The Download Blog

FoxyTunes unlocks access to a wide range of music players.

(Credit: Yahoo)

FoxyTunes, the popular music-player plug-in for Firefox, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Thunderbird, and so on, is now a plug-in supporting Yahoo Messenger for Windows, versions 8.1, 9, and 10 beta.

Maybe we should to call it "FoxyHoo."

With the plug-in installed, you can control your desktop music player in addition to sharing what you're playing in the status bar. Specifically, you can launch about two dozen supported music players from the Yahoo Messenger interface, manipulating everything from volume to skipping a song. Here's a sampler of integrated players: iTunes, RealPlayer, VLC, Windows Media Player, WinAmp, and MediaMonkey.

In addition to commanding your music player, the FoxyTunes plug-in for Yahoo Messenger can also open lone audio files. To check out song lyrics while a tune plays, there's a FoxyTunes Planet button you can click. The Web site features music news, lyrics, and videos.

We would have thought that FoxyTunes' integration with Yahoo Messenger for Windows would have been the first thing Yahoo did when it snapped up FoxyTunes in 2008 for its music division. After all, the ability to share musical selections via Yahoo Messenger ha been available for the Mac client since 2006, a Yahoo representative told CNET. However, one look at the Web site, which promotes a Download.com review from 2006, tells us that maintaining the brand isn't very high on Yahoo's list.

That said, FoxyTunes has been far from idle. Back in August, FoxyTunes integrated support for posting music choices to Twitter, Facebook, Skype, Yahoo Messenger's status bar, and Last.fm (Last.fm is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET.)

The easiest way to get started downloading the plug-in is to click "Add Plug-ins" from your Yahoo Messenger interface and select FoxyTunes.

Corrected on 10/30/09 at 3:10 pm: A Yahoo representative has clarified that Yahoo Messenger has been able to post FoxyTunes selections on Mac since 2006.

Yahoo Messenger 10 beta--screenshots

It seems as if it were just yesterday that Yahoo's Messenger team rolled out version 9 (it was a little less than a year ago, in fact.) The upgrade was so dramatic and overdue that it's a little surprising Yahoo has already tweaked its chat client, now parading Yahoo Messenger 10 beta to testers and curious chatters. We're glad they did. Even though the changes may not please everyone uniformly, nor should they incite ire. The features build off Yahoo Messenger 9, emphasize social networking, and improved video calling.

You'll be able to learn more about the social networking aspects from the photo gallery. This blog will focus on the video features.

VoIP and PC-to-landline calls aren't new to Yahoo Messenger, but the icon that calls out video chats is. Most of the major IM clients support voice-over-Internet calls with Webcams. It is Yahoo's attention to video quality makes this build a closer competitor to Skype for Windows, which is a VoIP client first, enriched by chatting, file sharing, emoticons, and games. Yahoo Messenger (and Windows Live Messenger, and so on, for that matter,) are chat apps at the core that have layered on other P2P features.

Skype is still ahead in terms of total features, like screen sharing, its most recent contribution to the VoIP community. However, the Web chatting experience was good enough on Yahoo Messenger 10 beta in our tests that we might prefer to use it to start a casual video call if the app is already running, rather than fire up Skype. Admittedly, our tests were limited by the callers' proximity to each other, fast data connections, and strong computing configurations. We'll need to keep up the calling with a cross-section of international users to get a more accurate litmus. Since the improved video calling only works with other Yahoo Messenger 10 beta users, we may have to wait for further adoption to test these theories.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Proximity notwithstanding, there were some performance issues. The call quality was clear and the videos were as crisp as our hardware allowed. Chatting and file sharing, however, slowed to a crawl as the call progressed. This seems to be the reverse of Skype, in which chatting has, in the past, often transmitted faster than the voice packets. Again, being in the same city, let alone the same country, could at least partly explain the reversal.

In addition to both parties needing Yahoo Messenger 10 beta on their Windows computers, there are some basic system requirements. You'll need Windows XP or better with a 1GHz CPU processor and 512MB of RAM. Your broadband internet will require a minimum of 300Kbps download speed and a minimum of 128Kbps upload (test both here). Then there's the video card. You'll need at least 96MB memory. A Webcam is mandatory to output video calls, but not to see a buddy's video. However, you will receive an alert if you don't have a Webcam. The final ingredient we'll mention is that the latest version of Microsoft DirectX must be installed. Yahoo provides a full list of specs and tips in its help topics. Yahoo's Messenger team provides some common FAQs and video tips here

Briefly, some of the other video features include toggling the sound on and off and shifting the position of the Webcam windows on your screen. These convenience tools worked well and gave the application some depth; we also liked being able to transfer files in full screen mode, even though photo transfers were slow.

