Yahoo puts IM on Web thanks to Flash

Stan Beer
Friday, 04 May 2007 07:23

Your IT - Home IT

Instant messenging users who don't like the overhead of downloading an IM client should checkout a new beta download called Yahoo Messenger for Web. The new service from Yahoo lets users partake in the text chat features of standard Yahoo IM but lacks file transfer, voice calls and web cam capabilities.

The web-based IM service is built using Adobe Flash technology and, like the download version, is interoperable with Windows Live Messenger and can be accessed from any of the four most popular browsers - Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera.

The browser-based Yahoo IM service, the first to hit the market from one of the major IM providers, frees users to acccess their IM accounts from any computer with Internet access and a browser installed.

Yahoo is touting the service as particularly applicable to users who don't own a computer and for workers at companies that disallow downloads. The implication is that the service opens up the possibility for people in lower income brackets to partake in IM.

According to Yahoo, it intends to rollout Yahoo Messenger for Web initially to South East Asia, a region with high Internet penetration but low PC ownership. Cyber cafes are especially popular in places like the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand and Yahoo stands to gain a significant new audience from clientele without access to the net in their homes.