on Tue 17 Aug 2010 (22:13 GMT) (13465 views)
Most significantly Messenger now includes full Facebook intergration, allowing you and your Facebook friends to talk between clients, a feature heavily requested and even implemented by third party developers:
According to the Inside Windows Live blog:
- Messenger is quicker at loading information, signing in and uses 30% less CPU for video messaging
- Facebook intergration has been further implemented, starting today in the US, UK, France, Brazil, Germany, and Russia
More information soon.
on Sun 21 Mar 2010 (14:39 GMT) (3586 views)
LiveSide has uncovered evidence to suggest Windows Live Messenger 2010 is likely to implement Facebook Chat integration. What does this mean? You can chat to your friends on Facebook from within Messenger.
Microsoft currently possesses a 1.6% share in Facebook, estimated to be worth $15bn. It is a logical step that the company would want to expand its involvement in one of the biggest websites on the Internet today.
However, the extend to how integrated the two platforms are going to be is open to doubt. Unlike when Windows Live Messenger allowed you to talk to your Yahoo! Messenger contacts, the differences in protocols may create some heavy limitations. LiveSide comments:
What this possibly means though is that your Windows Live contacts are not fully integrated with your Facebook contacts. For example, a person may be online on Messenger as well as Facebook chat, but might appear as two different contacts on your Messenger contact list. Guess we'll have to live with that given that it'd be quite complicated to match your Windows Live contacts with Facebook's contact. We wonder if any other social networks or protocols will be supported though!
Source: LiveSide - Windows Live Messenger Wave 4: Interoperability with Facebook chaton Tue 02 Mar 2010 (00:46 GMT) (15586 views)
Well of course to us, it "makes sense" to interoperate with Facebook (we hate having to keep the browser open during a FB chat), but Windows Live Messenger has been a notoriously closed system in the past, so we’re not sure it will make sense to Microsoft. However if it means losing customers who find themselves using Facebook Chat more and Windows Live Messenger less, that may change. We should be hearing more about the Windows Live Platform later this year, so maybe there’s hope that Facebook Chat may be part of that "major focus".
In response Dharmesh Mehta, director of Windows Live Product Management stated:
Windows Live participates in an industry defined by change. Consumer choice is continually expanding with new services launching almost daily. To this end, with Windows Live and Messenger, we are making it easier for consumers to integrate contacts, communications and sharing across the multitude of internet services they want to use. We'll interoperate where it makes sense, as we've done with Yahoo! and customers of Office Communications Server. We'll continue to invest in contact portability and identity standards, as we've done with our contacts APIs. And we'll integrate feeds, as we've done with over 75 top web services in the last year. This will continue to be a major focus going forward.
Source: LiveSide - Facebook opens Chat to XMPP: Will Messenger join in?
on Wed 23 Sep 2009 (19:12 GMT) (7607 views)
As promised, everyone can now download and install the latest version of MessengerDiscovery - version 2.1. Everyone is invited to test this new version and report bugs/give feedback. MessengerDiscovery 2.1 has been in development for three of months and has undergone some rigerious testing to ensure that you do not encounter any major bugs even though it is a beta.
The feature seems really useful for those into the popular social networking website Facebook, which for me personally is the main way to contact my friends aside from my mobile phone. Hopefully Microsoft has a first party solution coming too in Windows Live Messenger 10.
View screenshots of MessengerDiscovery with Facebook Chat integration Download MessengerDiscovery 2.1 beta
It has been a couple months since a major update but I am happy to announce that MessengerDiscovery 2 is back into full-time development. Along with a new MessengerDiscovery version I will be announcing/releasing a few new products that I've been working on during my big break.
Within the last hour details of the update surfaced on the MessengerDiscovery Twitter feed, where three tweets giving light on a Facebook chat integration feature were posted. The tweets [1] [2] [3] read:
This looks very exciting, but we will have to wait and see how well the feature is implemented and what changes it brings to the Messenger experience.
View a screenshot of the new Facebook chat integration inside MessengerDiscoveryon Sat 08 Aug 2009 (18:11 GMT) (3980 views)
Note: These scripts require the Windows Live Messenger add-on Messenger Plus! Live in order to function.Facebook Status Checker
This handy script will display a toast pop-up message each time you receive a new notification or update on your Facebook home page. Very useful for Facebook addicts who want to see what their friends are doing as soon as it happens.
Download Facebook Status CheckerFacebook Status
Syncing your Windows Live Messenger personal message and your most recent Facebook status has never been easier. Each time you update your status this script will automatically sync it between applications. Very cool.
