Microsoft Outlook is set to get social, adding LinkedIn integration with Facebook and Myspace set to join the party soon. Is Microsoft Outlook going a bit Google Buzz? And why?
Microsoft has announced a public beta of LinkedIn for Outlook with Facebook and MySpace on the horizon. Microsoft product manager Dev Balasubramanian says the plan is to “bring social networking into the inbox.”
Google has crammed social networking into Gmail with Google Buzz and has announced that its incorporating Myspace updates into real-time search. Now Microsoft is bringing them into your office email.
Balasubramanian says Microsoft Outlook Social Connector is about making it convenient to get at all your social networking stuff in the same place and notes that it respects your existing privacy settings – possibly a dig at the Google Buzz privacy problems. .
If you’re already a Microsoft Office 2010 Beta tester, you can now download LinkedIn for Outlook beta to view colleagues’ LinkedIn status updates and photos in emails, sync LinkedIn contact changes to Outlook contact data and add LinkedIn connections through Outlook.
Microsoft plans to add Microsoft Outlook Social Connector functionality for Facebook and Myspace later in the year with the same kind of features.
Out now | £free | Microsoft
