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Yahoo outs Messenger 11 beta with loads of new features

Lee Mathews — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST

Yahoo! Messenger remains one of the most popular desktop IM clients around, and its users are now able to get a taste of what's coming in version 11. Like its biggest competition -- Windows Live Messenger -- Y! Messenger 11 is about creating a more current, social messaging app.

One of the biggest additions is Facebook chat support -- which works nicely, though former Squadder Brad Linder noted that Meebo thought I was offline. Twitter support has been added, and Messenger 11 also offers write-once-post-everywhere updates to Facebook, Twitter, and Yahoo! Pulse. More social gaming options have been added, and will soon include Zynga's Mafia Wars and Fishville. Yahoo! Messenger 11 also allows multiple sign-ins, so you won't get disconnected from your desktop if you sign in on your mobile device. Windows 7 users can change status, send messages, and sign in and out via Messenger 11's jump list.

In his announcement, Yahoo's John Dunning also has some good news for Android users. Yahoo! Messenger for Android will be updated soon with better video chat support. Currently, only users with an EVO or MyTouch 4G can utilize the feature, but additional handset support is on the way.

Download Yahoo! Messenger 11 beta for Windows

Yahoo outs Messenger 11 beta with loads of new features originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yahoo launches Mafia Wars and FishVille

Vlad Bobleanta — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Games, Internet, Web services, Yahoo!

Yahoo has just launched Mafia Wars and FishVille, two games developed by Zynga, the company best known for FarmVille and its other games on the Facebook platform. In the past few months though, Zynga has shifted away from being tied exclusively to Facebook and has launched its games on Windows Live Messenger, MSN Games -- and now Yahoo.

Mafia Wars and FishVille will appear in Yahoo Messenger, Yahoo Games, My Yahoo, Yahoo Pulse and Yahoo's browser toolbar. Starting the Zynga integration with just two games -- and not the most popular ones (where's FarmVille?) -- clearly means that Yahoo is in sort of a testing phase. If all goes well, expect to see more Zynga titles on Yahoo's properties soon.

[via TechCrunch]

Yahoo launches Mafia Wars and FishVille originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to rescue your friends' email addresses from Facebook and export them to Gmail

Jay Hathaway — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Features, E-mail, Web services, Google, Yahoo!, How-Tos, Facebook

With Google calling out Facebook last week for trapping your contacts, it seems like a perfect time to offer a solution for rescuing those Facebook contacts and their email addresses -- sorry, still no phone numbers -- and exporting them to Gmail or your other address book of choice.

To do this, you'll need a Yahoo! account (Mozilla's Asa Dotzler says a Windows Live account works, too). It's free, so you can sign up for a throwaway if you don't already have one. Once you've done that, take a look at our step-by-step instructions for exporting your friends' contact info, after the jump.

Continue reading How to rescue your friends' email addresses from Facebook and export them to Gmail

How to rescue your friends' email addresses from Facebook and export them to Gmail originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yahoo Messenger for Android now does video calls, Yahoo Mail for Android updated

Vlad Bobleanta — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Yahoo!, Freeware, VoIP, Social Software, Mobile, Android

The Android apps for Yahoo's two most important services -- Messenger and Mail, have received updates. Both apps now support contact sync between Yahoo Contacts and your smartphone's address book.

Yahoo Messenger for Android finally has built-in support for video calls, a feature that Yahoo has announced a while back but that until now has only made its way into Yahoo's iOS apps. There are caveats though. First, you need to be running Android 2.2 or newer to get the video chat feature. Then, it requires the installation of the Yahoo Messenger Video Add-On to work. And finally, video is only supported on the T-Mobile myTouch 4G and the HTC Evo 4G at the moment -- support for more devices is reportedly in the works. The new Messenger app now also has enhanced photo and video sharing capabilities.

The new Yahoo Mail for Android brings support for multiple accounts and enhanced photo viewing. The app creates a gallery that's automatically populated with all the photos you've received or sent, so you don't have to go to each individual message to find a specific attachment.

Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Messenger and Yahoo Messenger Video Add-On are available in the Android Market.

