MS, Yahoo link their online IM

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. said on Wednesday they have begun a limited public test to allow users of the companies' respective instant messaging programs to trade messages with one another.

The agreement to work together, first announced last October, marks a long-awaited breakthrough among major instant messaging services, which include AOL's pioneering AIM service, Microsoft and Yahoo, along with more recent upstarts including eBay Inc.'s Skype and Google's Google Talk.

Specifically, users of an upgraded version of MSN Messenger, recently rebranded "Windows Live," can trade messages with Yahoo Messenger, creating the world's largest instant messaging community, with 350 million accounts.

These instant messaging, or IM, systems allow users to type messages to others on their "buddy list" via computers and in some cases over mobile phones. Historically, each provider sought to create "walled gardens" that prevented users of one IM system from talking to users of rival systems.

AOL agreed in December to make its U.S.-market-leading AIM eventually work with, or to use the technical terminology, "interoperate," with Google Talk, but no date has been set to do so. AIM users can already chat with users of Apple Computer Inc.'s iChat system for Macintosh computers. Google and AIM work with various other independent IM projects too.

With the Yahoo and Windows deal, icons will allows users to distinguish which program their IM contacts are using.

Executives said the two companies were initially testing how to allow their vast audience bases to trade text messages. IM users eventually will be allowed to make voice calls between the two systems, but no specific timeline has been set.

"We are taking the crawl, walk, run approach," Blake Irving, corporate vice president, Windows Live Platform, said in a phone interview. "(Voice) is the feature that we both think is extremely important" to add eventually, he said.

Google Watch : Phishing for Google Checkout Dollars?

Google Watch : Phishing for Google Checkout Dollars?: "Phishing for Google Checkout Dollars?
Hackers have stepped up their attack on Google's sites, this time targeting Gmail.

Websense Security Labs reported Monday that phishing attacks against Google have increased in sophistication. In the latest attacks, users are shown a spoofed copy of the Gmail log-in page with a message claiming, 'You WON $500.00!' The page tells the reader that the money will be delivered to an e-Gold, PayPal, StormPay or MoneyBookers account of his or her choice. However, the reader must sign up for 'Gmail Games' first and pay an $8.60 entrance fee. The reader is then directed to an actual payment site located in the United States, according to Websense.

While phishing attacks using Google sites are not new, the stakes for these attacks have been raised since Google launched its online payment processing service, Google Checkout. If a Gmail account is compromised, hackers could have access to that user's Google Checkout account.

Websense Security Labs also recently figured out a way to use the freely available Google API to find dangerous .exe files on Web servers around the world.

posted on Wednesday, July 12, 2006 3:16 PM by Steve Bryant"