Our new Yahoo! Messenger for iPhone application will be available soon! We announced it tonight in conjunction with the CTIA Wireless conference, so we want to give you a sneak peek at it here on the blog. Check out the demo video below. We’ll let you know when Yahoo! Messenger for the iPhone is available to download!
An updated version of Yahoo! oneConnect is now available in the iPhone App Store. This update offers general improvements with stability and performance, and fixes login issues with special characters.
In addition, the mobile team fixed the MySpace log in issue. Turns out that users with a lot of contacts were experiencing timeouts when oneConnect would try to log in to get Pulse updates etc. This should be fixed now so if you were experiencing issues before, please try it again.
You can install the oneConnect update on your iPhone by visiting the Yahoo! Mobile website, or just search for oneConnect in the AppStore on your iPhone or in iTunes. If you already have oneConnect installed, you should see a red icon on the AppStore icon on your iPhone or in iTunes, indicating an update is available.
To leave feedback on this latest version or to see what other oneConnect users are talking about, head over to the oneConnect suggestion board.
Today, Yahoo! OneConnect launched for the Apple iPhone. Built by the mobile team at Yahoo!, oneConnect is designed to help you communicate with not only your Yahoo! Messenger friends, but also the friends you have on social networks like Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, Youtube, Bebo, Dopplr, Friendster and Twitter.
Here’s a quick rundown of oneConnect’s top features:
Full address book
oneConnect integrates contacts from your Yahoo! Address Book, iPhone, and many social networks. To add social networks to your oneConnect, tap on the “Settings” icon at the bottom, then hit “My Accounts”. Once you’ve added a social network account, oneConnect will import all your contacts. Tap on the “Contacts” icon in the bottom bar to access them.
Send and receive instant messages, SMS
Once you sign in with your Yahoo! ID, your entire Yahoo! Messenger contact list will appear. Just tap on the “Message” icon in the bottom bar, then tap the “+” in the upper right corner to start a new IM (or start one from a friend’s listing under “Contacts”). You can insert your favorite emoticons into your conversation and you’ll see your Avatar or display image as well as your friend’s.
When you’re messaging, you’ll notice a “Y!” icon to the left of the text box. Tap on that and it changes to an SMS icon. When you want to send a SMS message, make sure the SMS icon appears there and just start typing. Note that you must have the mobile phone number for your friend already entered into their contact info. To go back to sending IMs, tap on the icon again to bring up the Y! icon.
Updates from your friends (Pulse)
In addition to IMs and SMS text messages, you can keep up with what your friends are doing on your favorite social networks. Tap on the Pulse icon to see a running list of updates from your friends. See the latest photos from your Flickr friends, get status updates from your Facebook contacts, or see what your Twitter buddies have to say. Different views let you look at all updates together, just status updates or just photo updates.
You can also update your own status on your social networks from oneConnect. When you’re in the Pulse area, tap the “My Status” button in the upper right corner. Enter a new status message and it gets sent out too all of your networks at once.
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
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.
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.
You can also update your own status on your social networks from oneConnect. When you’re in the Pulse area, tap the “My Status” button in the upper right corner. Enter a new status message and it gets sent out too all of your networks at once.
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.
