Yahoo added over a dozen widgets to its Webmail service today, including integration with PayPal, eBay, YouTube, and Mint.com. These apps will let users do more while within Yahoo Mail, reducing the need to shuffle between Websites and services.

Yahoo launched these widgets as part of its Open Strategy push that enables third-party apps into the company's e-mail service. Yahoo says these widgets make Yahoo Mail more social.

Other useful widgets integrated with Yahoo Mail today include:

• Zumo Drive - allows users send email attachments as big as 100MB (free)
• Picnik - crop/resize/retouch photos quickly and share collages
• Showtime - browse and watch short clips from cable networks' schedules
• WordPress - post on your blog and moderate comments
• Food & Wine Pairing - match your dinner recipe with the perfect wine

These widgets though, are available only for a limited number of people, while the service is in beta period. However, to take them for a spin, you can enter your Yahoo ID here and get things running.

If you decide the give Yahoo Mail widgets a go, keep in mind that the app developer can access and store the content of your e-mail messages and any personal information you provide the app. If you cherish your privacy, have another think about that.

Under new CEO Carol Bartz, Yahoo decided to open up its doors to developers last year, in a bid to bring the company to its former Web glory. Whether this can save Yahoo or not, it's something that we'll yet have to see

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