Yahoo Messenger for Android now does video calls, Yahoo Mail for Android updated originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flickr adds Google accounts to sign-in options, plans better OpenID support

Vlad Bobleanta — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Photo, Video, Web services, Yahoo!, Social Software, web 2.0, Web

Starting today, signing up for Flickr is possible using Google accounts. This feature is rolling out as part of a new push from Flickr to support OpenID. Google is the first partner, but support for more services is expected in the future.

Up until now, Yahoo-owned Flickr required a Yahoo ID to use. As you can see in the screenshot to the right, this is now also possible using an existing Google account. For now, Google accounts are supported only for those who are new to Flickr. Existing users will also get some enhancements to the sign-in experience, starting with the ability to sign in from any page on Flickr.

For more information, check out the FAQs here.

Flickr adds Google accounts to sign-in options, plans better OpenID support originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yahoo! Messenger updates with video calling on the iPod touch

Samuel Gibbs — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Yahoo!, VoIP, iPhone

Yahoo launched its Messenger app with video calling for the iPhone a couple of weeks ago. It sadly omitted support for the forward facing camera that's available on the latest generation iPod touch. But all is not lost, touch fans -- Yahoo has just updated the app and corrected that oversight. Yahoo! Messenger for iOS now supports two-way video calling on the fourth generation iPod touch, matching the iPhone 4, as part of a free update. Hop on over to the App Store to grab the app.

Yahoo! Messenger for iOS [iTunes] - Free

Yahoo! Messenger updates with video calling on the iPod touch originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yahoo! Mail Beta arrives, claims to be at least twice as fast, safer, easier to use

Sebastian Anthony — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, E-mail, Yahoo!

Last month we brought you a sneak peek at the new Yahoo Mail interface -- and as of today anyone can sign up. Other than the usual slew of new features -- a virus scanner, spam protection, sexy mobile clients -- this launch also heralds the launch of a very purple theme... which you can't seem to change...

There's an accompanying Yahoo! Developer Network blog post if you want details of the technical changes behind the new Beta. Most notably, Yahoo deployed a bunch of efficient HTTP proxies around the world that significantly speed up connectivity if you're not based near Yahoo's mail servers in the U.S. They also overhauled the rendering of the website itself, utilizing YUI 3, CSS3, and anything else that could reduce the amount of clunky HTML required -- gone are elements!

All in all, the changes make for a much smoother Yahoo Mail experience. A lot of the cruft has been removed -- so much so that it looks a bit like Gmail, but with a "social" landing page tacked on the front. Let's not forget that Yahoo Mail, at least as of last year, owns the U.S. email market -- it's twice the size of Windows Hotmail and almost three times the size of Gmail. This update will affect, in a good way, how the majority of U.S. Internet users send email!

Yahoo! Mail Beta arrives, claims to be at least twice as fast, safer, easier to use originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yahoo! Messenger: Is the iPhone-to-PC (and Android) video calling app a FaceTime challenger?

Samuel Gibbs — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Yahoo!, VoIP, iPhone

There was once a time when FaceTime was the only iPhone 4 video calling gig in town. Fring entered the ring first, but now Yahoo has joined the video calling party, with an update to their Yahoo! Messenger app.

Unlike Apple's current implementation of FaceTime, Messenger allows you to video call over both Wi-Fi and 3G, but if that wasn't enough, you're no longer limited to iPhone-to-iPhone calling either. iOS to PC or Android is now also possible, making Yahoo! Messenger the first cross-platform video calling app to cover Android, iOS and the desktop. But how does it stack up to FaceTime in actual use? Read on for our quick test drive.

Continue reading Yahoo! Messenger: Is the iPhone-to-PC (and Android) video calling app a FaceTime challenger?

Yahoo! Messenger: Is the iPhone-to-PC (and Android) video calling app a FaceTime challenger? originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 12 Oct 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Yahoo Messenger for iPhone and Android will have video chat

Vlad Bobleanta — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Yahoo!, Freeware, Social Software, iPhone, Mobile, Android

In true Apple style, FaceTime is both a neat reinvention of a previously uninteresting space and a service that comes with certain limitations. So if being constrained to Wi-Fi-only video calling and only if both ends use either an iPhone 4 or the newest iPod Touch are the kinds of things that annoy you and only hinder your use of mobile video chat, rather than make the whole experience user friendly, Yahoo might have a solution.

