Coming to Hotmail on Monday reports CNET

CNET is reporting that Microsoft’s Dharmesh Mehta has told them that on Monday, August 30, Exchange ActiveSync will be enabled for Hotmail users, allowing users to receive push emails on mobile devices.

This is apparently a long awaited feature for Hotmail users according to CNET, and one that Microsoft promised to roll out when it updated Hotmail recently.

According to CNET, the integration will work like this:

“While many phones support ActiveSync for connecting to an Exchange server, the feature will be most useful on a relatively small number of phones that support dual ActiveSync accounts, including the Palm Pre, the latest iPhone, and the forthcoming Windows Phone 7-based devices. Phone users who don’t connect to an Exchange Server but have a device with ActiveSync support will also be able to use the new Hotmail feature.”

Any Hotmail users out there reading this? Are you excited about this? Please let us know in the comments!

Windows Live Messenger gets an in-browser sharing update with Messenger Companion

For those of you who swear by Internet Explorer, there is a new extension that you’re probably going to find useful. Messenger Companion is Windows Live Messenger that lives inside of the browser, and the Windows Team Blog gives us the details.

Messenger Companion is part of the Windows Live Essentials beta that has been in public testing for a couple of weeks now. The goal is to have a handy way for you to share, update status and see what your friends are doing, all without having to leave the browser.

Granted, this could get unnerving very fast, but Microsoft seems to have taken some good ideas about how the service should work. Instead of being bombarded with messages inside the browser, Companion will simply tell you when one of your friends has shared things that they’ve found, when you visit the same site.

Of course you’ll still be able to send messages about shared links, and carry on conversations even across sites. But it’s all in how you choose to do it, instead of being as “in-your-face” as it could be.

Commenting on shared items will be done through whatever site the item was shared. If you’re commenting on a Facebook share, the comment will go back to Facebook, for instance.

One-click sharing seems quite handy, and the service will update your Messenger status with whatever link you’ve shared, as well. Beyond Messenger, your links will be displayed on whatever sites you’ve connected to.

Overall, it could be in interesting service for those who use Internet Explorer and Windows Messenger. Give it a shot and tell us what you think.