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 Sneak Windows Live Messenger preview reveals more than mentioned
Sneak Windows Live Messenger preview reveals more than mentioned

dwergs says ( 15 Nov 2008 ):

 

Lonn, a Product Manager for Windows Live, has offered us a sneak preview of the next Windows Live Messenger 2009 build. The video confirms previous announcements and observations like the new application icon, the rearranged sign-in screen and the option to hide the grey-colored status labels (Available, Away, etc.) from the contact list. Lonn doesn't really mention any features we haven't noticed in the current Beta yet. But watching the footage closely, I've gathered some additional visual and functional changes:

- An updated e-mail icon showing the number of new e-mails more clearly.
- An updated Windows Live Groups header
- Option to save pictures presented through PhotoShare (Previous photo/Next photo/Save photo).
- Change scene option added to status dropdown list.
- Possibly more default Scenes.
- Possibly some new default and animated Display Pictures featuring the Windows Live Messenger Buddy (see screenshot).
- Webcam snapshot has been renamed to Webcam Picture (see screenshot).
- Tile with moods has been renamed to Dynamic Picture (see screenshot).
- A new "Modify" button suggests the ability to edit a Dynamic Picture's individual emotions (see screenshot).
- What's new list options accessible through an icon next to What's new header, or from a button in Options > Layout.

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:c1b27998-9f2a-4795-8f87-c034ca04a963&showPlaylist=true&from=shared" target="_new" rel="nofollow" title="Windows Live Messenger">Video: Windows Live Messenger</a>


PS: Just send me a message if you spot any more changes.



 Obamaticons contest: 1st batch of winners!
Obamaticons contest: 1st batch of winners!

dwergs says ( 15 Nov 2008 ):

 

Barack Obama animated avatarLast week I launched a little contest around Mess.be's animated Obamaticons for Windows Live Messenger. I've already notified them personally, but here are the first six winners of the "limited edition" Obamaticon buttons set ;)

Richard Battison
Johnathon Wilson
Katia Di Ruocco
Chris Lozeau
Novolo
Stuart
Unfortunately, I didn't come across any blog posts about the Obamaticons so I still have four sets left for grabs. One week from now I'll ship the last 20 badges, if not to blog/site owners I'll pick more random winners from the Facebook group and blog comments. So please let me know if you did link or post about the Obamaticons on your site or blog.



 Fifty web services coming soon to your What's New feed
Fifty web services coming soon to your What's New feed

dwergs says ( 13 Nov 2008 ):

 

Microsoft today announced its updated Windows Live Services, including home.live.com, Windows Live Profile, Windows Live People and a lot more. For full coverage, I suggest you check out the press release and the interviews on LiveSide.

What interests us most in this announcement is the further development of the What's New feed that first appeared in the September Beta of Windows Live Messenger 2009. Until now, the feed below the contact list didn't include much exciting information at all except for photos or posts added to Windows Live Spaces, updated status messages and display pictures, joined Windows Live Events, and a handful of other items. The feed ended up showing "news" about my contacts dated more than a week ago. According to Internet standards, that's last century.

But that's all gonna change, because the What's new feed -as we all predicted- is going to kick Facebook's ass at last (well, maybe) and show updates from up to 50 (and growing) third party sites and online services. So if you've reviewed something on Yelp or Amazon, posted a blog on Wordpress, rated a song or band on Zune, Pandora or iLike, posted a photo on Flickr, SmugMug or Photobucket, Twittered something or what have you, it'll end up in your contacts' What's New feeds. If you want to. Privacy controls coupled with Windows Live Contacts allow you to decide which contacts or groups are permitted to track your web activity.

The What's New feed is not limited to Windows Live Messenger, but will be integrated on home.live.com, Windows Live Profile pages, the e-mail sent confirmation page in Windows Live Hotmail and probably a few more Windows Live properties.

Expect the full launch during the next couple of weeks. The final Windows Live Messenger (and Hotmail) is still scheduled early 2009. We'll keep you posted!



 New Digsby Beta fixes Messenger and other bugs
New Digsby Beta fixes Messenger and other bugs

dwergs says ( 12 Nov 2008 ):

 

DigsbyI have a soft spot for Digsby, the third party client that unites and aggregates the most popular social networks and instant messaging services. In fact, I use it for one of my Windows Live IDs... on top of an already running Windows Live Messenger of course.

Numerous annoying bugs and memory leaks have been thrown out of the new public beta that was released today, but here's a selection of changes related specifically to the Windows Live Messenger part of the software:

- Fixed a bug that caused MSN buddies that had WeeMees to always show offline.
- If a buddy does not reply to an MSN conversation invite, reinvite up to three times to improve the chance of a message being delivered.
- Fixed a bug that caused MSN messages to not be received because we left the conversation as soon as we got there in edge cases.
- Fixed a bug that caused mobile MSN buddies to show offline.
- MSN mobile buddies not showing as mobile when online.
- Fixed a bug that caused MSN to reconnect when it should not (when you log in from another location).
- MSN Buddy icon requests happen slower to prevent hitting rate limits for conversation requests.
>> Download Digsby Beta build 37.



 A 3-minute story of mixed emoticons
A 3-minute story of mixed emoticons

dwergs says ( 12 Nov 2008 ):

 

Quiz time: What do you think is the gibberish below?

3-minute story of mixed emoticons by Rives

It's not the result of a cat going crazy on my keyboard.

It's not a message from outer space currently being decoded by ufologists.

It is a typographical fairy tale by storyteller and poet Rives.

It's a proof that emoticons and chat lingo are not a necessarily a corruption of our language.

>> Watch the video: A 3-minute story of mixed emoticons.

>> Also check out this poem: If I controlled the Internet.



 Look mom, I'm drawing on the screen!
Look mom, I'm drawing on the screen!

dwergs says ( 10 Nov 2008 ):

 

Handwriting on a HP TouchSmartI've tested the handwriting feature on someone else's tablet PC, and a few of my contacts send me killer drawings thanks to their pen tablets, but the HP TouchSmart PC makes handwriting really easy and intuitive. Just draw straight on its monitor! Big ass touch sensitive desktop PC screens, please become more affordable soon because I have an inner doodler screaming to get out.

>> Watch a HP TouchSmart Video Chat using Windows Live Messenger (skip to 6:00 for the handwriting).

>> Visit the HP TouchSmart PC homepage.



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