MICROSOFT HAS UNVEILED a new extension which completely embeds Facebook into its Outlook email program, as the two companies seek to join forces to attack Google’s position as a the king of online services.
The addon to Microsoft’s Outlook Social Connector tool, launched last year, potentially places details from the status feeds of Facebook’s 400 million users into the inboxes of as many millions across the globe.
The extension of the tool also includes capability for Windows Live Messenger – meaning that Microsoft has essentially manufactured an all-in-one social media package within its email program.
The program can also integrate details from a user’s MySpace and LinkedIn profiles.
Last month Facebook began including search results from Microsoft’s Bing search engine – seen as the chief rival to Google – alongside searches on its own site, further integrating the two companies.
Microsoft acquired a $240m stake in Facebook as long ago as October 2007 when the latter site began to show the promise it has now fulfilled.
Google took another significant hit last month when Apple’s new iOS4 operating system for its iPhones also gave users the option of using alternative search engines, including Bing, in its default browser.
Google had previously been the only search option available to iPhone users, and had a search field built into the phone’s Safari browser.
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