Microsoft unveils new Messenger, Connect API
Microsoft is preparing to update the Windows Live Suite with Live Wave 4, beginning with Windows Live Messenger. What’s more, Microsoft has unveiled its new Messenger Connect API.
Windows Live Messenger is insanely popular, with millions of people around the world using it to stay connected with their friends and family. But in the 14 years since Messenger was first launched, instant messaging and social networking has evolved massively. Which is why Microsoft has gone back to the drawing board and developed a new Messenger which should tap into the new Web trends.
Steve Ballmer gave a sneak preview of the new Messenger to students at the Universidad de Sao Paulo, with the promise of a beta version coming soon. The new Messenger taps into various social networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn.
It also brings the addition of tabbed conversations, eschewing the need to have multiple Messenger windows open. Photo and video sharing has been given a makeover, with access to SkyDrive and one-click access to files on your computer. Messenger users will now also be able to have HD video chats with each other, somewhat moving in to Skype’s territory. Search results from Bing are also being integrated into Messenger.
Microsoft is also committed to making Messenger available away from the primary computer, bringing it to Hotmail and smartphones via dedicated apps.
To help make Messenger better fit in with the wider Web, Microsoft is updating the Messenger Web Toolkit. It’s now called Messenger Connect and will act as a social API which sounds like it has much in common with the controversial new Facebook Open Graph, despite Microsoft’s denial it’s in any way similar.
Messenger Connect is designed to allow developers to connect with Windows Live Messenger and create social interactions via websites and apps. Unlike Facebook, Microsoft seems keen to maintain users’ command of their own privacy. Which is a good to hear.
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