The refreshed Yahoo Mail is coming out of beta and will be available worldwide in the coming weeks, the struggling Internet company promised.
Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) launched the new Yahoo Mail last fall, pledging a Webmail experience that is twice as fast as the previous version.
The company also relied on its integration partnerships with Facebook, Zynga and Twitter to make the user experience more social for its 277 million users (comScore figure).
Yahoo Mail users will be able to use the Quick reply bar to respond to messages sent from senders using Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Groups, Facebook and other Webmail apps, such as Gmail.
Users can also view photo slideshows and video content, as well as view and post notifications and updates via Twitter, Facebook and Zynga, all without leaving the inbox.
In addition, Yahoo Mail offers some degree of inbox prioritization based on users’ interaction with contacts. When users go to compose an email, instant message or text message, they will see their most frequent contacts first. Google has done something like this with its Priority Inbox conversation technology.
Also, users chat with Facebook friends alongside Windows Live and Yahoo Messenger contacts and view all of their past IM and text conversations within Yahoo Mail. This is a big part of the inbox integration kick Yahoo is on for its core messaging app.
Yahoo Mail, which employs SpamGuard technology and a new anti-phishing platform to protect users, also now lets users navigate, sort and narrow the search results by sender, attachment file, date or folder location.
Finally, Yahoo is offering apps that let users manage their invitations through eVite, unsubscribe from email newsletters and send large files via YouSendIt.
While Yahoo Mail is targeted at consumers, the company said the service will also be available to its global business partners, including Nokia, Verizon, Rogers Telecommunications, and other device manufacturers and broadband service providers.
New Yahoo Mail comes one day before the company hosts its 2011 analyst day. Caris & Company analyst Sandeep Aggarwal said most analysts will focus on the company’s stake in Alibaba Group, its integration with Bing search and trends in display advertising.