Yahoo Messenger with Voice launches in US

Skype, get ready. Yahoo just released their lower-cost, SIP-based VoIP service today dubbed Yahoo Messenger with Voice. The version 7.5 Beta launch follows on the successes Yahoo has seen in five other countries since December. Like Skype, the new service allows free computer-to-computer calls and features "Phone Out" and "Phone In" capabilities allowing users to dial or receive calls from land-lines in 180 countries. And like the deluge of Skype handsets, Yahoo is teaming with the likes of Plantronics, VTech and Siemens AG to develop Yahoo integrated peripherals. So, if you consider that Yahoo's new service now features audio quality on par with Skype but with rates which undercut them by 20% to 30% to "many major markets outside the US" then we might very well be entering the early stages of a VoIP pricing war. We sure hope so, anyway. Shaka bra!

[Via Reuters]

[nanofiggis @ Mar 22nd 2006 6:37AM]

no wonder yahoo has been fairly quiet recently n let microsoft n google bash it out a lil'

[Si @ Mar 22nd 2006 7:37AM]

Oh goody, yet another VOIP solution with no love for Mac users...

[Nick @ Mar 22nd 2006 7:47AM]

Skype is multiplatform in the sense of an IM program. Try running Skype with FreeBSD/Linux/MacOSX and feel like the red-headed step child. They haven't updated the clients in months and still have no support for video or ALSA. At least its SIP and the protocol is cross platform.

[Mike @ Mar 22nd 2006 8:47AM]

Yes. How DARE Yahoo! program for the most dominant platform on *EARTH*. What are those morons thinking, going after the 95%(plus or minus a fraction of a percent) of the revenue potentially available to them.

I mean, with tactics like these, they can't *possibly* stay in business for more than 6 months (probably less!)

[rus @ Mar 22nd 2006 8:53AM]

#4 ... Skype was just updated at the beginning of March and is almost on par with the PC version

[Enita @ Sep 9th 2007 9:52AM]

Jesus is the same yesterday,today, and forever. Heb 13:8.

[Jason @ Mar 22nd 2006 8:55AM]

whatever way you look at it, most mac users use Yahoo to communicate with PC users, as msn is utter shite, and not a lot of PC users I know use AIM.

Why is mac support always soooooo late?

Come on Yahoo, pull your finger out!

[Ken R @ Mar 22nd 2006 9:04AM]

And nobody's said anything about Gizmo yet..

[x23 @ Mar 22nd 2006 9:06AM]

exactly Mike... i mean... there is NO WAY Microsoft or Adobe make *any* money *AT ALL* developing major applications for OSX. they make an effort to specifically loose money developing for OSX simply because Microsoft and Adobe are *totally* Mac-fanboys. i mean. it is simply impossible for anyone to make money at it. no one has EVER made money with an OSX app. EVER. and there are NO studies showing higher purchasing rates amongst Mac users vs. PC. none at all.

key point: Yahoo! has been at version 2.5.3 on OSX for *years* now. honestly... (since i just installed this 7 version earlier on the XP side of things) ... with the features building to 7 there has come a LOT of bloat and widgetware crap i personally would never want to see on OSX... no. in fact i *don't* want the Yahoo! Toolbar... Yahoo! as my default mail app... or the Yahoo! Desktop Randomizer or the Yahoo! Super Search 9000+ ... i just want the freaking IM app. having to opt-out of of all that THEN have to uncheck 19 variations on the auto-launch theme in prefs seems to be par for course in the post-Windows install process.

[Inaneboy @ Mar 22nd 2006 9:41AM]

Why are Mac users still suprised when nobody cares about their platform? Thats like vegetarians asking McDonalds why they keep putting meat and eggs in their breakfast sandwiches....

[wanorris @ Mar 22nd 2006 9:56AM]

x23,

Let's compare the business models for Adobe and Yahoo.

Adobe: charge hundreds of dollars per user for Photoshop.

Yahoo: gives Messenger away for free and makes modest per-user amounts on advertising and per-minute telephone charges.

Unless you've been dying to pay $299 for Messenger, it seems like the business models are a wee bit different.

Besides -- Apple makes it's own IM client, like they do with every other piece of consumer software. Why should Yahoo try to compete with Apple for the Mac software business?

[dan88 @ Mar 22nd 2006 10:24AM]

Imagine, we are complaining about Yahoo with no product for Apple - big deal - and we did not complain to the Apple management - many years ago - to licence the OS.

Stay frustrated about it and get off the board with the awful language.

[P?S @ Mar 22nd 2006 11:37AM]

So this is not a fight between Skype and Yahoo. It's a fight between Yahoo and Ebay... Ebay owns Skype... I think Skype Will kick Yahoo's ass.

[Thistledown @ Mar 22nd 2006 11:59AM]

At least Skype encrypts the chat end-to-end between Skype clients. I don't believe Yahoo does that by default and transparently to the end user. Granted, calls outside the service are only encrypted until the gateway, but at least they're encrypted.