This bug reminders us that beta software is often a work-in-progress.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

One more complaint: The new Yahoo Messenger 10 beta doesn't appear to play nicely with all third-party IM clients. We noticed when chatting with a buddy who uses Digsby, that each line we type was replicated in the chat window. Odd, yes, and also irritating over time. But not all users chatting between Yahoo Messenger 10 beta and a different chat client will encounter problems, but if you do, let us know.

Want to see more screenshots and feature details? We have plenty in the Yahoo Messenger 10 beta gallery. .

Yahoo has begun bringing its BrowserPlus technology to a broader audience, making installation of the browser-boosting plug-in a default part of installing the beta of the new Yahoo Messenger 10 that emerged this week.

BrowserPlus gives Web sites some better abilities taken for granted in applications that run natively on a computer, and because it's a framework, new abilities can be added later. Among the current features are the ability to drag files from the desktop to the browser, to read accelerometer data to judge a computer's orientation, to edit images, and to upload many files at once.

BrowserPlus is installed by default during the installation of the Yahoo Messenger 10 beta. Those who don't want it can deselect it through the custom installation path.

Yahoo announced BrowserPlus in May 2008, then upgraded it and made it open-source software in November.

BrowserPlus is one of many extras that can be disabled in the custom section of the Yahoo Messenger 10 beta installation.

(Credit: Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

Adobe Systems' Flash Player plug-in is widely installed, but plug-ins in general are hard to propagate enough that Web site programmers can safely assume they can be used. One way to tackle the issue is to piggyback on the distribution of other, popular software--a technique long employed to encourage adoption of browser toolbars.

Many companies are working hard on the "Open Web," in which advanced abilities are built directly into Web standards such as HTML 5. However, plug-ins such as Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, BrowserPlus, and Google's Gears can advance the state of the art faster.

Update 4:55 p.m. PDT: Yahoo said it does in fact plan to include BrowserPlus in the final version of Yahoo Messenger. Also, it shared this list of the browsers and operating systems the plug-in supports:

• Windows XP: supports Firefox 2 or newer, Safari, IE6 or newer, and Google Chrome

• Windows Vista: supports Firefox 3 or newer, Safari, IE6 or newer, and Google Chrome

• Windows 7: Same as Windows Vista, in experimental status

• Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5: Recent versions of Safari and Firefox 3 or newer

• Mac OS X 10.6: Firefox 3 or better (Safari support in the works)

Updated 1:58 p.m. PDT to correct the initial release date of BrowserPlus.

Yahoo Messenger pushed this message, along with a chime.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Although push notification has been out for weeks now, plenty of publishers are still integrating the technology into applications for the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

Yahoo is one. Earlier this week, Yahoo updated its instant messenger application to version 1.21 (previous coverage). The update's content and form are identical, with the exception that it can now push an instant message alert and notification to you when the Messenger application is closed, so long as you're logged in. In addition to seeing the semi-transparent window with the message contained within, Yahoo Messenger will list the number of missed messages you've accumulated in the red, circular badge overlaying the icon.

Message alerts are accompanied by a chime, which you can change in the settings (Settings-->Notifications-->Y! Messenger). If your ringer is silent, receiving a message will make the phone vibrate instead.

Another change is that the latest version keeps you logged in for two weeks at a time, even after closing your application. Of course, since Yahoo has not enabled simultaneous sign-ins, the second you log onto YIM from another location, you'll boot yourself off the iPhone.

While there aren't many substantive alterations to this new version of Yahoo Messenger, there are a few tweaks. Yahoo has rolled the Contacts list into search, so you can easily fire off texts to contacts who are not necessarily Yahoo buddies.

Yahoo Messenger has also welcomed "buzzing" into the fold. You know, when you want to get a friend's attention by shaking things up. Yahoo reads your firm phone-shake as a buzz, but neither you nor your recipient feels a vibration or hears a sound, so it's a small, somewhat thin implementation.

In addition, Yahoo Messenger 1.2.1 gives you options to turn off the landscape keyboard, and the app also resolves a bug that previously showed empty groups in your contact list.

You'll need to have iPhone software 3.0 installed to take advantage of these changes.

Landscape mode may make typing faster, but you'll lose chatting real estate up front.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Less than a month after Yahoo released Yahoo Messenger for iPhone and iPod Touch (download), the Sunnyvale, Calif., company is back with a triple-tweaked version.

Find a problem? Report it to Yahoo.

(Credit: Yahoo Inc.)

