Main/News >> News Archives > The week of July 09 (2006) (you are here)

MSN custom colors for your font! MSN Emoticons list overview! Find a Date for online chats! Quality Hosting specials for Messers! free msn games

 Yahoo! Interoperability Beta limited after all
Yahoo! Interoperability Beta limited after all

dwergs says ( 15 Jul 2006 ):

 

Contrary to my earlier belief, the Yahoo! interop Beta is actually limited like Inky said when he announced its launch. It's just really easy to get into the program at the moment. So if you want to join the Beta, you better register now (look for the instructions below) because I expect the 500.000 user limit to be reached in just a few more days.



 Bonus prizes for British bot builders
Bonus prizes for British bot builders

dwergs says ( 14 Jul 2006 ):

 

Microsoft UK is throwing in extra prizes exclusively for British developers who participate in the worldwide Invasion of the Robots contest. Xbox 360 bundles (including Dead or Alive 4, Ridge Racer 6 and Project Dark Zero), a Nazbatag WiFi Rabbit, a Shinco portable DVD player, a Creative Zen MicroPhoto 8GB MP3 player, a copy of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite with 1 year MSDN Premium subscription and a Samsung 32” HD LCD TV. The first 50 Britons to enter the official competition as well as this one will get a £20 Firebox.com gift voucher guaranteed!

So far there's only one bot entry from the United Kingdom (InsideMessenger), so I'd be surprised if these nice incentives don't get the Brit talent started today!

>> More details at Team BritBot.



 Meet the Windows Live Messenger team (video)
Meet the Windows Live Messenger team (video)

dwergs says ( 14 Jul 2006 ):

 

Channel 9, Microsoft's developers community site, has recently posted a +/- one hour video featuring some of the Windows Live Messenger team members discussing the what, how and why of the software.

>> Watch or download the video here.

I'm just about to watch it myself for the first time so maybe I'll add some comment later.



 Win one of hundred Philips Messenger phones
Win one of hundred Philips Messenger phones

dwergs says ( 13 Jul 2006 ):

 

windows live messenger phone VOIP433 by PhilipsMicrosoft is giving away one hundred Windows Live Messenger phones (the VOIP433 by Philips) in a competition across several European countries. All you have to do is spot three Messenger buddies hidden on the contest pages and answer three obvious questions. Click the link corresponding to the country you live in:

- United Kingdom
- France
- Germany (competition not available yet!)
- Italy
- Spain
- Belgium (Dutch) or Belgium (French).
- The Netherlands
- Ireland (competition not available yet!)
- Finland
- Sweden
- and Denmark.

Bad luck if you live elsewhere, but we always keep an eye on this kind of competitions and you'll be among the first to know (many a Messer has sent me a thank you note after winning in various competitions). Oh, and I believe this contest is also available in Norway, but I couldn't find the link. UPDATE: Thanks to Khysen and Don0st for sending me the Norwegian contest link.



 Interoperability messes up Messenger Plus! Live
Interoperability messes up Messenger Plus! Live

dwergs says ( 13 Jul 2006 ):

 

Nothing catastrophic here, but according to Messers Nitemare and messer27 the Yahoo! interoperability conflicts with Messenger Plus! Live to a certain extent. Enabling interoperability (check below for instructions) upgrades your account to the new protocol (MSNP14) which somewhat confuses the popular addon as nicknames are replaced with numbers ("1" for WLM contacts, "32" for Yahooligans) in, for example, the Event Viewer.

Patchou was already about to release Messenger Plus! Live 4.01 so I'm sure he'll first make the necessary changes to the new build in order to get rid of this bug.

>> Download Messenger Plus! Live already in-use by over one million Windows Live Messenger users.



 No invitation required to Yahoo! + Windows Live Messenger marriage
No invitation required to Yahoo! + Windows Live Messenger marriage

dwergs says ( 13 Jul 2006 ):

 

yahoo! messenger contact has added youSeems like Microsoft blew off the plan for invitation-based Beta-testing of the new interoperability feature in Windows Live Messenger, as mentioned by Inky early this morning. At least for now, all of you Messers (also those with exotic, non-Hotmail account names) can now chat with Yahoo! Messenger contacts and it doesn't require the installation of a new version at all. All you have to do is log in with the account you want to enable over here and accept the new user agreement (use Internet Explorer if you're having problems), then sign out of Windows Live Messenger and in again. Same goes for Yahoo! Messenger users wishing to talk to Messers, but they have to activate here instead (don't forget to sign out and in as well).

@yahoo.com has added you to their contact list


Yahoo! contacts can also send you a little introductory message along their add request, which is cool.

PS: Why's the green Messenger buddy turning his back towards the Yahoo! Messenger logo in the post image below? I agree, "the buddy is always in that position!", but then why not be a gentleman and put the Yahoo! logo first.

[Reported by: messer27 & Beto]



 Yahoo! Interoperability live!
Yahoo! Interoperability live!

