Yahoo ready to deliver on promise to upgrade email

  By MICHAEL LIEDTKESAN FRANCISCO -- Yahoo Inc. is giving its popular email service a long-promised facelift in an attempt to make it more appealing to people who are increasingly using Facebook, Twitter, Google and other online alternatives to communicate.

The changes announced Tuesday build upon a redesigned email format that Yahoo began testing seven months ago. The estimated 277 million users of Yahoo's free email service will be switched to the new version during the next few weeks.

The overhaul will enable updates to Facebook and Twitter accounts to be posted from within Yahoo's email boxes. The revamped service is supposed to be two times faster and capable of sending attachments of up to 100 megabytes. Other tools include better junk-mail controls and the ability to chat with friends and family logged into Facebook.

Yahoo is counting on the changes to help attract and retain email users at a time when more people are flocking to the rival Gmail service run by Internet search leader Google Inc.

Although Yahoo's service remains larger than Gmail, it has been losing ground in the past year. Through April, Yahoo boasted 277 million email users worldwide, a drop of about 3 million, or 1 percent, from the same time last year, according to the research firm comScore Inc. Meanwhile, Gmail had grown to 220 million wordwide users, up 43 million, or 24 percent during the past year.

Most of Gmail's gains appear to be coming at the expense of Microsoft Corp.'s Hotmail service, which remained the global leader with 327 million users, according to comScore. But that figure was down 27 million, or 8 percent, from last year.

Cultivating loyal email users is important because they tend to be frequent visitors and they often remain logged in when using other online services run by the email providers. The return trips and logged-in activity creates more opportunities to show Internet ads, the main way that both Yahoo and Google make money.

Yahoo, though, hasn't been luring as many advertisers as Google for years, a problem that has weighed on Yahoo's stock.

The email upgrade is expected to be among the signs of progress that Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz emphasizes Wednesday when she and other top company executives are scheduled to update analysts on their turnaround plan.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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Obama to deliver Coast Guard commencement address

  By DARLENE SUPERVILLEWASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is delivering his final commencement address of the season at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

Although rain threatened to dampen the outdoor festivities, the commander in chief was headed to New London, Conn., on Wednesday to watch 229 cadets receive bachelor's degrees and be commissioned with the rank of ensign in the U.S. military branch that enforces the laws at sea.

It's Obama's second graduation speech this week. He spoke at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, Tenn., on Monday.

The president traditionally speaks each year at commencement ceremonies for one of the military service academies. Obama addressed the U.S. Naval Academy's commencement in 2009, his first year in office, followed by the U.S. Military Academy's ceremony last year.

Many members of the Coast Guard graduating class responded to last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Some went to Honduras to help build a children's center and move two dozen orphans out of a government facility. Some also marched in Obama's inaugural parade.

After the pomp and circumstance, Obama was headed to the Democratic stronghold of Massachusetts to rally 1,000 supporters at separate campaign fundraisers in Boston. The events include an intimate dinner for 30 people at an undisclosed private home, followed by a reception for about 900 people at the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts in the South End neighborhood, a Democratic official said.

Tickets for the events range from $200 to the legal maximum of $35,800.

At least two Boston Celtics - All-Star Ray Allen and Hall of Famer and former captain Bill Russell - were expected at the reception in a show of support for Obama, a basketball aficionado.

Obama awarded Russell a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor from the nation to a civilian, during a White House ceremony last year.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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