The Ajax version of Yahoo Mail has finally had its beta tag removed and is now the default interface for all Yahoo Mail accounts. The new service includes two interesting real-time communication features:
1) Free text messaging to mobile phone numbers (but only available in the US, Canada, India and the Philippines);
2) Integrated instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live Messenger.
The Ajax version went into public beta in September 2006 and it’s been a long journey since Yahoo acquired Oddpost, a pioneer in Ajax-powered Web mail, in July 2004. But it has been steady progress – in November 2005 Yahoo put RSS into Mail, then in March 2007 Yahoo Mail got an API and unlimited storage.
Techcrunch has more details of tonight’s news and some great comparisons. For me, Gmail’s Web Native functionality still wins out – although lately I’ve been experiencing frustrating performance issues with Gmail.