Inky says ( 13 Jul 2006 ):

 

A couple of minutes ago Microsoft has started rolling out the much discussed and anticipated Yahoo Interoperability! This means that you can now chat to all your Yahoo! buddies using Windows Live Messenger. Through the interoperability Microsoft and Yahoo! have increased their market share in instant messaging to an estimated (combined) 350 million users.

yahoo! messenger windows live messenger interoperabilityHaving seen a live demo for the interoperability on Tuesday I can assure you that the support is nearly flawless. Extras such as emoticons, and even Personal Messages are supported by both clients and there is no noticeable delay when sending messages between Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger users. The only thing that does not seem to work perfectly yet are Sharing Folders.

For now, Microsoft plans to enable the interoperability for roughly 500,000 users of Windows Live Messenger on an invite basis (just as there were invites for Windows Live Messenger Beta) to ensure that the transition will go smoothly. Then the number of people who will be able to chat with their Yahoo! buddies will be slowly increased until everyone will be able to use it.

So, if you have any spare invites, be sure to donate them to us so we can give them away to our most loyal visitors! ;-)

>> Sign up now!
>> MessengerSays about Yahoo! Interoperability



 Added: WLM Ripper, for succesful Messenger content stealing
Added: WLM Ripper, for succesful Messenger content stealing

dwergs says ( 12 Jul 2006 ):

 

steal windows live messenger emoticons and display picturesSometimes you just don't wanna browse through our huge database of Display Pics and Emoticons, but just steal the ones your contacts are using. No need to print-screen and crop anymore, because Huuf ported his MSN Ripper to work with Windows Live Messenger. The new WLM Ripper can rip (animated) emoticons, (Dynamic) Display Pictures, Contact Card backgrounds and even Voice Clips from your buddies! You can steal the images already in your cache (before WLM Ripper was installed) and/or turn on Active Ripping for immediate saving of fresh content. Happy thieving!

>> Download WLM Ripper



 Interoperability with Yahoo! "just days away"
Interoperability with Yahoo!

dwergs says ( 12 Jul 2006 ):

 

yahoo in windows live messengerAs we all know the interoperability between Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live Messenger has been somewhat delayed after previously being announced for the second quarter of 2006. But Steve Makris from the Canadian Edmonton Journal had a chat yesterday with Phil Holden, director of Windows Live and Phil said the "IM interoperability beta trial between Messenger and Yahoo is just days away". Does that mean we'll see both clients talk to each other within a week?

[Source: Edmonton Journal]



 New MSN robot helps Dutch children
New MSN robot helps Dutch children

Inky says ( 12 Jul 2006 ):

 

Today the Dutch organisation Kinderconsument, in co-operation with Microsoft, launched a new MSN Robot for children. The robot dog, called Mr. Ctrl (designed by the overly smart Dr. Alt), can help children find information about the dangers of the internet and solutions to their digi-problems, but has also the capabillity to help out with "real life problems", such as teasing.

For now the target audience of Mr. Ctrl is children from the age of 9 to 13, but perhaps someone will make something similar for older Messers in the future.. I'm sure a lot of Messers would use such a digital assistant to solve some of their (digi-)problems.

>> Add Mr. Ctrl to your MSN/Windows Live Messenger contactlist: ask@mrctrl.com
>> Visit Mr. Ctrl's MSN Space (Dutch)



 WC2006: Italy wins World Cup, Zidane wins Golden Ball
WC2006: Italy wins World Cup, Zidane wins Golden Ball

dwergs says ( 10 Jul 2006 ):

 

I'm sure you've all watched it live or at least heard the news, so I'm not gonna waste any of your time. This is probably the final World Cup 2006-related post on Mess.be and I'm gonna leave you with these very last goodies:

italy world cup 2006 zidane world cup 2006
(drag and drop these Display Pictures onto yours in Messenger to add them)

E-mail yourself this link and open it in your inbox in order to download a free Gigi Buffon theme pack, which includes Dynamic Display Pictures, Display Pictures, a background and 3 animated emoticons.

msn soccer challengeAnother football game was added to our Messenger games launcher. In MSN World Cup, you and your buddy have to take free kicks turn-by-turn (it takes too long to complete a turn though). The game's completely in German but no doubt you'll figure it out!



 WC2006: France versus Italy final
WC2006: France versus Italy final

dwergs says ( 09 Jul 2006 ):

 

In a couple of hours we'll have a new World Champion soccer. Will the French make paté out of Italy, or will they be sliced into pieces like a Pizza Margherita? And what will you be shouting? "Forza Azzurri" or "Allez les Bleus"?

world cup 2006 world cup 2006 world cup 2006 world cup 2006

pentaly messenger gameFor emoticons or extra Display Pictures, click here or browse the entire World Cup 2006 category.

I've also added another soccer themed Messenger game to the games launcher on Friday. It's quite poorly executed, but might be fun for a game or two.



Click Here!

Back to the News Archives