Yahoo's upcoming version of its Messenger app for iPhone and Android will have video chat capabilities, according to David Katz, Yahoo's VP of Mobile for the Americas. The app will be free and work both via Wi-Fi and the carrier's network. Aside from video chatting with one another, its users will also be able to video call those who have Yahoo Messenger on their computers.

The ability to video chat with people on computers is one of the most requested features for Apple's FaceTime, and while that was rumored to be on its way, it hasn't been officially announced yet. Perhaps the fact that a competitor with Yahoo's brand recognition is implementing the features that people are missing in FaceTime will make Apple work faster on getting them out.

The new Yahoo Messenger iPhone app with integrated video chat has not been approved by Apple yet, and it will be interesting to see whether it gets approval or not, considering that two other apps that allow video calls over both 3G and Wi-Fi, namely Fring and Tango, have received the green light in the past.

New Yahoo Messenger for iPhone and Android will have video chat originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New cloud computing algorithm successfully computes two-quadrillionth digit of pi

Sebastian Anthony — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Developer, Fun, Yahoo!

Using a handy algorithm that splits a calculation into thousands of little intermediary processes, a researcher at Yahoo has used a cluster of 1,000 computers to calculate the 2,000,000,000,000,000th digit of pi. Not all two quadrillion digits -- just that one digit (which is a binary 0, if you're wondering).

The calculation was made possible by Hadoop, an open source implementation of Google's extensively-used MapReduce. Yahoo is now also presumably working on something that will make use of it (but considering Bing now powers Yahoo search, I'm not quite sure what they'd be using it for!)

As for whether the 2,000,000,000,000,000th digit of pi actually has a use, I'll leave as an exercise to you guys. Incidentally, earlier this year, pi was calculated to 2.7 trillion digits on a normal desktop PC!

New cloud computing algorithm successfully computes two-quadrillionth digit of pi originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 18 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yahoo Mail update to bring cleaner look, better performance

Lee Mathews — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:05:00 EST

Filed under: E-mail, Yahoo!

It's easy to forget about Yahoo! Mail. Despite having millions of users, it doesn't receive quite the same level of attention as Gmail or Hotmail. However, Yahoo's somewhat-recently released version, which is tailored for the iPad, is pretty darn snazzy -- and it appears as though that type of look is headed to Yahoo! mailboxes everywhere in the near future.

Cnet is reporting that a "Minty" (the project's codename) upgrade is coming and will include not only a cleaner, sexier interface but also greatly improved performance. Yahoo! hopes the changes will help stem the tide of users that are migrating to other services; they have lost 7% of their total base since this time last year. In that same period, Gmail grew 22%, and Hotmail grew a modest 3%.

Yahoo! has already lost the number one spot in India to Gmail. Does anyone want to bet on whether or not they can hold on to the top spot elsewhere around the globe?

Yahoo Mail update to bring cleaner look, better performance originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yahoo! introduces Mail, Messenger and Search on Google's Android platform

Jay Hathaway — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:15:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, E-mail, Yahoo!, Android

Yahoo! has come into Google's house, introducing apps for its competing services on the Android platform. Android is obviously geared up to work with Gmail and Google Apps from the start, but now you can use the Yahoo! versions instead. Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger (does anyone still use Yahoo! Messenger?) are now in the Android Market, and there's even a Yahoo! Search widget. The apps were announced in a blog post with the longest, most meandering title in history.

I don't know many Android users who would be interested in switching to Yahoo!, especially when Google's service is so convenient on Android phones, but at least you have the option now. Lifehacker reports that intregration with the OS is actually pretty good, too: Yahoo! Mail can access your phone's address book, for example. The apps have push notifications and the ability to download attachments, too.

Yahoo! introduces Mail, Messenger and Search on Google's Android platform originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flickr gets a major facelift -- opt-in now to check it out!

Matthew Rogers — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Photo, News, Yahoo!

There's a new redesign afoot over at Flickr, and it's a big one! It's not actually implemented quite yet, but you can opt-in to activate it for your account, which would let you use the new design when viewing Flickr photo pages. Other people would still see your account as normal if they haven't opted-in yet -- at least until Flickr makes it the new default design, at which point it will be "the exclusive viewing option for all images on Flickr."

