New Yahoo! Messenger makes it easier for Pinoys to stay connected

Yahoo! Philippines (www.yahoo.com.ph), a Pinoy-centric company, recently introduced a new beta version of its leading instant messaging (IM) service with a new friend-centric design and features such as an in-line media player, unlimited file transfer, and personalization tools to help people grow their friendships.

“Yahoo! Messenger has been the number one choice for our Philippine users to stay in touch with their friends and family,” said Jojo Anonuevo, business development head of Yahoo! Southeast Asia.

“This new version will provide our users with more innovative and engaging features to share their favorite videos, images and photos right in the IM window while staying connected with their contacts either through IM, voice or SMS,” he said.

The new version of Yahoo! Messenger has been re-designed to better connect users to their friends and family. 

The enhancements released with the beta version include:

• Re-designed Friends List: New main window re-design with more vertical real estate for friends (you can see the online presence indicator, the display image, and the status in a glimpse) — and with just one-click, users can connect immediately through instant messages, voice or text messages to mobile phones.

• In-line media player: Send URLs of images, videos, maps and more to your friends and family. The linked content appears right in the conversation for both users to see and share.

• Unlimited file transfer: Safely send files, ultra-large and small, directly from your IM conversation with unlimited file transfer and automatic anti-virus scanning, as supported by Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2007.

• Call forwarding: People can stay connected even when they are not at their computers with the option to send calls from Yahoo! Messenger to a mobile phone or landline as a voicemail. Additionally, voicemails are now sent to any email account as MP3 file attachments.

• Creative enhancements: People can now add their personal touch and express their passions with seven new skin designs, allowing people to change the color of Yahoo! Messenger. Six new emoticons selected from the Emoticontest submissions will also be released, including “thumbs up,” “thumbs down,” and “rock on.”

• Flickr photo-sharing: People can now share their Flickr photosets with friends and family in real-time.

The beta of the new Yahoo! Messenger can be downloaded at http://ph.messenger.yahoo.com.