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 | 95 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
April 17, 2007 on 9:17 am | In Mobile | 19 Comments
Last week Sandisk released their newest MP3 player, the Sansa Connect. The key to the Sansa Connect is that it’s a WiFi based player, keeping you connected to your music, friends and audio entertainment wherever you go.
When you’re in range of a wireless network, you can download music from Yahoo! Music Unlimited, share your music with friends over Yahoo! Messenger, and tune into Yahoo! Music LAUNCHcast Radio. When you’re no longer connected wirelessly, just switch over to My Library mode and listen to 4GB+ of your music that’s stored on the device.
The Yahoo! Messenger integration on the Sansa Connect is similar to the features in Yahoo! Music Jukebox. When you’re connected to a WiFi network, you can sign into Yahoo! Messenger and give online friends access to your Yahoo! Music playlists. And you can have your Yahoo! Messenger status display the song you’re listening to.
Check out the Yahoo! Music blog to find out more about this new Sandisk player. And here’s a comprehensive review from Gadgetaholic.com. Hopefully we’ll get one here in the Messenger offices soon so I can give the Yahoo! Messenger features a more thorough test drive. Stay tuned!
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
February 2, 2007 on 10:10 am | In Mobile | 73 Comments
I decided to blog about our mobile features because I’ve found that many of our users don’t know about them. I use the SMS feature a lot when I’m trying to reach friends on their mobile. It’s much easier for me to type a mobile text message (SMS) into an IM window than fumble around on my phone’s tiny dial pad. And if you like to be available to your friends, even when you’re away from your PC, you’ll love the “Sign out to Mobile” feature.
Save your thumbs – SMS from Messenger
If you know a friend’s mobile number, you can send the person text messages (SMS) right from Messenger for free. (Your friend will be charged any applicable fees by his or her carrier for receiving the SMS message.) To send an SMS, type your friend’s name or mobile phone number into the contact search box, and choose “Send SMS” from the drop-down menu. (You can also right click on a contact and choose “Send an SMS Message.”) Type your message in the IM window and click “Send.” When your friend replies, the message will come back to you in Messenger.
Stay available from your mobile phone
When I sign out of Messenger at night, I sign out to my mobile phone. This shows me as available to my friends but with the status message “I’m mobile” next to my name. If a friend IM’s me from Messenger, the message is forwarded to my phone as an SMS message. (You’ll be charged any applicable fees by your carrier for receiving the SMS message.)
To activate IM forwarding, start by registering your mobile phone. Then the next time you want to sign out of Messenger, click the Messenger menu and choose the “Sign in to [your mobile #]” option.
There are other ways to use Messenger on your mobile phone too. Many phones have Yahoo! Messenger pre-installed, and all you have to do is sign in with your Yahoo! ID and password. It’s typically free to sign in, and each message is billed as an SMS message. (SMS charges can vary by carrier; please check with your carrier.)
If you don’t have the Yahoo! Messenger application already on your phone, you can always use your mobile browser to go to yahoo.com and select Messenger.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