First and foremost, they've finally changed the basic page layout to a slightly wider format, and changed the default image width from 500 pixels to 640 pixels. A jump like that makes a world of difference, but they didn't stop there. Instead of the classic "view all sizes" option being located directly on the front page, it's now an option in the "Actions" drop-down menu just above the image. Users can also either click on the image itself, or a magnification icon above the image to open a lightbox. The large size of the image is displayed in the lightbox.

User-actions like adding to gallery, viewing EXIF data, sharing the image, or adding to favorites are also available directly above the image.

Continue reading Flickr gets a major facelift -- opt-in now to check it out!

Flickr gets a major facelift -- opt-in now to check it out! originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yahoo! Pulse launches, with full-on Facebook integration

Jay Hathaway — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 07:00:00 EST

Filed under: Web services, Yahoo!, Social Software

Yahoo!'s relationship with Facebook just got a lot closer, with the launch of Yahoo! Pulse, a reboot of Yahoo! Profiles that offers seriously in-depth Facebook integration. You can link your Facebook and Pulse accounts, sign in on either site, and read your Facebook News Feed via Pulse. Of course, you can cross-post to both Pulse and Facebook, and comment on friends' posts on either one.

Basically, Yahoo! is making your Facebook stream just as prominent as its own updates when you use Yahoo! Pulse, and that's a big bet on Facebook's continued dominance. Ironically (considering Facebook's famous struggles with privacy settings) the other big change in Yahoo! Pulse is a new privacy dashboard where you can fine-tune your sharing settings and control the apps and sites you link to your Pulse account.

[via TechCrunch]

Yahoo! Pulse launches, with full-on Facebook integration originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is Yahoo! Mail working on a little Buzz of its own?

Sebastian Anthony — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, E-mail, Yahoo!, Social Software

In a completely unrelated Yahoo! Mail Blog post about Valentine greetings, the developers at Yahoo might be hinting (inadvertently?) at social network integration in the pipeline.

It's just a screenshot, but 'My Social Networks' doesn't seem to exist on current Yahoo email accounts, nor does it make an appearance in the Application Gallery -- so what is it?

My guess is that Yahoo are about to leverage their huge (but waning) number of users to get in on the Facebook/Google Buzz game. You can presume that 'Update Status' will link in to a bunch of networks (like Ping.fm), so you'll be able to update Facebook, Twitter (and Buzz?) from inside Yahoo Mail.

As to what 'My Social Networks' is... it's probably something very like Buzz. But I imagine we'll find out soon enough -- or not, if I'm completely off the mark.

[thanks to Adam for the tip!]

Update: the app is available, but only to some users in Europe.

Is Yahoo! Mail working on a little Buzz of its own? originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft and Yahoo! bitch and moan about Google Buzz

Jason Clarke — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: News, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Social Software, Web

Clearly Google has Microsoft and Yahoo! shaking in their boots right now. While more often than not companies try not to bring attention to what their competitors are working on, fear can drive them to speak out when they might otherwise more wisely hold their tongue.

Google's announcement yesterday of a new social networking feature called Buzz that is integrated into Gmail prompted Yahoo! to comment on their Twitter account (how's that for irony?) "Two years after #Yahoo! launched #Buzz, Google follows suit. Check out the original: http://buzz.yahoo.com/"

Similarly, Microsoft aired their sour grapes with the following statement about Google Buzz:

Busy people don't want another social network, what they want is the convenience of aggregation. We've done that. Hotmail customers have benefited from Microsoft working with Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and 75 other partners since 2008.

You'd think Microsoft could point to something better than (shudder) Hotmail when trying to claim supremacy over Google.

No word about Buzz from Facebook yet, but that just shows that they're more -- let's use the word "confident" -- about their place in the social networking space than Microsoft or Yahoo! are.

Microsoft and Yahoo! bitch and moan about Google Buzz originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Delicious adds filtering and browsing features

Jason Clarke — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:33:00 EST

Filed under: Yahoo!, Freeware, Social Software, Web

Delicious, the social bookmarking site arguably started it all, was recently updated with a couple of new features. They've added the ability to display only private or only public bookmarks, and the ability to choose whether you want to show or hide the history of who you've sent bookmarks to. You can also choose whether bookmarks open in the current tab or a new tab.

