Hotmail update brings Facebook chat, video integration, more

The last few months have been busy ones for the Hotmail crew, and they're continuing to push new features to their users. The latest round of upgrades includes enhanced folder options, built-in package tracking, embedded video playback, and a rather significant upgrade to Messenger.

Hotmail users can now chat with their Facebook friends from the comfort of their inbox -- if I had my druthers, I'd pick Facebook integration instead of AIM in Gmail. As for the package tracking, detailed information will be presented right below any FedEx tracking IDs while DHL and UPS will be linked to the appropriate tracking pages on their respective sites.

The massive photo attachment update which rolled out in the U.S. has now gone global, giving all Hotmail users the ability to include up to 10GB of photos per email. [ed note -- do any of you send that many photos in a single message? Cripes!]

Two new sites have also been added to Hotmail's built-in playback feature: Justin.tv and Dailymotion. Organization buffs, Microsoft hasn't forgotten about you -- you can now create sub-folders to aid in your quest for the perfectly-arranged inbox!

Microsoft is clearly focused on keeping Hotmail as competitive as possible, and it will be interesting to see what features the next round of updates brings.