Yahoo has released a beta version of its popular Messenger service which has more social-networking features. It is obvious that the company is trying to explore new opportunities in the rapidly growing web 2.0 phenomenons by upgrading its messenger to be social networking friendly. With the upgrade, the company has also released localized versions of the messenger in countries like India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

 
The new features in Messenger 9.0 include an “in-line player” with which the users can send URLs to each other and then watch video and flip through photos together. They can do all this when they are communicating over IM or an Internet phone connection. Also, there have been some design changes in the new version which help the users to see the photo of the contact and status and to connect by instant messages, voice over IP, or text messaging to a mobile phone.
 
Sabrina Ellis, VP of Yahoo Messenger, said in a press release, “We've punched up Yahoo Messenger to make keeping in touch with friends and family even more fun, with features like the in-line media player that helps people easily share their favorite videos, images, and photos right in the IM window.”
 
One of the new features of Yahoo messenger is the call forwarding facility where the users can send voice mails to mobile phone or landline as they leave the messages through Internet telephony. Also, the file size attachment can be up to a stunning 2 GB and they can send unlimited attachments to their friends and family. Also, Yahoo has integrated its Flickr picture service into the messenger which allows the users to share photos in real time.
 
Another feature provided in the new Yahoo messenger is the virus scan facility. This is an important feature as messenger services have been a favorite hunting ground for viruses because of their vulnerability.  
 
 
Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.


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