Yahoo! and Microsoft join forces to seize instant messaging initiative
‘Microsoft and Yahoo! yesterday threw down the gauntlet to rivals AOL and Google by becoming the first internet companies to link their online instant messaging (IM) services, connecting more than a quarter of a billion people worldwide.
IM services such as Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger allow users to see when their friends - known as buddies in IM-speak - are online and send them instant text messages and colourful graphics known as emoticons. Until now, users of one company’s IM product have been unable to talk to those signed up to another service. Yesterday Yahoo! and Microsoft’s MSN business unveiled a deal to link their two services, which together have over 275 million users across the world, by next summer. The deal will make their IM platform the world’s largest, making AOL well behind in second place with 100 million users.’
Read more at Yahoo! and Microsoft join forces to seize instant messaging initiative
{Yahoo! Messenger, Instant Messenger News, MSN Messenger}
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