Microsoft is updating Windows Live Hotmail to include a host of new tools targeting clutter elimination, spam reduction and security. In addition to emphasizing a mobile component, with e-mail synchronization between a smartphone and the Web, the new Hotmail leverages the user’s Windows Live account to pull in information from social-networking services such as Windows Live Messenger, Facebook and MySpace. The Hotmail update comes as Microsoft finds itself in heightened competition against Google and Yahoo, which also are expanding the features of their respective e-mail services. Microsoft also wants Hotmail to be seen as a productivity hub. Thanks to integration with SkyDrive and Office Web Apps, Office documents included in e-mails as attachments can be opened on a PC without Office installed; and Hotmail now allows up to 10GB of photos to be sent in a single e-mail. For some users, such features may prove an even larger benefit than streamlining their inbox or eliminating spam.
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Hotmail Updates Include Facebook, Office Web Apps Integration
by Nicholas Kolakowski
One-Click Filters
Hotmail’s updates include one-click filters to show unread e-mails, for example, or ones from social networks such as Facebook. One of Microsoft’s goals with the "new" Hotmail was to find ways to eliminate dreaded inbox clutter.
SkyDrive Links
Hotmail will link into Windows Live SkyDrive, allowing users to send—via a link—up to 200 photos of up to 50MB in size, for a total of 10GB in a single message.
Attachments
Office documents sent as an attachment can be opened and viewed in any browser—even if the PC doesn’t have Office installed. This feature integrates Hotmail, SkyDrive and Office Web Apps.
E-Mail Going Mobile
Hotmail supports push-email to mobile phones. Research In Motion, Nokia and other partners are apparently building custom Hotmail apps for their respective devices.
Invitations
Users can manage invitations sent through Hotmail via their smartphone calendar, through ActiveSync or the phone browser.
Conversation View
With "Conversation View," Hotmail can consolidate extended e-mail conversations into a single space.
The Inbox
The "new" Hotmail inbox.
Viewing the Image
Image viewing through Hotmail.
Consolidated Online Connections
Hotmail will incorporate the unified contacts list from Windows Live services—which includes contacts from Hotmail, Messenger and social-networking services such as Facebook—in order to consolidate online connections into a single space.
Into the Cloud
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has emphasized the company’s increased focus on the cloud. The evolution of services such as Hotmail can be seen as a reflection of that policy.
Windows Azure is a public cloud platform for building, hosting and scaling applications. Try Windows Azure free for 90 days and get 20GB outbound and unlimited inbound data transfer.
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Microsoft is updating Windows Live Hotmail to include a host of new tools targeting clutter elimination, spam reduction and security. In addition to emphasizing a mobile component, with e-mail synchronization between a smartphone and the Web, the new Hotmail leverages the user’s Windows Live account to pull in information from social-networking services such as Windows Live Messenger, Facebook and MySpace. The Hotmail update comes as Microsoft finds itself in heightened competition against Google and Yahoo, which also are expanding the features of their respective e-mail services. Microsoft also wants Hotmail to be seen as a productivity hub. Thanks to integration with SkyDrive and Office Web Apps, Office documents included in e-mails as attachments can be opened on a PC without Office installed; and Hotmail now allows up to 10GB of photos to be sent in a single e-mail. For some users, such features may prove an even larger benefit than streamlining their inbox or eliminating spam.