'s leading instant messaging
capabilities to e-mail users, we're transforming Yahoo! Mail into a tool that's
about communicating; regardless of the form that communication takes."
This deep integration across Yahoo!'s e-mail and instant
messaging services enables e-mail users to easily connect to contacts in Yahoo!
Messenger's thriving IM community, without leaving the Web mail experience.
People can choose to let others know if they are online and available to
exchange messages in real time, and users will be able to see the online status
of everyone in their contact list as well. Each instant messaging dialogue will
take place in a new conversation tab within Yahoo! Mail beta, allowing people
to chat with multiple friends simultaneously, without leaving the e-mail
experience. Users can also convert e-mails seamlessly into IMs when friends
come online (or vice-versa).
The Yahoo! Mail beta is a true Web 2.0 experience, including
a sleek, easy-to-use interface with the speed and responsiveness of a desktop
application. In addition to instant messaging, the Yahoo! Mail beta also features
enhanced functionality such as drag and drop e-mail organization, message
preview, an integrated calendar and an RSS reader. Like the classic Yahoo! Mail
experience, the new version is a free, browser-based service, accessible from
virtually any computer connected to the Internet, without the need for a
software download.
The merge of those two services seems a logical step for
Yahoo as a poll conducted last year by AP and AOL revealed that nearly three in
four (72 percent) teens who use instant messaging (IM) said they send more IMs
than emails, as do one in four (26 percent) adults. The survey, which
examined instant messaging trends and usage habits among 1,513 IM users,
further revealed that more than half of adults polled (54 percent) log on to
send instant messages every day.
