Web-based im program

Meebo, a Web-based instant messaging provider, was set to unveil on Wednesday the capability for people to add instant messaging into any Web page. Meebo lets people use multiple IM programs and accounts in one unified location via a Web browser on any computer, requiring no downloads or plug-ins. With its new Meebome feature, Web site owners can embed Meebo IM into the site and privately chat with visitors. Blogging service WordPress.com is using Meebome to allow users to integrate IM into their blogs with a single click, Meebo said. Meebo has more than 700,000 daily logins, sends 45 million messages daily and has more than 2.5 million unique monthly visitors, the company said. ***

Microsoft has sent out a new test version of Windows Live Mail, part of the software maker's push to introduce Web-based counterparts to desktop products. The beta version, sent out to testers this week, goes out under the banner of "Windows Live," launched earlier month. However, it is actually part of a longtime effort to revamp Hotmail, Microsoft's current free, Web-based e-mail service. Microsoft is building Windows Live Mail from scratch, keeping Hotmail and its 215 million active users on a separate system, Brooke Richardson, a lead product manager in Microsoft's MSN division, said. ***

Lotus Development on Tuesday debuted iNotes Web Access, a program that allows people to use a common Web browser to access e-mail and collaboration applications running on Lotus Domino and Notes server software. The new software is targeted at the people IDC estimates will access 30 million mailboxes by Web browser in 2003. In addition to providing a complementary access option for current consumers of the company's messaging software, Notes, iNotes Web Access provides access to e-mail and other messaging tools for people, such as bank tellers, airline pilots and retail workers, who may not need a full-scale messaging application. ***