Microsoft's Hotmail to get tune-up

Have you ever had to settle for something like phantom-warrior1965@hotmail.com as your email address because every conceivable variation of your actual name was already taken? Microsoft is going to try to remedy that with an update of Hotmail this summer that will include new Canadian addresses.

In June, the software giant will launch a Hotmail.ca domain that will let email users claim — on a first-come, first-served basis — new addresses that use the .ca rather than the .com suffix. The move is sure to kick off an online land grab as email users try to secure addresses that use their real names, which can then be tied to their existing Hotmail accounts.

Microsoft's free online email service, which competes with Yahoo's Mail and Google's Gmail, is popular in Canada, with more than 17 million active accounts, according to Comscore. Worldwide, the service has about 370 million users, which leads Yahoo and Google.

Arnaud Gabaudan, Microsoft's senior product manager for Hotmail, said a definite date for the domain launch has not yet been finalized, but it will be tied to a worldwide update of the email service that will begin in June and wrap up by October.

The update will focus on three areas, Gabaudan said:

• Clearing clutter from inboxes.
• Saving time on everyday tasks such as sending photos.
• Improving compatibility with the web versions of Microsoft's Office programs.

A set of new tabs will allow users to organize their messages better. The "social updates" tab will let the user see only messages sent from social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, while the "contacts" tab will display email only from people listed in the user's address book.

'Sweep' out the 'grey mail'

A "sweep" button will move any selected emails to a given folder, so subscriptions or notification messages from various businesses — sometimes referred to as "grey mail" or low-priority email that's not exactly spam — can be cordoned off from more vital communications.

The update will also let users send up to 200 photos of 50 megabytes each in one email. The feature uses Microsoft's online Skydrive storage system, where users can stash up to 25 gigabytes of data. Rather than attaching and sending the photos in an email, users are instead given the option to upload their photos to Skydrive and then send a link to their chosen recipient.

Skydrive then automatically formats the photos and gives recipients a number of viewing options — they can choose to download the photos or view them online as a slideshow.

Office documents created with programs including Word, Excel and Powerpoint can also be uploaded to Skydrive, where the recipient can edit and save them. Gabaudan said this enables online collaboration without having to worry about whether the users on each end have the respective Office applications, or which version they have.

Microsoft has enjoyed a lead in online services in Canada over rivals Yahoo and Google, partially through a long-standing partnership with Bell Canada, the country's largest internet service provider. Microsoft's MSN had been allied with Bell's Sympatico since 2004, which meant that many Canadians' default web page was a joint portal from the two companies.

However, the two companies ended their relationship last summer, with both believing they could earn higher advertising revenues on their own.