Download Facebook StatusFacebook Notifications
This application detects any changes made within your Facebook account e.g. friend requests, emails or event invites and displays it directly within Windows Live Messenger. This allows you to check on anything you need to take action on within Facebook as soon as it happens.
Download Facebook Notifications
"We are currently aiming to achieve full integrative support for widely popular instant messaging networks. Therefore, we have started discussions with the back-end and front-end Developer Teams of AOL LLC, Skype Ltd and Google Inc. Furthermore, we have intensified our cooperation with Facebook Inc. for a similar purpose," says Dharmesh Mehta, Windows Live Messenger Product Manager.
The integration of the chat networks powered by AOL, namely ICQ and AIM, has always been a big wish for Messenger users all around the world, and seems to be the continuing of what the Messenger team started when adding support for Yahoo, back in 2006. Skype integration offers interesting possibilities, such as video and voice calls right from Windows Live Call.
With Facebook, another social networking site enters the boat, and I think Microsoft is just happy about being able to continue their efforts to introduce social networking to Messenger; we have already seen the beginning of this in Wave 3 (Windows Live Profile, What's New Feeds etc). Finally, connecting with Google opens another wide audience of Messenger users.
The current master plan for adding support for ICQ, AIM, Skype, Facebook and GTalk is Q4-2009, so it will probably make its way into Windows Live Wave 4, where ideas are currently gathered for and sorted.
"I can't promise too much yet, but I think it's just what Windows Live is missing currently," states Dharmesh. "You'll soon be able to add Facebook [...] on Windows Live. This means that […], if you’'e a Facebook user, you can choose to allow info and photos that you post on Facebook to show up in 'What's new' for anyone in your network on Windows Live,” says Brian Hall, General Manager for Windows Live.
Adding support for all major instant messaging networks would make Windows Live Messenger the unquestionable no. 1, and it seems that Microsoft is finally realizing exactly this – if things are implemented the way they are announced.
Looking forward to hear your opinion on this!
Update: Were you gullible enough to fall for this piece of news? It seems too good to be true. Looks like LiveSide fell for it though, whoops.
- Facebook Status: Way 1
Way 1 is a Messenger Plus! Live script, made by djdannyp. It works as follows:- Download the script from the Scripts Database, and import it into Messenger.
- Open your scripts menu, either from the contact list or from any conversation window.
Choose the entry "Facebook Status > Settings". - Now browse the link within the Settings window, and fetch your RSS feed on the opening Facebook page.
- Paste that feed URL back into the settings window, and set the other settings as you wish. At the end, press "Save".
- Facebook Status: Way 2:
Way 2 is a - oh, surprise! ;) - Messenger Plus! Live script as well, made by me. It works a bit differently, but does the same in the end:- Download the script from my blog. (It was not added to the Script Database because the first script - see above - was already added.)
- Import the script; you will be asked if you want to enable the script for the Windows Live ID you're currently signed in with.
- If you choose "Yes", you will be prompted for your Facebook login which is not stored on your computer and only used once to fetch your status RSS feed URL.
- Now your status gets updated automatically.
Both scripts are easy to use, while djdannyp's version offers more settings, but requires you to fetch your RSS feed manually. I suggest you try both scripts and use the one you like more.
And now we have added this network to eBuddy, so you can also chat with your friends on eBuddy via ICQ! Besides the addition of the ICQ network we have also improved our Yahoo! connectivity and fixed a lot of minor issues.
To chat with your Facebook friends download the latest version of the eBuddy Mobile Messenger to your phone at get.ebuddy.com, or just browse to m.ebuddy.com on your phone for the eBuddy Lite Messenger.
It's great to see how all our IM clients coming together in one easy to use service. Moreover, the Facebook messenger client support is a sign of its fast increasing popularity. Maybe the predictions we made a few months ago are coming true?
eBuddy blog: ICQ support added eBuddy blog: Facebook chat on eBuddyon Mon 11 Aug 2008 (10:53 GMT) (2505 views)
Have you ever wanted to have all your online contacts in one place? With Invite2Messenger, now you can! This great new service allows you to easily invite your Facebook contacts over to chat on Windows Live Messenger.
You can now also access and update your Facebook account within Messenger. Check your messages or write on your friend's wall. Send a cheeky poke or browse through photo albums. You can even update your status directly from Messenger!
The service will expand to other social networking websites such as Bebo and Hi5 soon. (Emphasis and links added to quote)
Visit the Messenger United website More info on accessing Facebook within Messenger
Messenger Stuff
