May 7, 2010 on 1:08 pm | In 10 version, Avatars, Events, Features, Voice | 13 Comments
Mother’s Day this year is just around the corner on Sunday, May 9th. I am sure many of you might have planned something special for your moms for this day.
Here are some of the ways Yahoo! Messenger can help to make this day even more special for you especially if you live far away from your mom.
(1). Video Calling – Real-time communication in Yahoo! Messenger took a giant leap last year with the introduction of High Quality Video Calling available in the latest version of Yahoo! Messenger. Our users have taken a liking to this feature and use it especially if they have to talk to friends/families staying far away. So, if you haven’t tried this yet, then this is a perfect time to try out Video Calling with your mom and see her on this special day.
(2). Free PC-2-PC and Paid Calling – As you know, Yahoo! Messenger always had the ability for users to make Free PC-2-PC Calls – so, if your mom is online on Yahoo! Messenger, you could make a free call and talk to her or leave a voicemail if she isn’t online- no matter how large the distance.
If your mom is not online or simply not a Yahoo! Messenger user, then you could also call her on her land-line or mobile using the premium Yahoo! Voice product where you can make local and international calls at great quality for really cheap rates.
(3). Change your Avatar in Yahoo! Messenger to express your love for mom. To do this, simply head over to Yahoo! Avatars and then search for “Mother’s Day” in the “Avatar Search” box. Chose any Avatar from the hundreds of Mother’s Day Avatars and then change your Display Image within Yahoo! Messenger to share this Avatar. Your mom’s joy will know no bounds when she logs into Yahoo! Messenger and sees your Avatar – we guarantee it.
Hope these help you to make the day really special. If you used these or any other products or features from Yahoo! or Yahoo! Messenger on this day, then do drop in a comment – we would love to hear from you.
Happy Mother’s Day.
Thyaga Vasudevan
Product Manager
April 22, 2010 on 8:30 am | In Avatars, Events | Add a Comment
Every year, Yahoo! gets into the spirit of Earth Day and educates our community about all things green. This year, our focus is on giving you fun new ways to find green information.
Yahoo!’s Earth Day site features a bunch of green trivia questions like “What’s the difference between brown eggs and white eggs?” or “Which city has the highest gas prices?”. If you need a cheat sheet, you can find the answers to these puzzles and more on Yahoo! Search. The Earth Day site also highlights trending Earth Day topics from Yahoo! Search as well as great tips and tricks for what really matters when it comes to living a greener lifestyle.
While you’re thinking green, why not get your Avatar in the mood too? Head over to the Yahoo! Avatars website to get decked out in fun Earth Day apparel. Then help spread the word about Earth Day (April 22) to all your friends on Messenger!
Thyaga Vasudevan
Product Manager
October 27, 2009 on 9:40 am | In 10 version, 9.0 version, Avatars, Features | 3 Comments
In support of of our global brand “It’s You!” campaign, we’ve added some Yahoo! audibles and Avatars to Yahoo! Messenger.
As you may recall, we jump started the campaign with events around our infamous Yahoo! yodel, which we’ve updated and riffed on in new ways with the Yodel Studio. Now we’ve launched some audibles to go with it that let you yodel as much as you want with twists of reggae, bluegrass, hip-hop, a capella, and R&B.
To access the audibles, click on the Audibles icon in the IM window, click “More Audibles”, go to “See All Audibles”, then find “Yahoo! Yodels” in the list. Audibles are available for Yahoo! Messenger 8.1, 9.0 and 10 only.
You can also dress up your Avatar in some of the latest Yahoo! gear, including t-shirts with the slogans from the campaign: “It’s my Web, you just live in it” and “Master of the Digital Universe”. To get changed, head over to Yahoo! Avatars, click on the “Branded” tab, then click on the “Yahoo!” link.
And if you want more than virtual reality, head over to the Yahoo! Company Store to order a real live t-shirt or other Y! gear.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
October 7, 2009 on 2:41 pm | In Avatars | Add a Comment
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Yahoo! has a lot going on across the network to support the effort.
For starters, you can change your Avatar to display a pink ribbon, the symbol of support for finding a cure for breast cancer. Just head over to the “Show your Support” section on the Avatars site and click on the third page of items.
We also started a campaign to get people to update their Yahoo! profile status message to show their support. When we launched it on October 1, we pledged to donate $50,000 to The National Breast Cancer Foundation once 50,000 Yahoo! users made their update. Good news! We reached that goal and as of this writing, we’re nearing the 80,000 mark.
Even though we’ve reached our goal, we hope you’ll still update your Profile status to support those affected by breast cancer.
Or click here to change your Yahoo! Messenger status to read “I support Breast Cancer Awareness Month”. Note that the link to change your status will only work if you have Yahoo! Messenger running. You could also change your Yahoo! Messenger skin to “twinkle pink”, just to show your desktop that you support the cause.
Need some retail therapy? Head over to Yahoo! Shopping and check out some items whose proceeds benefit breast cancer research.
While Yahoo! has always powered up the network to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this year is a little more significant as our own CEO, Carol Bartz, is a survivor.
Thanks for your support,
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
July 2, 2009 on 10:24 am | In 9.0 version, Avatars, Fun Stuff | 25 Comments
This Saturday, July 4th is Independence Day here in the U.S. While you’ll probably be out enjoying hot dogs on the grill, summer sunshine and fireworks, here’s a few ways you can get in the spirit with Yahoo! Messenger.
Stars & Stripes for your Avatar
Visit the Fourth of July section on Yahoo! Avatars and dress your Avatar in some patriotic gear. Choose from flag-themed clothing and backgrounds filled with fireworks.
Skin it red or blue
Change your Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 skin to ruby red, icy blue or sky blue. Click the gold dot near the very top of the 9.0 Messenger window.
Wave your flag
Don’t forget about the hidden emoticon for the US flag. Hover your mouse on the emoticon to see the text shortcut ==> 
Red, white & blue display images
Click on one of the images below to change your display image in Yahoo! Messenger 9.0. If you’re on a different version of Messenger, right click and save the image to your desktop. Then manually add it to your Yahoo! Messenger.
Happy Fourth of July to everyone!
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
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