The first–and so far, only–Capitol Hill committee to place a hearing about Microsoft’s $44.6 billion Yahoo bid on its calendar is now postponing that event.

Just hours after word of the proposed deal emerged last Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s antitrust task force said it planned to hold a February 8 hearing to examine “The State of Competition on the Internet,” including Microsoft’s Yahoo plans.

But since then, “scheduling conflicts” have intervened, forcing the panel to cancel the hearing for the moment, a Democratic aide told CNET News.com on Thursday. A new date has not yet been set.

Meanwhile, a rival House committee recently announced plans to keep an eye on any merger activity, and a Senate antitrust panel said it would be prepared to hold a hearing if Yahoo accepts Redmond’s offer.

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Tags: Internet, INTERNET, LINUX/UNIX, APPLE

Yahoo is set to release a preview of Yahoo Messenger for Vista on Thursday.

It’s just a preview, or a very early version, so it doesn’t have all the features other versions of Yahoo Messenger do, such as voice, Webcam, chat rooms, text messaging to mobile phones, easy photo sharing and conferencing. Those features will come later.

What it does have is a new interface, and it lets you organize conversations into tabs and drag and drop tabs out to create a new window. You can also keep favorite contacts by dragging them into the Windows Sidebar gadget, send enhanced emoticons, change the color of IM windows, adjust the display size of the contacts, arrange your contact list into multiple columns, and send files as large as 2 gigabytes.

“We know it’s been a long wait for Yahoo Messenger for Vista and we can’t thank you enough for your patience,” says Josh Jacobson, senior product manager for Yahoo Messenger for Vista.

Tags: INTERNET, GOOGLE, Internet, Intel

Yahoo Maps users can now re-route a trip on the fly.

Yahoo’s mapping service has been tweaked today to include a rerouting feature similar to the one Google’s had since June. The new addition lets you pick up and drag your directions at any point to get the service to reroute according to the guidelines you give it. Once you’ve made changes, the service will pop up with a small comparison to show you how many miles have been added (or taken away) and how the change affects the time on your original commute recommendation.

Rerouting is a handy feature, and if you’ve given Google’s implementation a try, you’ll know how nice it can be to not have to create two or more separate sets of directions to help get you from point A to point B when including shortcuts or side trips. I have to give a slight nod to Google’s version, however, as it shows you street name, mileage, and time estimates while you’re in the middle of dragging the marker around.

In addition to directions, Yahoo has also made some slight improvements to the business listings that show up on the map, which now include photos and user ratings that have been pulled in via Yahoo Local. You get to see only one photo and review before having to jump off to the attached Yahoo Local page. The process isn’t nearly as seamless as Google Maps, which allows users to read several while remaining on the page, but it makes the service feel like more of a directory.

Yahoo Maps has rolled out some pretty cool features this year, including a send-to-car option, an all new look, travel maps, and tighter integration with Flickr.

Originally posted at Webware.

Tags: SOFTWARE, SONY, GOOGLE, COMPUTER