July 20, 2010 on 4:12 pm | In News, Other services, Uncategorized | 17 Comments
This is a big day for Yahoo! Messenger. I’m happy to announce that we’ve opened up the Yahoo! Messenger platform for developers. This exciting SDK will allow developers to use the Yahoo! Messenger platform to create innovative new applications and services.
We tried to make our SDK as simple to use as possible. We’ve exposed a new REST API for the Yahoo! Messenger platform — the same API that we use with our own products. So we know that it’s rock solid. In fact, all you need is a little knowledge of HTTP and JSON and you’ll be up and running in no time, no matter what programming environment you’re using. The SDK contains all the key Yahoo! Messenger features that you’ve come to expect, including real-time presence, contact-list management, instant messaging, file transfers, and user-image management.
Please make sure you read the documentation that we’ve included. This document provides best practices, guidelines for using the service, Messenger logos (including our beloved Smiley), and test cases to make sure your application is working properly.
Finally, note that we’re rolling out the SDK in most of Asia, as well as India, initially. The reason we chose this region is the dynamic nature of instant messaging in this market. There are some crazy and wonderful things with Yahoo! Messenger coming out of this corner of the world.
For those of you in the rest of the world, don’t worry; we have plans to roll out this program on a larger scale very soon.
Here’s a list of handy links:
Dudley Wong
Product Manager, Yahoo! Messenger
July 6, 2010 on 8:29 am | In News, Other services, Uncategorized | 15 Comments
An update on the Yahoo! Messenger API: This is taking a little longer than we like – We have some last mile details to take care of but we are committed to launching the new Yahoo Messenger API very soon.
Let me say that we are really excited about the response and enthusiasm that we’ve received around the opening of the platform behind our popular Yahoo! Messenger service. The team is working hard to make sure that these new APIs meet your expectations, that they are as simple as possible, and that they contain all the key features you need to develop great applications and services.
For this reason, we’ll be in contact really soon… Gotta get back to work!
Dudley Wong
Product Manager, Yahoo! Messenger
June 14, 2010 on 5:34 pm | In News, Other services, Uncategorized | 3 Comments
Yahoo! will soon open up the platform behind the popular Yahoo! Messenger service.
This is big news. If you haven’t used Yahoo! Messenger, you’re in for a treat. Yahoo! Messenger is the premier instant messaging (IM) platform, used on a wide variety of desktop and mobile clients. Millions of users throughout the world already depend on Yahoo! Messenger to manage their social contacts, group lists, and presence information; hold real-time instant communications; and perform data transfer to and from contacts throughout the world. All, well — instantly, as its name says.
We’re listening to those developers among you who have been telling us they want to build on that trusted platform. By exposing a new RESTful API for Yahoo! Messenger, we’re allowing you to develop your own innovative programs and tools that make the most of what the Yahoo! IM platform can offer.
Developing for the platform is simple. All you need is a little knowledge of HTTP and JSON, and you’ll be connecting with people across the world in no time, no matter what programming environment you’re using. And from there, just let your imagination run wild with the groundbreaking applications you can create.
We’re very excited about releasing this platform, and we can’t wait for you to get started. Check back into the Yahoo! Developer Network on June 30 for more information.
Dudley Wong
Product Manager
April 7, 2010 on 8:47 am | In Mobile, News, ipad, iphone | 16 Comments
I am fairly certain that by now you must have known that Apple released its latest product – the iPad – last weekend on Saturday, April 3rd.
The iPad is the latest and probably the grandest entry to the world of Tablet computers – 9.7-inch display, half-inch thick, and weighing in at just a pound and a half. It runs the iPhone OS on it so all the same apps you use on your iPhone, like Yahoo! Messenger for iPhone, will be available for the iPad. Please try it out and let us know if you face any issues.
Talking about iPad Apps, Yahoo! introduced the Yahoo! Entertainment for iPad on Saturday. Some of you may have even downloaded this app over the weekend. This has wowed both consumers and press alike. TechCrunch has voted it as one of the best iPad apps. Using editorialized, real-time content, this Yahoo! Entertainment App surfaces and recommends TV shows, entertainment news, TV listings, book reviews, and a wide variety of popular videos from across the Web. Read more on the Yahoo! Entertainment Blog.
Do you plan to buy an iPad in future? – if you have already bought one, then which is your favorite App? – as always, please feel free to leave your comments.
Thyaga Vasudevan
Product Manager
March 2, 2010 on 10:34 am | In News | 17 Comments
Yahoo! founders Jerry Yang and David Filo in their early days at Stanford
Today is Yahoo!’s 15th birthday – hooray! It’s been a long ride and we’re grateful that our users, all 600 million of them, have come along for the ride. 
We’ve had the unique opportunity to help create an industry and shape the online world, and will continue to focus on the values that brought us here —working hard, having fun, being passionate about your ideas, believing in each other, and always trying to invent the future. And as we celebrate 15 years today, we are even more excited than ever about what lies ahead, and the potential of Yahoo! and the Internet.
Of course, founders Jerry Yang and David Filo didn’t set out to start one of the world’s largest Internet companies or to lead a movement that has changed the world. They were just a couple of Stanford graduate students doing our research (supposedly) while their professor was on sabbatical.
More interesting than their research was their total fascination with the web and all the cool stuff it suddenly made available. But it was incredibly hard to keep track of the thousands of great websites sprouting up everywhere. Jerry and David thought it would be fun to catalog the sites by developing a simple directory. So all this began with nothing more than a hobby to help other early Internet users.
They soon learned a huge lesson just as relevant today as then: change and growth on the Internet happen at warp speed—especially if you’re filling a need. With the proliferation of websites and with hundreds of thousands of people accessing the Yahoo! guide, it was simply impossible for Jerry and David to continue doing this on our own.
Internet growth continues to be simply phenomenal, and we’re nowhere near done. Fifteen years ago, there were 18,000 web sites and fewer than 10 million people globally on the Internet—less than one third of a single percent of the world’s population at the time. Today there are more than 200 million websites with 90,000 created daily. There are estimated to be 1.6 billion people on the internet today—about 25 percent of the world’s population.
These numbers are astonishing, but even more important and more exciting is the impact that the Internet is having on so many people around the world. From socio-economic opportunities to more accessible health care to educating the next generation and beyond, the Internet has changed the way we live, work and learn. It has overcome geographic and political barriers and has made it possible for people to raise their voices as they seek greater economic opportunity and freedom. And Yahoo! has been a leader in enabling these tremendous technological advancements every step of the way.
All this in just 15 years. Yahoo! has been built by thousands of dedicated employees, hundreds of millions of loyal users and scores of advertisers who envisioned a future that was exciting, challenging and at times daunting. We are confident that 15 years from today, we will look back in marvel at how far you, and the Internet have traveled in such a short time. Just as we are doing today.
Read more on the Yahoo! Corporate Blog
Thanks to you, the users, for continuing to support us and use products like Yahoo! Messenger. We’ll be celebrating at all the Yahoo! offices today and know that if we could, we’d send each of you a slice of Yahoo! birthday cake.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
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