
No sooner has Windows Messenger Live come out of beta and was launched as a final version that Yahoo has released its own upgrade for the Instant Messaging service.
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice (version 8) is for now in the testing process but it brings, as one of the new features, the possibility to install free plug-ins. The plug-ins are designed to supplement the traditional Instant Messaging services also comprised in the beta version and to offer users additional features that will help combine Yahoo Messenger with Yahoo Music, News, Finance but also with eBay and Amazon.com. Furthermore, users will be able to follow up and visualize live Yahoo! 360 pages with the plug-in that ships with the latest package.
The standard features of the messenger's service are the ones Yahoo users have become accustomed to, as are PC-to-PC calls and PC-to-phone calls as low as 1 cent per minute, or the drag-and-drop options to send files over the application. But Yahoo also improved on the existing features, increasing the maximum number of friend contacts to 1.000 or share folders as large as 1GB.
Aside from receiving live input from the transactions on eBay or getting the heads-up of all the news and offers from Amazon.com, users will be able to enjoy free music on LaunchCast Radio or can go as far as creating their own radio station.
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice (version 8) is available for download
here.