Hotmail to add push email, social network integration and a smart security scheme

Hotmail remains one of the most popular Web-based email providers around, second only to Yahoo Mail in most countries. In tech circles, however, Hotmail seems to struggle to escape GMail's geek-friendly shadow. That's all about to change though: Microsoft is bringing a slew of features that match and even surpass GMail in some areas.

First, push email support for mobile phones (including iPhone and Android!) is on the way, courtesy Exchange ActiveSync. According to NeoWin's Tom Warren, the ActiveSync relay will work with about 300 million handsets once the feature goes, well, Live. Next, Microsoft is also working to make Hotmail more of a hub. Contacts from other social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn will find themselves in your Hotmail contact list, while Flickr and YouTube content will be visible in email itself using a new technology called Active Views.

Finally, security is improving: you'll be able to bond another device, such as your mobile phone, to your Hotmail account. If your account is compromised you'll be able to send a one-time security code to your phone to regain access. Neat!

These changes are scheduled to roll out with Windows Live Wave 4 in June.

Tags: email, gmail, hotmail, microsoft, push email, PushEmail, security, windows live, WindowsLive