Microsoft and Yahoo are preparing to link together their free instant messaging services as they take on entrenched messaging leader AOL and market newcomer Google, a source close to the companies said on Tuesday according to the news agency Reuters.
If the deal was to go ahead, it would allow users of both systems to talk to each other via the two programs and be the first major alliance between two of the web's main providers of instant messaging.
The story first suggested in the Wall Street Journal implies that an announcement will be made later today to give both services the ability to communicate via voice as well, a feature that up to now has been restricted to users within each service, the source said.
Microsoft has already opened up its corporate online messaging service, which requires a license and offers more features, to AOL and Yahoo.
Being able to send instant messages to different services using a single program isn't new, however.
Users of unified messaging services such as Trillian can use a single [url=\"http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news.php?newsId=1785#\"]software program to send and receive instant messages from AOL, MSN, Yahoo and other providers, as long as they have an account with each service.
Source[/url]
Microsoft and Yahoo to tie the Knot in Instant Messaging world
Moderators: Moderator, Global Moderator
Microsoft and Yahoo to tie the Knot in Instant Messaging world
[b][size=3]Media Alert: Yahoo! and Microsoft Host Global Press Conference[/size][/b]
[size=2]Companies to jointly announce a global agreement for communications customers.[/size]
[b]SUNNYVALE, Calif., and REDMOND, Wash. – Oct. 12, 2005[/b]
[b]What[/b]
Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp. announce a significant global communications agreement for customers.
[b]Who: [/b]
Dan Rosensweig, chief operating officer, Yahoo!
Blake Irving, corporate vice president of the MSN Communication Services and Member Platform group at Microsoft
Brad Garlinghouse, vice president of Communications Products at Yahoo!
[b]When:[/b]
Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005
Teleconference begins at 8 a.m. PDT
[url=\"http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/oct05/10-12MSNYahooMA.mspx\"]Source[/url]
------
Only 2 hours from now (if my watch is correct), interested to hear the details.
[size=2]Companies to jointly announce a global agreement for communications customers.[/size]
[b]SUNNYVALE, Calif., and REDMOND, Wash. – Oct. 12, 2005[/b]
[b]What[/b]
Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp. announce a significant global communications agreement for customers.
[b]Who: [/b]
Dan Rosensweig, chief operating officer, Yahoo!
Blake Irving, corporate vice president of the MSN Communication Services and Member Platform group at Microsoft
Brad Garlinghouse, vice president of Communications Products at Yahoo!
[b]When:[/b]
Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005
Teleconference begins at 8 a.m. PDT
[url=\"http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/oct05/10-12MSNYahooMA.mspx\"]Source[/url]
------
Only 2 hours from now (if my watch is correct), interested to hear the details.
Last edited by Scott on Wed Oct 12, 2005 3:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Microsoft and Yahoo to tie the Knot in Instant Messaging world
[b][size=3]Microsoft and Yahoo! Announce Landmark Interoperability Agreement to Connect Consumer Instant Messaging Communities Globally[/size][/b]
[size=2]Consumers will be able to exchange instant messages, see presence, share emoticons and add friends from Yahoo! Messenger or MSN Messenger.[/size]
[b]UNNYVALE, Calif., and REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 12, 2005 — [/b]Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: "MSFT") today announced a landmark agreement to connect users of their consumer instant messaging (IM) services on a global basis. The industry's first interoperability agreement between two distinct leading global consumer IM providers will give MSN® Messenger and Yahoo!® Messenger users the ability to interact with each other, forming what is expected to be the largest consumer IM community in the world, estimated to be more than 275 million strong.
Being able to instant message between IM communities is one of the features most requested by MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger users, and Microsoft and Yahoo! share a commitment to provide IM interoperability while keeping consumer security and privacy first and foremost. In addition to exchanging instant messages, consumers from both communities will be able to see their friends' online presence, share select emoticons, and easily add new contacts from either service to their friends' list, all as part of their free IM service.* Yahoo! and Microsoft plan to introduce these interconnectivity capabilities between MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger to customers around the world in the second quarter of 2006, and in doing so expect to help make IM an even more useful part of consumers' online communications and communities.
"Yahoo! and Microsoft share a commitment to providing the highest-quality experience possible for consumers, and today's groundbreaking announcement underscores our desire to provide consumer interoperability between our thriving IM communities," said Terry Semel, chief executive officer, Yahoo! Inc. "This is truly a turning point for the IM industry, and we believe our agreement with Microsoft will help usher in a new era of IP communications."
"Microsoft and Yahoo! look forward to bridging the divide between our global communities, creating richer and easier ways for our customers to connect," said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft. "IM interoperability is the right thing for our customers, our businesses and the industry as a whole, and Microsoft is delighted to help lead these efforts with Yahoo!"
[url=\"http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/oct05/10-12MSNYahooMessengerPR.mspx\"]Source[/url]
----
Certainly an interesting development. I wonder how AOL will react to this, considering they currently hold the largest volume of IM clients. Did Yahoo make a decent decision? Certainly not an agreement I'm sure they made lightly, but was joining with MS their best option? Poor Google will certainly feel a blow from this one...perhaps that was the intention.
[size=2]Consumers will be able to exchange instant messages, see presence, share emoticons and add friends from Yahoo! Messenger or MSN Messenger.[/size]
[b]UNNYVALE, Calif., and REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 12, 2005 — [/b]Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: "MSFT") today announced a landmark agreement to connect users of their consumer instant messaging (IM) services on a global basis. The industry's first interoperability agreement between two distinct leading global consumer IM providers will give MSN® Messenger and Yahoo!® Messenger users the ability to interact with each other, forming what is expected to be the largest consumer IM community in the world, estimated to be more than 275 million strong.
Being able to instant message between IM communities is one of the features most requested by MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger users, and Microsoft and Yahoo! share a commitment to provide IM interoperability while keeping consumer security and privacy first and foremost. In addition to exchanging instant messages, consumers from both communities will be able to see their friends' online presence, share select emoticons, and easily add new contacts from either service to their friends' list, all as part of their free IM service.* Yahoo! and Microsoft plan to introduce these interconnectivity capabilities between MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger to customers around the world in the second quarter of 2006, and in doing so expect to help make IM an even more useful part of consumers' online communications and communities.
"Yahoo! and Microsoft share a commitment to providing the highest-quality experience possible for consumers, and today's groundbreaking announcement underscores our desire to provide consumer interoperability between our thriving IM communities," said Terry Semel, chief executive officer, Yahoo! Inc. "This is truly a turning point for the IM industry, and we believe our agreement with Microsoft will help usher in a new era of IP communications."
"Microsoft and Yahoo! look forward to bridging the divide between our global communities, creating richer and easier ways for our customers to connect," said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft. "IM interoperability is the right thing for our customers, our businesses and the industry as a whole, and Microsoft is delighted to help lead these efforts with Yahoo!"
[url=\"http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/oct05/10-12MSNYahooMessengerPR.mspx\"]Source[/url]
----
Certainly an interesting development. I wonder how AOL will react to this, considering they currently hold the largest volume of IM clients. Did Yahoo make a decent decision? Certainly not an agreement I'm sure they made lightly, but was joining with MS their best option? Poor Google will certainly feel a blow from this one...perhaps that was the intention.
Last edited by Scott on Wed Oct 12, 2005 3:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.