June 20, 2008 on 2:30 pm | In Features, Mobile, Voice | 15 Comments
IM is great for keeping in constant contact with your friends. But eventually, we all have to sign off and as a result, we’re no longer reachable.
But now, with a couple of features available in Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 Beta, you no longer have to sign off and drop off. You can have incoming IMs and voice calls forwarded to your mobile phone. Here’s how it works…
Above your Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 contact list you’ll notice two new buttons – an icon of a small mobile phone and a Yahoo! Voice button. Click on the mobile phone icon and select “Set Up Mobile Device”. A small window will appear where you can register your mobile phone with Yahoo! Messenger.
Once registered, you can turn on IM forwarding. After signing out of Yahoo! Messenger, you will still appear online to your friends but with an “I’m Mobile” status message. Friends can then IM you and the messages will be forwarded to your mobile phone as text messages (SMS). Reply to the SMS from your phone and your friend will receive it in Messenger. So even when you’re away from your computer, you can still receive and reply to IMs.
To enable IM forwarding whenever you sign out, select the “Always Sign in to [your mobile number]” from the mobile phone icon. If you prefer to enable it occasionally, go to the Messenger menu when you’re ready to sign out and choose “Sign in to [your mobile number]”. Find out more about IM forwarding
The same kind of forwarding can be set up for voice calls. If you’re signed out and a friend tries to call you via PC-to-PC or on your Phone In number, the call can be immediately forwarded to another phone you have (mobile or landline). A Phone Out account is required. When calls are forwarded to you, they are subject to the standard per minute rates of our Phone Out service.
To enable call forwarding, click the “Yahoo! Voice” button above your contact list and select “Set Up Call Forwarding”. Indicate which number you want your incoming calls forwarded to and you’re done. Once you set up call forwarding, it will even forward calls when you are signed into Yahoo! Messenger. So if you prefer to receive calls in Messenger when you’re signed in, just return to the button and select “Call Forwarding > Disabled”. Find out more about call forwarding
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
August 31, 2007 on 9:49 am | In Mobile | 20 Comments
While using Yahoo! Messenger on a Blackberry is not new, a recent demo I got from the mobile team was enough to merit a blog mention. If you have a Blackberry smartphone, or are considering getting one, you’ll get to experience the best mobile version of Yahoo! Messenger that’s out there.
Most mobile phone users use the mobile web version of Yahoo! Messenger by visiting http://m.yahoo.com through their phone’s web browser. But on select devices, like a Blackberry, a more robust, downloadable application is available that includes some key extras like the ability to notify you when new IMs come in, even if you’re doing something else on the phone. The Blackberry version also offers graphical emoticons, and the ever-popular Buzz feature.
If you have a Blackberry, there are a couple of ways to get Yahoo! Messenger. Visit the Yahoo! Messenger download page on the Blackberry site (scroll to the bottom and click the Download button), or on your Blackberry, select the Internet Browser icon on the homepage and navigate to http://www.blackberry.com/yahoodownload.
It’s free to download Yahoo! Messenger and use it on your Blackberry, but note that carrier airtime, usage fees and other taxes may apply. Check the details of your Blackberry’s data plan with your mobile provider. Yahoo! Messenger is available for the following Blackberry devices: BlackBerry® 7100, 7200, 7500, 7700, 8700 and 8800 series, BlackBerry® Pearl™, and BlackBerry® Curve™. Yahoo! Messenger is not available for Blackberry users on AT&T.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
August 8, 2007 on 10:45 am | In Mobile | 4 Comments
3, a leading mobile service in the UK, announced the availablility of Yahoo! Messenger to their 3.9 million users. Yahoo! Messenger is free to download to 3 mobile phones and customers can get free Yahoo! Messenger for life on the Pay Monthly plan, and free until the end of 2007 on the Pay As You Go plan.
Click here for more information on Yahoo! Messenger & 3
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
June 20, 2007 on 10:58 am | In Mobile | 36 Comments
This week, we launched a new Beta version of Yahoo! Messenger for Mobile (WAP version). This new version improves on both features and performance. Here’s a quick summary of the improvements:
- Full conversation view which allows for a running conversation rather than the back and forth “SMS” style exchanges in the old version.
- A more appealing look to the application that now includes status icons (busy, idle), Avatars and display images.
- New lighter version that speeds performance.
- Support for more devices. If you couldn’t use Yahoo! Messenger on your mobile phone previously, be sure to try this new Beta version.
The application also offers some handy customization features for your contact list. You can display your friends by most recently contacted, those that are online, or all (offline and online). If you like to see your contacts sorted by groups you’ve created, just click the “Show Groups” link.
A handy search box also makes it easy to find a friend on your list without scrolling through multiple screens. You can also add contacts right from your phone. Don’t want to be contacted? Click the “Go Invisible” link to enter stealth mode.
To try the new Yahoo! Messenger for Mobile Beta, go to http://yahoo.com on your mobile phone (or http://m.yahoo.com if it doesn’t redirect automatically), and then click the “Messenger (Beta)” link.
Check out this earlier blog post for more information on mobile features for Yahoo! Messenger.
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
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