May 15, 2007 on 9:03 am | In Features | 5 Comments
The internet has changed how we book travel but one thing that hasn’t been solved is how two people can plan trips together online – until now. With the new Yahoo! Flight Planner plug-in, you and a friend can look up flights together right in the IM window. It’s powered by Yahoo! Farechase, one of the best online sources for great deals on flights.
My friend Amy and I have been thinking about a trip to London, so I IM’d her and invited her to try the plug-in. A window opened up next to our conversation, displaying a flight search box. I entered our destination, London, preferred travel dates and hit the search button, all with Amy looking on from her own computer.
Search results quickly appeared and we began browsing through flight options. Amy realized we wanted nonstop flights only, so from her side, she selected the ‘Refine Results’ option and made sure only nonstop flights would appear in the results. As soon as I found a good flight, I clicked the “Chat About It” button, which automatically sent the details to Amy for consideration:
There are also some handy features like selection indicators. Everytime Amy would click a flight she liked, a thumbs up icon would appear next to it so I knew instantly what she preferred. And when I clicked the “Book it” button, it launched a new browser window with the first step of checkout, and sent Amy an IM message from me that started with “I want to book this flight…”.
The next time you need to arrange a flight with a friend or just want their input on your summer travel plans, invite them to use the Yahoo! Flight Planner plug-in on Messenger. Plug-ins are available for the Windows version of Yahoo! Messenger (8.1).
…Speaking of traveling, Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister of Singapore, visited Yahoo! headquarters last week. Our own Matthew Skyrm was lucky enough to demonstrate some of our Messenger products to Mr. Loong, like Yahoo! Messenger for the Web, as well as some that are in development like Yahoo! Messenger for Windows Vista. Head over to the NBC11 website to see a short video clip of the visit (enter “Singapore” in the Search Videos box to access the video clip).
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
May 11, 2007 on 11:21 am | In Mobile | 9 Comments
There’s a slick new integration of Yahoo! Messenger on Helio’s latest device (I’ve been told I shouldn’t just call it a “phone”
), The Ocean. One of the most talked-about features is the dual QWERTY and numeric keyboards that pop out from the main handset. So already we’re talking about a phone that makes messaging easier.
If you’re into mobile messaging, the Helio Ocean will be hard to resist. Unlike traditional mobile phones that require you to sign into each service when you want to email or IM, the Ocean integrates all your options into a single messaging hub. “Just start typing a name from Ocean’s idle screen and the Helio Smart Dialer searches the address book by first and last name and pulls up full contact information, complete with icons to show if a person is logged in to Yahoo! Messenger, AIM or Windows Live Messenger.” And when a new IM message comes in, you get an alert on the screen which you can click to respond or ignore.
There are other Yahoo! services integrated into the phone including Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Address book, which gets synced automatically with your contact list. The wondrous thing about the Helio is the online services are seamlessly integrated into the Ocean’s features. For example, when you do a web search, you get results from Yahoo!, Google, Amazon and Wikipedia, all in separate tabs for the choosing.
In addition to the cool messaging integrations, the Helio Ocean offers an array of multimedia features like external stereo speakers, Bluetooth, a 2.0 megapixel camera, plus support for music storage and playback (or other files). And soon after launch, they’ll offer a custom MySpace application that lets you add, edit and view photos and profiles.
I don’t have a Helio Ocean in hand so I can’t give you intimate details, but head over to Slashgear for a great hands-on review of the device. The Helio Ocean is priced at $295 and is available at Helio stores or online at http://www.helio.com.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
May 9, 2007 on 3:57 pm | In Voice | 7 Comments
In honor of Mother’s Day, Yahoo! Voice is running a special promotion that offers callers the chance to win great prizes, including free flowers for a year. What Mom wouldn’t love that?
Here’s how it works: Use the Phone Out feature on Yahoo! Messenger to call Mom (and other friends) on any regular or mobile phone between May 8 and May 15. For every minute you spend talking, you’ll get an entry into the sweepstakes – up to 100 entries a day. When the promotion ends, you’ll be entered for a chance to win $100 in free minutes, $250 gift cards, or flowers for every month of the year.