[pspspsp @ Mar 22nd 2006 12:28PM]

All I know is that I spend an hour this morning, paid up my money and it wouldn't allow me to call out to a regular phone. I was asked to upgrade to a lower version number by the tech support and nobody has answered my e-mail requesting a prompt refund.

This is why Skype will win in the end. The whole experience from installation to use is incredibly reliable and easy.

[Matt @ Mar 22nd 2006 2:41PM]

umm didn't yahoo already have a VOIP solution! they were partners with net2phone.

[Freddy @ Mar 23rd 2006 1:42AM]

According to Om Malik, they are working on a new Mac client. Hope it has voice... http://gigaom.com/2006/01/26/yahoos-new-cpo-loves-his-mac/

[Anil @ Mar 23rd 2006 4:03AM]

I have been a Skype user for about 2 years now. Still love it. But tried yahoo voice about 3 weeks ago and frankly it is much better than skype. The prices are way cheaper. I frequently call India which costs $0.196 a minute with Skype but with yahoo it costs $0.099! almost half the price.

Of course yahoo still lacks all the cool features like call forwarding and a decent conference call facility. But with it's large userbase it will give skype a run for it's money.

[tapas @ Oct 7th 2006 11:53PM]

Hi Anil,
Was looking into the yahoo messenger calls to India.
Aren't there any hidden costs if we call for the $10 credit other than the $.09 what its written?

[tony @ Apr 8th 2006 12:12PM]

Who says Skype uses SIP?? I don't believe that to be true. If you use a SIP-based client (like Gizmo) then anyone else using a SIP client can call you. If you're running Skype, the only people who can call you are other Skype users.

Is that not correct?

[realguy @ Apr 17th 2006 2:00PM]

I've tried Yahoo voice and like the quality, but it has one critical flaw -- no MS Outlook plug-in that lets you easily call your Outlook contacts from within Outlook -- Skype has this, and it's a must-have feature. I don't have the time to try to import/sync contacts between Outlook and Yahoo messenger.

[Peter Meridian @ Jun 9th 2006 11:32PM]

I think the issue (for me, at least) is that it appears that neither Yahoo nor Apple are unaware of the problem, and that both are either pretending that the problem doesn't exist, or that its alllll the other guy's fault. Frankly, I don't care which of the scenarios applies. I have been using Macs since '86, and I am just about to quit the platform. This is not because Apple makes a p.o.s. machine; I think it is clear that theirs is the superior designed and programmed hardware. But Apple consistently has dropped the ball when it comes to making their machines more accessible to the world at large.
Of course, someone will pipe up and say 'hey, but they have a whole suite of programs that cover the gamut of work needs. Their iSight webcam and microphone is a thing of art,' etc. The point is, not everyone uses Macs, and it is imperative that Apple wakes up and realizes this. They may make a better product, but (like a Rolls-Royce or Bentley) it has to drive on the same streets as the PCs. They have to work with the computer hard and software community, and not the other way around. I am not sure how many times Apple has to flirt with utter disaster and dissolution before they learn this basic fact.
Yes, the iSight is a thing of art. However, it doesn't work unless you buy into the whole AOL debacle, iChat. Warning bells should have turned the heads of the Marketing folk at Apple to putty when someone pointed out that iChat only works with the disaster of an ISP. I mean, please. Am I the only person who used a AOL disk (sent through snail mail - how's that for irony?) as an improvised coaster or ninja throwing star? These are the same folks who live in such a disconnected world that they believe that folk will still pay for a limited amount of online *dial-up* time, when broadband or no-frills services like Netzero are out there?
Clearly, Apple must must be sniffing the same glue, because the iSight webcamera doesn't recognize MSN Messenger (which isn't say much) or Yahoo Messenger - the preeminent chat products used worldwide. I am going to repeat that last part there - WORLDWIDE. AOL only works - when it is actually working - in America (maybe in Canada, too. Like I care.)
I am not asking the mountain to come to Mohammad here. I cannot imagine it being all that difficult for Yahoo to develop out the same product capabilities for Mac-enabled cmputers that PCs users get for free. I am not just talking about Yahoo Messenger, although that is the most glaring smack in the face. I am also talking about the Synchronization feature, the Calendar reminders (which within the last few months ceased to work for Apple comps), Briefcase uploading, and a ton of other stuff that is equally under-developed.
Were I a violent man, I would suggest that someone, or a number of someones is in dire need of a vicious daily beating, at least until identical mac and pc product features are offered by a working relationship between Apple and Yahoo. I am sure that I am not alone in hoping that it doesn't take heavy dental bills to get these two big developers to, well, DEVELOP.

[lori,leach @ Aug 31st 2007 8:26AM]

hello this is neat

[levi @ Oct 23rd 2007 9:28AM]

To be able to reach out