New Yahoo Messenger is IM+VoIP

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Posted on 03/22/2006 at 11:52:05 AM by Fred Simmons

...and will somehow tie to Yahoo Music? Om Malik has the scoop and some screenshots:

you can send emails, make calls, or even send text messages from the same client.

They're really trying to give Skype (and SkypeOut) a run for their money with PC-to-phone calls priced at $.02 (or less) per minute. The sound quality sample is certainly impressive and extras like phone-to-PC and voicemail capabilities seem pretty smart.

But is this overkill? I dumped Yahoo IM a long time ago in favor of a less-RAM-hogging IM client. The tie-in to Yahoo Music also offers no appeal to me. And you can bet it can't be easily disabled for people who prefer to play music through iTunes or WinAmp. There's also talk of adding *gasp* ads:

Yahoo! has made the strategic business decision to increase monetization of Yahoo! Messenger with the introduction of an unobtrusive ad in the client...

I believe this is just a precursor to Yahoo IPTV. They're just getting their feet wet. IM+VoIP+Music+IPTV in one app? Sure, why not.