Yahoo! shall! speak! unto! Microsoft! (and tessellation animation)

YT? LOL@ IT Blogwatch, in which Microsoft and Yahoo! interoperate, instant-messaging-wise. Not to mention some amazing Japanese animated tessellations...

IM interoperability? Lizzy spots ice at the gateway to hell:

limited public testing that enables users of Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger with Voice to connect to each other through either service. Users can register to sign up in a limited public beta at Yahoo or Microsoft. The process had been expected to be available in the second quarter of this year. Once they gain access to the beta, users can exchange instant messages across the two services, as well as see their friends' online presence, view personal status messages, share emoticons, view offline messages and add new contacts between the services ... Microsoft declined to comment directly on whether it would soon have a similar deal to make Windows Live Messenger interoperate with AOL's consumer IM client, but said that the company "anticipates more of these relationships in the future."

Groovy Microsofty Don Dodge grins foolishly:

I was working at Groove Networks at the time and I remember predicting in 2001 that it would take 5 years for the IM players to work together.  Email clients from various companies work together, why can't IM clients work together seamlessly? It is all about the business model. IM is a free service to consumers. The business model was all about building a huge loyal audience (walled garden) and monetizing it through ads or cross promotion with other products. AOL was the top dog, by far, and had no interest in sharing their audience with Yahoo or Microsoft ... Microsoft and Yahoo over the past 5 years have built up huge user communities that together exceed AOL's community. Now AOL is at a disadvantage, and they are talking about making all of AOL services free. AOL is in a difficult position. Their monthly dial up subscription business, a huge cash cow, has been dwindling for years as people move to broadband. They are faced with the classic Innovators Dilemma. Do they try to preserve their cash cow to the bitter end, or do they make the switch to ad supported services? This move by Yahoo and Microsoft has turned up the heat even further.

Brian Ward likes what he's hearing:

Every morning I get to work and log on to AIM (AOL's instant messenger) and Google Talk. I have a list of friends, family and coworkers on each ... By lunch time my desktop is cluttered with open IM conversations across platforms and I'm usually lost. Microsoft and Yahoo! announced a move today that makes so much sense I find it hard to believe it's actually happening .. In a time when walled gardens seem to be the modus operendi for the biggest players in the tech world, the fact that these two giants have acknowledged what their users want is refreshing. Of course, I don't use either of these messenger services, so my only options are to wait for AOL and Google to follow suit, or resort to a maverick IM aggregator like Trillian or Adium.

Mathew Ingram rolls his eyes:

If you only read certain blogs or publications today you would think that something truly revolutionary had been announced ... Thankfully, however, there are people with memories that last longer than a week or two ... this deal was announced about nine months ago ... so it’s hard to get excited about it all over again. In addition, the two companies go out of their way not to mention the fact that their systems still won’t work with IM applications from anyone else.

Marshall Kirkpatrick pinches himself:

The lack of interoperability across IM systems has long been a primary complaint from users. Services like Trillian for Windows or Adium for Mac have helped bridge the gaps between services, but at a loss of the unique interfaces and some features from one system or another that users may prefer ... It’s good to see that though both companies have been working hard at developing value added interfaces for their own messaging services - they aren’t so afraid of losing customers that they pretend other IM clients don’t exist.

With a rebel yell, Alec Saunders cried more, more, more:

Without diminishing the importance of yesterday’s announcement ... none of us should be hailing this as anything more than it actually is -- two underdogs teaming up to try to beat the incumbent (in this case, AOL). Neither Yahoo, nor Microsoft, despite the positioning, have done anything more than open a gate between their walled gardens. There is an undeniable benefit to consumers, but the benefit that has been offered is to remove just one of the many IM clients you currently have on your desktop. What is needed is true interoperability. The players in the industry need to move to a common standard, be that XMPP, or SIP/SIMPLE, and provide mechanisms for individual users to present credentials and authorize on any network. What is the equivalent of cell phone roaming in the IM world? ... What would really give us all hope is to see an open interoperability specification published.

GMSV's John Paczkowski agrees:

That's IM as in Inadequate Mash-up ... Three words for you ... Big. Friggin. Deal ... I'll stick with IM clients like Adium, Gaim, Trillian, Proeteus, and even Google Talk.

ITBW will BRB!

Buffer overflow:

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• Mitch Betts: 10 ways to cut telecom bills
• Global News Update: Thursday, July 13, 2006
• Shark Tank: Looking good
• Douglas Schweitzer: Still seems like overkill to me!

And finally... amazing Japanese animated tessellations [keep clicking Next for all of them]

Richi Jennings is an independent technology and marketing consultant, specializing in email, blogging, Linux, and computer security. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. Contact Richi at blogwatch@richi.co.uk.