MySpace and Facebook might be leading the pack in the social networking arena, but, when it comes to clambering over seemingly insurmountable odds, American software beast Microsoft Corp. isn’t exactly afraid of trading blows for the greater good of profitable market share.
Windows Live update to introduce various social networking features. Image: Microsoft.
Specifically, while MySpace and Facebook probably shouldn’t be worried at this particular juncture, Redmond-based Microsoft has this week revealed that it’s planning to introduce social networking features to various branded services via an upcoming Windows Live update.
Due to arrive in the next few weeks, the update will see aspects of social networking integrated beneath the Windows Live umbrella, including the Live Messenger application, Spaces blogs, free Hotmail e-mail client, and a selection of other related services.
For many, Microsoft’s embracement of social networking through Windows Live may smack of being ‘too late to the party’ given the dominance amassed by MySpace, Facebook and Bebo. However, considering that Hotmail alone has some 260 million global users and is available in 35 languages, it would perhaps be churlish to discount the company’s chances of making a dent in the market.
Of course, any resultant success or failure will likely be decided by exactly what Microsoft brings to the social networking table with its imminent update. With regard to what Windows Live users can expect, the update will pool individual contact lists from Live Messenger, Hotmail and Spaces, thereby enabling account holders to network their connections and share personal content with friends.
AP reports that the update will also incorporate a redesigned Windows Live homepage that will be able to display Twitter messages and image uploads on Flickr, along with reviews from Yelp and entries made to the WordPress blog network.
Also, whenever users post new photos to the aptly named “Photos” section of Windows Live, the uploaded images will be shared with their confirmed network of friends, who can then tag themselves in any relevant pictures or leave comments for everyone else to view.
Slightly more exclusive, the update will also deliver a new “Groups” feature that will enable the user to invite particular friends to join an online group page where they can then all upload photographs, leave messages and post important social events onto the group’s calendar.
Commenting on the Windows Live update and Microsoft’s push towards convergence, Windows Live general manager Brian Hall said: “What we see the focus needing to be now is, essentially, on the race to simplify the Web… I shouldn’t have to do the same thing on multiple networks [and] that’s the core problem that we’re solving.”
Hall also noted that the feature improvements introduced by the update will bring Windows Live more in line with the likes of Facebook and MySpace, and that the company’s aim was to give Windows Live users a social experience built on the best features offered by the market’s biggest players.
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