Microsoft Releases Windows Live Messenger For The iPhone

After a long wait, Microsoft has finally introduced its hugely popular chat client, Windows Live Messenger, to the iPhone. It comes as a free app, and is available now for download from the App Store, the app enables iPhone users to contact friends and family via instant message on both Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger.

According Microsoft, the features include:

• Chat and IM your contacts on the go
• Receive IM notifications even when your app is closed to avoid missing messages
• View updates that your contacts share via social networks like Facebook
• Upload pics directly from the iPhone (and make albums, add captions, receive comments, etc.)
• Access your hotmail email (and compose messages) without leaving the app.

The app, which is fully compatible with iOS 4, is already being called one of the most advanced versions of the chat client ever put forward by Microsoft on any mobile platform. This is also only the fourth application developed so far by Microsoft for the iPhone. Unfortunately, so far Windows Live Messenger isn't yet available to all who want it. Like the iPhone's Bing app, some European countries - like Belgium - do not yet have the option of downloading this new app.

Stay tuned for more info by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

Active Sync Support For Hotmail Arrives Early?

Microsoft was slated to officially announce Exchange ActiveSync support for Windows Live Hotmail sometime this summer, however, while nothing has been announced, it seems the support is already active. Liveside.net is reporting that some users are having success in syncing their Hotmail accounts through ActiveSync. After several attempts, the server address seems to be identified as m.hotmail.com , SSL should be enabled and you should be leaving the domain blank. Enter your username and password accordingly and it should start to work.

If you are feeling adventurous definitely give it a whirl but since there isn't any official announcements we would expect there to be performance issues and bugs to deal with. You will also have to delete your existing data due to ActiveSync only being able to sync with one Exchange Server. Remember to back your things up if you do decide to give this one a whirl. In reading some of the Windows Live Hotmail FAQ Sheet, calendar and contact support IS present but task synchronization IS NOT which may be a downside for some. Despite the lack of task synchronization it is finally nice to see ActiveSync support coming to Windows Live and Hotmail.