Yahoo! Messenger Now Inside Mail

Yahoo! has announced that it has integrated its Instant Messaging service into its email service, Y ahoo! Mail beta, to enable Yahoo! users to chat in real time, via mail. The new feature, built on the Yahoo! Messenger platform, began rolling out today to Yahoo! Mail beta users worldwide, and will be available to all users in the coming months.

John Kremer, vice president, Yahoo! Mail said, “Yahoo! is focused on making it easier for people to connect to those who matter most to them. 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.”

The integration across Yahoo!’s e-mail and instant messaging services aims to enable e-mail users to easily connect to contacts in Yahoo! Messenger’s IM community, without leaving Yahoo! Web mail. People can then choose to let others know if they are online and available to exchange messages in real time, and users will in turn be able to see the online status of everyone in their contact list.

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Each instant messaging dialogue is designed to take place in a new conversation tab within Yahoo! Mail beta, allowing people to chat with multiple friends simultaneously. Users can also convert e-mails seamlessly into IMs when friends come online or vice-versa.

In addition to instant messaging, the Yahoo! Mail beta also features new enhanced functionality such as drag and drop e-mail organization, message preview, an integrated calendar and an RSS reader. 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.