Vishal Gupta 4 Report post Posted October 13, 2005 Microsoft and Yahoo announced on Wednesday a blockbuster interoperability deal that will reshape the landscape of the fragmented instant messaging market. The companies will connect their IM networks so users on each can communicate with one another using text and voice chat free of charge. Starting in the second quarter of 2006, customers of both services will be able to see their friends' online presence, share emoticons, and add new contacts from either Yahoo! Messenger or MSN Messenger to their buddy list. The agreement marks the first time major players in the highly-competitive IM industry have officially partnered up to enable cross-network communication. Interoperability has always been a hot topic among instant messaging providers, but had never yielded a compromise. In 1999, Microsoft connected its MSN Messenger client to AOL's AIM network - without authorization. The move let to a cat-and-mouse game of AOL cutting off its new competitor and MSN re-establishing communication with each update. Microsoft eventually gave up and focused on improving its client. Such disparate messaging networks led to the creation of third party clients with the ability to connect to each simultaneously. AOL and others were initially critical of applications like Trillian, but eventually backed down and ceased efforts to block the newcomers. "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," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a statement. "This is truly a turning point for the IM industry," added Yahoo CEO Terry Semel, "and we believe our agreement with Microsoft will help usher in a new era of IP communications." Yahoo and Microsoft will now command upwards of 44 percent of the market, according to research firm Radicati Group, putting new pressure on market leader AOL, which holds around 56 percent market share with AIM and ICQ. And according to recent comScore Media Metrix numbers, MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger together reach 33.5 million unique users each month, more than the 23 million running AIM. But competing with AOL is likely not the primary reason Microsoft and Yahoo have linked up. The new threat to the IM heavyweights comes from voice chat and upstarts such as Skype that have taken the communications industry by storm. Google, meanwhile, recently launched a communications client called Google Talk that focuses on simple PC-to-PC calling. Recently, IM software clients have evolved to link consumers to other services beyond just chat - from blogs to search. And if users are able to message contacts on Yahoo through the MSN client bundled with Windows, it could hamper Yahoo's efforts to reach more eyeballs. Microsoft is also reported to be in talks with Time Warner, and a deal to open the door between MSN Messenger and AIM has been rumored. However, nothing concrete has come from the discussions thus far. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arun 795 Report post Posted October 13, 2005 Thats really good news ! Atlast they've made the IM users wish come true, its infact an historic deal ! Lets hope AOL will recognize the situation now and join them too soon ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
anujit 0 Report post Posted October 13, 2005 No doubt Google's "open" chat client has them pi$$ing in their pants! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ashoksoft 83 Report post Posted October 13, 2005 yeps right ... google has made MS and Y! decide to merge! Cheers Ashok Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arun 795 Report post Posted October 14, 2005 GOOGLE BETS ON OPEN COMMUNICATIONS PROTOCOLS [Oct 13, 2005] Slashdot.org While Yahoo! and Microsoft link their proprietary networks for Instant Messaging (read press release), Google bets on Open Protocols to make information universally accessible. And yesterday Google announced that Sean Egan has been hired by the company. Sean is the main developer of Gaim, the most popular IM client. According to Sean, he's to work "on making it as easy as possible for other clients to use Google Talk's voice features", so we can expect Gaim and other clients to be interoperable with Google Talk's voice features in the near future. Currently, Google uses XMPP/Jabber specs, but they claim to be supporting open server-to-server federation, and work "to hear from other people in the communications industry about how best to build a federation model that is open, scalable". In fact, there are this month several tests with firms like EarthLink, Sipphone or PeopleCall. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arun 795 Report post Posted July 13, 2006 Microsoft, Yahoo connect IM services CNET News.com Published on ZDNet News: July 12, 2006, 5:15 PM PT Nine months after announcing they would make their instant messaging services interoperate, Yahoo and Microsoft have done it. The companies are set to release on Thursday a limited beta test of a service that will enable users of Windows Live Messenger (the next generation of MSN Messenger) and Yahoo Messenger with Voice to connect with each other. The move creates a global community of nearly 350 million accounts, the companies said. The beta service is being launched globally in 15 localized languages. "It's the first-ever bridge between two global instant messaging services," Blake Irving, corporate vice president in Microsoft's Windows Live Platform division, said Wednesday. The service will allow people to sign into both services using one user ID, and to see the status of connections of friends from both networks. "The messenger friend list is your heart of your social network in many ways," said Brad Garlinghouse, senior vice president of communications, community and front doors at Yahoo. "We expect a rapid ramp with millions of users in the coming weeks." Connecting the networks took months of testing, Irving said. "This was a very difficult technical problem to solve," he said. The companies announced plans last October to make their IM services interoperable, in what analysts said was a shot to market leader AOL Instant Messenger and a defensive jab at Google Talk. AOL representatives could not be reached for comment. A Google representative provided an e-mail statement that said: "From the very beginning, the Google Talk service was built to support interoperability with hundreds of other communications service providers. Any service provider that supports industry standard protocols can federate with us today, and many have...We don't have further details to share on our future plans in this area at this time." Under an agreement between Google and AOL, in which Google paid $1 billion for a 5 percent stake, the two companies are working to make their respective instant messaging services interoperate. Neither Microsoft nor Yahoo would comment on the status of any discussions with AOL about interoperating. "We certainly welcome seeing other industry players come to the table," Yahoo's Garlinghouse said. "We're blazing a trail for how interoperability is done." David Card, an analyst at JupiterResearch, said AOL would not move to interoperate with others until customers demanded it. "AOL doesn't need to let the other guys in as long as the user base is still healthy," he said. "I think they will let people in, eventually. This will help pressure them a little bit more." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arun 795 Report post Posted July 14, 2006 http://messenger.yahoo.com/partners_msn.php You need to use Yahoo Messenger Beta 8 and/or Windows Live Messenger to interlink between the two networks. The Yahoo-MSN Beta program is available for India as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
