Hotmail has just introduced a new feature which enables users to add Email aliases. Aliases are alternative email ID which can be send and received from the primary account. For example, if your email ID is someone@hotmail.com, you can create aliases like someone+internet@hotmail.com using the symbol ‘+’ to separate out emails related to Internet. Email sent to all these aliases are delivered to your primary account.
How to Create Email Aliases:
To start creating an Alias, open this page http://mail.live.com/?rru=createalias, log in to your Hotmail account.
Click Create an alias button and Hotmail will check if the email ID is already existing or not. If the ID is not taken, you will see the confirmation and will ask you to create a new folder for this ID or use the inbox.
You can add up to five aliases per year to your Hotmail account, up to fifteen aliases in total. More details available here.
It was not that long ago that Crenk reported some big announcements coming from Microsoft, including some
changes coming for Hotmail. A week ago those changes came to life when Hotmail users were introduced to a new look and feel for the long running email client. In an attempt to take on rivals Yahoo and Google the change was perhaps a long time coming, and many long time Hotmail users might appreciate the new additions and features.
The idea to remove some of the clutter and allow users to integrate social platforms and interact with other sites was vital, especially in an era when so many are looking for the one stop shop of utilities that will serve their needs. Some of the features added include:
- sweep feature which allows users to clear their entire email with one click.
- single-click feature which allows for one click of an email from a specific sender and deleting all of their emails.
- ability to edit Powerpoint and documents in the email whether the user as the application or not.
- active previews of emails to include attachments like photos, videos, and more.
- watch YouTube videos, check social networks all without leaving their inbox.
These changes are big when you consider how long the service has remained stagnant while its competitors made big strides to attract users. Still Hotmail is still considered one of the most widely used email services with over 350 million active users.
While Hotmail has added these new additions is it really enough to sway people away from Gmail for example? Or will Hotmail still prevail due to its simplicity and lack of “bloat”, as it’s called, that Gmail users might experience.
What are your thoughts? A winner for Microsoft? I used to be a Hotmail user but went to Gmail because of the wide offerings available. Hotmail became boring and dull even in the UI experience. Perhaps now it’s got some life breathed into it. We’d like to hear your thoughts.
There are some big announcements that Microsoft released recently about Live Messenger: We’ve discussed about the new Windows Live Messenger coming up and the official release of Live Messenger for iPhone. Now, MS is introducing major enhancements in the Hotmail, the preferred web mail.
Let’s take a look to those new features:
Associating devices to Hotmail. This is a very nice security feature, you can add a device to your account, like a mobile phone, and if you lose control of the Hotmail access you can send a security code to recover your account. This will only work for one time.- Push email support for mobile phones using Exchange ActiveSync app. This application is the one used on iPhone and Android when you want to configure your Hotmail accounts. The “push” feature of the mail protocol is used from the mail server which delivers every new mail directly to the device or web client; while using “push” you don’t have to refresh your mailbox to retrieve new mails.
- Unifying contacts. Hotmail will also receive as contacts your friends and connections from social networks like Facebook and Linkedin.
Even though Hotmail, as the most popular web mail, was left behind by amazing features in Gmail; these new ones are pretty sweet and not available on Google’s offering.
When I think of AOL, I think of other similar companies like Microsoft and AT&T. What do they all
have in common? Basically all of them are large companies that think themselves at the top of their game and otherwise frown on smaller more open and approachable initiatives.
For the longest time AOL was an island unto itself. Until just recently AOL users were isolated from other users. The homepage was closed off to competitors, the ISP itself is not open to offering it’s users options, but rather forces them to believe that AOL is all there is.
Interestingly enough, as internet users wise up, and are introduced to various social media networks, connecting over the net with blogs and micro-blogging tools, the internet is a whole new world for users and professionals alike. AOL is finally facing this reality and has added a new feature right off their homepage. They are actually offering users the opportunity to select other email clients as opposed to forcing users to type in the desired destination.
As noted in the photo below you can see how Yahoo, Gmail, have all found a spot right on the AOL homepage (Hotmail access has also been added). This is a welcome addition for AOL users considering the response on the AOL blog post.
What does this mean for AOL? How will this impact their users and will they turn away from AOL Mail? No likely, many of us have multiple accounts for various uses; junkmail, newsletters, subscriptions, purchases, contact with friends and family. AOL is quoted as saying, “We realize that AOL.com is not the only web site that you use and that you may, like many of us, have multiple email accounts with different providers.” So AOL looks to become the official “launchpad” for all their users online experience. This will prevent them from having to type in the address of their preferred email providers and instead provide instant access with a simple click.
AOL confesses that not all of their users will appreciate the change, but for those that don’t, they have made it easy for users to change out the panels in the menu with other popular selections such as Music, Radio, and eBay options to name a few.
With the emergence of a fully customizable homepage, AOL is taking a step in the right direction with their new approach. It is even hinted, according to Techcrunch, that come October AOL could add access to “bookmark[ing], social networks and a RSS reader.” At this rate AOL users will now have a one stop shop for all their online needs, and this is what AOL is banking on.
I’d like to hear your thoughts on this new approach by AOL. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been an AOL homepage user, and even longer since I was a subscriber to their ISP, but I find this approach innovative for them, if not a little late. I think this will keep AOL in the game, and I look forward to see what other ideas they plan to roll out.
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