Delicious has also added a "Browse these bookmarks" function which will open a frame at the top of the page that allows you to navigate forward and back through the bookmarks. This might be one of the first times that I've heard of a browser frame that actually makes sense.

Hopefully this latest release is a signal that Delicious isn't dead, but was merely hibernating. The blog post announcing the new features states that there are lots of great new things to look forward to. I can't wait.

Delicious adds filtering and browsing features originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yahoo buys itself a ticket for the Ubuntu train

Lee Mathews — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:08:00 EST

Filed under: Linux, Yahoo!, Canonical

The watchful eyes at Phoronix noticed that a pair of small changes were announced yesterday on the Ubuntu dev list. Both will affect the browser in Lucid Lynx -- and both have to do with search.

The more subtle of the two is a small tweak within Firefox. When a user changes his or her default search, the Ubuntu start page's search box will send queries to that provider. While most users may never see this in action (just about everyone sets a custom home page, right?), it's a nice change and keeps the search experience consistent.

Now on to the not-so-subtle change.

In the same post, Canonical's Rick Spencer also announced that a revenue sharing deal has been reached and Yahoo! will replace Google as the default search option. Spencer stresses that the deal in no way affects the user's ability to change to a different engine and I'm fairly confident that most Ubuntu users are savvy enough to know how to do that.

The deal will provide additional income for Canonical -- which Spencer says will "will help Canonical to provide developers and resources to continue the open development of Ubuntu and the Ubuntu Platform." That's certainly good news. After all, if you allow users to download your OS for free, it's fairly critical to have alternative revenue streams to fuel your business.

One reply on the dev thread noted that it would be nice for Yahoo! to remove the "unsupported OS" warning from Yahoo! Mail since they're snuggling up to Linux. Seems like a good idea to me...

Yahoo buys itself a ticket for the Ubuntu train originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yahoo! drops Zimbra, VMware picks it up

Brad Linder — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:58:00 EST

Filed under: E-mail, Yahoo!, Web

Virtualization software maker VMWare has acquired Zimbra, a company that essentially provides a web-based alternative to Outlook.

Yahoo! purchased Zimbra a few years back and used the startup's technology to tweak Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Calendar. But Zimbra has always been a bit more enterprise-based than Yahoo!, so it wasn't exactly a perfect fit.

VMWare gets all of Zimbra's intellectual property, but Yahoo! will still be able to use the company's email and communication technology, so don't expect any major changes to Yahoo! Mail right away.

The acquisition brings together two big players in virtualization and cloud computing technology, which could lead to powerful new web apps. VMWare will continue to support Zimbra's existing products. But the company also plans to use Zimbra's technology to expand the software available for customers to deploy using the VMware vCloud ecosystem.

Yahoo! drops Zimbra, VMware picks it up originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yahoo's price list for spying on its users leaks

Sebastian Anthony — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Security, Yahoo!

Bet ya didn't know this: when the Feds want some information from Yahoo, or most likely any online service provider, they have to pay for it! Yahoo actually have a price list for services rendered. Want some basic records? Twenty dollah. Contents of a user's email account? Ooh, that'll set you back $30 or $40, but Yahoo will love you looong time.

There's even an incentive to buy the details of more than one user -- the first one only costs $20, but $10 for any extras. Now that's what I call value-added federal douchebaggery, Yahoo! (That was really an exclamation at the end of the sentence, if it's not clear from the context.)

Sadly, this is the kind of thing that goes on all over the place but is never reported because it's so darn secret. As an online service provider, or ISP, you just hope beyond all else, that such 'law enforcement compliance guides' never reach the eyes of the users. Unfortunately for Yahoo, they have: someone leaked the 'spy' booklet and submitted it to Cryptome, a site which collects sensitive and whistle-blower-esque documents. Not only does it contain a price list, it also details their data retention policies. I shan't link it here, but it's very easy to find if you visit the Cryptome website.

Poor Yahoo though, really. You can guarantee that other big companies charge law enforcement agencies for the interrogation of their records. And hey, at least with Yahoo you can now opt out of targeted ads...thank God for that.

[via Wired]

Yahoo's price list for spying on its users leaks originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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