New Yahoo Mail Leaves Beta, Adds SMS

Yahoo on Monday dropped the beta tag from its revamped webmail service, just a few months after Microsoft began rolling out its new Windows Live Hotmail. Like Hotmail, Yahoo Mail's upgrade offers a new desktop application-like interface using AJAX, but customers can choose to keep the "Classic" look.

Along with unlimited storage, new features in Yahoo Mail include an integrated RSS reader and instant messaging, along with built-in SMS text messaging support. Yahoo is targeting this feature at parents, who can quickly type a message on their computer and send it to their child's cell phone. Another addition in the final release is shortcut links, which appear in an e-mail to link to useful information like maps and calendars. The new Yahoo Mail is available to users in the United States, Canada, India and the Philippines.