duminică, 2 mai 2010

Wave 4 Live: New Messenger

Quietly slipping through news on Wednesday was the announcement by Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, regarding the new Messenger service coming soon in Windows Live “Wave 4”. The new service is touted as being all about connectivity and sharing via the cloud by incorporating social networking and other features.

Tabbed chat – The new messenger will provide tabbed chat windows allowing users to consolidate their chat windows into one, helping to avoid desktop clutter.

HD video chat – Another feature being introduced is the ability to use HD video via a capable HD webcam.

Social and cloud connectivity – Microsoft hopes to integrate services through Messenger to allow users to aggregate things like updates, photos, Hotmail and Facebook messages into one place. Messenger will also be integrated more into websites using a service called Messenger Connect.

Search integration – Bing will be strongly incorporated in the new service allowing users to run searches directly through Messenger using Microsoft’s Bing.

Mobile support – The new Messenger will also be making its way onto devices that users can carry with them. Windows Phone 7 should be receiving messenger as well as the iPhone.

From the looks of things (screenshot above) Microsoft seems to lean more towards the Metro UI (Zune Interface) with every step they take. I think this is a good indication that future services, including Windows 8, will be based on the Metro UI.

Here is a video that shows some of the new features and explains how they will make the Messenger experience even better.

Here is the link to the preview website for the new Live service, However, last few times I checked, It was down.

Sources: Techradar, PCmag