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

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

In an effort to maintain our high quality and security standards, we will officially retire the Yahoo! Messenger version 1.0 for iPhone and iPod Touch on June 15th, 2010. This means that if you are currently using this version on your iPhone or iPod Touch, then you will no longer be able to sign in and use it after the retirement date of June 15th, 2010.

We have put together some commonly asked questions that should answer most of your questions.

1. Which iPhone/iPod Touch products are going to start the end-of-life process?

Yahoo! Messenger Version 1.0 for the iPhone & iPod Touch will be end-of-lifed on June 15^th. That means starting June 15^th you will not be able to sign in into Messenger using this version 1.0 app.

2. Why is the above product version being end-of-lifed?

Version 1.0 was our first Yahoo! Messenger release on the App Store. Since then, over the course of the year, we have added many useful features that provide you a much better experience on the device.

3. How do I know if the app that I am using is being end-of-lifed?

There are a couple of different ways you will know if you are using an app that is being end-of-lifed:

      1. You will receive a system IM from Yahoo which will notify you about the end of life plans. If you received such a message you are probably using a version that is being end of lifed.

      2. You could alternatively check the version of your app by tapping on the settings tab in your app and looking for the version information in the “About” section. If the version says 1.0 then your app is being end-of-lifed and you will need to upgrade.

4. If I am using the version that is being end-of-lifed, what version of the product should I upgrade to?

There are two ways you can upgrade to the latest version:

      1. Tapping the App Store icon on your iPhone and search for Yahoo! Messenger (you may also see an update alert on your App Store icon)
      2. Or click here to download it through iTunes.

The latest version requires your device to have iPhone OS 3.0 or newer. If you already have the right OS then you can simply follow the above steps. Otherwise you will first need to upgrade your device to a newer OS. You can find more about that here. Once you have upgraded your device, you can come back and follow the steps above.

5. What are some benefits of upgrading to the latest version?

There are a lot of cool features we added since we launched our first version. These features will significantly improve your Yahoo! Messenger experience. It will be difficult to list all of them but here are a few that were most requested by our users:

• New Message alerts (Push Notifications)
  • We’ve taken advantage of Apple’s 3.0 push notifications platform to enable new message notifications. Now, you will be notified when a new IM comes to your iPhone, even if the Yahoo! Messenger app is closed (or your phone is asleep).
• Stay online for up to 2 weeks
  • The Yahoo! Messenger for iPhone app will keep you signed in and visible to your Yahoo! Messenger friends for up to two weeks. When the app is closed on your phone, your status will show you as online but in an Idle state. Friends can IM you and when they do, you’ll receive a new message notification as described above.
• The ability to chat with your Windows Live contacts
• And many more.

If you had any further questions or comments, please feel free to leave them in the comments area.

Thyaga Vasudevan
Product Manager

We, at Yahoo! Messenger, thought we might make this Easter a bit special for you all. Today, we are letting you on to a couple of hidden or “Easter egg” features within Yahoo! Messenger:

(1). List of Hidden Emoticons – use them to surprise your friends

(2). Hold down the windows key and press Y to bring up Messenger no matter what window you’re in.

We hope you will enjoy these hidden features as much as you have enjoyed using Yahoo! Messenger.

Happy Easter!

Thyaga Vasudevan
Product Manager

Many Indians living outside of their home country will be calling home to wish their friends and family a happy Diwali. If you’re one of them, Yahoo! Messenger is a great way to stay connected not only during Diwali, but any time.

If your family and friends are already using Yahoo! Messenger, you can make high-quality PC-to-PC calls for free. And with the new video calling feature in Yahoo! Messenger 10, you’ll feel like you’re right there with them. Get great quality video, synched audio, even a full-screen mode.

If your friends and family aren’t using Yahoo! Messenger, you can still call them using Messenger, and enjoy great savings. Sign up for a Yahoo! Messenger Phone Out account and you can make calls to any landline or mobile phone in India for just 7.9¢ a minute – right from your desktop.

You can also send free SMS text messages from Messenger to your friends and family in India if they are on the following carriers: Vodaphone Essar, Airtel, Spice, Escotel, Reliance. Their replies come right back to you in Yahoo! Messenger. Find out how to SMS from Messenger.

Even if you just plan to IM friends this weekend to celebrate the festival, you can dress up for it. Head over to Yahoo! Avatars and search on “india” to find Indian-themed clothing and backgrounds. Or add a little Diwali with a custom display image. Click on one of the designs below to make it your display image (you need to be signed into Messenger before you click):

      

From the looks of Diwali pictures I found on Flickr (see slideshow below), the festival is bright, warm and colorful. Lamps (called “diyas”) are lit in homes, fireworks are set off, sparklers color the night air, gifts are exchanged and people eat all kinds of delicious Indian sweets and snacks made specifically for the festival. To learn more about Diwali, head over to diwalifestival.org.

We wish all of our Indian users a Happy Diwali!

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

The Yahoo! Green Earth Day site has tons of advice, tips and tricks for saving the earth and your pennies. Browse the virtual house on the homepage to find affordable ways to go green in every room of your abode or check out their helpful buying guides on cleaning products, water filters, and energy efficient products. Plus find out which household appliances have earned the nickname “energy vampire“.

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!

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

The cake to the right was served in our cafeteria today (more pics). Yum!

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

A video looking back on our 14 years:

At the workshop you’ll be able to submit questions directly to Yahoo! staff members about our latest 9.0 version. We’ll answer as many questions as we can during the workshop, and we’ll post the transcript from the Workshop here on the blog afterwards.

Unable to attend on October 6th but still want to participate? You can pre-submit your questions before the Workshop by going here:
http://forums.prospero.com/yh-event001

Melissa Daniels
Yahoo! Messenger Community Manager

Usually hack days are for Yahoo! employees only. But this event is a wide open, public hack day where people with a passion for Yahoo! products can come together to build and share their best ideas for extending, re-shaping and mashing together our products and features.

We’ve profiled a few Yahoo! Messenger hacks here on the blog, but if you’ve got one in mind and want to bring it to life, come to our Hack Day. You’ll be surrounded by other hackers working on the next great Yahoo! idea. Your hack idea doesn’t have to involve Yahoo! Messenger, but we sure would love it! To sign up for a Hack Day invitation, visit http://www.hackday.org.

Looking for inspiration? Check out the brief video for Hack Day below, or take a look at some of our past articles on Yahoo! Messenger ideas that have come out of our internal hack days.

The World According to Shumbee
A Hack Day Full of Messenger Ideas
Discov’ring New Friends
Hacking Away at Yahoo! Messenger

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

Did you know that there are reuse groups around the world whose mission is to give used items away for free to other people in their community who can use them rather than throwing them away? Items like furniture, dishes, bikes, and electronics.

You can find out more about Earth Day and how to become part of the worldwide reuse effort on the Yahoo! Earth Day website at http://green.yahoo.com/earth-day. You can even find a local reuse group in your area whose members may need some of those items that are gathering dust in your closet or garage. Plus you never know what free items you might come away with.

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 to all your friends on Messenger!

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager