14 DAY TRIAL // Yahoo is making a lot of improvements to the newly launched Yahoo Mail Beta. The redesigned product brings a lot of interesting changes and additions, along with a much more eye-pleasing look, and Yahoo is now showcasing one of the cool new features, slideshows for Picasa or Flickr albums shared in an email.
"With Yahoo! Mail Beta, any email containing photo attachments or a Flickr or Picasa link, lets you view your photos and videos in an amazing slideshow format, right from your inbox," Yahoo explained the feature.
"Just click on the View Slideshow button next to the thumbnail photos in your email," it added.
If you regularly send your friends a bunch of photos via email, the new viewer should help them enjoy the pics without having to download the attachments.
Of course there are better, or at least more 'modern,' ways of sharing photos online than just attaching them to an email, but some prefer to have control over their content and not having to rely on a third-party to store the photos.
But if you are using an online photo hosting and sharing service, you're in luck as well. Both Picasa and Flickr links to photos or albums are recognized as such and a slideshow inside Mail is available for these links as well.
Of course, Picasa and Flickr have their own slideshow features, compelling ones at that, but having one embedded in Yahoo Mail makes sense. Sometimes, you don't have the time for the few extra clicks you'd have to make to get to the external site.
Or if you're away from your computer and want to show someone the photos, you may not remember the link to the album, but you'll find it easy enough in your email account.