1983-2011 Posted July 31, 2012 Posted July 31, 2012 Microsoft is overhauling its free webmail service, dropping the Hotmail name it has used since acquiring the product in 1998, and renaming it Outlook.com. The revamped service will help sort messages as they arrive and allow users to make internet calls on Skype. It said the move would help tackle the problem of "cluttered" inboxes. The move may also be designed to win over users of Google's rival Gmail service. Microsoft said that in many cases email had become a "chore" because its users accounts had become "overloaded" with material. Its solution is to automatically sort messages into different areas to distinguish between emails from contacts, newsletters, package delivery notices, social network posts and other identifiers determined by the account holder. In addition it is taking steps to link the Outlook account with other services the user might have subscribed to. "We are giving you the first email service that is connected to Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google, and soon, Skype, to bring relevant context and communications to your email," the firm's Chris Jones said on its blog. "In the Outlook.com inbox, your personal email comes alive with photos of your friends, recent status updates and tweets that your friend has shared with you, the ability to chat and video call - all powered by an always up-to-date contact list that is connected to your social networks." Targeting Google In what may be perceived as a dig at Google, Mr Jones added that the firm would not scan email content or attachments in order to sell the information to advertisers or others. He also announced that web versions of the firms Office apps were built-in, potentially helping it counter competition from other web-based application suits such as Google Docs and Zoho Docs. Outlook.com also links up with Microsoft's Skydrive cloud storage, allowing users to send photos and other documents via the service to avoid the risk of going over their attachment size limit. This could pose a threat to the rival Google Drive service as well as Dropbox, Sugarsync and others. 'Cleaned up' Mr Jones said the firm had built a "brand new service from the ground up". But Matt Cain, an analyst at the tech consultants Gartner, played down the suggestion of a major leap forwards. "Outlook.com represents reverse-consumerisation - taking a ubiquitous business tool and recrafting it for the consumer market," he told BBC. "There really is no new technology here - the filtering tools have been around for some time as well as the social network integration. "What is new is the cleaned up user interface, and the marketing spin, and the tight integration with office web apps and Skydrive, and the forthcoming integration with Skype." Microsoft is offering the service in a "preview" mode for the time being and has not announced an official release date. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19067634
superstar Posted July 31, 2012 Posted July 31, 2012 I am fed up of this. I am forced to take over my email address in every domain.
Desi Cartman Posted July 31, 2012 Posted July 31, 2012 Oh so all 5 people who still use hotmail will have to update their information :P
Lurker Posted July 31, 2012 Posted July 31, 2012 Oh so all 5 people who still use hotmail will have to update their information :P Hotmail is pretty strong in Latina America. I would not be surprised if Hotmail usage in SA is more than Facebook. Back to the OP, I wonder how long before this hits Yahoo? I suppose all the freeware may run their shelf-life at some time
Desi Cartman Posted July 31, 2012 Posted July 31, 2012 ^ yahoo was down this morning , email was down for more than a few mins and their new outlook has a lot of bugs. I seriously dont see them lasting for a very long time. They have issues every month or so where as Gmail is always up, quick and smooth to use.
Lurker Posted July 31, 2012 Posted July 31, 2012 ^ yahoo was down this morning ' date=' email was down for more than a few mins and their new outlook has a lot of bugs. I seriously dont see them lasting for a very long time. They have issues every month or so where as Gmail is always up, quick and smooth to use.[/quote'] Yahoo was what Gmail is today. Even Hotmail used to be well Hot once upon a time. Gmail a decade down the line...who knows? Then again maybe emails themselves would be obsolete by then.
b555 Posted August 1, 2012 Posted August 1, 2012 ^ yahoo was down this morning ' date=' email was down for more than a few mins and their new outlook has a lot of bugs. I seriously dont see them lasting for a very long time. They have issues every month or so where as Gmail is always up, quick and smooth to use.[/quote'] ya and also gmail loads up quickly and has a better interface imo , also delivery i read is better in case of gmail in terms of performance but ya , somehow i have liked hotmail, but could never get to use it donno why
b555 Posted August 1, 2012 Posted August 1, 2012 Yahoo was what Gmail is today. Even Hotmail used to be well Hot once upon a time. Gmail a decade down the line...who knows? Then again maybe emails themselves would be obsolete by then. google already tried to make emails obsolete by trying out google wave and so did facebook by trying its facebook messaging ( kind of email ), but nthng could replace what email is !
DomainK Posted August 1, 2012 Posted August 1, 2012 google already tried to make emails obsolete by trying out google wave and so did facebook by trying its facebook messaging ( kind of email )' date=' but nthng could replace what email is ![/quote'] It was always going to fail. Both Google and facebook wanted to dominate the market with their brand. So if you want to use it, you have to register with them, where as the concept of e-mail is not brand specific. In e-mail, some like Google, some like Yahoo, some others prefer pop3 accounts and you can do thousands of other things like use your own encryption software etc. E-mail is very highly evolved already, it will be tough to replace it.
Pioneer Posted August 1, 2012 Posted August 1, 2012 Oh so all 5 people who still use hotmail will have to update their information :P I use hotmail...:cantstop:
b555 Posted August 1, 2012 Posted August 1, 2012 anyways all these seem to efforts for the storm thats coming .. thats the flop of win 8 , its gonna be a bigger flop than microsoft Bob
Prakat Posted August 1, 2012 Posted August 1, 2012 Must have paid a pretty penny for the domain name.
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