Microsoft and Yahoo to link IM services?

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[news.yahoo.com...]

[engine]

Hmmm, that's a strange move between two powerful corporations. Clearly, they see Voip becoming big.

[kevinpate]

hmm someone stared at the forest long enough to realize most of the trees only have AIM nicks carved in the trunks.

[adfree]

Wuzzup with MS now after consolidating with Real, they now go into bed with Y! to fight what and whom? Maybe their own weak pipeline? Is the innovation ceiling reached just like in the chip market for now?

[trillianjedi]

It only took 4 years:-

[webmasterworld.com...]

Hmmm, that's a strange move between two powerful corporations.

The common enemies are Skype and AIM.

I think it's as much about "presence" and "click to call/chat" embedded technologies, as it is about VoIP specifically.

TJ

[Namaste]

finally. Yahoooooooooooooooooooooooo

I think it's definetly to take on upstarts. Will they allow others to connect? Unlikely. It becomes a total barrier to entry of more players.

Point proven: it take competition to realise benefit to end users. Corporations work for self-interest ONLY.

[engine]

... think it's as much about "presence" and "click to call/chat" embedded technologies, as it is about VoIP specifically.

I suspect it's VoIP that's the prime mover here. The global business opportunities are massive.

I really don't think that the world is switched on to voip just yet, but it will come.

[tictoc]

Yes the VOIP is moving slowly but it will hit us like a snowball effect..

I just wonder what we will need to do special to communicate with someone from Yahoo to MSN or MSN to Yahoo messenger...

[Namaste]

VOIP is definetly part of the play. Common standards and larger user base will motivate 3rd party vendors to develop application and devices for the joint platform.

See skype handset [linksys.com]

[edited by: jatar_k at 2:24 pm (utc) on Oct. 12, 2005]
[edit reason] fixed sidescroll [/edit]

[trillianjedi]

I suspect it's VoIP that's the prime mover here. The global business opportunities are massive.

Yes, but with hardware handsets and telco providers.

The IM/Softclient market is more about "intercom" type chat and instant message services (see Skype/Google Talk as an example). For example, statistically 70% of Skype's userbase use the IM text message facility 90% of the time. VoIP, and PSTN breakout, is actually a very small proportion of the overall play at work here.

It's the advertising potential on users desktops that is the real global opportunity for the IM networks.

Without wishing to get too much into Google in this thread, the one exception is possibly Google Voice [labs1.google.com], which, if coupled to Google Talk, accessed via WiFi [webmasterworld.com] could produce very local geo-targetted sponsored search results. That's where IM VoIP can have some real value - otherwise, as a commodity, if you can't shove advertising on it, it's value-less.

Incidentally, this coincides with the launch today by MP3.com founder Michael Robertson's IM Federation in a drive towards global standards:-

[imfederation.com...]

TJ

[walkman]

safe to say that with almost everyone being online eventually only, you will be able to talk just as easy. There's money to be made, serious money.

They might not be as popular as AOL IM but they're a sizeable second now.

[rogerd]

VoIP for sure... Yahoo's new IM client replaced "voice chat" with a "phone call" metaphor, complete with ringing phones and voicemail.

To be universal, the lack of interoperability between clients has to be addressed. This fixes that issue for a couple of major players.

[dillonstars]

Without wishing to get too much into Google in this thread...

My first thought when I saw this, was that this is designed to stop Google talk gaining any market share...

[walkman]

Google - Yahoo - MSFT
it's war on all fronts:

"Google, Comcast seeking minority AOL stake"
A deal would create a formidable challenge to Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp., with whom AOL is also having separate discussions over a joint venture. (MSNBC is a Microsoft-NBC joint venture.)

The combination would marry Time Warner’s trove of programming and Google’s popular search and e-mail services with Comcast’s high speed Internet portal and experience in cable video distribution and telecommunications.
[msnbc.msn.com...]

(Msft is talking too)
[msnbc.msn.com...]