Support for chatting in landscape mode is the most noticeable new capability hammered into version 1.1. Turning the iPhone to the side slides up the virtual QWERTY, but it also shrinks the visible chat space to a line or two, the typical trade-off.

In addition, Yahoo has also added a dialog box for reporting bugs, which you'll find at the bottom of the Settings window. The third change is a fix for the rickety sign-in and connection issues that some users have been reporting. If you still notice problems down the road in this area, well, there's no better time to make use of that new feedback tool.

On Friday, Yahoo let it be known they added a small tweak to Yahoo Messenger 9 for Windows.

When the latest version of Yahoo's chat application launched, it broadcast as secondary status messages certain activities within the Yahoo network, like refreshing your avatar. Now the service has expanded to record your doings on roughly twenty networks outside of Yahoo--like Twitter, Last.fm, YouTube, Pandora, and Yelp--as well as tracking your whereabouts more thoroughly within Yahoo's network, like the sports, movies, and shopping silos.

Here's how you sign up.

(Credit: CNET/Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt)

Sharing is optional, of course, but to get it, you'll need to make sure you've got a Yahoo profile set up. Then click 'Updates', then 'Manage my Updates' to pick share sites within Yahoo. To set up status-sharing from outside services, you'll need to add your login name via the 'Share More' tab. Set-up was fast and easy, especially with the search field that lets you enter a common username to find multiple accounts that share your log-in.

Is it notable? Not really. It's a small tweak that might take some work off the hands of obsessive status-updaters, but given Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz's vow to whip Yahoo's engineering corps into shape, this isn't the kind of 'news' we expect to see going forward.

Note, CNET's parents company, CBS Interactive, also owns Last.fm.

Related story: 10 days of IMing with Trillian Astra beta

If you use Yahoo Messenger 8 or 9 beta, you'll see this message in a few weeks.

(Credit: Yahoo Inc.)

Sometimes, skipping a software update makes sense. Sticking to Windows XP instead of switching to the Vista operating system is a case in point. Yahoo Messenger 9 is not.

On Tuesday, Yahoo announced that it's time to grow up. Like it or not, in a few weeks, Windows users still chatting on Yahoo Messenger 8 and Yahoo Messenger 9 beta will see a window pop up at sign-in urging an upgrade to the latest version of the free chat client. While there's no indication that Yahoo will force you to change, it's a sure bet that nag screen will get old fast.

The question is, should you do it? From our end, there's no reason not to. Version 9, released last September, was a welcome update that made a few bold changes, many of them visual improvements. These include additions to skins, friend importing, in-window video and image embedding, and some additional antispam security. Those who weren't fans of the much more sprawling display can also retreat to the compact view familiar from Yahoo's previous IM model.

Yahoo Messenger for iPhone--photos

You can sign in as invisible to Yahoo Messenger for iPhone, but it won't store your credentials.

(Credit: CNET)

On Monday we noted in a First Look video that the Yahoo Messenger feature in the new Yahoo Mobile chat application for iPhone wasn't as strong as we'd like. On Tuesday, Yahoo released a distinct Yahoo Messenger for iPhone application that's free through the iTunes App Store, and tailor-made for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Yahoo Messenger for iPhone has many of the same core chatting features you'll find on Yahoo Messenger for the desktop: sending IM and SMS messages, support for emoticons, status updates, adding new contacts, and photo sharing (either an image from the camera roll or a new picture taken from within the application itself).

Yahoo Messenger for iPhone looks clean and crisp, and has a similar feel to the desktop chat experience. It delivers notifications of new incoming chats while you're in a different conversation window, as well as alerting you on a dedicated messaging screen. We like that when a new message arrives, you hear the familiar Yahoo ping, and that the app buzzes to get your attention when the screen goes dark; however, we don't see a way to turn that off in the Settings menu.

Unlike the Yahoo Messenger built into Yahoo Mobile, this standalone version incorporates the iPhone's spell check. While mostly good for fat-fingered typos, the spell check feature is less convenient when you realize the words "hee hee" have been translated as "her her." We had some explaining to do.

While the application won't be able to run in the background on the iPhone, it will keep you signed in, but idle, for 10 minutes while you're off playing with other apps. After 10 minutes is up, you'll need to log in anew to continue chatting. As a side note, Yahoo Messenger on the iPhone will log you off your desktop Messenger.

(Credit: Skype)

You don't need a fistful of dollars to make an international call, just a computer with a microphone, speakers, and one of the six applications we gathered together for you in this collection of free voice-chat apps (some offer upgrades to premium services.) As a bonus, all of these fine downloads offer video calls to let you put a face to a voice.

Voice chat for free on your PC