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Microsoft, Yahoo Update Messengers
By David A. Utter
Staff Writer
Article Date: 2006-06-20
Late news from Yahoo reveals a new beta of their instant messaging client with plugins and a developer kit, while Microsoft ties its debut of Windows Live Messenger to Johnny Depp's forthcoming 'Pirates of the Caribbean' sequel.
 | | Talking About The Instant Messenger Updates |  |
Microsoft opened the virtual doors to its Windows Live Messenger, as the company released its newest instant messaging software for its 240 million users to download.
Those who decide to pick up Microsoft's latest development with its IM client will receive a little reward for doing so. Users can access an exclusive film clip of the upcoming ' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' through playing the interactive adventure, "Dead Man's Tale."
Microsoft has tied its Messenger's features into the game's interactivity. Proceeding through the game unlocks sections of the movie's storyline, as described by its pirate narrator. Upon completing the game, users can view the film clip.
Windows Live Messenger provides one-click video calling, and a Live Call with Verizon Web Calling service, among its features. The overview for the service notes that soon, Windows Live Messenger users will be able to to communicate with users of Yahoo's IM client.
The Yahoo! Messenger with Voice beta version 8 recently arrived with plugin support for the IM service's 60 million users. The TechCrunch website reported on the release of plugins and the software development kit for Yahoo's IM client.
Plugins available for the latest beta version of Yahoo Messenger offer access to the LAUNCHcast music service or the most interesting questions of the day on Yahoo Answers, for example. One plugin from Pando allows for the sharing of large files, up to 1GB in size, across Yahoo Messenger.
As Yahoo has with several of its services, they have made a developer kit available for creating plugins to work with Yahoo Messenger. The Messenger Plug-in SDK provides a JavaScript and C++ API for developers.
Using that SDK, application developers can build simple or complex plugins that use Ajax, Flash, or other browser-oriented technologies to provide additional functionality for users of Yahoo Messenger with Voice.
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Tags: Microsoft, Yahoo, Messenger
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About the Author:
David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.
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