Yahoo Launches New Messenger Beta
Yahoo late Tuesday released a beta version of Yahoo! Messenger 7.5, which includes the new inbound and outbound calling features it detailed last week. The client now allows users to place phone calls to over 180 countries, costing a penny per minute in the US and two cents to over 30 other countries.
In order to place calls, users must first purchase prepaid credit in either $10 or $25 amounts. The account can be automatically recharged from a credit card when necessary.
Conversely, the Yahoo! Phone In service enables callers to call a number and reach a Yahoo! Messenger user. The feature supports multiple telephone numbers, including the capability to choose international phone numbers. Phone In runs $2.50 USD per month.
"No matter where you are, as long as you're connected to the web, when someone calls that number it rings to your computer. It's great for home and work, plus for when you're traveling," says Yahoo.
The new feature comes the same day Microsoft released Beta 1 of Windows Live Messenger, which includes similar calling features through a partnership with MCI. Testers would pay $0.023 per minute to the U.S., Canada, and the U.K and Western Europe during the beta period.
Google, meanwhile, says it plans to add VoIP services to its Google Talk client in the future. The new offerings will attempt to take on Skype, which has taken the consumer VoIP space by storm in recent months.
But there is still uncertainty about whether consumers will adopt such fee-based services. While Skype has pulled in millions of users offering free PC-to-PC calling, merging the technology with traditional phone numbers has yet to prove popular.
"According to a recent JupiterResearch survey, just 2 percent of online consumers made PC-to-phone calls monthly or more frequently in the last year. Unlike many other online activities, 18-to-24 year olds aren't any more likely to make PC-to-phone calls," says Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox.
"Though 2.3 cents a minute isn't much, free is still cheaper. On the other hand, what's a couple pennies compared to nothing?"
Yahoo! Messenger 7.5 Beta is available for download from FileForum.