Yahoo! Mail Blog, UK and Ireland

OK - this is the second post for this feature (read the first one if you want). OK, it was there in the beta but we’ve beefed it up with a couple of key additions… best of which, you can now chat to people on Windows Live™ Messenger too.

What’s all this then?
We’ve integrated Yahoo! Messenger into New Yahoo! Mail. That means you can now have a live conversation with someone right from within your Yahoo! Mail mailbox. You can talk this way with anyone who has a Yahoo! or Windows Live™ Messenger ID. That’s almost everyone isn’t it?

Here’s how
When you log into your mailbox you’ll see, at the top of the window, a status message and a drop down arrow. When you click that icon, here’s what you’re going to see…

Once you set yourself Available, your contact list will show all of your contacts that have set themselves Available too. From here, you can select anyone on that list and start a conversation with them right from the comfort of your own Mailbox window. Here’s what it’s going to look like when you’re engrossed in a conversation with one of your friends:

Or, like this, or this…
We’ve added a couple of other new ways to start a chat. Yahoo! Mail is more than just email these days, so if you click on the arrow next to the New button (top left) you can choose “Chat” to open a chat window and go from there. Or, if you want to be really flash, you can use the keyboard shortcut. Just hit “c” and you’re off.

Not up for a chat?
As always, you can always turn this feature off too. I’ve posted about how to do that.
Happy chatting!
Andrew – Yahoo! Mail Beta Team

Have I got news for you! Yahoo! Messenger news to be exact. Today I want to introduce you to a new Web-based version of the Yahoo! Instant Messenger. And the best thing is: No download required!!

You can check it out at http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/webmessengerpromo.php. Just sign-in with your Yahoo! ID and now you can instant message (IM) from anywhere - work offices, Internet cafés, schools, airports – from almost any Internet-enabled computer (well as long as you’ve got Flash installed). How cool is that if you are off travelling or just on the go and sitting at your favourite Internet cafe.

So here’s the scoop…
Yahoo! Messenger for the Web is a light-weight service designed specifically for Web usage, and offers a lot of the features that Yahoo! Messenger users know and love and even has stuff that isn’t even available with Yahoo! Messenger’s desktop client software (that’s what the *’s are for in the list below). With the new service, you can:

• Search archived IM conversations from any computer using Yahoo! Search technology*
• Communicate with friends who are using Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live™ Messenger
• Organise all instant messages in tabs, rather than separate windows*
• Enhance self-expression with Avatars, display images or photos
• Make conversations come to life with emoticons, fonts and colours
• Customize presence settings and set stealth mode
• Access Web-based service from any Web browser including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera*
• Use multiple operating systems including UNIX, Mac OS X, and Windows 2000 and up

There’s even a video preview for your enjoyment.

As always… Happy emailing (or should I say IMing  )
Andrew – Yahoo! Mail Beta Team

Back in February I posted about integrating Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo! Mail Beta. It’s a feature that allows you to have an instant message (aka chat) conversation right from within your mailbox. Back then, it was just a sneak peak. Now you should all have the ability to chat directly from within your Yahoo! Mail Beta mailbox.

What if I don’t feel like chatting?
I’ve been reading and listening to all of your comments, and a common question is, “How can I turn chat off?” The answer of course is, “Easily”. Here’s how…

From the top of the Mail Beta window you should see a status message next to your @yahoo.co.uk ID. Just click on the down arrow and then click on “Sign out of chat”. That’s it – you’re done. And, the next time you sign into mail, we’ll remember your status and you won’t be logged back into Chat until you set your status back to “Available”.

Happy emailing!
Andrew – Yahoo! Mail Beta Team

I hope you don’t mind, but I just wanted to take a minute to give you a sneak peak on a new Yahoo! Mail Beta feature that I’m really excited about. Usually I don’t like to talk about things until they’re available to all of you, but this one I just couldn’t keep under wraps.

Coming soon to a browser near you…
…it’s text chat (or instant messaging if you prefer to call it) right from your Yahoo! Mail Beta mailbox!

Huh?!?! Well, in short, we’re integrating Yahoo! Mail Beta and Yahoo! Messenger. It’s a feature that allows you to have a conversation with another Yahoo! Mail or Messenger user right from within your Yahoo! Mail Beta mailbox. When you log into your mailbox you will see, at the top of the window, a status message (Available or Offline) and a drop down arrow. When you click that icon, here’s what it’s going to look like…

Once you set yourself Available, your contact list will show all of your contacts that have set themselves Available too. When you click that arrow next to the contacts that are online, you will be able to select anyone on that list and start a conversation with them right from the comfort of your own Mailbox window. Here’s what it’s going to look like when your engrossed in a conversation with one of your friends:

Our friends and colleagures in the US have created a “screencast” of how the new Mail and Messenger integration will look. You can view it here: http://ymailupdates.com/screencasts/mail_messenger_integration/.

That looks pretty cool, when can I get it?
Right now, the new instant messaging feature will roll out to Yahoo! Mail beta users over the next 3 months.

Keep your eyes peeled to this blog and to your mailbox. Instant messaging in Yahoo! Mail Beta is coming soon.

Happy emailing!
Andrew – Yahoo! Mail Beta Team