To participate, make sure you have a Phone Out account and then go to the promotion page and enter the sweepstakes. Once you’re entered, start calling your friends and family with Yahoo! Voice for a chance to win some great prizes.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
May 8, 2007 on 1:58 pm | In Web version | 24 Comments
Thanks to those of you that have tried the new Yahoo! Messenger for the Web and provided feedback. It’s helpful to hear from you what’s working and what’s not, as well as what you like and don’t like. Here are some notes on the main feedback we’ve received so far:
Stealth settings: Yahoo! Messenger for the Web does offer stealth settings, but they are not as extensive as in the full version. You can start out in stealth mode by clicking the “Sign In as Invisible” link below the sign in button. And when you’re signed in, you can change your status to “Invisible” which will hide you from all your friends. Setting individual stealth settings is not yet available, but we do honor your settings from the full version. So if you set yourself to appear permanently offline to a friend in the full version, when you sign into the web version, that setting remains.
Web vs. Full version: We’ve seen some comments saying “I want the old one back!” or “I want to switch back”. Rest assured that the full, downloadable version of Yahoo! Messenger is here to stay and you can continue using it. There’s no need to uninstall or reinstall the full version if you want to use it again. Just launch it from your desktop Programs menu. And when you need the web version – perhaps when you are away from your computer – just visit http://webmessenger.yahoo.com (or http://web.im).
Window size: If you’re finding the full browser window is a little big for you, you can resize the window and the interface will adjust. You can also adjust the width of the contact list window by clicking and dragging on the handle to the right of the list.
New IM alerts: There are built-in alerts to let you know when a new IM has arrived. There’s a sound that plays (make sure your volume is turned up!) and the Yahoo! Messenger for the Web browser taskbar button at the bottom of your screen will display scrolling text from the new message.
Offline messages: You can send and receive offline messages. When you sign in, new offline messages will be waiting for you, each as separate tabs. Click on the tab to view the whole message.
Message history: This feature is one advantage that the web version has over the full version. All of your message history is easily searchable in Yahoo! Messenger for the Web, from any computer you sign in from. When talking to a contact, click the “View more history” link, or click the “History” link up under the search bar to access your conversation history. Conversation archiving is on by default but you can turn it off by clicking the “History” link, then “Options” and removing the check mark next to “Enable Message History”.
And a couple of last tidbits… If you want to change or create your Avatar, just visit http://avatars.yahoo.com. If you want to display or change a photo or other image, you’ll need to sign into the full version of Messenger to access that feature. And to add friends in the new web version, click on the “Add” button just below your contact list to add both Yahoo! and Windows Live™ Messenger friends to your contact list.
We hope you’re enjoying the new Yahoo! Messenger for the Web. It is a Beta and we’ll continue to improve the product with the help of your feedback. To provide feedback about your experience, just click the “Feedback” link below the search box in the upper right corner when you’re signed in.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
May 2, 2007 on 5:41 pm | In Web version | 72 Comments
Ever wish you could use Yahoo! Messenger without having to download or install anything? Well, today is your lucky day: please give a big Yahoo! welcome to the all-new Yahoo! Messenger for the Web.
Now you can sign in from any web browser (PC or Mac!) and immediately start IM’ing with friends. This is great for when you’re on someone else’s computer or traveling and need to stop in an internet café.
Plus, time at work just got a lot more fun. If you or a friend is prevented from IM’ing at the office due to firewalls or other IT restrictions, you’ll love this new version. Because Yahoo! Messenger for the Web runs in a regular web browser window, it sidesteps these obstacles and lets you connect easily with your friends.
This is also the first version of Yahoo! Messenger that we’ve ever offered in Vietnamese (yeah!). It’s also available in Portuguese and Traditional Chinese, and we’ll continue adding more languages over time.
Check out the full article about the new Yahoo! Messenger for the Web over on our corporate blog, Yodel Anecdotal. Or watch the brief movie below to see it in action.
When you’re ready to take it for a spin, head over to http://webmessenger.yahoo.com and just sign in. Your full contact list will be waiting for you, including your Windows Live Messenger friends. (Tip: Type web.im in your browser to get there even faster).
Congratulations to the Yahoo! Messenger for the Web team on the launch of this great new product. We hope you enjoy it! 
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
P.S. – Like the Messenger integration in Yahoo! Mail, you can’t be signed into the full version of Messenger and the web version at the same time. If you sign into one, you’ll be automatically signed out of the other.
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