Yahoo has announced a brand spanking new version of Yahoo mail (it's dropped the beta tag too) - one it describes as "the best Yahoo Mail ever".

Selling a new product or service as the "best ever" when it's in a field of just one isn't the best indicator of quality though is it?

We'd be much more impressed if Yahoo described the new Yahoo mail as "the best email ever" rather than "the best Yahoo Mail ever". After all, it's hardly likely to bring a revamped platform to the table that is worse than previous efforts is it?

Anyhoo, what the exclamation mark crazy company has done is introduce a number of new features designed to keep Yahoo Mail competitive with the competition from Google and Microsoft.

Firstly, there is now the key ingredient of social network integration. Described as "Social Infusion" by Yahoo, mailers are now able to respond to messages from Facebook, view photo slideshows and embedded videos, and view and share notifications and updates from Twitter, Facebook and Zynga - all from within the mailbox. Yahoo chat also now incorporates WLM and Facebook.

The new Yahoo Mail also prioritises your contacts now so your top ten most contacted peeps are easier to find and the mail search has also been tweaked for faster results. Spam busting is also high on the agenda, as is app integration from the likes of YouSendIt.

“Yahoo!’s vision for online communications brings together all the tools that people use to connect - email, chat and social updates - and makes it easier for them to share content and engage in conversations with the people that matter most to them,” said Blake Irving, chief product officer, Yahoo.

“We’re delivering on this strategy with the latest version of Yahoo! Mail, providing our hundreds of millions of users worldwide with a fun, engaging and constantly connected experience across desktop, mobile and tablet devices that keeps the conversation going - anytime, anywhere.”

To upgrade to the new platform go to uk.overview.mail.yahoo.com and click the "Upgrade Now" button.